New Loves and New Experiences

Alright.. first and foremost - I have a new love.  She has a beautiful head, neck, and body.. 

hahaha - and she's my spankin new guitar!!!! LOOOOVE her! I traded in my super nice keyboard for a guitar (for tons of reasons, ask me about it later).

She's so beautiful. I'm starting to do lessons online and practicing everyday on top of my regular voice lesson practice. I'm SOOOO excited to learn! I want to be able to play any song that I want to sing, control the accompaniment myself AND me mobile to bring it around and sing wherever I want... Plus, after all that - I'm hoping i'll be able to write my own music.. we shall see :) In the meantime.. double duty practicing for now.. voice + guitar.

Secondly.. I'll finally talk about what I've been up to in the last week.  So I got a PHONE CALL from AMERICAN IDOL. Asking me to come in and audition under a separate group (I was recommended).. I'd get to skip the line and get priority in the audition process - it was also being held at AT&T Park which is a quick walk from my house.. I guess I have no excuse now right?

I decided fine, I'll go - no expectations.. just with the idea of singing at AT&T park.. I've never really had an interest in auditioning in these shows but hey.. if I'm getting a call, get to skip the line, and it's right next to my apartment? OKAY then. 

Had a great session with my amazing voice coach who prepared me for anything and everything. Said he'd be SHOCKED if I didn't make it through to live shows.. but whatever.. I'm not sure that I even really want to do American Idol, it'd be good audition experience regardless. Got there, my name was under the list for Interscope Records.. (umm.. awesome!).. got to sit in the stadium with Ryan Seacrest a few feet away.. he's all hyping the crowd, encouraging us to chase our dreams and that THIS WAS IT.  My anxiety started happening right around there but I had a few people near me that were pretty outgoing and funny, they distracted me and took my mind off of the pressure.   


They called us 8-10 at a time, brought us in front of the first tent where the executive producers sat and waited.  It wasn't a one by one thing, it was a line up of 10 of us in a row.. each of us singing one after the other while staying in line.. and then producers pointing down the row saying "yes, no, no, no, no, yes, no"... CRAZY.

Anyway..long story short.. I did a decent job.. I'd say I did 85% of what I know I can do.. ran out of breath a couple times but hit the big notes without a problem.. they ended up not letting me past the last round because they want to go into a more country angle. No biggie.. it was an amazing experience.

Now back to practicing for Martuni's in a couple weeks! Coach is letting me repeat any song I wan (which will be ALL) and my sole and only focus is to have FUN with the crowd and perform for the AUDIENCE - to not even WORRY about my voice at all.

We'll see how that goes :) 

In the meantime.. voice + guitar time every night..

For Martuni's I'm thinking of doing:

* Clarity
* Impossible
* The Climb? Distance? (haven't decided which)
* Addicted


Thoughts anybody?

Thanks!

Missy

Memorial Day Shopping..

Hey goofballs!

So I did a little damage yesterday.. 

I walked into Guitar Center and bought.. Everything..I think lol. Hahahahah no just kidding, although it did feel like it when I got to my mountain of goodies at the register.  I got the start of what I needed for practicing music at home. What does that mean, you ask?

- a performance microphone

- microphone cables

- microphone boom stand

- piano / keyboard (score!)

- keyboard stand

- chair for playing keyboard

- audio interface (comes with audio software for editing recorded music)

- keyboard/piano pedal

- keyboard cables

- 2 mega awesome speakers (aka monitors)

- 2 books of fun sheet music 

What's left?

I need : 

- a DESK

- a computer that allows all of the above to be RUN

Whew! 2 major questions:

1) HOW on earth do I put this all together and make it work?

2!) WHERE on earth will this fit in my San Francisco apartment??!

A really good first step but I still have a ways to go.. What I was finding is I would make great progress in my lesson but I'd be a sitting duck once I got home. I'd still practice but just to my lessons recorded and just practice my upcoming performance songs acapella. 

I realized I was handicapped. I can't perform live anywhere without being able to play an instrument (seeing as how I obviously have no band) and if I want to take my music to the next level.. Like write my own music or manipulate and change an existing released song - or perform ANY song live without help.. I need to play an instrument! 

Soooooo with that being said, I played the piano a bajillion years ago and have since stopped (and focused on dance instead).. So my job now is to rack my brain and RE-learn how to play the piano. Something that can ONLY help me..

Keep your fingers crossed for me, hopefully it comes back to me SOMEWHAT easily :)

Skip to TODAYYYY, my boo (Alex) and I met my mom in the oh so lovely Vacaville (~1 hour away from San Francisco) so we could 1) hang out and 2) so she could give me my dog back (my fluffy muffin Alfie!!!)

She watches him whenever Alex and I travel.. Which works cuz she begs for him normally :)

Hanging with my mom is my favorite, a little dose of home every time.. We shopped a bit, helped her pick a dress for an upcoming cousin's wedding and then had a little dinner and drinks (or maybe it was just me who drank.. Oh well :-p)

Pics below!

Now to focus on my performance songs this week (Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!):

- Clarity

- I Knew You Were Trouble

- Impossible

- I Told You So

My cousin Kelley (who's in an amazing band called 'Breaking Midway') called me today to tell me there's a song that could fit me really well, and that she thinks I could really rock.. Jessie J's 'Who You Are'... Do y'all know it?! I looked it up today and it's an AMAAAAAZING song! A big song, but amazing. Will be trying to check that one out as well.

Okay Luvs.. This Wednesday is the group class performance day!!! I'll be singing Clarity. A week from tonight is my debut at Martuni's! 

Holy s**t!!!

For me this week : Practice practice practice!

Until later, gnite! :)

- Missy

Back to Ballet. Effing toes..

Happy Sunday Funday people!

I woke up wanting to satisfy my dance itch on my day off with singing.. So I threw on my tights and leotard, packed my shorts and ballet shoes and flew out the door for the 10am class.. 

Class went great, while I struggled at the barre since it wast first class back in a couple months- I was good to go once we did floor work. The instructor brought me up to the front of the class for a guide for the students who were lost..

Although, true to ballet training.. My toe got a little effed.  :-/ see below

Anyway.. Spent the rest of the day in Golden Gate park relaxing.. I think I'm going to tryyy and make it to Guitar Center today.

Stay tuned :)

Missy