I Simply Couldn't Be Bad Song Sketch

Okay, so I know this song isn't really about a daddy Daddy but it's the closest thing I could find to a Father's Day song and I've always wanted to cover it! It's such an infectious tune and rhythm. Cole Porter does it again with delicious double entendres and clever melodic twists.

I do hope all the fathers (and everyone else reading too!) have a marvelous Father's Day!

If you would like a copy of this song for you, just let me know in a comment! If it's your first request, please leave your email address as well.

P.S. Feel free to follow me! I promise only ever to lead you to bright, sunny places!

P.P.S. I have a brand, new original album out! If you download it and looooove it, please write a lovely review on the site from which you purchased it!

P.P.P.S. No, I do not look like what I did in these photos... I have a much rounder belly right now! Just in case you were confused! ;o)

For Every Kiss You Give Me, I'll Give You Three Song Sketch

A while ago I had a bunch of brilliant suggestions for songs that make people happy and some of them stood out - this song (a suggestion from Diana of ourcitylights) being one of them! I've always loved this song and think it's just perfect in its original form but I thought it might be fun to take a little more intimate approach to it!

As a little update on my album, I've received the final masters and I'm sending the songs off to CDBaby to then be posted up on iTunes. Thank you for your patience! It's taken a bit longer than I expected but I certainly expect it to absolutely amaze you beyond your wildest imaginings...

If you want a copy of this week's song sketch for your personal enjoyment, just leave a comment (if it's your first request, please leave your email as well).

P.S. Feel free to follow me! I promise only ever to lead you to bright, sunny places!

Paris in the Springtime

As I wait for my album to get fully mastered and then uploaded to iTunes, I thought I'd reveal little parts to the album along the way! Here are some photos from the photo shoot I did for my album. The weather was absolutely perfect for my photographers and me to travel to Paris (well, ish) and take some photos. Here are a couple of pics out of my favorites! I'll save some for the unveiling of my completed website.

P.S. Feel free to follow me! I promise only ever to lead you to bright, sunny places!

A Giveaway! In Other Words, I'm Very Glad You Stopped By

I have recently passed the 100 follower mark! Hip hip hooray! And I thought a giveaway was in order.

What I'm Giving:

An Emma cover of one of the songs that makes you happiest. I will post it up as a song sketch, link to your blog (if you have on) and send you a beautiful and artistic copy of it in the mail (as well as a couple other originals on it for good measure).

How You Win:

Be a follower (either Bloglovin' or Google) and leave a comment with the three songs that make you the happiest. Not necessarily your favorite three songs (if your favorite songs are tragic or morbid), the three songs that make you happiest.

You can get extra entries several ways and please leave a new comment every time (you can either repeat those three songs or pick three others that also make you happy).

-If you follow me on Twitter

-If you tweet about the giveaway

-If you blog about it (this really should be worth two extra entries, I think)

I'll chose by random.org and pick one of the three songs in the winning comment.

Best luck and thank you for entering! The giveaway will be open until February 2, Groundhog Day. Unless the groundhog sees his shadow and then the giveaway will be open for six more weeks.

Just kidding.

I've Been Waiting for You... Weekly Song Sketch

I hope you all have had a marvelous start to your new year! I thought I'd celebrate by releasing a never-before-recorded original, Rapunzel. Hooray!

So, as always, if you want a copy, just let me know in a comment (if it's your first time requesting, please leave your email). And please feel free to pass it along to friends and such.

P.S. Feel free to follow me! I promise only ever to lead you to bright, sunny places!

Somewhere There's Heaven...

I had planned on writing about October first, the beginning of my favorite four months, first full month of my favorite season, etc., etc. But you'll get your Fall fill without fail so don't fret (you'll also get your fill of alliteration, apparently).

Tonight I wanted to show this moment captured by photo: in that picture, on our roof, is a teeny, tiny lizard, gazing at the moon.

If that isn't magical, I don't know what is.

Forget About Adopting a Highway...

One of my favorite charities, World Wildlife Fund, has an adorable way to raise donations where you can adopt an animal of your choice. They have pretty much everyone's favorite animal, from koalas and polar bears to blue-footed boobies and bonobos.

When you adopt your favorite animal, you get sent your own plush of that animal and an adoption certificate. There are millions of charities all doing their part to make the world better but I really love a charity that can appeal to your cuddly side as well as your global mindedness. Takes feeling warm and fuzzy to a whole new level...

It's Hard to Be Unhappy...

...when you're looking at Kate Gabrielle's whimsical flapperdoodles! One of my favorite bloggers, Ms. B, mentioned them in a post and I am so glad she did.

Her nonchalant and chic cast of characters do everything from have tea parties and dances to reenact iconic film moments. Of course, my favorite flapper is Emma - she's quite the voracious reader and I think the cutest (she's the one in the frame on the left, naturally).

Kate Gabrielle also has an etsy shop where you can buy prints of these fun illustrations and currently (that is until September 23) she has a "buy one get one free" sale. So whether you need art for yourself or want to give them as a gift, you must agree that these pictures are the bee's knees!

Dot Day!

One of my favorite contemporary visionaries is the artist/author/entrepreneur Peter H. Reynolds. He is a champion of embracing creativity and following your dreams (your North Star). One of his books, The Dot, is celebrating its 15th birthday today** and so he (and classrooms around the U.S.) are celebrating creativity through Dot Day!

The author, Peter H. Reynolds, wrote this about Dot Day, “Spread the word… Dot Day.. read The Dot*, wear dots, eat dots, draw dots, frame dots, connect the dots, splurge on art supplies, try a new medium – a new instrument, write a poem, rearrange your furniture, reconnect the dots with an old friend, make something, make something with a friend, share your creativity with the world. No strict rules on how to celebrate!”

