myth?....or reality?

so i've been playing at a local venue, myth....blah blah blah, i've gone on and on about in pretty much every blog so far...so i'll spare the details this time.


last night one of my friends here in town (who also happens to be a musician) got really sick so she asked me to cover for her gig at myth...

(it's funny how even in the entertainment industry you sometimes "call in sick" to work)

long story short the show went great. i had a TON of positive feedback from people (there was even a lady sitting in the front booth for a while who sang along with me-even though i'm SURE she didn't really know any of the songs i was playing). AND i brought in about twenty of my friends and family-with such late notice i was REALLY surprised.

(oh, and, i didn't use my computer for lyrics this time....not sure how i feel about it...but we'll see for the future)

overall it was a great gig...i was very pleased:)




on a side note...my last day of work at the coffee shop is monday. after that...it's just me...being self-employed...if someone asks me what i do...i'll get to say "i'm a musician"...

i'm excited and a little nervous all at the same time...who knows what the future holds? certainly not me...but i'm too excited to experience it all...



jessicalindsey

oh...ooo...oh...oh....

it's been a busy week and a half for me...



let's start with last tuesday.


i got to play at my favorite venue in the city-myth. it's become a staple visit of mine pretty much every tuesday...i set up my system and everything by myself for the first time...thanks to some help from brian the bartender...and soundcheck help from two of my fabulous friends...

and the night went quite well. it was a larger crown than usual...which is always positive...and i talked to a guy who runs an organization here in town for artists of all types (he even considers farming an art...only in nebraska)




then thursday i got to go in and lay down some more vocal tracks for the project...it went really well...got a lot of work done on three of the songs...includeing some crazy doo doop doo doop'ing on one of the songs....


i'm starting to get very exicted....


then tonight i got to go back into the studio...to finish up a song called johnny...
it's a song that has been really hard for me to do vocals for-mostly cause i am having a hard time connecting to the song...(it's the only song i've ever written that wasn't inspired by anything...well...inspirational...

but tonight something clicked.

at the suggestion of my producer, i listened to a little shawn colvin this week to get a feel for what he was thinking for the song...and something inside me connected with an idea for the song. then we were trying to figure out background-ish vocals and after about a half hour...i got it...a little oh here...a little ooo there...


anywho...i'm now done with vocal tracking and we have only guitar on one song...strings on two...mixing and mastering to get done...



it's looking like february might actually happen:)

i would like to thank....

this week has been an interesting one when it comes to the musical side of me...

on tuesday night i performed at myth martini bar (i'm pretty sure i've mentioned it before...it's this tiny little trendy bar in downtown omaha...leather couches...dim lighting...it's just fantastic) and i had a great time. it was only their second week of having music on a tuesday night...so it was kinda slow, but everyone that was there gave me huge compliments...two girls kept asking about my cd...which i had to say would be coming out in the beginning of next year...

i even got to see some friends from high school that came out to listen...which is always great.

then i got to go into the studio on thursday night to record vocals for the project. it was such an experience. i've recorded vocals before...but not as intensely as i did on thursday. it's amazing how after singing a song seven times in a row...you really can start to lose your passion for conveying the meaning of the song...

recording went really well...got three songs done (lead vocals, at least) and set a date to come in next week and *hopefully* finish up on vocals...

then, friday came around and i was supposed to play a gig at a place called keno cabana in bennington, ne. i had asked my friend stephanie pilypaitis (look her up on myspace...do it!) to come and play with me...so we were all set to go...
well, i had a bad feeling about the gig all week (if you'll remember from an earlier posting...keno cabana was the place where i played after a husker game....and everyone left so i played for fifteen minutes) so i had my dad call the place and he said it gave that message that says "doo dooo do this number no longer is connected message 15 42 7". so i tried calling myself...and got the same thing. i remembered from the last time we were there that there was another little bar across the street. i looked up their number and placed a call. it went something like this:

hello, the sportsman
hi, i was just wondering if you were located on main street?
oh yes sweetie...it's a small town you won't be able to miss us
oh, well, actually i was wondering if you were the bar located across from the keno cabana?
oh sweetie, that place is closed down
oh really?
yeah, he didn't pay his liquor license...

