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