Family Songs

“7 YEARS” by Lukas Graham

December 14, 2015

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This has been such a crazy year and this little project of mine definitely went on the back burner. I have missed sharing music and spending the time to explore new music and artists. It has certainly been a missing piece of my life for the better part of the this past year.

This song that I am sharing today is one that really moves me. I can sit and listen to it for hours and seem to cry every time. Don’t exactly know why, but maybe you will understand the emotionality of it when you take a listen. I absolutely love the lyrics and the story that they tell, and his voice is just breathtaking. I am posting the live version of the song below so that you can get the full impact of his amazing, honest sound (he is a “classically educated soprano soloist from [the celebrated] Copenhagen’s Boys Choir”). Just incredible!

Lukas Graham is a young, 23-year old singer-songwriter from Copenhagen, Denmark who has had an amazing rise. He is a true songwriter and you can learn much about his life listening to his music. He is probably one of the most genuine and authentic artists I have seen in a long time. I am certain his rise to success here in the US will be just as rapid as it has been in Europe.

The band released their self-titled debut album in 2012 which went quadruple platinum, and they quickly became the most popular live act in Denmark. I hear they put on an amazing live show … just missed one last week in NYC (Darn!). Enjoy … it sure feels good to be back. 🙂

SONG OF THE DAY – “BACK TO HOME” by Tristan Prettyman

November 4, 2014

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14 hours! Actually 14 hours and 5 minutes!

That is how long a direct flight takes from New York to Beijing, China. I know this because I am on that flight right now. For weeks I have been panicking about sitting on a plane for 14 hours. I am not very good at sitting. :/ I bought me some Sleep Well and in an hour or so I plan to attempt sleeping so that I can try to be right ready to jump onto China time. That is probably wishful thinking since they are 13 hours ahead of my time, meaning that I should already be asleep now as it is 3:30 am tomorrow there right now. I know … confusing! I might as well admit to myself now that there is a very good chance I will not be posting on Wednesday. 🙂

I am so excited to visit China. I have never been to China and there are so many things I am looking forward to seeing, but mostly I am excited to see my daughter! ❤ She has now been in China for 10 weeks and still has another 6 1/2 weeks to go. I can’t wait to hear how much her Chinese language skills have improved and it will be so exciting to see China through her eyes, as well as my own. We will be spending a few days in Beijing, which will be new for her, and then I will accompany her back to Shanghai.

I am posting a new song today by Tristan Prettyman. This song is from her new album, Back to Home, which was just released last week on October 27. I have been a fan of Tristan Prettyman’s music for many years. She released her first album back in 2005. I think her music is so pure, raw, honest, and soulful all at the same time. Sometimes it feels light and breezy, reminiscent of her California surfing background, and other times it is just an incredibly deep lyrical song backed by great music. This album has a much different sound than her older music, but I love it! Today’s song is definitely my very favorite from the new album.

I really connected with this song – “Back To Home.” As I am sitting here on a plane off to China it struck me that I am off to find “home.” Home is not necessarily a place; I have learned that over the last 23 years through all of our moves and changes. Home is where I am with the ones I love. Home is where my heart is … and right now my heart is spread far and wide.

I was texting my son right before takeoff and I said, “I am so excited for you to come back home!” He responded, “In like 2 weeks?” I obviously think we disagreed on how close it seemed. 😉 I am just so excited to have him come home and I guess as I am off to visit one piece of my heart, I started anticipating having another piece return back home. I know that home will always be there. Life is a journey and my little family is certainly having a journey, but I find a lot of solace in the line of this song that says,

“All of these roads lead us back to home.”

No YouTube videos for any songs on this new album yet, so I have attached a recording of the song from SoundCloud. I hope you enjoy this new music as much as I have.

Let’s see … just 11 more hours to go! YIKES!

SONG OF THE DAY – “WHEN I’M WITH YOU” by Ben Rector

August 25, 2014

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I am finally getting around to posting again. It has been a very spotty summer for me with this blog. This is another one of those crazy weeks, but I really feel that it will be good for me to get back on track.

My daughter left for China yesterday. She is doing a semester abroad in Shanghai and it was so weird to ship her off until Christmas. Although she has been away from home for two years in college, it just feels so far away now! Life changes too quickly. This has been the first year where it has really hit me that my little girl is growing up. I already miss her and am so grateful for wifi and international texting because I am not sure I could bear not being able to chat with her.

