Check this out!

I want to thank Katharine at TheFabulousWoman.com for the interview, article and posting my music on her magazine website.

This place is not only a GREAT place to find music, but other women that have fascinating stories about their lives and what they do.

Check 'em out:

The Fabulous Woman.com

Thank you Janine, Katharine and everyone at The Fabulous Woman for supporting my music.

More to come...

Reflections

Normally I would post this on New Years day..but I am feeling the need to write today. I have looked back the past year what I have accomplished and am feeling pretty good about it.

Thank you to Heath Vercher for giving me the great idea to write my goals down. Which I did, and have accomplished most of them for 2008. Today I will spend some time writing goals for 2009. One of my goals for 2009 is to release Trillium. I have a date in mind, however.. every time I have given dates to release this album, its jinxed it! hahaha. So, I will keep that date quiet until things look more together and more likely going to happen.

This year has been a rough one for me. I've gone through some very personal struggles, which I still am dealing with. I do have a positive outlook tho, I will never let these problems overwhelm me and beat me. Sure I have my bad days... but I refuse to be a victim. I refuse to let myself be overwhelmed. I will stand against the wind no matter how hard it blows.

Major changes going on in my life, all good. Nothing sad, just things I have needed to take care of for quite some time. I have the support of my family and friends and that is important to me. While I could go into all of this, its too personal for me to talk about openly. Just know, that I am happy with everything that is changing around me, and in me; its all good.

In my short life, I have learned many things. One of the many items of my personal growth is that we all are human. We all do things in our lives that may go against the status quo, or can hurt. I'm telling you, don't ever judge each other by some of the mistakes we make. Because, sooner or later the things we judge each other by will come into our own lives. Is better to love one another for who we are and not what we want each other to be. Each of us are different, viable, wonderful persons. How we live, what we do, happens to be personal choices. We all make mistakes, that is how we learn and grow.

I've made some fabulous friends in the past year. I feel very fortunate for having all of you in my life and making a difference in my life. I thank you for your love, friendship and support.

This coming 2009 I feel as if I am on the brink of new challenges. Although, I don't welcome the painful growth that come with those trials, I welcome the better person that I will become.

Wishing you all a Happy 2009 filled with your desires.

More to come...

New rough Mixes of Midnight and Nantucket posted..

Click here to listen: New Music

NEWS! I just uploaded rough mixes of Midnight and Nantucket! Go listen, eat some chocolate, comment, party, drink some champaign..or hot chocolate...

Midnight features me on the Steinway B, Jeff Oster on Flugelhorn and Eugene Friesen Cello. Nantucket has me on the Steinway B, T Bone Wolk on Bass guitar and Accordion, David Cullen on Acoustic Guitar.

I go back to Imaginary Road Studios in January to record The Crystal Fields and A Roses Tale.

The big question burning in your minds, I am sure is when.. WHEN???!!!! I don't want to set a date because then I might jinx it. Just know its early 2009.

More to come...

Imaginary Road Studios Monday November 17

Monday morning came very fast. I was running a bit late, I needed to be up at the studio before 9:30am. I ran out the door and made it to the studio just as T Bone was setting down the bass guitar track down.

What a treat for me to watch this legend play such effortlessly. He got the track down, and then we listened to Nantucket and it sounded fab, of course. T Bone then went to get his accordion. He felt that it would sound great with the song. I was not so sure. When he started to play the track with Nantucket.. wow, it really added to the song. I enjoyed talking with him and enjoying his quick wit, and just the fun person he is.



After T Bone, we had lunch from the awesome Newfane Cafe. Food from there was fabulous.

Then Jeff Oster came to the studio to put down the Flugelhorn track for Midnight. The whole time I was at Imaginary Road, the studio has a very magical quality about it. I don't know if that was just me, or what.. I still feel that way.



The day started to take on a more chilly feel outside. While Jeff was recording his track, snow flurries were falling outside. I can't tell you what I felt then. It was as if, Nature was adding its say to the music.



I took this photo during the session. It was very surreal. Once Jeff added the horn tracks, we all sat down to listen to what was accomplished. I. was. IN. tears. I know that sounds silly.. but I cannot tell you how this meant to me to be there, to work like this and to hear the music turn out the way I have always wanted to hear it. With Jeff and Eugene on Midnight with me on the Steinway, I could not stop myself from getting emotional. I can't wait to share what we accomplished that day. I must be patient tho. Once I receive the mixes from Corin, I'll be posting the music for you to preview.

Thank you for being with me along this journey. Its been about 2 and a half years in the making. We have more work to do.

More to come..

Imaginary Road Studios Sunday November 16

Sunday November 16th, the morning came with some clear yet very bone chilling cold weather. I received a phone call in the morning from Will to come into the studio and rehearse. So I grabbed a quick breakfast and was off. ( are u kidding.. to play on the Steinway B.. I am like so THERE! lol )

Most of the leaves were off the trees while being there in November. The pine trees have their moment because they are so green. The river I drove along kept tempting me to stop driving and just get out of the car and watch it roll merrily down its course. I saw one of those covered bridges. I should have taken the time to walk through it and take pictures however, I didn't because the piano was haunting me to come and play it.

I arrived and went inside and started playing my heart out. To feel the piano's keys under my hands.. surrendering to my touch, what a beautiful feeling to play a piano that felt and sounded real. I had not been on a piano of this caliber since my college days. Sure I have an upright here in my home studio.. but oh to have a Steinway at my finger tips. THIS was heaven! To be alone with this instrument oh... such rapture. I can't even tell you the feelings I had playing.

The day wore on, I can't even remember what I had for lunch and what I did, because I was distracted by the piano. I know I talked with Will for a bit. I then went back to the hotel. Jeff Oster came into town to be on Midnight on Monday, so I was able to spend some time with him and talk with him about the music. Its so cool to meet like minded musicians that feel the same way I do about music.

More to come...

Imaginary Road Studios Weekend

Saturday November 15, I slept in till 9:30am. I never EVER get to do that. I have some boys that like to wake up at 6am. Very annoying for the sleepy musician I am. I spose I would miss them if they were not around. More on that later.

I read for a while, then I got up and at 'em. Went to breakfast, then I decided to brave the soggy, wet weather and drive around the area. I drove into New Hampshire from downtown Brattleboro. What a crazy town..very busy for such a small town. I came back, and then drove to NewFane, VT. The drive there is very picturesque. I even saw one of those covered bridges I've seen in pictures. Such a romantic thing I don't know why tho. Maybe its a chick thing.

I drove to Tom and Sally's handmade chocolates and bought some gifts for family and friends. What a trip.. .they had this chocolate paint.. hahaha. I will leave you to your imagination on that one.

I then drove into NewFane and went to eat lunch at the NewFane Cafe. Talk about a great place to eat. They have this great Turkey Harvest sandwich.. I wish I could have brought some home. I think I will improvise and make some after Thanksgiving. I got talking to the locals, and met this guy named Edward Brown, a local artist that has been everywhere.. and when I mean everywhere I mean worldwide. He asked my what my passion was, I told him Music. He told me he knew it! I guess it takes one to know one. ; ) We talked about everything, anything. It was like we were old friends catching up after a long absence. I used to think Kindred Spirits were a rarity. Lately I've been finding them everywhere. His passion is living and art. I wasn't too sure about talking to him in the beginning..because he was a bit muddy and scruffy looking.. however, you can never judge a book by its cover.. so what the hell, I talked with him.


He bought me lunch. I must have stayed there an hour or so, and it went by so fast. He gave me some of his artwork and unfortunately I didn't have any of my CDs with me, so I gave him a card with my website on it.

I told him.. I'd like to pay him for buying my lunch.. and he said.. nope, just pay it forward. I will do that.

After I spent all that time, I drove to an antique shop. I love old things. I have never seen one so stocked with so much in my life. Normally its a few things and china.. this guy had it loaded with so much. He had two secretary desks that one was made of maple and in pristine condition.. it was made in the 1750's and the other one was out of oak I think.. and it was an 1800's secretary with secret drawers. The shipping would have soaked me so I will have something to look forward to when I go back. I have two of those secretary desks here, one made of dark maple and the other out of dark cherry. I found a tea cup/saucer that was in the old Flo Blue china pattern. It is beautiful.

By the time I was done, it was starting to get dark. I began my journey back to the motel.. and stopped to take some pictures of the drive. The 30 is so picturesque and with all the low lying clouds, and the rain.. it was surreal.

I went to get a simple dinner at the local grocery store, a sandwich and a delicious Vermont apple. Their apples are fabulous. Never thought I'd find apples there were comparable to Washington ones...or even better! I loved the freedom I had there. I could come and go as I pleased, I could do whatever I wanted. I never get to do that. Very Cool..

More to come...

Imaginary Road Studios Day 3

Friday November 14, 2008 dawned a new day for us to work with Eugene Friesen ( Grammy Cellist ) and David Cullen ( Grammy guitarist).

I drove to Will's place again, my thoughts were everywhere. My main thought was, the mapping of the music, and how well it went. I will never forget that gift of being able to map out my music this way from now on.

Corin played the music.. and yes a new day had everything sounding much better. I am still the worst critic of my own music, but you know, I can listen to it now without saying, Oh that sounds bad, or wish I had tweaked that... its all coming together.

I got there, and David Cullen had driven from PA. This man has quite a talent. I made some changes to Nantucket.. which I told him b4 we started working. To hear the guitar on my song was amazing. He took the initiative to add a better guitar line than what I have in the current mix of Nantucket in my player.

I think it took all of 2 hours to get that track done with the guitar track in it.

Then Eugene Friesen came into the studio. Cello almost always makes me cry.. and when I tell you that on Midnight, Eugene totally interpreted the song perfectly, and I totally was crying. By the time we finished I was emotionally drained.

When I tell you this experience there was SO creative, pure heaven for me.. its true!

In between all of this, I was enjoying conversations with everyone. The beauty of Will's place, driving all over Brattleboro, just was surreal for me. How often do I get to go on my own to work on my music? Not often.. and this was truly a gift for me. It was like Christmas every day for me... sound silly? Well its true.

So... there I was, drained ready to go back to the motel. Which I did. I did happen to talk with some of the locals in Newfane, VT.. at the Newfane Cafe earlier in the day. WHAT a great bunch of people. I passed out business cards, and they gave me theirs. I truly enjoyed myself.

Anyway.. the weekend was mine to explore and do what I wished.. so that I could rest up for Monday.

More to come...

Imaginary Road Studios Day 1

Thursday, November 13 was the day of many firsts for me. I could not sleep before, I was a bit anxious. I thought I was going to have to write out all the songs on manuscript paper. So you can imagine my stress level was pretty high.

I drove out to Will's place, and it was a lovely drive. There is this river along side the 30 that was so enchanting. It calmed me down sort of! lol...

I parked my GPS challenged car, and went into the warm studio. I immediately sat down and started playing my heart out on the Steinway B. I am going to own one of those one day. Yup. .I am. I filmed me playing the piano. I have this cool little vid camera called the Flip Mino and it fits on this cute little tripod. I got some good piano time. Will came into the sound room and we started to map out the music. NO, notation.. just mapping like this: A B A C ...etc... and if the song has some special qualities.. we name that particular part. I nearly fainted with relief when they worked with me this way. It has helped me immensely! I remember my own music much better than in the past. So that is going to be one of the things in my own production that I will be using.

Midnight was first to be recorded. I think we did about 10 takes. Was very hard.. he directed me and pulled things out of me I had no idea I had in me. Each take focused on one part or other in the song. Then Corin would edit the parts together. I've never done that b4 and it was a tad bit scary.. however, Will and Corin gave me assurances that I was doing fine. Normally a musician has time to ease into how they do things... well, I didn't have the luxury of time on my side.. but you know, I really became focused on the the work at hand. Midnight took much of the day to finish.

Went to lunch, and then came back to work. In between all of this, Will took the time to get to know me. Talked with me, asked me about myself. He really put me at ease. He also talked about himself. That is a sign of a very down to earth person. He really is a good man. Corin was mixing the song together.. man that guy is GREAT. He really understands Will's preferences.. etc. I was extremely pleased. Oh yes.. the ceremonies of cutting the fingernails off was quite an event! lol.. NO clicking... my teachers all told me my nails would bite me in the rear end one day! hahah.

We then began to work on Nantucket. Again, we mapped it out, pulled out some non essential parts to the song.. and made it into music. I think we finished around 7pm. My head was aching, my ears hurt... I know we were all exhausted. I was very unsure of how I did. Once again they assured me, the next day everything would sound better.

I drove back to the Colonial Motel where I was staying. I was extremely happy with how everything went. So happy, that I went to sleep and I slept like a rock.

Take a look at the photos I posted so you can see what I am talking about.

More to come...

Imaginary Road Studios Part 1

Greetings everyone!

I am finally home from Vermont. I now can tell you all about it. I will need to break up the experiences in separate blog entries.. as it would take an HUGE amount of time to write a HUGE blog. I can't even sit still to read long blogs.. so this will be short.

I left on November 11 to go work at Imaginary Road Studios in Windham County, VT. And yes I worked with Will Ackerman and Corin Nelson.

I flew from Orange County, to Atlanta, then connected and flew into Hartford, CT. All of this was going out of my comfort zone. So I was just a tiny bit stressed. I then picked up my car and drove up into Vermont. Now.. here in CA, you have to drive hours b4 you get out of the state.. well, it was a mighty different xperience for me to drive from CT, to Mass and then to VT, all in a matter of an hour and a half.

It was dark by the time I got there.. so I was a bit anxious about my surroundings as the rental car I had did not have GPS... I really was annoyed by that. However, I prevailed and got there around 10pm. I stayed at the Colonial Motel off of Putney Road in Brattleboro.

I was VERY tired when I got there. I was happy to have a place to sleep at. I did not have any expectations of what would happen there.

Tomorrow I will write about my first day at Imaginary Road. TOTALLY rockn place.

More to come...

K

November Update

How did it become November? I have been exhausted, over worked, stressed, excited, can't sleep all in the past weeks. I am looking forward to the coming week.

I was able to sleep 12 hours Saturday night which is HUGE miracle in my life. Considering 4 children that enjoy waking me up in the middle of the night. Everyone went to bed and stayed there!! yay!

I feel like a little kid at Christmas because one week from tomorrow I fly to Vermont to record music. I think the weather is going to shock me. I have not been in the cold since 1980. I left Minnesota when I was 15 and moved to Texas. So.. I plan on taking lots of warm clothing.. I just might take my M&M blankie with me! ( I do so love that furry.. it keeps me so warm). I am SUCH a wimp when it comes down to being cold.. but I just LOVE layering the sweaters.. etc.

What you should know:

1. Trillium is still in production. We have 4 songs to finish - Midnight, Nantucket, A Roses Tale and The Crystal Fields. Midnight and Nantucket will be recorded in Vermont. A Roses Tale and The Crystal Fields will be recorded here and then Jeff Silverman will be helping with Mixing/Mastering and Sound Design. Lots of work to do still.

2. Website is re-designed. Pete Havey gets the Grammy for getting it done! You can visit here: Kori's Website

3. You can purchase digital tracks from my website of the Trillium songs we have finished! Kori's Shop

Drop me a line, say hello tell me what your favorite song is so far. I do enjoy hearing from you all.

