ANOTHER DAY Is Here!
Finally after a number of roadblocks, Another Day has arrived!
I had hoped to have the CD first by my birthday and then before Christmas. I then get an e-mail that the CD machine broke down at the plant so… just like life. Life is what happens while we make plans. Finally the CD’s are here.
A few of you have asked about how I began to write music. Music has always been a part of my life. As a child, my mother had my sister, Laureen, and I sing for Bridal Showers, Christmas concerts and in church. We always sang in the car for entertainment. One of our favorites…at the top of our lungs!… “On top of Spaghetti, all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed.” Or… “Do your ears hang low, do they wobble to and fro?”… Or “Kumbayah.” Once in school I was involved in the Kiwanis music festival. My favorite audience was on top of the haystack singing to the cows… they were a great audience!
In Grade 5 my mom had $100 dollars, which we could spend on either a horse or a piano. My sister wanted the horse, while I chose the piano. I convinced mom that the piano was a better choice as the horse was old and she might die. The piano would last forever. So piano lessons began. Then in junior high I started playing alto saxophone and spent a short period of time on the string bass. We sang in the church choir and camp song circles were a favorite.
Once I graduated, I was accepted into the University of Alberta into a BSc of Nursing. There was no time for music. I would say that singing took a backseat for many years after that. I married and had a family. Singing was reduced to singing with the kids, or in the church choir, so it was a big surprise when the songwriting began.
In September 1997, I was struggling with the loss of my sister-in-law Sue through suicide. I had sent the kids off to school and a friend phoned to talk to me. I explained to her that I was having a bad day again…struggling with depression after this great loss. She said to me, “Aren’t you over this yet?” I thought, “I am never going to be “Over this”.”
I put my head down on the piano and began to cry and the song “Forever Sue” just came out with words and music. I plinked the melody out on the piano. When my husband Nick came home, I was able to play and sing the words back exactly as they had “come out” that morning. Nick looked at me intently and said, “ You need to do something with this.”
I looked back at him incredulously and said, “Like what? I don’t sing that well and I don’t play an instrument well so what am I going to do with it?”Nick persisted in encouraging me to find a place to record the song. I realized that the song expressed my grief over losing Sue but also his grief. It might be helpful to someone else.
I decided I should take some singing lessons and one day, while I was in the music store, I reluctantly told the clerk I had written a song. She told gave me the phone number for a Studio called Sundae Sound. With the same apprehension I phoned the Studio. They told me to come on in with a tape and they would see what they could do. The owner, to my surprise, listened to my song and my story and told me that he knew of a musician named John Thiel, who would be able to write the arrangements for the song. “But I can’t play well enough to accompany myself!” I said. Dave didn’t let me off the hook. He told me I could hire a band and they would play the songs. Then they play back the tape and I would sing to it. Surely Nick would not want to spend the money. To the contrary, Nick said, “You need to do this”. So with fear in my heart I invested in the process. I met with John who was amazing. He wrote the arrangement in collaboration with me, and then came recording day. I was full of self-doubt. It was a bit surreal that this was actually happening. It was hard to silence the negative self-talk. I was amazed at the talented musicians who with numbers on paper were able to play the melody I had heard in my head and plinked out on the piano. The music for Forever Sue was ethereal… more than I could have ever imagined. The hard part was I would have to sing with the music with others watching. I remember saying a little prayer and then going for it. One generally does several repeats before the studio arranger does their magic. Once it was over, I burst into tears. It was a release of all the emotion and grief I had been feeling these long months since Sue had passed over.
Next comes the process of listening to the takes and picking out the best part of the tracks for a finished song that you feel is ready for a record. The music is then sent for mastering where they listen for any glitches and modulate the levels of singing and instruments so it is at a level that works for a CD or radio. I have to say I had no idea of all that goes into making a song ready to put on a CD.
The songs kept coming. After several years I had enough to do a C.D. I then enjoyed the process of working with a graphic designer to develop a CD booklet insert to go into the completed CD. To me the end product is a work of art.
More times than I can count I have surrendered to self-doubt about my ability and the worth of my songwriting. Shutting off those voices and “feeling the fear and doing it anyway” has been part of the journey. Recognizing this gift is a blessing to me, and I hope to some of you as well, I have continued to write music. I have met many wonderful people and musicians in Canada, the United States, in Italy and in 2017 in Scotland.
John Thiel of Horizon Music has been instrumental in this process for the album Another Day and I am forever grateful for to him and Nick for the patience and encouragement to bring this CD to life. I am also grateful for all you who continue to be excited about the stories, the song, and the music.  I wish to share the song “Forever Sue” as the first song I wrote. Sometimes through pain we release unexpected gifts. We miss you Sue.