On top of that, my son was offered a spot at a Golf Academy for high school. We visited the school this summer thinking that we were looking at it as a potential post-graduate year after high school and then, within a two-week time-frame, he decided to go away to school THIS year. I went from thinking I was going to have my son home with me for two more years, to having my son home with me for three short weeks. I can’t even begin to express how much I am going to miss my buddy.

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So, talk about a busy summer – my emotions have been all over the place! Lots of big life changes. Who knew that by the ages of 15 and 18, both of my kids would be moving out of our home and changing my life so completely. Although life will be different for me, I am happy that both of my children are pursuing their dreams and experiencing so many exciting life adventures. Time for new adventures for me as well.

I am posting a song today by one of my favorite artists. I love Ben Rector! This song is from his 2013 album, The Walking In Between. Ben Rector writes incredible songs and totally captures “the moment.” This song makes me think of my family and this particular moment of ours. On Monday, we were all home together – a family of 4. By Tuesday morning, we had become 3, and in just a few more days … we will be 2. I love my family and being with them brings a purpose to my life that I never expected. Enjoy this fabulous song.

“When I’m with you, I’m who I want to be!”

 

SONG OF THE DAY – “SONG FOR MY FATHER” by Sarah McLachlan

June 15, 2014

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HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the dads out there!

I feel so blessed today as we celebrate Father’s Day. I have the most incredible father, and I have an amazing husband who is a wonderful father to our children. As far as Father’s Day goes … I have a lot to celebrate.

My dad has always been my biggest fan. He always believed that I could be anything I wanted to become and he has supported me in all my crazy endeavors. I have so many memories of my dad that make me smile. Probably one of the most touching memories was on my wedding day. I remember being at the altar and glancing over at my dad (who by the way was sick as a dog!) and seeing him look at me with tears rolling down his face. It was at that moment that I realized how difficult it is to be a father and realize you are letting go of your little girl.

My dad was the father of four girls and we all thought he could do anything. He lived on a pedestal so high that it must have been overwhelming sometimes. Another favorite memory is when we had a puppy die and my sister said, “Don’t worry … dad will fix it when he gets home.” We honestly believed my dad could fix anything and make it all better. My dad can fix just about anything – maybe not a dead dog – but just about everything else. He can build, repair, and create anything.

When I was in charge of house decorations for my sorority during Greek Week one year in college, I told him that what I really wanted to create were two 30-foot wine glasses that could move and clink each other. I just remember my dad looking at me and saying, “30 feet?! Do you know how tall 30 feet is?” Obviously I didn’t, but my dad figured out a way to make two 15-foot wine glasses from wood. I don’t even know how he did it, but he did – and they even moved back and forth to clink! Needless to say, we won the award for best House Decorations that year thanks to my dad. He has always been able to do things like that. Even today, if any of us need something fixed, created or figured out, my dad is the man to call.

My dad turns 80 years old this summer! He still is as sharp as a tack and moves like a man half his age. I admire him so much! My dad taught me about hard work, integrity, and commitment to family. His family means everything to him and has always come first. He is opinionated, smart, funny, sarcastic, genuine, and selfless. He has been such an incredible example to me and I love him more than I could ever express.

My dad with “his Girls” on his 70th Birthday!

Then I have my husband. He is such an amazing father to our two kids. He, like my dad, considers his little family the most important thing in his life and he would do anything for his children. He just beams with pride about both of his kids. He loves to spend time with them and is their biggest fan. I know how lucky my two children are to have him as their father and I feel very lucky to have him be my partner in parenthood. I love him and the great example of love, strength, and support he is for my kids.

My husband as father with his two little children.

My husband as father with his two little children.

This song today is from Sarah McLachlan’s new album, Shine On and is a tribute to her father. The album, which is her seventh full length album, was released just last month in May 2014. Sarah McLachlan is from Canada and made her debut in 1988. She is an incredibly talented artist with a beautifully unique voice and incredible staying power. I love this song and the emotion that is expressed when she sings it.

SONG OF THE DAY – “FEELS LIKE COMING HOME” by Jetta

May 19, 2014

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I just returned from a very quick trip “home.” Home to the place where I spent the first 24 years of my life and where both my family and my husband’s family still live. We have not been home for a visit in almost two years and it just felt incredibly nice to be there. The thing that I loved the most about being there was the time I was able to spend reconnecting with family.