Take care and next week I'll be blogging from Vermont!

More to come...

K

Bah Humbug Politics!

KSBR Morning Breeze Cruise.. My thoughts..

As you all know, I went to Dana Point to the Ocean Institute, and participated in KSBR's Morning Breeze Cruise. It was a cool day, but I had SO much fun. I never get sea sick, which is really nice. I think my family all would have gotten a bit green on the boat because there were some pretty good ocean swells going on out there. We saw a pod of dolphins.

What was amazing about them, is they swim in front of the boat... and I got a little nervous they might get hurt, but DJ and some of the volunteers told me they are fast, and they don't get hurt. I got a lot of them on film.. so once I do the edit of my video, I'll be uploading it on my website.

I brought my Yamaha keyboard with me. I didn't have my husband with me, or any of the children.. so I was on my own to bring my equipment on board. While waiting, I met the Jazz! Music Director for KSBR. She and her friend offered to help me with my gear.. so that was cool. NO more hauling out the HUGE Korg. THAT was very nice. I am SO glad I did not have to make a huge production out of taking that beastie with me.

I did play Midnight and Nantucket for them. Since there was SO much wildlife going on.. I didn't play much more of my music after that. That was ok.. because I really enjoyed seeing what was out there.

I came home tired. I had a really good weekend.. in that I was able to rehearse 6 hours on Saturday.. then after about an hour break, I was able to add two more hours onto that. 8 hours of music time. THAT was SO cool... i NEVER get to do that in one day. I am lucky to get in maybe 2 hours at night.

Tonight I am taking things real easy. I feel like I am trying to get a cold. So I have my M&M's furry blanket wrapped around me to keep me warm. I am thinking about going to bed early. Normally, I stay up until 2 am working. Or I go to bed and get up about 1 and work until 3am. Then I am up again at 5am.... freakin awful schedule I know.. but when my muse romances me.. I gotta respond else I cannot sleep. I MUST obey.

November is on the horizon. I am so stoked to go back into studio and work. I love it. I could eat, sleep and drink studio work.

More to come...

K

Website re-design is LIVE!

I am SO excited right now because my website's facelift has finished and is live!!!! Yay! I am beyond happy.

Pete: Thank you! You did an excellent job. I cannot tell you in words my appreciation for the hard job you have done on this. Thank you for putting up with my nitpicking on the grammar/spelling. You totally rock man. I bow to you!

I hope you all enjoy visiting the new pages. My daughters did much of the artwork you see there. The rest are photos by Jason Wallis Photography. Paul Franco took the studio pics with Jim McCarty that are on the "Photo Gallery"
pages.

Website link is:

Kori's Website

iRoknNod Records is up and running too! check it out!

iRoknNod Records

Thanks everyone for your support, emails, phone calls, everything.

YAY!

October

I will take this time during the debate to do something NON-political. ( For those of you that know me.. know that I absolutely can't stand politics) So.. here are some thoughts about the time of year we are at, what is coming.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I always get hankering to be where the leaves are in a state of change. I also love the chill in the air. Where did the time go? Summer just flew by.. I guess because I was having fun. I feel like I am changing too. There are SO many things that are touching my heart, my soul. I don't like to change, because there is always some personal growth associated with that.... and sometimes it can be painful. But I always like what happens to me afterwards. I feel better, I am better.

This month I am working on A Roses Tale. I got so burnt out in September, that I worked on other things, getting a routine with the family because of school. I even wrote a few new songs. I am now digging into what needs to get done.

November wow.. that month is going to be incredible. I will be in Studio from the 13th until the 17th, recording Midnight and Nantucket. When I feel ready to announce WHAT studio and who I am working with, I'll let you know.

My re-designed website is almost done. I am excited for you all to be able to see it. My daughters did some of the artwork and Pete has been doing a fabulous job incorporating all the fun pieces of art they did for me.

Pete.. have I told you that you totally rock ? Well, I'm telling you again! You DA MAN! Thank YOU!

More to come...

K

Memories

21 years ago, my nephew JD passed on. I was given the extraordinary gift of taking care of him in the summer before he left this world. He'd wake me up in the morning in a game of peeking from his bed. I'd open my eyes, he'd hide. He would never want any of us out of his sight. At night I'd take him outside and hold him while he would look up at the stars in the sky. I'd sing quietly to him.

He touched so many in his short life. I only wish was that he would have continued living.

I am grateful that he and I crossed paths and that my sister trusted me enough take care of him for that short moment in my life....

September - November

Ok... I have now uploaded all six songs that we have finished so far for "Trillium". You can listen either at my website or on MySpace. Links:

Kori's Website
MySpace

I'll be getting ready to record Midnight and Nantucket in November . I also plan on visiting family for Thanksgiving. Is it already time to do that? Time is moving along so quickly.

The rest of this month, I will be working on A Roses Tale, Midnight and Nantucket. Hopefully we'll finish A Roses Tale in October.

My website is still under construction. We have so much to add, like a digital download shop! You'll be able to download mp3's directly from my web shop. You also be able to purchase CDs from there as well. Pete Havey is doing a fabulous job.. he's been sending me previews of the pages.. and I am extremely excited! Pete.. you da man!

iRoknNod Records website is also under construction. We are no where near being finished. Hopefully by the end of October we will be up with new additions.

More as I know it!

K

XM

Great news to share with you all. XM's Channel 76 Fine Tunings is picking up the surround sound mixes of Blue Ice, Nez Perce and Tangled Up!!!!

My thanks to Jeff Silverman for his fabulous talent of Sound Design/Mixing/Mastering, Tom Shinness for his excellent work on Blue Ice, Jim McCarty for his excellent work on Drums for Tangled Up and Randy Landas on Bass!! Kathleen Monahan at KDM and for Jeff Oster for his encouragement when we worked together in March on Dancin in the Clouds!

You guys totally rock!

Lets partaaaay!

K

The Schmooze

Well, I think my head has cleared up from exhaustion from Sunday’s event(s). I really had a great day. My first order of business was going on KSBR’s Morning Breeze Cruise with DJ Thornton and performing was Jeff Oster.

I was a bit nervous to get on this boat. Its called the Explorer and it launches from the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor. It has been a while since I’ve been on a boat..and I wasn’t sure if I would have my “sea legs” in good order. Lucky for me, I was just fine. The waves were not that bad! I wore my waffle stomper shoes.. ie: shoes that won’t slip or slide.. they just kept me standing which was a good thing! It was SO excellent to see DJ and Jeff again. It was since March since Jeff and I worked on Dancin in the Clouds. So it was fun to see/hear him play his music on the cruise. I will be doing the cruise in October. I look forward to that. I will NOT be able to bring my beastie of a Korg onto that boat! lol... I think I will need to invest in a smaller keyboard. I am looking around for one.

We were out on the ocean for about an hour methinks.. and had a grand time. Saw the same old sea lions. BUT we did see some porpoises, I was able to film a pod of them swimming around out there. We were hoping to see a Blue Whale.. but didn’t happen. OH well there is always next time.

We came back, and then it was time for the Schmooze. WHAT an awesome event! Evran Ozan, Denise Young, John Luttrell and Jeff Oster all performed. Nope I was a spectator! I loved watching them play live. I took a lot of video with my Flip Mino camera. Its a pretty good little video camera. It does have a problem tho, zooming in takes the quality out of the picture. Something to remember.

DJ did a fabulous job putting it all together, she had some GREAT sponsors: What a Dish, Two Guys Grilling, Its All About the Cake, Amazing Grapes, Sugar Pie’s Coffee House and Bakery. Elements in Harmony, Mahi joined in and brought out some sushi, The DoubleTree Guest Suites in Doheny Beach. It was also her birthday too. Totally rockn DJ... thanks for supporting our music!!!!

Evran Ozan is amazing. This is a 15 yr old guy, that plays Native American Flute. He did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed his sound.

Denise Young came on stage and played her keyboard.. she is a lovely woman and her music reflects that. I really enjoyed listening to her play. Jeff came up with her on stage to do a song with her called “Autumn Colors” It was so beautiful!

John Luttrell came up next, he had his crew with him, Kal Drakopoulous and Robert Murray. They did a great job as well. I have heard him on KSBR’s Morning Breeze and I met him there as well. He’s a very down to earth guy and his music brings you into his world.

Jeff Oster came up with Lars Hidde and Kelly Park. I have never seen him play live, and so this was a treat for me. It was fun to hear him play and watch him play the Flugelhorn and trumpet. His style reminds me of the many times I listened to Herb Alpert when I was a kid. Of course he was one of Jeff’s influences and one of mine as well. He definitely has his own style of writing which really comes from his heart. I love it when musicians write this way. All of them that night had a magic quality to their sound. Oddly enough, I found out that Denise, John and Evran live in the area!!!! Why are we not playing more? Its all about pop and rock, but our music definitely has its own qualities that I think would be a blast to explore since there are quite a few of us living here. It shocks and amazes me that more venues don’t take advantage of us since we DO live in the area, we could give some awesome concerts. I am going to have to work with The Irvine Spectrum and get us all on stage there. I think we’d pull in quite a few people. What do you think?

I will be uploading video once its all edited and good to go.

In short, I truly felt so inspired after a very rough summer. Music wise it was great, I set a goal to finish six of the 9 songs I am doing for Trillium and accomplished that goal. Personally I’ve struggled and still am, but I know all will turn out fine. After the concert, I feel very inspired to just continue to learn and grow.

Thank you SO much for your support and your comments, emails and friendship. You truly keep me inspired.

Namaste,

Kori

September Updates

I am blissfully sleepy, I did not get home until 12am last night from the Schmooze. Let me say that I had a great time yesterday and at the concert last night. I met a lot of amazing people and musicians. I'll blog about that later on this week once I get my head together and some video of it as well.

For now, I have a few things I need to tell you. We added a new musician spotlight to my website and uploaded all of the finished songs from Trillium. Aeone is the September Spotlight. Also, the newly designed website will have a digital download store.

For now, I am crazy busy trying to get the week planned out for family, music.

I keep telling you all thank you.. I really mean it. Thanks.

Peace in Music,

K

Lately...

Ahhh the weekend is here. I have finally recovered from my trip to Nashville. We accomplished a TON this summer. 6 songs mixed, 3 of which are surround sound mixes and 3 of them are mastered and ready to upload onto my digital download store when we re-launch the website! Totally rockn now!

I have to thank Pete Havey, Jeff Silverman for their hard work!!!! You guys totally rock. I could NOT do all of this without your help.

Now we have 3 more songs to go, A Roses Tale, Midnight and Nantucket. I will be starting from the ground with A Roses Tale. I learned something VERY important with that song. BACK UP YOUR WORK! lol.. DON't LEAVE the computer without doing that. Whether it is music, art, writing, photos.. etc.. you do NOT want to lose your hard work.

This weekend I take a break from composing etc.. and play. Saturday will be busy with the family. Sunday I go to the KSBR Morning Breeze Schmooze which will be a lot of fun!

Enjoy your weekend and have a GREAT Labor Day!

Peace in Music,

Kori

I made it back home from Nashville after a very productive week of mixing in surround sound and stereo. Blue Ice, Nez Perce and Tangled Up sound very amazing in surround sound.

Now I need to finish planning our school year and be ready to teach.  

Thank you for being so supportive!

Peace in Music,

Kori 

A Gentle Reminder...

Hey everyone...

I wanted to remind you that I will be on KSBR Radio 88.5 Jazz FM, The Morning Breeze with DJ Thornton; tomorrow morning( Saturday August 9, 2008) from 8am Pacific to 9am Pacific. We will be offering previews of Nez Perce and Tangled Up on the airwaves/internet.

You can tune in via internet as well here is the link for that:

KSBR LISTEN LIVE

If you live in the SoCal area, come on out to the KSBR Schmooze in Dana Point on Sunday August 31, 2008. For more info please click on the link below:

KSBR Morning Breeze Schmooze

Come join us.. Jeff Oster, John Lutrell, Denise Young and Evren Ozan will be there performing! Also What A Dish, and Two Guys Grilling will be providing tasty vittles. Wine provided by Amazing Grapes!

Thank you all for your wonderful support!

Kori

Lazy Days of August...

I have been battling a sinus infection. WHO in the summertime gets these things? Pete...DON't answer that! lol Its all your fault. :P

I am actually feeling a little better. I hope by the end of this week I'll be 100%. I get mighty cranky when I get sick. I don't like slowing down, however this thing stopped me from doing anything since Monday. I am actually feeling energetic enough to think about what I am doing this month.

August is when I feel the laziest, but that can't happen this time because I am going to Nashville to do some mixing and working on a few songs in surround sound. Blue Ice we'll be adding some really fun instrumentation to it as well. I am feeling very inspired by it.

This month also, I'll be on KSBR on Saturday August 9th from 8am Pacific to 9am Pacific. I hope you'll join us in the a.m. Because Tangled Up and Nez Perce are being previewed on the airwaves that day. So grab your favorite morning beverage, newspaper and listen in. I always have a blast when I am with DJ.

As you all know, my home life is always somewhat un-predictable. A week ago our 7 year old son called 911 - UNBEKNOWNST to us until we get a phone call from the Orange County Sheriffs Dept. About 7:30am this is the phone call we received: Me "ummm a hello?" "Yes this is the Orange County Sheriff's Department.. did you just call 911?" Me: "ummm.. what? No!" "Yes you did... do you have kids?" Me "ahhh.. yes we have 4. ( I am fully awake by now) Let me ask them." I calmly but quickly run downstairs located this wiley boy of ours and directly asked him.. "Did you call 911?" I gave him the MOM KNOWS YOU DID IT look. He tells me Yes I did. Good boy.. no lies there. "Would you please put him on the phone". Me: "Yes Ma'am". She proceeds to ream him. I get back on the phone with her. Me: "Thank you for your help". She says.."You make sure he doesn't do that again". Me: "Yes Ma'am.. no problem".

I nearly faint with exasperation. I asked him WHY he called 911. He told me he wanted to use the new phones to call someone! LOL. I said.. next time you get itchy to call anyone, please call me on my cell phone!

Children....

Overload

The past few weeks have been extremely emotional. In the last few days my father in law was/is in the hospital in serious condition. In fact it is so serious, that the Doc told us to bring everyone in the family home. Its a trying time for my family.

Other things have popped up, but it would take all night to write about that.

Today Nez Perce is the next song to be finished with mixing. Jeff Silverman truly caught the vision of this song. I uploaded it onto MySpace and on my website as well. KoriTunes.com

Come on by and listen!

More to come...

Songs I am working on...

I am rehearsing for the next song to be worked on. Actually.. there are three that I am working on. First I will write about Nez Perce.

Nez Perce, is inspired by the Nez Perce nation. Its my way of expressing my feelings about their story. For those of you that don't know much about them, I would ask you to visit these websites:

Chief Joseph

Nez Perce Tribe

I first learned about this tribe when in Junior High. My history teacher had us watch: " I Will Fight No More Forever". It was about Chief Joseph and his tribe, how so many things went wrong from the get go when people started settling in the Wallowa Valley. My heart ached, I felt so sad about what happened. About a year ago, I found this movie on DVD, and watched it again. Once again I was touched by their story. Before I bought my first Native American Flute, I composed a song that sang about my feelings about their story. Now I am ready to record it at Sonikwire Studios on July 15th using the Korg as the accompaniment and my Native American Flute as the main instrument. I am so excited to be finally doing this.