she then proceeded to assure me that if i wanted something to do that night since my gig was now cancelled, i could come on down to the sportsman, cause they make a mean steak dinner...


so i would like to thank the sportsman lady who answered the phone...not only did she save me a long trip out to bennington to discover whether or not the place was close...she also gave me another option if i'm ever looking for a great steak dinner.


jessicalindsey

an...update.

today was day number....in the studio...


i got to go in early before work today...and listen to my guitar player play through some stuff that he's come up with for a few of my songs. it's funny...the november/december release date is looking very unrealistic right now...and oddly enough, i'm more than ok with it...

mostly because this music is blowing my mind. i'm really, honestly, finding myself day in and day out being completely amazed with what this project is turning out to be. the music. the players. everything. wow.

so, this morning i was able to hear the guitar parts that my guitarist is coming up with...

for 'why don't you' he has created this ambient guitar part that sounds like it should be on a real cd...wait...right...he's also come up with a seriously angry guitar line...something one might find on, say a tori amos song....tori amos...yes...i am sometimes an angry girl too...

then on 'before' we're working on some acoustic-y/rough sounds...it's gonna be grrrreat.

for now...i'll leave you with this thought. if you know me...which hopefully you do if you're reading this...this album is going to show you several sides of me. possibly sides you've never seen before...possibly sides you knew existed...but i am just discovering...either way i hope that by listening to this you are able to know more of who i am...and who i am becoming.

some writers like footnotes, i like hyperlinks...

so, last thursday i was given the opportunity to partake in one of the BEST recording experiences of my life...

now, granted, i haven't been involved in too many:

*156 my junior year in high school (the worship team i was on at church)
*chorale (the choir i was in for two years in college)
*random other personal recording done during college

but, all the same, last thursday was too much...partly because of the studio...partly because of the piano...

the studio i worked at is called bassline studio (http://www.basslinestudio.com/studio.asp)

....it was like a trip into the past...into this completely crazy seventies steakhouse/recording studio/house...

the piano i used was a bosendorfer (http://www.boesendorfer.com/index.php?menu=6)

it was like playing butter...if butter could make beautiful music. the keys were loose...but not too loose...and the sound was soo resonant...ahh! wonderful!

so, anywho, i played four songs:
*crying alone (acoustic version)
*why don't you (acoustic version)
*lady monday
*this is love

oh, it was wonderful...we recorded around one o'clock...which was interesting, cause my voice is not really at top quality until around eight at night...but i think things went really well...i played and sang at the same time on all four songs, so as to give them a very live feel. i'm really anxious to see how things turn out.

anywho, all that's left now is guitar (acoustic and electric) on all four band songs, strings on a few songs, and a little bit of fun percussion here and there...oh, and vocals on four of the songs, of course...


so, when it all comes down to it, i'm very excited...very very excited...it's looking like our end of november finish might actually be a possibility...



...well, or maybe sometime during december:)

lesson number fourteen...

so...


tonight i played a *short* gig at a place called the manhatten...i kinda opened for another band...(aka the venue double booked)

well, the interesting thing is...the venue was not really my style at all...very large...the crowd wanted to dance...


:::i play music that people want to sit and listen to or slow dance to:::


well, i trucked through my hour and fifteen minutes-due mostly to the fact that i had three friends in the audience...along with my folks...

even covered 'i wanna hold your hand' by the beatles...(i have officially fallen in love with the song)




...lesson learned...it may not be your style of venue...but you're still getting paid...and at the end of the night...you need to deliver...


so deliver (as painful as it was) i did...


(and i made about $75 a hour in the process)

lesson number thirteen.

so, i decided that i'm going to go back and re-look at all of the shows/performances that i've had thus far...

i want to find a lesson from each performance...but for now i'm just going to start with tonight.




so, i performed tonight before stephanie pilypaitis...at a martini bar here in town called myth. it's this adorable place (kinda reminds me of minneapolis) and we had a fairly packed house tonight. the fun thing about it was that we didn't know a whole lot of the people, so some new people got to hear us sing.
well, anyway...i did about an hour set in the beginning...kinda played my best songs. and i just had a great time! i was super relaxed, and just loved it.

