Some of you will know that last year I put a couple of shadow pictures up on my facebook page and my friends there thought it was really fun, so they started to get involved. Of course I'm not the first person to do this, but for some reason, it has become a thing on my page and my pictures have been dubbed Shadowgirl. She's more popular than me lol! What has ensued is a regular contribution of shadow art from some of my facebook community which is so cute and wonderful. People post their shadow pictures to my page and I then put them on my Shadowgirl page here on my website. (See the Shadowgirl tab for the whole collection to date). All this enthusiasm gave me an idea. I thought it would be fun to put together a new music video based on shadows in motion. I just happened to have a really funky little song just sitting around that I'd recorded for my Feel So Pretty album, but it didn't get added due to the fact that it was so different. I'd been wanting to release it but I was waiting for the right opportunity. Here it was! I put a call out to my facebook community for anyone who'd like to be involved in my new music video but I didn't say publicly what it would entail. I didn't want to give the idea away too soon. I had a number of people jump on this opportunity and after giving them the brief, they began to send me snippets of their shadows dancing to my new song. This whole process was such a giggle for me and I'm so appreciative of everyone who got involved. An unexpected surprise came, when a good friend of mine in Los Angeles, Jeanette Elaine Dubois, emailed me and asked if she could edit the video. She loved the concept so much and her excitement got me really excited too. I handed all the video footage over to her immediately and she went to work. I am so impressed with Jeanette's creativity and I feel so honoured to have had her work on First Kiss, especially since she had to fit it in around her busy schedule working on Oprah's Super Soul Sessions! Yes! That's our girl! Jeanette also features in the First Kiss video but what I love about the Shadow concept is, you don't actually know who's who (wink wink). Please enjoy my Team Shadowgirl's creative project below, and a HUGE Thank You to everyone involved including producer of the track Steve McDonald, Bob DeMarco at DeMarco Productions, Lionel Richie's long time guitarist Ben Mauro (that's right!) and all my shadow dancers: Shadowgirl, Jeanette Elaine Dubois, Doon-Louise Loosemore, my Mum and Dad, Kythese Kolodzinski, Ebony and Nixon Kolodzinski, Oren Loosemore, Bruyere and Charlygirl Williams, Rubydog, Adel Welty, Scott Thompson, Jeffery Barnes, Adam A Waltemire, Pam Follett, Yvette Lohnes and Martin Enock. Enjoy!
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Last weekend marked the third month of my covers project and I chose to record Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. I had decided on the studio months ago for this song which meant a flight from Brisbane to Sydney followed by a two and a half hour train journey west to the Blue Mountains. My friends Lexi and Scott who I studied music with at university, own an 1830's convict built sandstone house at Mount Victoria. They live upstairs and they have an old wares shop downstairs which is very popular with the locals and tourists. The Blue Mountains is a go-to weekend destination for many Sydney dwellers. Lexi is a beautiful pianist and composer and she has an 1895 restored Steinway Grand, so I was very excited to be recording Landslide in her home studio. I've put together a Behind The Scenes video for you below, and I hope you enjoy my recording. There are limitless options for songs when it comes to recording a cover, but I'm finding it interesting to realize how very few songs completely resonate with me when I sit down to actually learn to play and sing them. I can be totally in love with a song, but when I try to translate it via the piano and my voice, there are so many elements that need to fall into place in order for me to feel that I've truly done the song the justice it deserves. Enjoy, and please leave a comment below as I love to hear your thoughts. Trysette. |