My brother Kenneth is one of the most talented people I know. One of his recent craft trends is makings stencils out of photographs.
He decided to make some stencils from my photographs that ica took! Then, I am going to buy some V-Necks and spray paint these onto them ( one on each) and sell them at the Release party! they can each me hand signed, etc. and personalized to you!
This has been a long time in the works and is one of the most exciting points in my career thus far. I am releasing 1,000 limited press copies of my debut original album. It has 11 tracks, most of which several of you have heard at my shows.
1. Do You Like Me? (intro) 2. My Better Half 3. Be Your Girl 4. A little More Perfect 5. Zero To Sixty 6. Stay 7. Every Single Time 8. Sad Little Boy 9. Don't Ask Why ( The Pancake Song) 10. Just Be friends 11. Check Yes Or No ( outro)
I am releasing my album for the first time at Rugby Cafe in Washington, D.C. Georgetown. Rugby is the first place I ever performed with my guitar live, and has one of the coolest vibes in the city.
And What Better day than VALENTINES DAY! 2.14.2010. if you don't have a valentine, come find one here! and if you do, bring your date!
The Party will be from 7-11p.m. and there will be a $10 cover charge at the door.... you will receive a free copy of the album, and drink specials all night.
expect a night full of wonderful music, candles, and Chirstmas lights... it's going to be magical.
a huge thank you to everyone who helped make this album possible. Especially Ica Diongzon, Justin Huey, Douglas Sonders, Thomas Carter, Alex Johns, Tim Cossor, and MPB.
** STAY TUNED: THERE WILL BE LOTS OF OTHER FUN GOODIES AND ANNOUCEMENTS TO BE MADE IN THE WEEKS LEADING UP TO THE EVENT! **
if you have any questions e-mail: hope.makes.music@gmail.com
If you can not make it the album will be for sale on the website beginning the same week: http://hopeleigh.webs.com/
ica diongzon is themost lovely girl in all of the world.
she is responsible for many aspects of my career, including teaching me my first guitar chords... taking my album/promo photos and now- doing the graphic design for the CD tray and Booklet. she has the biggest heart i've ever met, and is someone i aspire to be more like everyday. she is talented, beautiful, giving, smart, and oh so charming and delightful. and sorry boys, she's taken, ( by a boy who fits her just right too!)
she is truely incredible...
I dare you to try and not fall in love with her, and her work:
So my last post said we were finishing the artwork... tonight we are ACTUALLY finishing it. I didn't drive out to VA to be with Ica so we are doing it all via telephone/ e-mail ... luckily i trust ica and everything she does turns out stunning... again, i am lucky to have the friends that i have.
This page is fun... all of the tiny words at the top are the lyrics to my songs! Then... is my thank you's ( i wish i could thank the whole world) then the initials of everyone who inspired any of the songs on the album, and then the production credits... i printed in the size font it's in on the booklet template to make sure that size 6.5 font is legible, turns out it is....
I'm not going to show you the album cover until it is done BUT.... I did decide to show you the actual CD label:
I am so ready for this all to done... at this point it is all so close, I am just waiting for all 1,000 copies to come in the mail... I simply can not wait, this is literally a lifetime dream of mine, and i am beyond myself ecstatic to share it with you all...
So this is one of the most tedious steps....albumartworkandprocessing.
Recording is fun. Photoshoots are fun. Putting that music and pictures into an album and ordering and organizing it all on templates... is not my favorite part to say the least. the differences between .jifs and .psds. and .pfs. and .ai 's.... haha next step please? the party....
Luckily, one of my best friends, the beautiful and talented Ica studied both photography and graphic design in college, and was able to do it all with me. Ica and me have been friends since we used to sing and lead the music in church every morning. She was there the first time I learned a guitar chord, and did one of my promo photoshoots... Ica knows the style and image I aim for both in music and marketing as well as who I am as a person, so I trust her more than anyone outside of my own brain with this ( and often even more than...)
Tonight, me and ica finished the templates for the CD Booklets , Disc Silk Screen images, Tray Cards, etc ... of course last minute ;) I had taught ballet/ guitar this morning and went straight to " All that Glitters" rehersal and have a cold.... Ica lives an hour away so i got there around 9pm and now it's 3 am and I'm just getting home after driving an hour in the rain ( and of course blogging about it!) long story short, Im exaughsted.....
I fell asleep eating a banana and working:
While Ica Kept working hard: and while gina entertained us:
Ica's photography work is amazing : CHECK IT OUT! we are both so proud of this project...and i can't wait to put it all in your hands in 20 days!