Hooray for creativity!

*If you haven't read The Dot yet, you really should. It will make you happier.

**I know it's late on the 15th, but you can celebrate Dot Day tomorrow too. It's like when you get that late birthday present in the mail.

It's Easy to Be Optimistic When...

Goodwill gives back! When they received a sculpture by acclaimed sculptor Sterett-Gittings Kelsey worth half a million dollars, they contacted the donor and returned it. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy...

Now What?

Just saw Julie and Julia. And loved it. Now, I know there are plenty of reviewers that thought it was too happy and cheerful (including the reviewer at Orlando Weekly who has the wisdom to love my music) but, really, can anything be? (Too happy and cheerful, that is.) I loved it all - the food (of course!), the settings (ah, Paris), the happy marriages (sigh, l'amour) and the heavy- conflict-free plot-line. We live in a world with, yes, sad things but we also live in a world of completely wonderful things. And aren't the news and NY Times bestseller fiction books covering all the sad things? We need more happy thing-coverage!

Anyways, I thought this movie was a delightful example of happy thing-coverage. I'm not going to review the movie or anything but there was one thing that stuck with me in particular (besides the food, happy marriages, Paris, etc.): when the beyond-marvelous Julia Child gets a major letdown (hope that is vague enough not to constitute as a spoiler), she responds by saying, "Well, boohoo. Now what?" How fabulous is that?! When I get rejection (which, though some of you may believe never happens to me, actually does), I've decided to say,

"Well, boohoo, Emma. Now what?"

A New Resolve

As you all know, the date is currently September 4. Therefore I've decided to get started on some of my New Year's resolutions. One resolution I have in particular - I made a goal to have three songs learned and memorized by the end of the year, Fantasie Impromptu by Chopin, Impromptu Number 4 in A flat Major by Schubert and Maple Leaf Rag by Joplin. So, I'm going to apply myself, slaving at the piano until my eyes blur from the tiny notes and my tea grows cold with neglect.

My first song will be Schubert's Impromptu. Confession: I actually began working on it once I decided to blog about it so I have a bit of a head start (although not the head start I would have had if I had started in January). I shall try to think of some creative way to let you know that I have held to my end of the bargain and am learning/memorizing the songs I said I would (even if they are faster and more heavily pedaled than the originals).

Any New Year's Resolutions you are going to revisit with the crispness of Fall to energize you? And if you have an idea of how I can prove that I've mastered the new songs, feel free to suggest.

Welcome Back!

Welcome to my new and improving blog! You will soon be privy to the marvelous inner-workings of my mind and, in return, I want to know the marvelous inner-workings of yours as well. Many people come up to me after shows (millions, perhaps) that say "I'm not a musician, I just love music."

To that I say, without music lovers (be they musicians or not) music is the proverbial tree in the forest- is it really music if it doesn't entertain/irritate/illumine/titillate?

So leave comments and feel free to email me if you have a specific question of something you want to know about songwriting, music, etc. Looking forward to hearing from you!

The Girl With Two Red Shoes...

As I mentioned in my last post, I've had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Red Shoe Project- a campaign that raises awareness for the charity, My New Red Shoes. The Red Shoe Project takes photos people have sent in of themselves in red shoes (all my vintage-blogging friends - I know you have some!) and puts them in a video to a song (why, yes, the song is mine, actually!). So here are some photos of me in my red shoes and here is the new July video. Visit the site and you too could be published in all your red shoe glory!

Tap Your Heels Together...

Several months ago, Michael Long, the founder of the Red Shoe Project (which brings awareness to "My New Red Shoes," a charity based out of San Francisco) contacted me about letting them use my songs in publicity for their campaign. Of course I wanted to do it! And here is a video about the project with my song.

Adolescent Charm

As an insane Disney/Pixar-phile, I have always wanted to write a song for an animated film (anyone with connections to John Lasseter?). I got a chance a couple years ago to compose a soundtrack for an animated short, Adolescent Charm directed by Matthew Tardiff. After coincidentally typing my name in Google, I discovered that this film was posted on YouTube!

Photos in the Afternoon Light

I played a gig at the University Club of Winter Park a couple weeks ago and my mother (make-up artist and stylist extraordinaire) dressed me up all glamorously. Then, since the afternoon light was so beautiful in the apartment, my photographer (aka: sister - I keep it in the family!) took some photos.

Bare Necessities

Watched Jungle Book last night. It's funny that even though it's been years and years and years since I last watched the film, I could still sing along with the trumpet riff at the end. That's how good that music is. Not only the songs, including Bare Necessities and Wanna Be Like You (one of my favorite songs to do live), but the score (George Bruns) that's both lush and mysterious while tying in the jazzy themes.

The Sherman Brothers write all the songs (except Bare Necessities) and, upon watching their films, I am amazed by how delightful and catchy their tunes are. They are also so diverse- hard to believe the same two men wrote It's A Small World, Feed the Birds, The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers and the perfect Everybody Wants to Be a Cat.

And did you know that the too-fabulous King Louie is voiced by Louis Prima? Craaazy.

And for Memorial Day...

There are a bunch of marvelously written songs from the early 1900s that have patriotic themes. Possibly the most prolific patriotic songwriter, George M. Cohan, used riffs from military taps and folk songs to create new and contagious music. And as I'm feeling rather patriotic this year, I thought I'd record one! So, here is You're A Grand Old Flag.

Cold Coffee

I was in Winter Park doing a sound check for an upcoming show, and my camera-savvy sister took some photos of me enjoying my blueberry scone and delicious German Chocolate Cake-flavored Coffee Cooler from Barnie's (basically chocolate milk with caffeine... yum).