There is so much that I love about being “home” and yet, at the same time, so much about it that feels foreign and disconnected from me. Having grown up there, I notice many things that never change, but at the same time, I realize that so much has changed … that I have changed.

While I was there I kept thinking about this song. Obviously it talks about home and so that seems like a natural reason for the selection, but that is not what drew me to this song. There is just something about the feeling and tone of this song that speaks to me. The song gives a sense of peace about coming home and that feeling of “it feels like I’ve come home,” but there is also something about the song that feels melancholy. To me, that is what it feels like to “come home.”

This is an amazingly beautiful song by Jetta, a young UK singer-songwriter who was born in Liverpool and is currently based in London. She grew up with two musical parents and has been involved with music most of her life. While only a teenager, Jetta spent two years as a backup vocalist for Paloma Faith and, after that, she went on to sing backup for CeeLo Green before breaking out on her own. During all that time, she was busily writing her own music and in 2012 Jetta released an amazing independent video of her song, “Start a Riot” which led her to a record deal. In March of this year, she was listed as one of the “10 New Artists You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone magazine. Even if you don’t think you know her as an artist, you probably have heard this song before as it was the featured song for Google Zeitgist’s “Here’s to 2013“ ad campaign (a must watch video, with over 30 million views). Her debut album is expected out this year – keep your eye out for it.

SONG OF THE DAY – “THE BEST DAY” by Taylor Swift

May 11, 2014

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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

To all the mothers out there, I wish you an incredibly Happy Mother’s Day!

I love that I have the opportunity today to make certain that I tell my mom how much I love her and how important she is to me, but I hope that she knows it every single day. I have an incredible mom. I think she is the most amazing woman and my life has been so blessed to have her as my mom.

I think my mom is so cool. She has always been such a “goer” and “doer” and really instilled that sense of being active and adventurous in me. She has so many amazing talents and always made our home such a wonderful place to be. Even today, I love going home to my parents house. I love the smell, I love the warmth, I just love being there. In fact, even though I am grown up and a mother myself, my mom is the only person I want when I am sick. She has always been the one person who makes me feel better. My mom is the most giving and generous person, and has always been my #1 fan and supporter (along with my dad, of course). In addition to all of these wonderful things, she is also just a great friend – she is supportive, kind, and just an awful lot of fun to be around.

My mom set the bar very high. I know that I am the type of mom that I am because of what I learned from her and because I strive to be like her. I am posting this song today, because it says just about everything I want to say to my mom. The perfect Mother’s Day song! I don’t think I have ever been able to get through this song without tearing up. I love you mom! Thank you for your unconditional love and support, and for not only being my biggest fan, but my biggest inspiration as well.

SONG OF THE DAY – “BACK HOME” by Andy Grammer

March 26, 2014

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**APRIL 8 UPDATE: THE SONG “BACK HOME” IS NOW AVAILABLE ON iTunes AND I HAVE UPDATED THE LINK AS OF TODAY! **

Today I am posting a brand new song – the song was literally just released by Andy Grammer yesterday. The song will not be available to purchase on iTunes until April 8, but I decided it was so good that I wanted to share it now. Luckily you can listen to it here by clicking on the YouTube link below. 🙂 (I have attached the iTunes link to his last album above – which I love, by the way.)

Over the last few months, and even more so in the last week, I have become keenly aware of how many songs have the word HOME in the title. I have already posted several on this blog over the last few months, but I just keep finding more! Obviously music speaks from the heart and songwriters tend to write about their personal experiences and emotions, and “home” is where so many of those emotional experiences come from. You may see a lot of songs about home over the next few weeks, so I just wanted to give you a heads up.

This song by Andy Grammer just makes me happy. I love him and his music. Just looking at him makes me smile because he has such a great smile and a great persona. I saw him live in a small venue in 2012 when I lived in Dallas; he was a great performer and he just feeds off his audience. Andy Grammer got his start busking on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and, although he has come a long way since then, he still has a very hands-on, intimate relationship with his audience that I believe stems from those beginnings. He is an incredibly talented singer-songwriter and I am excited for his upcoming new album.

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This song is about the emotion and importance of being around those people, places or things that make you feel like “home.” The song really speaks to me and it just makes me feel good. He posted the following in his fan email announcing the release of this new song:

So pumped and excited that I get to share my new single, “Back Home”, with you all today. It’s about being around friends, people, places, or things that bring you back to who you are. After touring around the country and running around the world, this was an important song I had to write for myself.