release date, pre-order, & a little something FREE!

my debut EP, "CONTRADITIONS" IS HERE!! i signed the first set of cds tonight and picked up a few. this was my reaction:

so as soon as i put the news out on the intraweb the big question started rolling in....when can i get one??? well the answer is RIGHT NOW!!!

here's how this whole release thingy is going to go down:

cds:

if you would like an actual autographed cd (for those of you under 18...that's one of those little shiny round things old people stick in that slot in the dash board) you can buy it now by clicking on that little "buy now" button up on the right. this will redirect you to my PayPal where you can purchase the album for $7.99 plus a small shipping fee. once you do that it will ship out on the release date. if you live near me and would like to pick the cd up from me personally and skip the small shipping fee please click here and email me and we can make that happen for you!

digital copies:

if you don't know what a cd is OR you just prefer the digital version you will be able to simply click on that little music player to the right on the release date and it will direct you to my bandcamp website where you can buy and download the album immediately. the word "buy" will show up on the music player on release day!

so when is this release day i keep talking about? TUESDAY!! on december 13 you can download the entire album and all pre-ordered cds will be mailed. bandcamp.com has this really cool feature where i can set a price but you can choose to donate any amount beyond that. the digital album will kick off at $5 from now until january 1. i'm setting this discounted price for the rest of 2011 because once the new year rolls around the album will hit iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, etc.

and now for a little something FREE:

from now until Tuesday you can download "Contradiction (acoustic version)" for FREE! on the music player to the right you can click on the album cover art and be re-directed to bandcamp for a free download! once you're on my site you'll see that the acoustic version is free and ready for download. i'm so uber excited tonight i had to give you something! and just a heads up...this version of Contradiction is limited, it may not be around forever!

one last thing.....

you can hear ALL THE SONGS NOW on the music player. you may not be able to purchase them all yet but you can still listen!! AND YOU CAN SHARE!!! if you click share it will give you options to spread the word about the album. i am shamelessly asking for a share! if you like what you hear and enjoy the free song please, PLEASE share on your blog, twitter, facebook, email, get an umbrella & bird tattoo...you get the picture :)

thanks so much to all of you for your continued support! this journey has already been amazing and it has only begun!

much love -

cj

signing the stacks...

contradictions & the O_O

so i recently said on my twitter that having my album art makes me feel like this....O_O...my eyes are already big but this is like "deer in the headlights!"

this is soooo true. this week marks the official end of recording my first album. it is a 7 song EP. EP just means that its not your normal 10+ song length album. one would think that now that i'm finished recording that the O_O would be over...not even close. while i was in the comfort of the studio it was just me, my producer, my instruments and a DELETE key. but now...it is finished. i have put my heart and soul into those 7 songs, they are part of me. they are personal. and now i'm going to let the world see into my heart. cue the O_O!!!!!

when it comes to something i create i can pick it TO DEATH. if i listen to a song 50 times i can probably hear 50 things that could change. is contradictions (my album title) perfect? no. but i'm kind of glad about that because i'm not perfect either. there are some imperfections that i purposefully left in there. i'm not interested in auto-tuned, squeaky clean perfection. i wanted a reflection of me, a reflection of my emotional outlet.

so, with that in mind, is contradictions perfect? absolutely. i've put my all in and i'm really proud of it. i can't wait to share it with you guys...but it also makes me feel O_O its scary to put yourself out there! but hey! everyone should be a little dauntless every now and then!

the awesomeness of life

sometimes life is crazy. crazy i tell ya! since i last blogged my life has been quite the ride. i could talk about the 2 year relationship i ended (that involved a big diamond), or my dad's stroke, or the DC mission trip, or family vacation, or a week of great outdoors camp, or my sister's brain tumor, or...or...or....

instead i want to talk about the awesomeness of life. i guess saying "instead" is not really a good way to start this part of the story because all those things, good or bad, add to the awesomeness of life. no, it is not awesome that my dad had a stroke or that my sister has a brain tumor. actually a much better way to react to the brain tumor would be the way one of my co-workers did... "well, carla, brain tumors bite a big green wiener." yes, yes they do. however...the initial diagnosis for my dad's stroke was aneurism which would have been much...much worse. just like last year when our initial diagnosis on my mom's 15 pound ovarian tumor was cancer but it turned out to be benign. at this point my sister doesn't even have to get her tumor removed and its causing no symptoms what so ever.

this is where we come to the "awesomeness of life" part of the blog. in all of those family situations the outcome could have been significantly worse. in reality, over the course of a year and a half i could have lost my mom, dad, and sister...but i didn't. life is awesome. i was engaged and now i'm not. that could've been a horrible break up or worse i could've found myself in an unhappy marriage, a mistake i do not want to make. i'm 100% sure that even though it hasn't been easy and on some days i want to kick myself because i'm single...i made the right decision. 110% sure. this is the awesomeness of life.

i decided that i have to live for now. i can't hold past mistakes over my head like some kind of guilt punishment. i can live for now. i admit it, sometimes i hold a grudge with myself. sometimes i play the "well i guess you're not happy because you did ____(fill in the blank with the many mistakes of life)____ 10 years ago. that's just crap! the Forgiver has forgiven me...i should too.

so....i'm living the awesomeness of life. some days are more awesome than others. take thursdays for instance. thanks to the recommendation of the amazing ruta sepetys, on thursday of each week i drive to nashville and i attend a class at vanderbilt university's blair school of music. i love it. just that simple thing feels like forward movement. on top of that, i'm almost finished recording/tracking for my first ever album...forward movement. for creative types, like me (and i wish i was a fraction as creative as my friends), you have to have an outlet. HAVE to. being creative doesn't always pay the bills so most of the creatives i know work a job they LIKE a lot but the job they LOVE is still out there ahead of them. the creative process is an outlet, an outlet that is necessary for sanity's sake. this truth became very real to me as i listened through the rough mixes of my album. my friend that was listening along looked at me and said "i feel like i should come over there and hug you!" i reassured her that i am ok. emotion is exaggerated in art. and as i previously mentioned my past year has been a bit much. but through the awesomeness of life the crappiness of that year has made some pretty good songs.

so...all of this rambling on means one simple thing. LIVE LIFE. when the "bites a big green wiener" moments come along pray, love, keep moving forward. sometimes they end up ok, sometimes they don't. but in all the good and the bad, remember life is short. LIVE AND ENJOY THE AWESOMENESS OF LIFE!!!