I've been searching for someone from the tribe to see if I could get a recording from them speaking Chief Joseph's words in their native language. So far, I have yet to have an answer to my research. I am determined. I know that somehow, I'll find a way.

The other two songs I am working on are A Roses Tale, and Blue Ice. A Roses Tale I am re-doing all the parts from the ground up. I lost some of the files that I had and so I've got to record everything all over again. *sigh*.. BUT I am feeling very inspired that it will all work out.

Blue Ice is completely Korg Synth right now, I am looking forward to having this one recorded. Its the most ambient of the songs from Trillium.

The facelift for my website is coming along quite nicely. I can't wait for you all to see it! Our girls did some of the artwork you'll see on it.

That is what I am up to for the remainder of July.

More to come...

Tangled Up and Carpe Diem are sounding amazing.  Lots of good karma going on in the creation of the music. 

July

Happy July everyone! Hunkering down for this month's insane schedule. I have myself to blame for that.. BUT I like crazy busy. Here is the lowdown:

Carpe Diem is mixed, will work on tweaking it in August.
Tangled Up, is getting mixed.
A Roses Tale is getting remixed - hurry and d/l the copy I have up for free.

My website is currently getting a facelift. I am not sure when the re-launch for it is. Its going to be fabulous. We will have our own download store using my favorite player.. Wimpy Rave! Just keep an eye out for it.

Middle of July, I am recording Nez Perce. I am hoping it all works out. Then IT gets mixed. 5 more songs to get mixed after that. I am sure you all are wondering WHEN the CD gets released. I'll tell ya when I know that with a definite date.

Ah.. one more thing, my website has a really cool widget on the front page. Its a Twitter box. Its a mini blog of sorts.. I can text from my phone what i am doing at any given moment. So you can go by and check out whatever I am doing.. sleeping, doing laundry, umm.. lets see.. working on music! ALSO on my "contact" page there is another widget.. its a shout box. You can visit that page and type a message to me and I'll be able to see it. Its like a little chat box.

OH.. and one more thing... LOL... I'm sure you noticed the new page when you visit my profile and the new photos. I am very impressed how well they turned out. Message me which one is your favorite to go on the CD cover and if I choose what you suggest, I'll send you a free copy of the CD when its released, AND mention you in my liner notes!

Thanks again for the messages, comments and support you have given me. As always..

Peace in Music,

Kori

Check out my Slide Show!

KSBR 88.5 Jazz FM

This morning I spent some time with DJ of the Morning Breeze. We totally enjoyed ourselves and chatted as usual. I want to thank her for taking the time to talk about Trillium and play Carpe Diem and Dancin in the Clouds and playing them on the air.

I did come on earlier than planned today. So if you missed it, sorry about that. There will always be next time! :)

I am feeling quite blessed by Jeff Oster, Seay, Heath Vercher, Jeff Silverman, Jim McCarty, Sonikwire Studios,my family with the creation of this album. I wish I could express my thoughts in words, however I tend to express myself better musically. Trillium is that expression!

Wishing you all a wonderful weeek!

Namaste,

Kori

Some things you should know...

I am in the middle of editing Tangled Up.. and decided to take a quick breather to update you on some things.

On Sunday June 22, 10am Pacific - 11am Pacific, I'll be on KSBR 88.5 Radio, the Morning Breeze Program with DJ Thornton. I hope you will tune in here:

Listen LIVE KSBR

I am in crunch mode to finish the tracks for Tangled Up, so that on Tuesday June 24, Jim McCarty, Randy Landas will be putting the drum/bass line in. Looking forward to that.

After that.. the rest of the songs will be set up for mixing. Nez Perce will be recorded in July at Sonikwire.

I want you to know I now have Tania Elizalde on board as THE graphic artist extraordinaire for Trillium's artwork. She did the artwork for Heath Vercher's CD "Soul Fire".

Tania Elizalde

Thanks to you all for your support, emails, messages. I definately enjoy hearing from you and your support means so much to me.

More to come...

If you will indulge me...

I am reminded every once in a while that I am a Mom of 4 kids. Today was one of those days.

I got up about 6am, walked with a friend of mine. I came home.. and realized we had a full day ahead of us. Piano lessons at noon, and two doctor appointments for the boys. The lessons were fun, as I take the boys to the park and let them run amok. The girls have their lessons and we were there for an hour and a half. Its so nice to let the boys burn off energy! Then we hauled it over to the doc office.

All of the kids were with me, the two boys were getting check ups, our 5 yr old was getting 4 shots, and our 7 year old was getting his Varicella vaccine.

I thought that since the younger ones had run around, that they would be mellow. HA HA HA.... I am laughing at the experience because they were crazy. Not only were the boys in rare form, the girls were a bit squirrely. The boys... oh man... talk about "entertainment". Dr. Pittaluga was dying laughing at their antics. I could only smile and laugh too.. as its just such a typical day with them even more so today. They were showing off at what they could do. 5 yro would say ( when testing his hearing he could hear the beep) " I hear the wax moving along in there!" LMBO! Then we had to tell her about the McFly dance. We have this nickname for our 7 yro son... and its McFly. He proceeds to do this dance when we call him that. Its very menacing, full of music and sound effects provided by him of course. I am turning red as he does this. 5 yro son NOT to be outdone.. is trying to climb up out of the window.. by climbing on his 14 yro sister.

Finally, its time for immunizations. I neglect to tell 5 yro son, that they will poke him with a needle to give him a shot. He ends up waling at the top of his voice, and I calmly explained to him.. I forgot to tell you they do that when you get a shot. He looks at me and says, I am NEVER coming here again and WHY did they poke me for?!!. My bad. 7 yro son knew what was coming, he didn't EVEN flinch. Didn't cry. I was shocked.. he's the one that usually melts down. *sigh* The intern was the one that gave him his shot, that was amazing in itself.

I took all of them to a local frozen yogurt shop for being somewhat good and that seemed to help our youngest son forget about the HORRID experience.

I could write more.. but I don't want to embarrass my children too badly! lol... I just could NOT let this one go away without blogging about it.

Two new songs Posted..

Just received the new mix for Carpe Diem today from Jeff Silverman! WOW WOW!!! Seay will be putting the vocal tracks soon. We are prepping it for 5.1 surround sound mixing. So lots of tracks on this piece!!!

Tangled Up is posted as well. I will be putting it up on my player at my website in the next couple of days.

Thanks for all of your support!

Peace in Music,

Kori

A Roses Tale

You can download A Roses Tale for free on MySpace page. You can click the title of this blog and it will take you to my profile and you can download it! : )

June is here, Carpe Diem is the next song to get mixed, A Roses Tale is due for a remix. Tangled Up gets drum/bass tracks. I also will be getting new photos. Its been since 2005. So I guess its time to get some new ones done.

Nez Perce is going to get recorded in July. My new flute is amazing. The sound of it is pure bliss!

Blue Ice, InSync, Trillium, Nu Beginnings will be the next songs I'll be working on to get mixed. Midnite and Nantucket will be worked on in October. I'll tell you more about that later on.

Thank you for your support!

Peace in Music,

Kori

Minor Website changes...

Hey Everyone...

We just finished adding some additional things onto my website. Like: links to iRoknNod Records webpage, new musician links, a Twitter Box, a ShoutBox on my contact page! Click on the title of this post and it will take you over to my website!