I know this blog is about my career in and passion for the arts ... but art is life.. and so this post is about life. You know the question : "if you were stranded on an island with one ________, what would it be?"
well, if that blank said " person" ... I wouldn't hesitate, I'd say, my gramaw.
She's hilarious: And Adorable:
My gramaw always takes me and my friends to the Red Lobster, she even threw me my 21st birthday party. When the world becomes too much, I go to her house and just nap on her lap while she plays with my hair, she usually tempts me into sleeping over by bribing me with grilled cheese and hot chocolate for dinner. She comes to all of my shows, and even offered to donate fabric from her church to our theatre department after noticing that our costumes for Wild Party were "small". lol....
Anyways, she is the funnest most lively 81 year old i know... ( although to be honest I don't know many) she is able to laugh about her age and her life, and WHOA if you could see her watch Redskins Football!!
My Granny-O ( as i like to call her) has Neuropothy, meaning the nerves in her feet and legs aren't really working at all, so considering she can't even feel her own feet anymore, she is doing quite well- she even still drives! She is staying in Florida with my Aunt Joyce for 2 months during the winter to avoid the cold of DC ... and while down there she promised her doctor she would walk as much as she could.
She is walking 3 times a day, I was there for 2 weeks and we tracked her path, 1 mile! she is walking 1 mile 3 times a day! While at dinner with my cousins Bob, tiffany and there son Greyson, they mentioned a family race in florida the following weekend that was all ages they were going to do...and we convinced my gramaw to do it!
SHE DID IT! MY GRAMAW DID THE FIRST RACE OF HER LIFE AT 81 AND CAME IN FIRST PLACE FOR HER AGE GROUP! she did 1.3 miles in 24 minutes!!!!!
she e-mailed me ( yes she has a laptop, and a cell phone...) this picture, and it makes me feel so happy and full of life, and so proud of her. it also makes me feel like we never should make excuses....
Since last Friday things have been wonderful, I did a great photoshoot for Phillip Noss, he went to Duke Ellington with me for guitar and majors in songwriting and music business at Berklee now.... He's quite a stud so it was fun to shoot him. I love his image, this was his first promo shoot so we did a few locations: like em?
Photography is just my side hobby but i love the immediate results. You can check him out on Youtube, Myspace, and Facebook- his new songs have a very John Mayer feel, Ithink youll dig him. My photos are the background art on his sites, enjoy loves....
After that was AU BSA Apollo night, which if you've been reading went phenomenol! and I won! It was an incredible night! And if you missed it, here is the video again!
Starting Saturday I went back to filming with HAZE. It is a full feature indie film I've been a part of for 2 years, the bulk of the cast has had off since August, and we were back in full swing this weekend. We shot at George Mason on Saturday, a huge party scene, Sunday at University of Maryland, and Monday in Arlington, Sunday was a 17 hour shoot day so .... things got cranky, but I loved being back around all of my -faux-sorority sisters again. I had some ridiculously mean Haze-ing lines, but i love my little and she knows it. We all had a feast at La Tasca in Clarendon and it was, oh to die for. For obvious reasons we can't have a camera on set, but I can post some behind the scene cast shots ... These are our fake frat boys, who i love:
and it keeps getting better! Tuesday I filmed a music video/ promo with 8112 Studios, the guys are AMAZING, and my friend Zach is interning with them and got to be there so that was fun too!
photo via. Douglas Sonders iPhone
On Tuesday, On my way to the 8112 Studio , I found out I got cast in a show at H.Street Playhouse, here in Washington D.C. called "All that Glitters" It goes up February 17th-28th, so keep an eye out! It has a great cast, including Jabari Exum and David Lamont Wilson, both great friends of mine, and is directed by the ALWAYS fabulous Courtney Baker-Oliver. The show is part of Restoration Stage. The link to the facebook event for the show is : http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=262389712067&ref=ts
Then Tuesday Night... I finally made it to a Greg Holden show... at Jammin Java, funny enough last time i tried to see him ( when he toured with INGRID MICHAELSON) i was at jammin Java to see Emily play with FUN. and missed it. He came down with his friend Ian Axel, who I was ABSOLUTLEY BLOWN AWAY BY... I had talked to Greg Before via E-Mail, in fact i started keeping up with his music before he was in even in the United States, and we go to talk for a few hours after the show. Both guys are just so insanely talented, nice, and funny- they are living in NY but hopefully I'll be playing more up there soon. These are my favorite songs by them:
