Candy Lee Re-born!!! 3/15/14

It has been 2 years since I've been on tour, or updated my blog. A lot has happened since then. If you've been out of the loop on the ol' Facebook, I've had a relationship status change. I don't want to get too personal, so I'll just say things didn't work out. So, when I start blogging again, you might see some change of faces. Don't be alarmed! Everything is groovy :) I've moved back to Arkansas and set up a permanent residence. Getting married in June to a wonderful fella and artist, named Brandon Bullette. So, when I get married... yes, my name will legally be Candy Bullette. (If I ever start a metal band, the name for it will be Candy Bullette and the Sweet Death. Ha!) But, if you know about the origin of my "stage name" it's my first and middle name, so that won't change! Okay, now that all of that personal stuff is out of the way, here are a few highlights of my musical career over the past years:

New Album!

I've spent the past year working on my new album, "Human Conditions." I am soooo exited about it! I'm still not sure how I pulled it off, but I got the exact instrumentation I wanted on this album, from electric guitar, to strings, to trumpet and saxaphone. The instrumentation changes with the feel of each song, but I couldn't be happier with it. I'm amazed at the line up of musicians who graciously agreed to share their time and talents with me out of the kindness of their hearts.

The Feel

It has a totally different feel than the last album, or so I think. In comparing "The Gate" to this album, I can definitely tell that my surroundings have had a significant influence on the music that comes out of me. "The Gate" has a very oceanic feel, with the

Beautiful album artwork for "Human Conditions" by the
 amazingly talented, Brandon Bullette

sound of waves and water in the tracks themselves; and also in the feel and mood of the music, ethereal and fluent, with synth instruments, bells, and citar. This all makes sense, as most of it was written while still living in Florida, near the coast. This new album, though, has a lot more of a mountain and forest feel to it. You can tell in the woody instrumentation of this album, with the presence of the stand-up bass, mandolin, and strings. I also think being exposed to so much bluegrass and mountain music here in Arkansas has really made its way into my subconscious. I think the song that best sums up this whole experience is the last track on the album, "Ozark Hills." It's about my move back to the Ozarks, where I really feel at home. As the lyrics go, "Who needs the ocean, with such a beautiful scene?" I also talk about how the music seems to just flow out of the mountains, through the woods, and into and out of the humans that inhabit these parts. "Oh, there's a reason, there's so much music in the towns that surround and in the valleys below. Oh, you can feel it. It's so amazing, how it flows down from the mountains and into your soul." The last track of this album features a chorus of Fayetteville singers: Shannon Wurst, Shawn James, Randall Shreve, Jeff Kearney (1 oz Jig), Tiffany Christopher, Dana Louise, Philip Shepherd (Surf De Soleil, Farmer and the Markets), Chooch (Cutty Rye), and Dan Dean, Warren Dietzel, and Jennifer Parker from CL&S.

The Content

I decided to call this album "Human Conditions" after looking at all of the song titles. Like my last album, it is introspective in lyrical content. One of these days, I'll compile an album of love songs and break up songs... maybe. But this album has titles like, "Time," "Change," "Tradition," "My Friend," and "Parables and Metaphors." I figured the topics of these songs are all part of the Human Condition. I added the "s" on the end to make it "Human Conditions" because the album also deals with effect we have on our surroundings and environment- how we condition our environment to suit our needs and desires, in the song entitled, "Broken Branches."

The Process

"Human Conditions" is another DIY album. I recorded everyone myself, with the exception of a few string players recording themselves. Though this process is less expensive than going to a studio to record, the time span was far greater. The lengthiness of the recording time was due mainly to me recording in my free time, outside of work and gigs. If I had the money to spend on a weekend in the studio, with no interruptions, it would have gotten done more quickly. Plus, I have such a vast array of musicians on this album (not all members of my band), that were so gracious as to record on my album without charging an arm and leg like studio musicians do. I had to work around their schedules too, which turned out to be a little hectic, and set my time tables back a bit.

But, I like being able to record myself, and take as many takes as I feel I need to. (I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to recording). I also write my vocal harmonies as I record. So, it's a recording and writing process in one. I'm going to be honest and say that I don't have the absolute best recording equipment, but I am very pleased with the end product and sound quality I was able to get with a meager studio of a computer, and interface with one mic input and one quarter inch input. However, I did run into some EQing issues in the mixing process, which I've been told are due to inadequacies during recording- things that I don't even think about, such as instrument and mic positioning, natural reverb control, etc. But I'm learning! Every album will be better than the last! Luckily, Andrew Thompson stepped in and helped me out with some of those EQ issues. And Darren Crisp from Crisp Studios stepped in and made sure everything sounded level and polished in mastering.

The Promotion

I am so fortunate an honored to have been able to promote this album on Ozarks At Large on KUAF, the local NPR station. We did an interview about the new album, and I did a solo performance of a few of the songs off the new album, which can be heard online here:

    Full Interview:  http://www.kuaf.com/content/singer-explores-human-conditions

    One more song: http://www.kuaf.com/content/another-song-candy-lee

I also recorded a promotional interview and performance on Fayettetunes, the local music TV show hosted by Fayetteville Public Access Television.

Terrah Graves-Baker and I sat at Arsaga's at the Depot for a little coffee and interview for the Free Weekly, which has yet to be released. And I'll be meeting with the journalists from The Idle Class Magazine for an interview and video taping tomorrow.

The Release

The CD Release of "Human Conditions" will be March 27th, 2014. There will be two CD Release Parties in Fayetteville, AR.

March 27th- George's Majestic Lounge with openers Handmade Moments, and John Henry & Friends
March 30th- Greenhouse Grille, family friendly show starting at 5pm

Song of Arkansas Contest

After receiving a grant from Art Amiss toward funding my new album, I began searching online for other ways to try and get some funding. I stumbled across the Song of Arkansas Contest, in which songwriters were encouraged to write a song about Arkansas to be judged then voted upon by the public, for which the award is a professional recording studio session to re-record the song, a music video made of the song, performance of the song at the Governor's Conference on Tourism, and $2,000. I made it into the 7 finalists, out of 230 submissions. Though I did not end up winning the whole shebang, I did get a good amount of exposure and experience. I got to perform on the local Fox News 24 station, and did a few other interviews for local AR magazines, blogs, etc. I also received some amazing positive feedback from all of my supporters, and had a hoot of a time "lobbying" for votes! It was an excellent experience! Here's a link to the recording of my performance on the local Fox 24:
http://www.nwahomepage.com/story/d/story/song-of-arkansas-finalist-candy-lee-performs-in-st/39384/Xi41ZfWq5kePCiUB-wgF-w

Crystal Bridges Performance

Candy Lee and the Sweets performed to a sold out crowd as part of the Unplugged Concert Series at Crystal Bridges. We had the honor of being invited to perform in the Great Hall. We were encouraged to tie in the art at the museum with our musical performance, so I spent some time at the museum and compiled a list of artworks on display there that I thought spoke to me, and I was able to make a connection with for some of my songs. I put together a slide show of the pieces to be displayed as we performed. I wrote out a script and everything! I was very nervous, because I don't do a lot of public speaking, unless it's an interview and some kind of Q and A scenario. But we pulled it off, and the audience and the good people at Crystal Bridges were pleased and so was I. I did put a lot of thought into my connections, and tried to tie in the common themes that have been found in art of all kinds over the ages. Perhaps someday soon I will release the script (with pictures).

What I'm Looking Forward To:

The new music video for my song, "Beautiful Day," off "Human Conditions." It's shot by Imagine Film Company, and follows an epic bike ride on a beautiful Arkansas summer day. Stay tuned to my Facebook page for the music video release sometime within the next few weeks!

• CL&S just got booked at Harvest Fest this year! We are very excited about that. It will be my first real music festival performance! Look for us if you plan on going! Date and time TBA.

• New Candy Lee Merch- stickers, t-shirts, and of course the new album, which will all be available for purchase on my new website within the next few weeks at http://candyleemusic.com

• I'm also excited to start planning some tours to promote my new album. Planning to start touring again this summer!

Thanks for checking out my blog. I know this entry was lengthy, but I had a lot of catching up to do! The next one won't be so arduous of a read!

July 2012 Tour: Day 16

David likes to make composite pictures of my shows sometimes.

Day 16


The last day of the tour was spent in Little Rock at a house show put on by Argenta Productions. My friend Brian, who I met through playing with Andrew Koji (an excellent musician), hooked me up with this show. Another musician friend of mine from Orlando, Austin Miller, was passing through Little Rock on the same day, so he also played the house show. Besides us, Brian and his girlfriend, collectively known as She's a Sheba, played a few tunes, and Cliff Hutchison, also accompanied by a friend, played as well. It was a great night of music. Each performer was very talented.


We played outside. The weather and the set up was very nice. It was explained that it was a neighborhood effort to put together the show. The neighborhood kids fixed up the yard, and other members pitched in to help set things up. It's nice to see a community come together on a project like this. It was a family friendly event and everyone had a good time :)

July 2012 Tour: Days 14 & 15

Days 14 & 15


Unfortunately, both of my gigs on these days fell through, and I was unable to find replacement gigs on such short notice. So, David and I decided to make the best of it, and take Mr. Buddy swimming and camping. We didn't take any photos of that, so here are some random photos from the trip.

Mr. Buddy want to eat Indian food too!

Crochet

July 2012: Days 12 & 13

Days 12 & 13

We returned once again to Tallahassee for the next few days. The first night I played at Mockingbird Cafe again, and it was probably one of the most fun shows I played on this tour. This time I opened for a local band called Drunken Cartographer. I was excited to see them play live because I had listened to some of their music online. I was also looking forward to this performance because I had been trying to get a gig at Mockingbird for a while, but the only night they book local acts is Thursday nights, so the timing was never right...     until now!



This night was also mine and David's 9th wedding anniversary. In honor of the date, I dedicated the last two songs I played to him. They were my two love songs, "Euphoria", and "Home." "Euphoria" was written during and about the beginning of our relationship, and the giddy feelings that went along with that. "Home" was written around our 6th anniversary, and is a more mature song that talks about the progression of the relationship, and also goes along with the old saying, "Home is where the heart is."



Drunken Cartographer was excellent. I really like their music and am now a fan! It was great to sit back and listen to a great band for a bit.

All Saints Hop Yard

The next night, I performed at the All Saints Hop Yard in Tallahassee. We almost passed this place when we arrived. It's kind of hidden, as you have to walk down from the street to get there. The Hop Yard is an outside venue, serving a variety of bottled beers. It's set up kind of like a courtyard, with picnic tables to sit and eat at. On the weekends, food trucks come and park next to the venue. 


When I arrived at the venue, a stage was already set up, with a projector screen in behind it. There were lights, and a nice PA set up as well. 


It was a pretty chill night. The worst part was the heat, but even that wasn't too bad. The crowd was really respectful and seemed to enjoy the music. I sold a lot of CDs and received a lot of good feedback. David took some cool pics this night too. My friend, Ray, also came over from Jacksonville to hang out in Tallahassee and watch me play the past two nights! It's so awesome when you're friends come out to support you :)

From the Roof

Singing "Mad Tom of Bedlam" A capela 

David may have tagged something...

July 2012 Tour: Day 11

Day 11

I returned again to Jacksonville to play one more show at Island Girl Cigar Bar. I had played there once before. I would like to say it was a positive experience, but it was probably, my most awkward show so far on this tour. The last time I played at the cigar bar, I brought out a group of people to watch me play. This time, my friends didn't show up until late into the night. I played the first few hours to about 10 or so people in the bar, none of whom seemed to care that there was live music. There was a man in front of me, who I could tell by his attire, was probably in opposition to most of my lyrics. He did not seem impressed.  I sold no CDs and made no tips. The saving grace of the evening was when my friend, Jay arrived with his friend- they listened, clapped, and appreciated.


Reflecting upon this experience, I realized just how important it is to have some kind of positive crowd response, even if it's just a few people. I can tell when the audience is not into my music. I can feel it, and it brings down my energy and my performance. I just want to crawl inside myself. I want it to be over. I've played quite a few gigs like that- mostly restaurant and bar gigs. I have been trying to book more shows in a listening room, or performance oriented venue where people come to listen to the music. I'm on my way, though, weeding out less appropriate venues here and there, and making connections to better ones.

July 2012 Tour: Day 10

Day 10

Sweet Pea Cafe

The next day, we went to a local vegan restaurant called Sweet Pea Café. It’s a small place, with about 6 entrée items, a few sides, and a special. They have a patio outside with a few picnic tables, which is where we sat with Mr. Buddy. They also have a bowl on the patio for dog water. The place is run by young people, around our age, and they play cool music on the inside. They few times I went inside, I believe I heard Joanna Newsom and Neutral Milk Hotel.