while we were setting up, a few people asked why i had my computer with me. (i always perform with my lyrics and set list on my computer) my explanation was that i like to be organized...and save set lists so that i can reference them later.

well, about an hour and fifteen minutes into stephanie's set, a woman approached her and asked if she knew how to play norah jones' "come away with me". stephanie didn't know the song, and so looked at me and i said i would see what i could do. so, i looked up the chords, and decided i would be able to play it. i then found out it was the woman and her husband's anniversary...so i decided to tell them there was room for them to dance up in front. (there really wasn't...but i thought it would be cute) so anyways, i went back up, they came up and danced, and i played the song. it was seriously magical. there were about fifty people in the bar and at that moment, it seemed like it was just me and them. they kept saying, 'oh my gosh, you're so good'...'you're better than norah jones' and all sorts of other things...people were even taking pictures of them dancing and me singing.

after it all, i sat back down, and the woman came up to me and gave me a tip...it was the perfect ending to my playing the evening.





so lesson number 13: having your computer with you to look up music can end up making someone's anniversary...so always use it for performances...



jessicalindsey

this is what i'd like to call an update...

it's been a while. so i shall write.


let's see about two weeks ago i had a gig at a place called the "keno cabana". i think i would probably consider it my first real bust of a gig. it was after the husker/usc game (ask me if i really care) and apparently since the huskers lost all of nebraska had to get their prescriptions for anti-depressants refilled. so, after the game, everyone went home leaving me, my dad, my guitar player and his wife and the staff to listen. lame.

none the less, i still got paid...(half the original amount) and got a gig booked for november. (hopefully there won't be a husker game that night)


also, i played again at chilis. this time they called me. it was for their st. jude's all profits day. now here i have a few things to reflect on.

the night started out rough. they were planning on putting us (i'll get to who "us" are in a minute) outside, but it was going to rain...so that was a no go. so we wandered around for about twenty minutes trying to figure something out...i was about ready to leave-thank goodness for my dad who can talk things out much better than i can-they ended up putting us in the bar....and people loved it. we made about $100 for the hospital, and just overall had a great time. now i'll get to the "us".

see, over the past four months i've been having a really hard time meeting friends here in omaha, but lately-i think things are changing. I've been spending some time with a fellow omaha musician, stephanie pilypaitis over the past few weeks, and i am really excited for whats to come in our friendship. she came out and played with me for the chilis event, and in turned asked me to play with her next thursday at this AMAZING martini bar called MYTH. we went tonight and spent about two hours just talking and listening to some music played by chris saub, probably one of the hardest working musicians in omaha. anyways...i'm just really excited, because now not only am i making some friends...but their also musicians...and good ones at that!


other than that, nothing much new in the music realm. the cd's been on hold for about three weeks, scheduling conflicts and business abounds. but...we'll get back in track soon, i hope!

i'll let you know how things go next thursday night!


jessicalindsey

tonight was....cold...

something ineteresting happened today...

i had a gig...


an outdoor gig to raise money for st. jude's children's hospital at chili's...


...and it was sixty degrees out with blowing wind...




...i played for a total of six people plus a couple of wait staff people...no one wanted to sit outside...








cold + outside = stopping an hour early cause my fingers were shaking

it's what they call a 'scratch'

so...tuesday was officially day...let's call it day six of actually being in the studio....


(i have to pause for a moment to say that in the midst of feeling quite possibly the most alone i've ever felt in my entire life...i
know now more than ever that this is exactly where i am supposed to be right now)

so..tuesday.


we showed up to the studio around nine at night...afterall, what good musician ever records a minute before then anyways. tuesday night was the night for me to lay down piano tracks to (what we thought would be) four of the six main songs. started with 'crying alone'. it's an easy enough song for piano...nice 6/8 feel...pretty straight forward. it took me a take or two...but we got it. then we moved on to 'why don't you'. let me just say that this song is turing into something i never ever expected it to turn into. the bass line is absolutely phenomenal. it's kinda got a life of it's own. so, the piano playing was again pretty straight forward (so as to not take away from that the bass and lead guitar would be doing).

two songs down. two more to go....


and this is where i got scared.


