New Song - 'Give Up Me'

                                                             Hi everyone,

My blog postings have decreased from almost daily for a year to once a month.  Hopefully I will get back to posting more frequently.  Last month was a busy one.  I finally have my in-home studio up and running.  Here is the first song, 'Give Up Me' I tracked (vocals & guitar).  I still plan on producing a version of this song with some strings and a few other instruments added. In the middle of April I went to Los Angeles for the ASCAP Expo conference.  It was the motivating factor in getting my studio set up.   I plan on completing my new CD with my studio in July and August.  Another new song I recently tracked,  'What Does Bob Think?', placed Honorable Mention in the Song of the Year contest.  I was happy that it placed against completed (fully produced) tracks, when the song is only a rough and raw 'first take' vocal and acoustic guitar tracks.  I will produce 'What Does Bob Think?' this summer too, as well as the rest of my new songs.  I will be running a fundraiser to finish my CD and a series of paintings with Kickstarter starting next month.  This month is crunch time for my teaching business.  I have 20 students preparing for Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory - The Achievement Program exams this month, and then I have my student recital to prepare for.
  Eight of my nine art entries were accepted and juried into the Edmonds Arts Festival 2012 Juried Galleries.
  Continue to say your prayers and send positive energy for my 17 year old bass student, Ruby Smith, who is fighting cancer.  She is always in my thoughts.
  I will write more soon!  Have a nice day. xxoo Laurie

Chair and Vase

Hi Everyone,

  Yes, I'm still alive, and I'm covered in a new coat of mold.  It is lime green this time.  This is my first break, only one student to teach today, in a couple of months.  I have been busy doing positive thing, even if I haven't had any time to paint (wah, wah).  I painted last night though.  I forced myself to get started. To shift my brain back to the right side. It was 3 am when I started, and it is a quick acrylic painting of a vase of flowers and a chair.  I will be updating my art site with my miniatures and paintings from the previous few months by next week - www.lauriemillermodernart.com .  
   First, I played a GoGirls Festival at Eddie's Trackside in Monroe.  Michael, my son, played violin with me, and Carol played percussion.  It is soul full filling to play my original songs again.  Writing music, painting, writing, creating in any form brings me joy.  I'm in the moment, and I feel like I'm living my destiny.  




Anyway, the GoGirls Festival was a wonderful event, and I met some wonderful talent: Ronnda Cadle, Heidi Swan, Jean Mann, and Christine Havrilla.
  Next, I played a fundraiser at The Vera Project for Ruby Smith, my 17 year old bass student who is beating cancer.  Here is a link to her journal. 
  Finally, I held my fourth annual Christmas recital for my music students.  It was a wonderful event as always.  Their energy is so positive and they are all so talented.
  I'm #4 on the Rock charts in Seattle on Reverbnation now.  How exciting!  There is some great music on the Reverbnation site if you get a chance to check it out.  Here is my link: http://www.reverbnation.com/lauriemiller.
  I'm still updating my Facebook Fanpage.  If you want to 'Like' it great.  Let me know by sending me a message or email and I'll 'Like' your page back: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laurie-Miller/6369592998.
   Thanks so much for reading, looking, and listening.  Have a nice day! Laurie

My Father's Birthday and Steve Jobs Dies

Hi Everyone! I'm back again. Wednesday, October 5th, would have been my father's birthday. Unfortunately he passed away of a sudden heart attack when he was only 49 years old. He was an amazing man, and I remember moving to Palo Alto twice, two years apart, so that my father could work on his Ph.D in Sports Medicine at Stanford. He was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame. He had also been a trainer for the USA team Winter Olympics, and he was the president of NAIRS which was located at Penn State. I wrote this song on Wednesday in memory of him - My Father's Song. Unfortunately on Wednesday, Steve Jobs died. What an amazing creative genius Steve Jobs was! What a loss!
Ruby, my bass student is always in my thoughts, and you can read about her journey to heal from cancer at her online journal link Caring Bridge/Ruby Smith.
I'm really enjoying getting back to writing songs again. The song I've linked to this post is written for piano/violin, but I haven't found a good violin midi sound yet. My son played it on his violin for me, and it sounded great. I will soon have my instrument inputs set up so I will have a real violin sound recorded.
I painted the acrylic painting 'Hat and Coat' last night too. I'm getting excited to focus time on my painting too.
I'm sure that I'm in need of some sleep,
so nighty night. xxoo