Buffalo Tofu Sandwich

To eat, I had the buffalo tofu sandwich with hand cut sweet potatoes fries. It was delicious. Even more delicious though, was the special, which David ordered. It was a peppered tempeh stir fry over brown rice. Mmmm mmmm!!! To drink, we had homemade iced tea. We’ll definitely be coming back to eat at Sweet Pea Café again when we return to Tallahassee in a few days.

We drove to The Bull  in Gainesville. This was a nice, short trip, in comparison to our other driving distances/times so far. The Bull is located in downtown Gainesville, which appears to be really nice. The manager/bar tender was very nice and accommodating. He offered to let us bring Mr. Buddy inside, which we did. They had some pretty good beers and wines that I recognized. I had the Santa Julia Pinot Noir. It was very nice :)

I played in front of a piano stashed into the back corner of the restaurant. They had a small, but high quality bose system for me to plug into. It’s always nice when I don’t have to lug in all of my own equipment. A few friends I met through facebook came to watch me play and support. That was really neat. The locals seemed to dig the music too, and the manager said he’d like to have me come play again. It’s nice to finally have a good gig in Gainesville!

July 2012 Tour: Days 3-9

NOTE: THERE AREN'T MANY SHOW PICS FROM THE FIRST PORTION OF THE TOUR, AS MR. BUDDY HAS KEPT DAVID PRETTY PREOCCUPIED .  SO, TO KEEP IT INTERESTING, I'M ALSO POSTING RANDOM PICS TAKEN ON TOUR!


Days 3 -5

For this portion of the tour, I returned to Jacksonville, FL. My first Jacksonville show was at Dos Gatos downtown. Dos Gatos is a hip, swanky martini bar and lounge. What I like most about Dos Gatos, other than it’s great location, is that the venue is sectioned into two parts. The bar is at the front of the venue as you walk in, and in the back, is a listening room and lounge with comfy couches and booths to sit in as you enjoy the music. I think because of this, Dos Gatos is my favorite venue in Jacksonville for acoustic music. They just started having acoustic music on Tuesday nights a few months back and I hope it continues!!!

David chilling with Kevin's
rescue dog, Sydney.

The fourth day of my tour was July 4^th.  I tried to coordinate some kind of 4^th of July show, but there was already so much going on, that I couldn’t get it to work out. There was an art walk scheduled downtown for the 4^th of July, but it probably got rained out. Though we had planned to attend, the rain kept us indoors. It was nice though, to have a night off to lounge, eat vegan food made by our old roommate, Kevin (whose place we stayed at for this portion of the tour), and work on my crochet piece.

The 5^th day of tour was spent at Engine 15 on Jacksonville Beach. I have played there a few times before and have always enjoyed it. Engine 15 is a microbrewery with many amazing beers to choose from. The bar tenders there are always incredibly nice and accommodating.

Days 6 & 7

David took a pic of the church where my cousin got
married. He was in the balcony video taping.

This is the portion of the tour that was spent visiting my family in Fort Myers, FL. It was so nice to see my parents and sister again, and get to hang out with them a bit. We went down to the art walk downtown in Fort Myers. It was nice to see such an event. It’s fairly new, I think just a few years old. Art walk happens once a month, along with music walk, which is on a different day, but also happens once a month. Growing up in Fort Myers, there was a small indie music scene, but not many venues to play at, and not much local art being showcased. It’s nice to see the scene has been growing and evolving. This art walk was much like others I’ve been to, wherein local galleries, bars, and shops open their doors, host live music, and showcase art. There are also street performers and artists creating on the sidewalks.

Double rainbow action outside the wedding reception.

The 6^th day of the tour was spent at my cousin, Brittany’s, wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding, and so nice to see family that I haven’t seen in a really long time, some that I haven’t seen in over 10 years. It’s pretty crazy to see all of my cousins all grown up, graduating college, and getting married. Life is amazing and bazaar! After the ceremony, we danced the night away at the reception, as we Hogrefe’s often do, Polka included!