see, i would never really consider myself a 'piano player'. i play the piano. i can easily accompany myself while i sing. but...playing lead keys really isn't my strength. so...the next song we took on was 'before'. matt (my producer) and i wanted to come up with some great coldplay-esque piano lick that would kind of work as a hook for the song. (something that when you hear it you know exactly what song is playing) well, we thought about it for a good twenty minutes or so...and then decided...this is not for me to play. i'm not a fill player...at all....which is totally ok...but...at the moment seemed kinda disappointing. plus, it didn't really make sense to try and put in a piano hook with only bass and drums laid down....since 'before' isn't really a piano driven song. so we put it on hold.


then we came to 'johnny'...and thankfully it didn't take us more than say, ten minutes, to realize....there most likely won't be piano on this song either. (at least not any played by myself)

so...then we moved on to me laying down some scratch vocals for the lead guitar player and strings guy to hear while they are laying down their tracks...it was fun...except that i am in the middle of an allergy thing...so...at times...well, let's just say those vocal tracks will be deleted someday...


...so...for now...things are looking like the end of november...hopefully...we have a lot of outside people that have to do stuff with the album (mastering, strings, artwork) so...it kind of depends on their schedules...



...i am so loving this...

part deux of the state fair....

i'm going to take a second and explain the title of this blog to you, whoever you are...


'the one that got away' is *potentially* going to be the name of my project when it comes out (which will hopefully be by late october/early november) i got the idea for the name from one of my dad's friends and at first, i didn't really like it at all. to be honest, i wasn't totally sure if i even wanted to title the album, thought i might just call it, 'jessica lindsey' or something original like that. well, i talked with my producer and he said it is totally normal for people to title and ep...so, i started thinking up some titles and the one that just kept coming back was 'the one that got away'. i couldn't shake it.

so i started thinking about it more....and i fell in love with it for so many reasons.

not to sound proud...but i think it's a great way to look at situations when they don't quite go your way...



take the state fair talent show for example. today was, by far, not my best performance...i got ambitious and walked off stage and into the audience while i was singing...which kinda slipped me up a little...but besides that my vocals were strong. i had really great stage presence...and had a loud cheer from the audience when i was done...and yet, the judges didn't like me...i guess i wasn't their style....i sang 'we belong' by pat benatar...maybe they don't like pat benatar...

WHO DOESN'T LIKE PAT BENATAR THOUGH???


anyways...so back to 'the one that got away' so i think that i have found myself feeling a little like i am the one that "gets" away in a lot of circumstances...maybe it's a good thing...i always learn from every experience. but...well...it's hard to be "let go"....


so...what do you think of it for a title of an album? if the cover had catchy artwork on it...would you buy it?

corn dogs and cows

today was round one...

of the state fair talent show here in nebraska. as most people already know, i participate in a county fair earlier this summer and got second place...thus leading me to the semi-finals in the state fair today. so, my dad and i showed up around 10:15...even though the letter we received said to get there at eleven...good thing too, cause they actually meant for us to get there at ten...so while they were running behind...it appeared that i showed up nearly on time...

...we all (all fifty contestants) proceeded to rehearse the finale number God Bless the USA (which i begrudgingly sang...not because i hate the united states...i love the united states...i just hate this song)

the contest for underway around one and i sat around watching other acts perform. there was this one little girl who played the accordian...SHE WAS FANTASTIC!!!! and a kid who played a AC/DC song....he probably changed how i view guitar players.


so then it was time for my group....we are called the 'novas' (every age group has some kind of a star name: -12 comets 12-19 and novas 19+)

so, i was like fifth i think...and i sang bonnie rait's "something to talk about". let me put it this way...if you're reading this...you most likely know me...i'm not a prideful person...infact most of the time i have areally hard time thinking i'm much good...but tonight...

