This weekend was Capricon 2012 up in Wheeling, IL. It was also the start of Wax Chaotic’s 2012 road tour. I could not have asked for a better start to things.
This was my first Capricon, and also the first time I’d ever been to a four-day convention. I was surprised at the size of the convention and impressed at how smoothly things seemed to be running. I really didn’t attend many panels that weren’t music related, but just wandering around in the hallway I got the impression by all the signage and whatnot that Capricon is a well-oiled machine. That’s something that I always enjoy seeing as a convention attendee.
Most of what I did over the course of the weekend had to do with the music programming. Those in charge put together one heck of a program, which included concerts in the Capricon Café, open filk, other, longer concerts, and a (toast and) jam session on Sunday in the café. I’d like to thank everyone involved for not only putting together a great music program for the weekend, but also giving my bandmates and I a friendly, well-organized environment to get this year’s tour off to a good start. All three of us had an absolute blast. Special thanks go to Debbie Gates, one of those in charge, for inviting us to play in the café and giving us a way to justify coming to this awesome convention.
The other parts of the con that I participated in were pretty much just the consuite and the dealers’ room. I would enjoy having a wider selection of food to choose from next year, and also having more things that are less nibbly and more filling. But like the rest of the convention, the staffers in the consuite did an excellent job of organizing and then working that part of the con.
The dealers’ room had a lot of steampunk vendors. A lot. I almost want to say it had a bit too many steampunk vendors, but all of them had nifty things for sale and there was still a pretty wide variety of products that they were offering. But I know many conventions try to include a wide variety of dealers in their dealers’ rooms, so I suppose it seemed a little strange that there were so many steampunk vendors. There were also, I should note, at least two book vendors, one of whom appeared to deal exclusively or at least primarily in out of print editions, t-shirt vendors, toy vendors, game vendors, an artist with a really nifty display and some cool work, and a music vendor. Honestly, the music vendor got most of my monetary attention. This whole attending-multiple-conventions-a-year thing might be dangerous for my bank account–but I’m sure Roper won’t mind.
Aside from that, I attended a panel on hair braiding. That was fun and informative, even if everyone was a little not-quite-awake-yet.
I’m hoping we’ll be invited back to perform at Capricon next year. Either way, I’d like to go back for another four days of awesomeness.
This post is part of the Lyrics Dump Promotion. To read more about the promotion, please see Soap Box – Various and Sundry.
This song was originally written to give me an excuse to shameless show off the corresponding short story, which can be found here. I wish to extend many thanks to the people who helped me edit the story.
The White Wolf
Music and lyrics by Katt McConnell
I see from my window the forest,
And above, a sky filled with stars.
The moon turns the snow into diamonds,
And I wonder where you are.
It’s been several weeks since I saw you last—
I’m sorry—my babes kept me bound.
But now I am ready to try again, dear,
And pray a way out can be found.
I try to tell myself it will be enough—
There’s nothing to fear in the eyes of a wolf.
This riddle has only one answer I see,
And I pray to the gods that my love will set you free.
The staff all complain of the monster
That carries our livestock away.
They’d never imagine it also
Steals more of my sister each day.
It kills me to know I might lose you
Forever to a horrible fate,
But the steel of that curse was tempered
In the fires of your enemy’s hate.
Unless I act soon I’ll go crazy,
And unless I succeed we’re all doomed.
So into the forest I venture,
Led by my heart and the moon.
Come find me now in the nighttime,
Cross now the slumbering land—
And don’t mind the smell of the stranger,
He’s just here to lend us a hand.
I try to tell myself it will be enough—
There’s nothing to fear in the eyes of a wolf.
This riddle has only one answer I see,
And it seems to me now…that his love will set you free.
This post is part of the Lyrics Dump Promotion. To read more about the promotion, please see Soap Box – Various and Sundry.
I wrote the original version of this song in high school in (dubious) honor of a friend who went from sheltered to aware and unsure to abusive over the course of the three years I knew him. After I graduated and moved away, the song, which was by nature incredibly topical, lost most of its appeal. But I still enjoyed the chorus and the basic concept, so I decided to rewrite it.
I like this version much better. It’s still about someone I know, but I am not at liberty to name them. Those of you who know me well enough will probably guess anyway.
While I enjoy using language to rip to shreds any object of my ire, this song is intentionally short. I try not to waste my breath on people who won’t (or in this case can’t) truly listen to me, so I bit back my bile and truncated what could have evolved into a lengthy piece.
The tune, however, was not intentional. It works wonderfully, I think, but the irony it creates amuses me. Here I have these lyrics, which are actually pretty angry and bitter, set to a bouncy, almost jazzy tune. So really, because of that, this song is that giant middle finger you give your evil, hellspawned boss on the day that you finally quit the job that’s been eating at your soul for years. It’s fun.
Cracked
Lyrics and music by Katt McConnell
I can think of a few choice words that I’d love to say to you,
But none of them will change a thing, so I’m sorry to say that I’m through.
I don’t have time for all of your problems—you’ve caused enough of my own,
So I’m jumping ship while a way out remains and glad that at least now I know
That you’re cracked—
In the world’s worst way,
You’re cracked
And what else can I say?
You don’t feel, and you aren’t aware,
You’re lesser than whole and can’t be repaired,
‘Cause you’re cracked.
You can pretend to be hurt all you like, but see I’ve grown wise to your game.
Which is no small feat considering that the rules are never the same.
I can no longer ignore all the damage you’ve done—just prevent you from doing me more,
And you’ve proven to me that you can, in fact, miss something you’ve never had before
‘Cause you’re cracked—
In the world’s worst way,
You’re cracked
And what else can I say?
You don’t feel, and you aren’t aware,
You’re lesser than whole and can’t be repaired,
‘Cause you’re cracked.
In the world’s worst way,
You’re cracked
And what else can I say?
You don’t feel, and you aren’t aware,
You’re lesser than whole and can’t be repaired,
‘Cause you’re cracked.
Fine salutations at the dawn of another year, everyone! I hope that your holidays went as well as you could have wished them to. I’ve been enjoying the time to relax with my friends and family, but the wheel rolls ever onward. As such, it’s time to start looking ahead to what 2012 will bring. And if you’re a Mailing List subscriber, this information will seem slightly familiar.
Right now I would love your input. If you’ve been to any of my non-convention shows with my band, Wax Chaotic, you know that we like to raffle things off at them. It’s a chance for you to win prizes and it’s fun for us, too. Well this year we’re adding some new things to the raffle list and I need your help.
I would like to raffle off cards that will entitle the lucky winner to a free download of a track from “Cold September Ground”, but I want to know which of the album’s thirteen tracks are the most popular before I go generating a bunch of codes. So if you would be so kind as to go vote for your favorite track on the Facebook poll, I would greatly appreciate it. It will only take a moment, and you’ll be helping me out a great deal. You can find the poll here.
If you want to listen to the full tracks, they are available on my Bandcamp page. The player on the DSS website is not secure, so the samples there are no longer the full tracks.
I would really appreciate some input here, so please vote. It won’t take much of your time to share your opinion (although I suppose if you’re like my sister it might take you a minute or two to narrow down which one to vote for). Either way, thanks for helping out.
And lastly, keep an eye on the DSS Schedule page for upcoming Wax Chaotic performances! We’ll be bringing more live music your way starting in February.
No, the two really aren’t related, but they happened on the same weekend. Therefore, they get blogged about in the same entry.
First off, Friday the 9th was the day of Capstone presentations. There were several other students aside from me who presented that evening. I was unfortunately unable to get around to see any of the other projects, so I hope things went well for everyone.
For those who don’t know, the way this worked is that I set up in my presentation space and attendees wandered around from room to room to look at all of the projects. It was an evening largely comprised of talking to people, some of whom I knew and some I didn’t, answering questions. It was much more fun than I’m making it sound.
Then at around 7pm, Sean, Ally, Ashley, and I headed downstairs into the auditorium to perform some songs from the album. The audience was wonderful and, as always, I had a lot of fun being on stage in front of people and singing my heart out. My friends Beth and Michael were kind enough to take video of the performance, which you can view on my new YouTube channel:
Wet Velvet
Fall from Grace
9 Lives
And of course I have to thank the School of Informatics tech crew, who were, as always, wonderfully helpful.
Unfortunately, neither Crystal nor Gabrielle were able to make it that evening. Crystal was sick and Gabrielle is off kicking life’s ass on the road. (She has a really nifty blog over here.) But I was fortunate enough to have the help of my wonderfully talented husband Sean and my wonderfully talented friends Ally and Ashley. They stepped in pretty late in the game so that the show could go on, and I can’t thank them enough for it. And incidentally, you may recognize Ally’s name from the credits for flute on “The Garden” and vocal arrangements on “The Singing of Dragons”.
After that there was delicious, delicious pasta at Some Guys.
Honestly, I wish the day and evening could have lasted longer.
But time stands still for no (wo)man, and so the following day it was time to head down to Star Base Indy. Star Base Indy is a local science-fiction/Star Trek themed convention held on the eastern side of town. I’m familiar with the hotel from InConJunction, which is held in July, so it was a little odd being in the hotel when it was only thirty degrees outside.
This was my first year attending SBI. There wasn’t really much in the way of programming that interested me, but it was still fun to hang out and talk to people and to see all the creative costumes that the congoers had to offer. And there were many of them. I’ve never seen so many Klingons in my life (and it was awesome).
Despite not attending any of the programming, I can say that the program head did an amazing job. You may remember this woman from such other endeavors as “Kiss Me, Jak Frost”. So I may be a little biased. But nevertheless, it doesn’t change my opinion. Also, from a panelist’s perspective, Judy was wonderful to work with.
Crystal managed to kick the bug that had been bothering her, and on Saturday evening, she and I moderated open filk. I gather there hasn’t been much filking at SBI in past years, so the panel wasn’t very well attended. But Crys and I had fun and those who attended seemed to enjoy themselves. Plus another of my friends of whom I don’t see enough stopped by, and I got to hang out with her afterward.
The next morning, it was time for Wax Chaotic to take command of the bridge—er, stage. Well, both, really. They had constructed a really nifty set on the stage in main programming, and it resembled the bridge of the Enterprise. Well, sort of the Enterprises. I got the impression that it was an amalgamation of a few of them. Either way, it was pretty damn nifty to perform on the bridge of a star ship.
What wasn’t as nifty was that our concert was a ten am on Sunday, but I don’t hold that against madam Judy. She had a lot of balls to juggle, and that time slot was where the one with the Wax Chaotic label just happened to come down. I do hope that in the future we will be able to secure time slots that aren’t so early, however. Even if I do enjoy having an excuse to sleep in late for a couple of days after the convention is over.
Despite the unfortunate hour, the concert was a lot of fun. I saw toe tapping amongst the audience members, which is something that’s always really awesome for a musician to see. The lovely program head even took time out her busy schedule to come see us. And as an added bonus, the—well, I don’t remember what his official title was, but Rob Pyatt gave us an awesome introduction.
I hope to return to SBI again in the future and perform again. I don’t know that I will be going back next year, however, as I heard they are moving back to their accustomed time of Thanksgiving weekend, and, well…by that point in the year my sanity might benefit more from the atmosphere at ChamBanaCon. But we’ll see. Either way, I wish the SBI folks all the best and hope that anyone reading who’s into sci-fi will consider giving this convention some patronage. I think you’ll really enjoy all it has to offer you.
This post is part of the Lyrics Dump Promotion. To read more about the promotion, please see Soap Box – Various and Sundry.
When most mythology nerds hear thunder, they think of the Norse god Thor. When they see lightning, they think of the Greek god Zeus. Normally, I’m right there with them. But this one night in the spring of 2011, when the wind was crazy and the sky was vociferous and there was this peculiar feeling in the air, I made the leap from storm to Hephaestus. For those of you who don’t know, Hephaestus, sometimes known as the Ugly God, is the Greek god of the forge. He’s a crafter and an artisan. He’s the guy who all the other Greek gods go to when they need some armor made or a weapon forged. He is also Aphrodite’s husband. And while I’ve heard that she frequently enjoys the fact that he works late (you can’t expect a goddess of love to be monogamous, can you?), during this particular storm I heard her trying to lure her hubby away from his anvil and furnace and go engage in another equally hot and steamy activity. And then this fell out of my head.
Rumble
Lyrics and music by Katt McConnell
Down in the forge
There’s steam and there’s heat
And sweat an’ blood an’ fire,
And workin’ to the beat
Of
Hammers poundin’ metal—
Need to make the scene complete…
Let’s get a whole lotta rumblin’
Goin’ on.
With lava for the furnace
And poundin’ for a song
You work your glowin’ metal,
But your workday’s oh so long.
No
Time can quell this yearnin’—
Even iron’s not as strong.
Hey, there’s a whole lotta rumblin’
Goin’ on.
You’re better with your hands
Than any other I could name.
Sparks are sure to fly when
Your hammer takes its aim.
Though
I’m born of the ocean,
Oh, I’m tantalized by flames.
See, there’s a whole lotta rumblin’
Goin’ on.
With every bead of sweat
That the forgin’ makes you shed
The air is growin’ hotter,
And hey, I’m seein’ red.
I
Think I’ve got a fever—
Won’t you take me off to bed?
Oh, there’s a whole lotta rumblin’
Goin’ on.
Said there’s a whole lotta rumblin’
Goin’ on.
This year was my first year attending ChamBanaCon, a little relax-a-con located in central Illinois. The idea is that you go to the convention and spend the whole weekend…relaxing. I had heard about it last year, but being in the middle of school and post-Thanksgiving stupor, plus not having enough money to go meant that I had to miss out. This year, however, Wax Chaotic was invited to perform by the lovely conchair, Brenda Sutton, and it’s hard to say no to the conchair. Especially when she’s Brenda. So I got to experience my first relax-a-con, and let me tell you, folks, I needed it.
ChamBanaCon had your usual convention attractions—panels, dealers room, consuite, room parties, banquet, filking, games, and variegated silliness all throughout the weekend. I thought I’d post a review of the con as I’ve been trying to do whilst touring with Wax Chaotic (I totally forgot to write one for OVFF, so I’ll do so now in two words: It. Rocked.) to try to encourage new people to attend next year’s con. Here, then, is my review of ChamBanaCon broken up by subject and listed in no particular order.
Panels
There really isn’t much I can say about this facet of the con, as I only went to one panel. That panel, however, was awesome. We had a NASA scientist talk to us and show us things. He even showed us some photographs—actual photographs—of the landscapes of Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Several of them were even taken, like, on the planet, as opposed to from orbit. I didn’t know they had photos like that, so I thought it was particularly mind-blowing. I gather that the rest of the panels were enjoyable, but as I said, I didn’t go to any of them.
Consuite and gaming
The consuite and the games room were one and the same, which I thought was fabulous. Sitting at a table Friday evening, munching foodz and drinking soda whilst playing a card game and intermittently carrying on conversations with total strangers, I suddenly realized why I felt instantly and totally at ease. See, I’ve been going to Regional Gatherings held by Mensa groups since I was quite young. These RGs, as Mensans call them, are engineered to be what ChamBanaCon is—it’s a weekend where you go and hang out with your friends, some of whom you only see once a year at that event, and catch up, be silly, relax, play games, and maybe take in a panel or two if the mood strikes you. I don’t quite get that feeling at other cons because they just aren’t as relaxing (fun, but not relaxing), so it was nice to find a con where I did. This in and of itself is enough of a reason for me to want to go back next year even if I didn’t know that the guests would include Tanya Huff, Michael Longcor, and the Passavoys.
Phread and crew did a wonderful job of always making sure there were enough drinks and noms to keep a peckish congoer going, too. They even provided some crock-pot meal-like items, though I remember the selection being a bit slim for breakfast. There was, however, always coffee.
Banquet
While we’re on the subject of food, this seems like a good thing to talk about next. We did not go to the banquet. Instead, we went out to Miko Restaurant, a local teppanyaki/sushi/sit-down-and-eat-delicious-food place. The portions were generous, expertly prepared, and reasonably priced, and also just frickin’ gorgeous to sit there and stare at, the staff were friendly and went out of their way to be helpful, the building and atmosphere were comfortable and very conducive to eating and enjoying the company of friends, and the entire experience was overall fabulous. I would seriously drive two hours, which is about how far away they are from my house, just to enjoy another meal at Miko. We went there not once, but twice, and I want to eat there as often as possible during next year’s ChamBanaCon. If you enjoy Asian cuisine and live within a reasonable distance to Miko (note: To me that is apparently within two hours’ drive) go there, and go there often. Noms.
Room parties
The only one I was aware of was thrown by Barfleet, and I did not go. I went swimming at midnight instead. However, I gather it was fairly small, but pretty rockin’. Party on, dudes.
Dealers room
There were corsets and awesome little glass figurines and a Smith and books and games and various wonders to behold. I was sadly unable to spend any money there this year. But it was an awesome arrangement full of lots of vendors with some really neat stuff. I hope to be able to do more than window shop next year.
Art show
I did not go to this either—actually, I spent the majority of my weekend hanging out in the consuite playing games with my adventuring party—but I gather that it was less than well attended. Since I think art shows were awesome, I thought I would mention the less-than-optimal attendance so that the situation can hopefully be rectified next year. I mean, come on. One of the artists had a robot burlesque piece (that a member of my party swiftly snapped up). Awesome? I think so.
Filking
I only went to this for a little bit on Friday night. I’ve never been a big fan of attending chaos filks, which seems to be the way that Midwesterners prefer to do things, and I’ve finally decided that if it’s going to be chaos, I’d really rather just not go. It’s nothing against any of the attendees, at least not at this convention. The time I spent there Friday night was pleasant and enjoyable, and full of filky goodness. I just don’t work that well in chaos filk, so I elected to stay away on Saturday night and play games and go swimming and then go play more games and then go pass out instead. I do gather, however, that the open filk experience at ChamBanaCon was an enjoyable one, so don’t let the fact that I personally do not enjoy chaos filk in general lead you to believe that this con mistreats filkers in any way.
Since they’re music-related, the two concerts I attended are getting filed under this section. The first concert I attended, I attended because I was in it with Wax Chaotic. Our audience was great, and apparently not shy about giving feedback. My bandmates reported being told throughout the course of the weekend that our music was enjoyable. This is, of course, always nice to hear. I also had a lot of fun performing this concert (due largely to the epic win created by my bandmates, of course), even though not having a sound system was a little weird. The room was small enough and the acoustics such that it didn’t matter, however. It was actually fun being able to belt things without having to worry about putting strain on the audience’s ears or the sound tech’s nerves.
I also attended Tom Smith’s concert, but I shouldn’t need to write at any length about what sort of experience that was (hint: Awesome).
Variegated silliness
There were giant, plush bananas standing to greet you as you entered the consuite. ‘Nuff said.
