On the Horizon...
Wow, it HAS been a while since I've blogged. My apologies. I've been updating Facebook and tweeting, etc., but I'll try to distill it here.
My second record, Open Horizon, is just about made. The music part of it, at least. In early January I flew out to Ontario to work at a wonderful studio south of Hamilton, on the Six Nation reserve, called Jukasa. Check it out:
This studio is a brand new, multi-million dollar facility; I don't know much about gear, but I thought it was a good sign that they have the SSL mixing console from Abbey Road studios (you know, the one that recorded that record by those guys?). Pretty incredible. Anyhow, I can't recommend this studio and the people who run it enough. They were all so incredibly kind and helpful. A special shout-out needs to go to Sean Gugula, who did a fantastic job engineering the whole thing. First Nations rock star Derek Miller, who is kind of the artist-in-residence at the studio, was also extremely nice and generous in lending us some of his gorgeous guitars for the sessions (I still have dreams about that Gibson). His music, by the way, is excellent: watch for his new album this year.
Anyway, the studio was GREAT and of course, I had a pretty phenomenal team working for me. First of all, my producer Kim Deschamps, who is not only an astounding musician, but also a really really nice guy. I was also lucky enough to have the incredible Al Cross playing drums for me, and Paul Intson playing a gorgeous upright bass. Those two are also really really nice guys. These three men were my whole band, and man, it worked. There is a very live feel to the tunes, since most of the music was recorded live off the floor, and the musicianship all around me was humbling in the extreme. We worked well and FAST, but it was also fun and friendly; it was such a pleasant experience.
Paul mixed the record with Kim's input, and Paul is also mastering it. It's just about done as we speak; we're just working out the sequence of the eleven tracks. However, the artwork and manufacturing still needs to get done, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer before you all arrange your listening parties: I'm hoping for a March release date. Stay tuned.
It was a new experience on many levels, not least of which was that it took comparatively long to put this album into existence. I wrote the songs mostly about two years ago, and then it was a long process of working out the means to this end. But with the help of a lot of people, it finally happened. I have to say, it's not like having a baby, which is the simile most people use (not that I know what that's like, yet, but whatever). Babies don't take two years to make. Babies are not an archive of your own hopes and loves and devastations, etc. etc. etc. Babies are not art. I don't know what it's most like, but what I do know is that it's both ridiculously hard and ridiculously fun. There were moments (many) when I thought: why am I doing this? I'm never going to try to conceal that. But then, when it's happening, all I could think was, I'm so glad I'm doing this. I realized that not knowing whether it will be worth it is part of the joy of the experience. You don't know what this thing is going to do, out there in the world, once it's made (okay, maybe that part *is* like having kids). You can't control it. So you just try to make it strong, try to give it integrity, so that it can maybe weather it out there. Kind of like trying to make a really good boat, and then floating it out on the tide.
But I'll tell you one thing that makes this feel worthwhile. A friend of mine has a daughter in her teens, and this daughter is a big fan of my first record. She just got her first guitar this Christmas, and she wants to learn "The Stars" so that she can play it at her school's coffeehouse. You see, that girl was me, except with a different song, about 15 years ago. It makes my heart glow that something I made is making someone pick up a guitar, learn a song, and go sing it for people. If nothing else comes of this thing that I do, that simple fact is really recompense enough.
Much love and gratitude,
Kaya
