Stay tuned for the "Man Like You" official music video, coming soon!
The Richie West Band is a little closer to finishing vocals on our first full-length album, as well, thanks to Joe Napolitano and the efforts of lead singer, John Ennis and guitarist/backup singer, Adam Kurtz. John's lead parts are now finished, and all that's left are my lead parts and background vocals, and Adam's background parts in a few songs. After that, Jillinda Palmer and Joe Napolitano will work their hocus pocus and put all the pretty pixie dust and sparkly finishing touches on the recordings, and they will be done. The challenging part will be to find someone to mix and master the recordings at a rate I can afford, and then duplicate some cds. I'm working on putting together some shows for the Richie West Band to play, so keep an eye out and an ear open for that. It will most likely be towards the end of summer. I am really excited to be finishing up this record. It already sounds phenomenal, even missing some vocal parts and barely mixed. I know my dad would be extremely proud. :)
Here's what last week was like, as we recorded at Hillandale Studios in Highland Park on the hottest day of the summer thus far. We couldn't turn the a/c unit on in the vocal booth because it would have been too noisy. But we all sweated it out, because we are champions! Thanks to Nick Weidner for filming on that sweaty day, and capturing the moment with these beautiful HD videos!
This one is a two-parter, so here are both parts:
Later on that same night, I had the pleasure of working with Joe Napolitano and Jillinda Palmer again as we all supported Hi Ho Silver Oh onstage at the Echo for their record release show. Jillinda plays keys and sings backup vocals in that band already, and Joe recorded and mixed the album. I'm a big fan of Hi Ho Silver Oh, so I was flattered and honored when lead singer, Casey Trela, asked me to be part of the chorus of backup singers at this very special event. He even let me have a vocal solo in one song! Check it out:
(Thanks to Mike Escamillo for filming these lovely videos on his iPhone 4S.)
This was how the show ended. Casey decided to take the whole band into the middle of the audience for an intimate, acoustic encore. I have never heard the Echo so reverently quiet. It was truly a magical moment:
I want to thank my friends and family for supporting me throughout my musical journey. Just the fact that you have made it this far through my blog means a lot to me! I am still working on recording my own tracks with the help of my boyfriend, Mike Escamillo. My goal is to have an EP ready to release digitally by my birthday this year. That's only 3 months away, so we better get cracking! I will be posting various stages of mixes along the way to get your opinions. Like this one, for example!
I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for listening.
Oh, and there's one more thing I'd like to share with you all! I have an appointment to audition with the producers of The Voice on August 15th (thanks to Rebecca Balin for hooking that one up!). They want me to prepare 3 songs to sing, preferably contemporary, up-tempo tunes (within the last 5 years). They warned against ballads. I don't listen to a whole lot of popular music, so I was wondering if you have any suggestions of songs that you think might suit my voice well. Thanks for any input or feedback you can give. I love you all.
Enjoy the rest of July, and stay cool!
Love & Grace,
Brittney