I @*!@* rocked....like....i sang the heck out of that song....and not only that, i performed like a true performer....i mean...really...

i walked off the stage feeling like about five million bucks...i was sure i had it in the bag.


so, the rest of my group finished, and then it was time to reveal who was moving on to sing tomorrow...they read all the names of the people that were in the top five of each age group...and mine was not in that group...

i was bummed....but, oh well...i got to perform...and even though i felt like i did the best out of anyone there...i figured, whatev....


well then they announced they were going to also advance eight more people in additon to the names previously called.

da da da duh...Jessica Lindsey.



so...needless to say...although i wasn't in the top five i did advance and i'll be singing Pat Benatar's We Belong at the state fair finals tomorrow:)


i'll let you know how things go

craig's list

it's an amazing thing, you know?

so, last night i got inspired. i posted two notices on craig's list...i also responded to a woman's post about needing a wedding singer for her ceremony.


and low and behold....

i got two responses.


one from a dad who wants me to give voice lessons to his daughter (i talked to him on the phone today...it seems very promising) and the other from the woman needing a vocalist for her wedding...


so who would have thought....i guess music can provide for various means of income...


we'll see if anyone else is interested...

this blog has nothing to do with music....

so, i'm in minneapolis right now...


actually at this exact moment, i'm sitting in my car in uptown, borrowing the internet from one of my favorite coffee shops in the entire world...

see, i'm too cheap to buy something...and i think it'd be rude to take up a chair, use the internet....AND not purchase anything...so i'll sit here...


so, i'm in minneapolis. my little sister is moving to college, the college i just graduated from, in fact, and it's so weird to be here. here's why:

last year, i was in leadership....like i hold a master key to the world leadership...and while not a lot of people knew me, i knew a lot of people. most of my friends were still going to school, and the place represented everything that was beautiful to me. relationships, learning, growing, you know...that good stuff. and now...here i am and i don't know more than 10% of the people i've been seeing for the past few days. most of my friends have graduated...and if they haven't...this is their year to be in 'i hold the master key to the world' leadership....so, they're really busy. so, i'm sitting here waiting to hang out with someone...there are a few people who i really want to see that have graduated....but they're busy too....my best best friends have all moved away from minneapolis...so i can't just call them up and go get....chipotle or redbox or tickets to a fabulous concert in town...


i guess all this to say...i think being in omaha is good for me. the changes i'm facing there are exciting...i'm really chasing my dreams...and since i'm not here in minneapolis, i don't have anything to mope about...cause everyone is a million miles away...

...and oddly it's easier to have people a million miles away from omaha while i'm there than it is to have them a million miles away from minneapolis while i'm here....


hmmm...growing up....

it's day number one...

well, it's actually a few weeks after day number one...

for the past few weeks i've been taking the first small steps on my journey for this portion of my life. i've started to record my first album...it's going to be a six-song album with two bonus tracks of variations of two of the songs on the cd. i guess you could call it and ep (even though that term originally meant 'extended play'). it's been interesting thus far.

the first time i met with my producer...that's right...i have a producer...we just talked through the logistics, then the next time we met i played all of the songs i've written that i would like to consider putting on the album. it was really exciting to have my producer (matt) pick almost all of the songs that i would want to record. i don't know how many of you have heard me play...seeing as how i didn't do much performing-other than classical-until i arrived here in omaha (which is another blog entirely). But, if you have....the songs we decided on are:

Crying Alone
Why don't you
Before
Johnny
This is love
Lady Monday
Bonus: Acoustic Why don't you
Acoustic Crying Alone

This album is seriously going to rock my face off. The first four songs will be full band songs-with drums, bass, guitar, strings, and piano...and whatever else we decide needs to be added. This is love will be a type of orchestral arrangement...and Lady Monday will be me and piano only...sorta a live feel. i'm going to be able to play a grand piano while recording the last four songs on the above list....it's going to blow my mind.

So, after that...i went in and scratch recorded those six songs for the musicians that will be playing for me...eh...i found out i'm no good at playing to a click track....and i play too many sixteenth notes when i accompany myself...

ha...

ok, so last night my drummer, matt (who also happens to be my producer) laid down the drum tracks to three of the songs. i was blown away....is this really happening? are my songs that i wrote really being put on a recording? am i really a musician?

i guess the appropriate answer to all of these questions is: yes.



So, as i go along....doing this whole music thing....you can find my thoughts here...sometimes they'll be scattered...sometimes they'll be funny....sometimes....they might even be...well, we'll just have to see won't we.


for now...that's all i have...

thanks for reading....


jessicalindsey

(i would like to say thank you to my friends melli and mari...i have been inspired to do this because of them....so, thanks guys)