Day 8

My sister, her boyfriend, David and I headed up to Tampa for this next gig at Mellow Mushroom. Unfortunately, as awesome and useful as iPhones may be, they also lead you astray with directions sometimes. I have learned my lesson to be careful and make sure that the destination matches up with the address I need to arrive at. Thought I typed in “Mellow Mushroom Tampa” into the google maps, it sent me to the Mellow Mushroom in Brandon (about a half hour south of the one in Tampa). Though I thought I would be early, I ended up being a little late, but it turned out okay in the end. Though I strive to be on time to every gig, venue owners have the understanding that musicians are not the most punctual people, 
especially when they have to drive long distances.

Mr. Buddy chilled with us often as we ate, usually sitting
in a chair like a person.

I have a long history with Mellow Mushroom, as I have performed numerous times at the locations in Fayetteville and Rogers, AR. Also, David has been working there for a while. I love Mellow Mushroom because they have good options for vegan pizza. David and I switch it up between a BBQ based pizza with Daiya cheese and tempheh, and a Mediterranean pizza with a hummus base (and loaded up with veggies, of course).

This show went really well. I got a good audience response, sold a few CDs and made some much needed mula for the road. If they keep hosting music in the future, it will be a great place for me to stop on my way out of Fort Myers and up the coast. We didn't have anywhere to leave Mr. Buddy during this show, so David, my sister and her boyfriend all sat outside and ate pizza on the patio, and hung out with Mr. Buddy while I played. I was hooked up to the speakers outside, so they could still hear me :)

We spent the night at my sister’s boyfriend’s place. It’s a cool pad with lots of animals, including corn snakes, which I love (I worked with corn snakes when I interned at a nature center in college)! The host of the house made us vegan popcorn as we chilled and watched one of the craziest movies ever made, From Dusk Till Dawn. Overall, this was a really great day!

Day 9

We drove 5 hours up Florida’s west coast to arrive in Tallahassee, FL. Here, we visited some old friends we haven’t seen in a while, and I performed at the Songwriter Showcase at Mockingbird Café. I’ve played at this event at Mockingbird before, when I lived in Jacksonville. Mockingbird Café is a nice little restaurant with a small stage near the bar area. There were quite a few musicians performing this time, so we each had 15 minutes play and speak about our songs.

I quickly noticed that I was most likely the youngest of the performers at this Showcase, though there were two guys who played a few country break up songs that might have been a few years older than I. Though primarily, I would like to perform for an audience of my peers, I often enjoy playing for an older crowd. It seems like the older crowds listen better. Part of it may be out of respect (something lost to my generation), or the wisdom that comes with age in which you appreciate and listen to the lyrics that others have put so much time and effort into.

I’ve always considered myself a good listener when it comes to music. I love music of all kinds, but especially music that has something to say. It seems like most of the music born from my generation consists of love songs, break up songs, and of course, the mainstream songs about sex and money. I don’t know how it got to this point. I know people have always written love songs, but at least some of the classics I listen to had more to say on top of that. I’m not sure what the reason is for this. It could be a combination of factors. Did past generations care more about what was going on in the world around them? Did they feel more of a sense of conviction to use their music to create change? Has mass media so hypnotized us to buy into pop culture that we only care about the superficial? Have we become disillusioned so that we think our voices will not be heard or taken seriously? Maybe we don’t want to think about the state of the world because it’s too depressing. In any case, I could do with a lot more conscious music.

At the showcase, one of my favorite acts was a husband and wife duo from Oklahoma. He is a Florida state finger picking champion, she is a Native American Indian who sings politically charged songs. She said, “I’m a folk singer. I write a lot of controversial songs. But that’s my job, to rustle some feathers.” I loved that! Though her singing was not the best I’ve ever heard, the stories she told through her songs, and the sign language she motioned during them moved me. I thought in my head, “Right on! Why don’t more people do this?” Then I learned that she grew up in foster care, not really knowing her tribe heritage. She sang a song about it, and said that she finally found out through DNA testing after 61 years of wondering. Learning about her hardship, it makes sense that she would sing about these songs. It seems that a lot of the time, it takes some kind of tragedy or hardship to get us to really think introspectively, and to write about what is on our minds and what we would like to change. It makes me think of the old slave and gospel songs of the early African Americans, as well as the revolutionary songs of the Civil Rights Movement. I think of the revolutionary songs of the 60s and Woodstock. Since then, it seems, we have lost our voice. I hope someday day soon to get it back.