If you’re new to my music, this is the Monthly Music Video for you. It’s a video of live clips that features five of my songs (performed with three different guitarists!) You’ll hear light, folksy melodies, edgy minor tunes, rock-style cello solos, and, of course, plenty of animal songs. (They’re my specialty!) Basically, it’s a […]
Sometimes, a particular place can be a treasure trove of musical inspiration. Whenever you spend time there, or even just think about it, you come up with a great new idea for a song. For me, one of those places is my parents’ mini farm in the outskirts of Hillsborough, NC. It’s a beautiful property: […]
Do you ever have trouble finding the right words for your songs? Do you find it difficult to chose words that convey the meaning, mood, and connotation you’re going for and while fitting into your rhythm and rhyme scheme? I know I do. For me, word choice is by far the most time consuming aspect […]
Dear blog reader, I hope you’ll forgive my long blogging absence. If you get my newsletter, you know that I had a personnel change in my band. The last few weeks were consumed by guitarist auditions and practicing. But things are getting back to normal now, and I have another video to share. Here I […]
If you went to one of the first few shows Mark and I played, you’ll remember that we played a few Russian covers. I studied Russian in college and lived in Russia for almost a year, and I am majorly obsessed with Russian rock music. Kino, Nochniye Snaiperi, Akvarium … I love them all. But […]
A few months ago, I discovered the Minneapolis-based hip-hop artist Dessa, and I’ve been obsessed ever since. If you haven’t heard her music, look her up right now and prepare to be blown away – she’s an amazing songwriter and lyricist. I wish I had discovered her when I still lived in Minnesota. I missed […]
Mark and I just played our first official live show at The Eddy in Saxapahaw! We worked for six months writing, learning, and perfecting our set. We’d had some great dress rehearsals, but you never really know how you’ll sound playing live until you do it. I’ll admit I was a little worried I would […]
I know I said I’d be posting videos just once a month, but Mark and I had an EPIC rehearsal last Sunday that resulted in a pretty cool video of us playing “A Grace You Don’t Deserve.” I couldn’t resist sharing it with you. Although the video’s a little blurry, it gives you a taste […]
I don’t know about you, but I often come up with my best song ideas at the most inopportune times. Back in college, great song topics always came to me on the days I had 20 pages of Russian reading, a ridiculously hard number theory problem set, and a huge paper on semiotics all due […]
This week, I’m introducing a new blog series: Monthly Music Videos! Before you get too excited, let me be clear: these “music videos” will be videos of me playing music. Don’t expect weird artsy costumes and choreographed dance scenes just yet (though who knows, I might do something like that in the future.) For now, […]