Hotel facilities
This hotel seemed to have one or two minor foibles—the skylight over the pool had a leak, which was made apparent by the rain that started on Saturday, and the toilet in our room had an internal leak that meant it was dripping and refilling pretty regularly—but everyone has their off days and I don’t feel a need to hold either of those two things against the hotel. The staff were friendly, the beds comfortable, the public restrooms very convenient to the con space, and the building itself very clean and well-kept. It was also right off the freeway and within walking distance of a gas station, which was very convenient on Saturday morning when I had to procure some Pepto Bismol for my sick husband. My overall experience at this hotel leads me to look forward to coming back there for ChamBanaCon 42.
So, my overall review.
ChamBanaCon is awesome. Go there next year. Bring friends. Join us.
And remember to always know where your towel is.
Well, the album is officially off to the printer. There are new song samples up on the Music page. I am beside myself with excitement. Through all of this, though, I thought that it might perhaps be a good idea to take a moment and acknowledge everything that all of my talented helpers have done on “Cold September Ground”. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with so many wonderful people during this project and want to celebrate all their hard work. Here, then, is the nitty gritty of what’s been done on the album.
Chord transcription—Cernowain Greenman
Cold September Ground
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, bodhran, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—Melody, high harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
Kiss Me, Jak Frost
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, main vocal, sleigh bells, engineering, mixing, mastering
Deanna Roberts-Blair—Melody
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
Judy Eudaly—Harp arrangements, harp performance
Ally Clarkson—Musical consultation
The Garden
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, whispers, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
Ally Clarkson—Flute arrangements with help from Katt McConnell, flute performance
Fall from Grace
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, wind, background vocals, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performances, wind, background vocals
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
Runaway
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
The Stallion and the Rose: The Choice
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, djembe, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—The Daughter
Crystal Wolf—Guitar
Barry Childs-Helton—The Father
By Blood
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, bodhran, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
Wet Velvet
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, wolf howl, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance, wolf howl
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance, wolf howl
Jack the Ripper
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, main vocal, engineering, mixing, mastering
Deanna Roberts-Blair—Melody
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar
Stepping Stones
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, djembe, shakers, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
The Stallion and the Rose: The Debt
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, djembe, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—The Daughter
Crystal Wolf—Guitar
Barry Childs-Helton—The Father
Sean McConnell—Sir Adwain
The Singing of Dragons
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
Allyson Clarkson—Arrangements for male vocals
Jesse Dollar—Tenor harmony
Sean McConnell—Baritone harmony
Barry Childs-Helton—Bass harmony
Betsy Tinney—Cello, engineering for cello
9 Lives
Katt McConnell—Lyrics, melody, main vocal, engineering, mixing, mastering
Gabrielle Aumei—High harmony arrangements, high harmony performance
Crystal Wolf—Guitar, low harmony arrangements, low harmony performance
Much help was given on this project for all of the above by my Capstone mentor, Ricardo Laranja. I would also like to thank Beth Lykins, another of my professors, for her help with the album’s artwork. And the tech support crew at school have been phenomenal, as well.
Also, for the record, Betsy Tinney was fantastic to work with. I contacted her very, very late in the game—practically at the last minute, really—about a cello part for “The Singing of Dragons”. I told her I needed to have it by November 1st so that I would have enough time to finalize the track by my printer deadline. Despite her busy schedule, she managed to meet that deadline. Her performance was also very competent, as you can hear not only on my track, but in her wide body of other work. Her fee was also most reasonable. To hear more of Betsy’s work, check out her website, stealthcello, or visit SJ Tucker’s website.
I cannot extend enough thanks to all the people who have helped me with this project. You have my undying gratitude for investing your time and talent and helping me graduate with style. I hope I will have the privilege of working with you again.
This post is part of the Lyrics Dump Promotion. To read more about the promotion, please see Soap Box – Various and Sundry.
I wrote this song as I was about to embark on the journey that I have been on with Wax Chaotic for several months now. Deciding to take part in a band that is serious about this whole music thing was kind of a big step for me. I have long considered myself a musician, but music was never something I tried to do seriously. Thanks to my album project for school, I began to find that I really enjoyed performing and wanted to do more with it. But because I often don’t adjust well to change, I found myself in a state of confusion. So it took me a little while to get used to thinking of myself as a “real” musician.