Thanks bunches for your support!

Peace in Music,

Kori

Bought a new flute!

A new Native American Flute. I was hoping I was going to get it yesterday.. now I need to wait until Tuesday!!! I hate waiting.... so much for patience!

Why did I buy a new one? The one I am currently using was my first flute I bought.. however, it was not concert tuned. Probably why I was losing my mind when I played it @ my concert with Heath in April. It is in the key of A.

I hope to purchase more flutes. I hope to find an Irish flute that my hands can reach. I bought a beauty of an Irish Flute about a year ago, and I had to return it because it was made for a man's hands. HOW RUDE! lol

Anyway, I'll be recording Nez Perce in July with the new flute! yay!

More to come...

K

InSync...

InSync will be the first one on the CD "Trillium". It is an introduction to what your listening experience will be like: Extremely diverse. However, I'll talk about that later in this post. I will probably extend the songs length as a few of you wanted more after hearing such a short clip of it. It actually isn't a clip.. its only a minute long..but I am sure to add more to it. To listen to it, go to the link click on it under the title of this blog.

This album is different than anything I have done in the past. I'll have songs that are strictly electronic and songs that will combine the electronic with the acoustic instrumentation. Lots of percussion/drums. The "theme" of Trillium is that it is number 3 for me. Many of you will experience.. Wow the music is so different. This is the direction I have been heading for. I have more tools at my disposal and I can combine the acoustic with the electronic much easier AND I am having many guest musicians working with me. Already, you know Jeff Oster and Seay are contributing. Jim McCarty is my drummer. I am keeping a lid on the other musicians that will be joining me until we have the songs "in the can".

You are experiencing what I am. I am writing about it all, I am showing you what it takes to get the music done the way I want it done. The video and pictures are my way of letting you "in on the fun".

I thank you so much for taking the time to be a part of this musical journey.

Peace in Music,

Kori

Celebrating!

We are celebrating the birth of iRoknNod Records, we received official documents today in the mail and everything is all set up and done.

I think I will celebrate without getting too goofy. Let me say, thank you for your support!

Peace in Music,

Kori

Video

Ok.. I worked all day yesterday getting this video uploaded, designed etc. This is when I was in the studio with Jeff Oster in March. Its not the best quality.. but I did it and I am sure I'll learn more! hehehe

Having some fun...

After handing over Dancin in the Clouds to Jeff Silverman's capable hands I took the week off to have a little bit of fun. Nothing really special, catching up on House MD. I really get a kick out of watching that show. Hugh Laurie plays a curmudgeon of a Doctor. The dialogue is exceptional, the story lines are just plain fun.

The week has been fraught with various hiccups. Lets just say, some of the stuff I've had to deal with was intense daily "mundane fires" I had to put out. Being a Mom of four very busy kids ( especially the boys) is never boring. I think I've earned more "Parental Stripes" as my husband calls them.

Then I got the mix back from Jeff S, and WOW. The overall feel of the song is incredible. Now we tweak the song. Which we will be working on Tuesday. Technology is both my bane, and my strength.

Last night my husband took me to Peppinos and a movie. IronMan. I wasn't sure if I'd like Robert Downy Jr in it, but I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. The whole cast worked well off of one another, the soundtrack matched the movie's overall storytelling. Music in the movies is something I always enjoy listening whether its right on or totally off the wall. Some movies get the right people for the job for writiing original music. I would recommend all film makers to hire people to get original music. I think my favorite composer right now is Danny Elfman. He writes the most off the wall music, and yet he gets it right on.

Pardon my scattered thoughts, its the best I can do right now. I hope you all have a GREAT weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to you Moms.

More to come...

Happy May!

Happy May! Dancin in the Clouds is on its way to being mixed. I searched for a good mixing/mastering engineer. I have asked a few good friends for their recommendations and decided on Jeff Silverman. Jeff has an impressive background in music, film trailers, editing.. etc. I am really excited to be working with him.

Jeff Silverman

Dancin in the Clouds will be my main focus in getting it mixed this month. June will be time to get all the rest of the songs on the CD ready for recording in July. Then August mixing all the songs except for two. The last two to get recorded/mixed will be Midnite and Nantucket. THESE two songs I have special plans for. But.. mum's the word on it for now.

I hope where ever you are, its warming up, flowers are blooming and life is good for you. I am very happy to say, I am doing well.

More to come...

K

Pure Energy

Pure Energy
Originally uploaded by Kori L Carothers

A great shot here with Jim with lots of energy going on! More to come!!

Flying High!

Yesterday, I drove up to Pasadena, CA. It wasn't a bad drive. I had directions to go from the toll roads onto the I-5 North to the 605, then the 210 west. I wanted to see what the 57 was like from the 5, so I took that instead of the 605, and found 210 west. No matter where I drive, SoCal looks the same. I don't mind that, its warm and I like all the palm trees.

I got there oh.. about 10:45am and found Jim waiting and what a great place! His home was very welcoming and he took me to his studio. WHAT a great place to work. He did most of the interior work himself it is quite amazing what he has done to get it the way he wanted it. We immediately dove into work. We worked on Carpe Diem first. He took some notes of the song's measure and bpm ( beats per minute) and then he hopped over to where his drum is set up/mics were. He told me to put on the Vic Firth headphones, which I did. ( to hear the music as well as protecting my ears). I told him he had free creativity.. I didn't want to limit him, I wanted to let him have the freedom to do what the music made him feel.

WOW.. he did an excellent job! He knows my music well enough that he truly nailed the rhythm, timing and dynamics of what I wanted for the song. He will be giving me the drum tracks so that I can have Seay listen to it and work with her part. Once Seay is done with the vocals we get it mixed!

I'd say about 1:30ish pm - 2pm, my stomach started to contribute some music of its own, and so we decided to get something to eat. We ate at the Crocodile Cafe, if you go and stay in Pasadena, go eat there. Its totally awesome. He showed me around Pasadena a little bit. I must say I love the older homes in that area. Some of the homes he showed me had a mixture of architecture from like the Spanish Villa's, to Southern Plantation, New England, and something I would call a Southwest Spanish homestead and a rambler. He has a Craftman type of home.. which is something from the 1920's - 1940's type of look. Its very lovely/homey. We went back, and Paul Franco was waiting for us. He is a friend from MySpace that came out to support me when I was at BB Kings. He also is a very good photographer. So, he came to join the fray and take photos of the session. He's a very funny, intelligent man and extremely talented with the camera.

We loaded up Dancin in the Clouds.. and Jim took notes again of the basics of the song. I was NOT disappointed. The man knows me so well, that he really let go and played his heart out. Meanwhile, Paul started taking photos. I am looking forward to what he took. Dancin is full of energy. Jim showed me some tricks to make some sounds from the drums that I would never have guessed. (I took some pictures, but I will upload them later on today. ) Paul will have some shots too, so between the two of us, we'll let you see what the studio looks like ..etc.

We worked up until I'd say about 5:45pm and Jim had a gig he needed to go play at and so we wrapped it all up. So by the time I got home, he had uploaded the two songs for me to access and listen.

I drove home in record time. I decided to take the 210 East, to the 605 South, then connect with the 5 South into OC, the 133 toll road to the 241 into Rancho Santa Marguerita. I noticed when I left there was a fire on the Pasadena foothills. Fires here already.. sup with that? It was burning in the "Cleveland National Shrubbery".... ok well THEY don't call it a National Shrubbery.. but I do.. the trees are NOT EVEN tall enough to be called a forest, they are at best shrubs. Hence my funny name for it. Anyway, I digress. I got home safe and sound... actually met my family to eat dinner with them and it was a fun homecoming. I was missed and I missed them.

As always these things tend to go way too fast because I AM having so much fun. After dinner we came home I was exhausted. I listened to the mp3's of our work and its SO awesome. I would post the two songs.. but I want you to wait for a little bit. I'll have them mixed and then I will post them.

Paul, thanks for coming! You are SO much fun, I enjoyed having you being there seeing what I live for. ( ok.. thats dramatic.. but I am a musician..and I am a bit of a drama queen ) I look forward to seeing the pictures.

Jim.. as always it was a pleasure to work with you and I truly felt like you knew what I wanted.. you have my thanks!

As always I can never sleep after these sessions. Last night was no exception. I am up early.. WHY that is I don't know *sigh* Anyway.. its gonna make the day a bit interesting.

Pictures to come soon.

Peace in Music,

Kori

Ok so now What?

I will be driving in traffic to Pasadena this Saturday the 26th. The two songs that will be worked on are: Dancin in the Clouds and Carpe Diem. I have drum loops in the songs right now.. BUT they would sound SO much better with live drums/percussion.

I had Jim McCarty work on The Journey doing drums/percussion for Walking Tall and Desert Crossings. This time, instead of remote recordings.. I will take my lazy butt out of OC and go into LA county and work with him. Possibly he'll do the drum/percussion tracks for Tangled Up if we have time. Always another day to add more...

I hope to have pics of that day. Then I don't do anything until May. Will tell you more when May gets here. ;)

K

After Concert Reflections...

Well.. the last two performances at the Spectrum.. I froze. This time.. it seemed I was more chilled and my fingers hurt from being so cold. Let me back up.. I need to talk about earlier in the day before Heath and I performed together.

Saturday morning, we got up, got showered and dressed to go pick up Heath at the LA airport. Anyone that knows me, knows that I absolutely HATE to drive in LA or go near LA. The traffic really bites. I really had my expectations set really low. I thought it would take us forever to get to the airport. We got there in record time!! I asked my husband earlier in the week if he would drive us. He said he would. Heath.. I must really think alot about your talents and our friendship in order to get near LAX! lol. Muahhahaha.. as you would say.

We got there just as he was at the baggage claim and found him. He is so young! hehehe. I must be getting wiser or something. ;) Heath is funny, gracious and full of ideas for what he wants to accomplish in his life, musically. We were trying to find the way to the Hollywood sign.. but instead found Griffith Park. Its packed in LA...which I knew already.. but had a great time trying to find it. Heath got to see the sign tho, but decided to go to OC and have lunch at Tortilla Flats in our home town of Mission Viejo. It was fun! Nice and un-rushed eating. The restaurant is situated on the edge of Lake Mission Viejo. It was a cloudy day.. and it was cooler than normal. NOT a good sign for concert night.

We brought Heath to our home, our kids were really excited to meet him. Our seven year old was funny with Heath. He gave him this string he had to remember him by! lol. Funny little guy. He was asking Heath 20 questions and wanted to give him a tour of his room. The rest of the clan was outside playing. Heath and I started rehearsing together and it was SO much fun to be able to play with another musician in our genre. He truly has amazing technique and his composing is amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on his new CD "SoulFire". The CD artwork is very lovely. He told me his friend Tania is doing the design work for it. We played together on his song "Rapture"... and it was an amazing thing. I on my little Irish Pennywhistle and Heath on our piano. We decided we'd play that as our finale.

Then it was time to head for the Spectrum. I must say, they need a gig manager of some sort.. to help direct the musicians to the staging area. I will applaud the maintenance crew. Table and chairs, as well as lighting was not to be found. I called them.. and immediately they came and took care of it.. including a table cloth. The venue is outdoors and so it was cold. I was not happy with the way the weather turned. Not alot of people were milling around. Too chilly. BUT we did have a few come and sit and listen.. lots of children coming and dancing around during Heath's set, and mine. I'll leave it to Heath to talk about it. :)

I really didn't do my best, I think it was because I am in the midst of my 3rd CD.. and felt pulled from my creative self to rehearse and perform. I really didn't like that at all. So I think I was disconnected from playing my best.. course I am always harder on myself than I should.

As the hours flew by... I became colder. My core temperature was making me shiver. My toes were cold, my legs and fingers did not feel happy with warmth. Poor Heath did not have a heavier coat, so my husband went to a nearby Target and got us handwarmers, and he bought me some hot chocolate, and purchased a very light jacket for Heath. ( nothing heavier was available). We still froze. By the time 9pm rolled around, Heath had had enough.. so had I. I was shaking with cold even tho I had a turtle neck on and my wool pea coat on. ( I am SUCH a big wimp!!!!! )


We were STARVING after we loaded up the KoriTunes.com van! heheh. I have this decal on the back of our van and it says: www.koriTunes.com. So Heath got to ride in the official KoriTunes.com van hehehe. Anyway, we took Heath to In and Out Burgers. It was SO nice to eat something HOT. I didn't have french fries but everyone else did. For those of you in CA, you KNOW how yummy those burgers are... ahhhh yumm!

Sorry this is so long.. I've been thinking about what I could say that would be descriptive enough.. but I have never been good at writing words. Summary: We had a great time. It went too fast. We will play again and invite musicians from our genre to come and perform with us. It would be SO much fun to have a group of us play at the Spectrum. OH and it wasn't crowded. The weather was bad enough to keep people in-doors. Thanks to those that did show up. We had a few people from Second Life come out to the show. THAT was a lot of fun.

I am reluctant to say, I won't be performing until "Trillium" is out. I have a heavy next 6 months to finish things up. I just can't perform well when I am so distracted. I will keep you informed about what I am doing.

Kudos to Heath!!!! Good luck to you my friend with the release of "SoulFire". And to all of that are so supportive of my music.. I thank you. AND to my musical friends that are guests on my CD.. thank you so much for contributing your musical souls to my music. Life is seriously cool.

Peace in Music,

Kori

Live Concert, Saturday April 19th, 2008

Hey everyone...

For those of you in Southern California.. LA/OC and San Diego area, come to the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine on Saturday April 19th from 6pm - 10pm. My friend Heath Vercher is flying from Houston, TX to do a live concert that night! Come join us for some serious instrumental music. Yes, 4 hours you read the times correctly.

We will have a GREAT time.. if you are NOT in the SoCal area.. but feel like you need some sun.. we'd love to have you. The concert is free.. its in an open area with shops, food court and just a great place to bring your friends and hang out.

The directions to the Spectrum is here: The Spectrum


We will be at the GWC Stage, that is near the Ferris Wheel. There are info maps at the website as well as at the Spectrum.


We hope to see you there!

Midnite posted on Myspace...

I went to bed really late last night because I was finally finishing up a rough cut of Midnite. I originally had you clicking on the myspace link.. but now its on my player on blogger. My darker romantic self coming out in droves... OH you can buy my music from here now as well. Its d/l mp3's! Enjoy!

Namaste,

Kori

April

I am amazed how fast March roared in and blew away. April is going to be a very busy month for me. This weekend is going to be spent with family. The next few weeks are going to be spent rehearsing for the Irvine Spectrum concert with Heath Vercher. April 19th, 2008 from 6pm- 10pm Heath and I will be at the Irvine Spectrum performing on the GWC stage. I hope that those of you in the SoCal area will join us there. We'll have a GREAT time.

Then I get ready for April 26th. I go up to Pasadena and record drum tracks with Jim McCarty on Carpe Diem as well as Dancin in the Clouds. We'll be working all day.

In between all of this, I will be working on all of the music for Trillium.. getting the songs ready for mixing and mastering. The BIG news is that I have my own record label! iRoknNod Records!!! In four weeks it will be totally official. So break out your favorite beverage or chocolate item and join me in celebration of its creation.

Thank you for those of you that have been helping me get organized and for those of you that are working with me. I love ya and I could not do this without you!

Namaste,

Kori

What Next?

I’ve been immersing myself back into music. I have made a list of songs that will be on the CD "Trillium". Here they are in no particular order:

Today March 28, I am amending this list.. I forgot to add "Tangled Up"

Dancin in the Clouds
Carpe Diem
Nez Perce
Blue Ice
Tangled Up
A Roses Tale
Nu Beginnings
Midnite
InSync
Trillium
Nantucket

These songs are all very different from each other. Since Trillium is my 3rd album.. I have always sort of felt the pull to do some songs that I feel connected with. For example... much of my music in the past has been just my Korg and me. This time, it will be a combination of using my Korg, guest musicians: ie Jeff Oster, Heath Vercher helped contribute to A Roses Tale, Reason, Native American Flute, percussion/drums by Jim McCarty. So.. as I progress in my knowledge of the technology I am using.. so will my music progress. Meaning that I have a certain style.. but each song are not related to each other.

I will continue to work with musicians as well. I have said before I hear so much more in my head. With the musicians that will be contributing.. they give so much more to the songs. I hear it in my heart/head. I wish I could explain this.. but I can’t, not in words anyway.

I am excited to share with you my expression of my life through music. Thank you for supporting me and listening to my soul sing!

Peace in Music,

Kori

Ides of March, KSBR and Sonikwire

Well I am finally winding down from a wild day. I went to bed last night at 10pm hoping to get some good sleep for today. As it usually happens when something really exciting happens, I can’t sleep. That was the case last night. So.. about 5am I got up and got ready for my day.

I ate a very small breakfast, and drove over to KSBR Radio for the interview with DJ Thornton and Jeff. Jeff brought his horns and we were all kind of squished in the control room. BUT it was a total blast. For those of you that tuned in, I hope you had as much fun as I did. Jeff is a very down to earth guy. We had a party at KSBR working and talking and I felt like we’ve known each other forever.

DJ, thank you for having me along. I truly appreciate you as always. What a woman you are!

Afterwards, Jeff and drove up to Sonikwire and worked our butts off. I mean it. We worked from 10am - 4p and were so focused before I knew . The best part.. is I did not need to lug my beastie of a Korg up to the studio, they had one I used so I was pretty darn excited about that! haha ( no broken legs here! lol ) Jeff did several layers of horn music. The sound you will be hearing on my profile is what I have dreamt of hearing for a very long time. I chose to go with the organic piano instead of the synthy piano. I really hate stretching myself its so painful! BUT I learned alot today. Not to worry about things.. just let things happen and do your best.

Chris, thanks for the engineering! You totally rock!

Jeff.... muchas gracias! You know what this meant to me. I expected so much, and it was delivered. My heart is full of gratitude.

Ok, enough of the emotional stuff.. but you need to know, that what we did today was something I have always dreamed of.

Jace.. you da man! Thanks for recommending Jeff. He is exactly the guy for the job!

Go take a listen to the new mix of Dancin in the Cloud at MySpace We added quite a bit. Its still need of mixing/mastering. However, we’ll get there.

My thanks to all of you that have supported me from day one.. and each of you that have come recently to support my efforts.

Peace in Music,

Kori

Interview Saturday March 15th 8 am Pacific

Jeff Oster and I will be interviewed on Saturday March 15th 8am Pacific ( 9am Mountain, 10 am Central and 11am Eastern) on KSBR Jazz 88.5 FM Radio. DJ Thornton of the Morning Breeze show will be talking with Jeff about his current project and talking about our collaboration of my song "Dancin in the Clouds.

DJ has supported me from day one when I sent my CDs to her. She is a lovely woman. I hope you'll tune in!

Click on the link to listen in on Saturday morning!

KSBR 88.5 Jazz FM Listen LIVE!

March is literally roaring in!

March is here. I am really excited because I go in studio on the 15th to work on Dancin in the Clouds to mix and master as well as am having a wonderful musician, Jeff Oster come and work with me that day to lay down some horn tracks with the song.

I will keep you posted....

I am also happy that Spring is coming. Oh I know.. Southern California does not get much snow.. but it has been cooler than usual. I am a big wimp when the temps start dipping below 65 degrees! hahaha...

More to come...

K

Finally

I have finally got over 3 things that put me in bed for a week or so off and on. 2 strains of the flu and a sinus infection. Never been that sick in a looong time.

Its been a time of transition for me. With leaving SecondLife and deciding not to market my music right now.. I've completely immersed myself with my love of composing. I feel like I've returned to something I've missed for a year or so.

Oh I've been composing during that time..but I really feel focused. My muse seems to have missed me, he's wrapping me up in his inspiration and love. I am a bit overwhelmed by the emotions that I have been feeling, I know that sounds a bit melodramatic.. but that is just me. I am trying not to stay up late working... so I don't get sick again. However... I JUST can't leave the music alone.

Thank you to all of you that continue to support my efforts!

More to come....

K

The Irvine Spectrum, February 9th, 2008

I am feeling MUCH better. I am amazed how we are now into February. How did that happen? I wanted to let you know, that I will be performing on Saturday, February 9th on the Myrtles Court Stage at the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine CA from 6pm - 10pm Pacific!

I hope those of you in the SoCal area will come and join me there! I plan on playing my new music as well as the old tunes! Come on over to shop, eat and just enjoy yourselves that evening. Hope to see you there!

Namaste,

Kori

I have it...

The Flu. Its hard to work on music as I use earphones... and my ears are hurting. This disturbs me because I already have one ear that is deaf.. my right ear is the one that hurts more than the left.

So I am taking a much needed break from my muse.. who is very annoyed btw. I'll just read and sleep.

Peace in Music,

Kori

KSBR 88.5 Jazz FM

Radio Station KSBR 88.5 Jazz FM is what I am listening to today through the internet.  DJ Thornton hosts the Morning Breeze show. She has had me in studio when I released "The Journey".  It was a lot of fun!  She is a very down to earth woman and has a GREAT radio voice.  

Her show is on Saturday from 5am - 9am Pacific and Sunday mornings 5am - 12n Pacific.. visit here:

KSBR 88.5 Jazz FM

to listen via live streaming and enjoy! 

Namaste,

Kori

Kori Travanti leaves SL January 14th, 2008

I actually left SecondLife late last night. It was totally weird. I felt like I knew I was dying.. and bequeathing my "earthly" items to my best friends. I was giving my money away, sold my land, gave much of my favorite things away in my inventory.

Why I left? Many reasons I could type here... but the most important reason is that I am feeling overwhelmed with trying to keep up with SecondLife concerts and could not keep focused on my music in Real Life.

Some people might say I am a loser for leaving. I may be.. but then I am not strong enough to stay away from SL. So I had to do the unthinkable.

SL has taught me so much how to perform concerts better, made alot of friends! Its with a heavy heart that I left. I received such clarity about it in the last two weeks. I could write about that.. but maybe another time.

For those of you that have touched my life there, thank you for sharing your friendship with me.

I hope to tour one day.. and when I do, I'll let you know. In the meantime.... visit me here, or My Website

Or here:

MySpace Page

Now.. my blog is not going away. I will keep on posting here.

Thank you so much for your support!

Namaste,

Kori

Radio Mystic Best of 2007

I have just found out that my song "Carpe Diem" has been one of the tracks selected for Radio Mystic's Best of 2007 show! I want to thank those of you that listen to Radio Mystic and also thanks to Pete Havey.. program director! May 2008 totally rock for you!

Click on this link and it will take you to the show!


Happy New Year! May 2008 bring you Peace, Love and Blessings!

Namaste,

Kori