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!