I was and in some ways still am also frustrated by the fact that I have so many talents that it seems like it’s difficult to just focus on one. It drives me a little crazy sometimes, wondering what niche I’m supposed to fill.
This song, whose title is [untitled], is an expression of all of that.
[untitled]
Lyrics and music by Katt McConnell
My feet are now called down a road I don’t know,
And I cannot help but to stand up and go.
I abandon the thoughts of what all else I’ve wished,
Lured off by visions of dreams in the mist.
Will I find you?
Where will I find you?
This path that I tread is a strange one, for sure,
And one that I’ve dreamed of quiet often before.
I don’t know the taste of its music or rhyme,
But somehow it seems it’s been there the whole time.
Will I find you?
When will I find you?
A passion, a hobby, nothing major—and yet
It’s this thread through my life that I can’t quite forget.
It makes me consider as nothing else will:
A danger uncertain or a dream unfulfilled?
Will I find you?
How will I find you?
It’s a current beneath all the rest that I see,
Yet another obsession where I hope to find me.
And here I am sailing in blood and in bone
And sketching out charts into waters unknown.
Will I find you?
Why can’t I find you?
So, it’s been a while since I last posted. I’ve been busy! The album is very near completion, and I’ve been working on it like a madwoman these last few weeks. My self-imposed deadline for having all of the project’s various components off to the printer is November 10th. So here’s hoping.
In the meantime, I wanted to plug the next milestone for “Cold September Ground”. You might remember that the website says pre-orders for the album begin on November 1st. This is indeed the case! That’s not that far away, so mark your calendars. And remember that the first one hundred pre-orders come with a free* limited edition 11″ / 17″ poster!
And as a reminder, the release date for the album is December 1st. Backers who contributed to the Early Bird package and up will get free digital downloads of every track on the album starting November 24th. I’ll be contacting you with more information regarding that.
And lastly, I am in the process of working on another long-term project. The Muses have been speaking to me, and so I’ve been writing some new songs over the course of the last ever. Some of you have already heard one or two of them in sets with my band, Wax Chaotic. The rest of the songs are still largely in the works at the moment, and I intend to really bend my will to them once I graduate and have my brain back.
What does this mean for you? Well, I like to show off my music, and so I’ve come up with a plan. Over the course of the next few months, keep an eye out for blog entries tagged “Lyrics Dump”. I’ll be sharing the lyrics of new songs as I get them ready to be published. Then sometime during the summer of 2012, voting will open. You can think of the voting like pre-ordering. Each vote will cost $1. Each song that gets at least ten votes will be recorded and made available for download. As I said, voting is like pre-ordering, so voters will be automatically entitled to download whatever song(s) they voted for. After that, each track will be available for digital purchase for $1.
If I were the only person who would be involved in this project, I’d just say to hell with it and just go ahead and record the singles to offer for sale. But since I’m going to have to involve other musicians—transcriptionists, accompanists, vocalists, et cetera—I would like to know that I have a way to compensate them for their time before they dedicate it to the project.
I’m going to try and work more of the non-CSG songs into sets with Wax Chaotic, so keep an eye out for our shows. The next scheduled one, by the by, is at Chambanacon on Thanksgiving weekend. We hope to see you there!
It’s hard to believe that my printer deadline is right around the corner. I’m so excited to show everyone all the hard work that’s gone into this album, and I hope you’ll get as much enjoyment out of it as my friends and I have over the course of the last year. And don’t forget if you’re local to the Indianapolis area to come check out the School of Informatics Capstones, where I and lots of other awesome people will be presenting our Capstone projects. We’ll be in the IT Building at 535 W. Michigan Street on Friday, December 9th from 4 to 8pm. It’s going to be one heck of an evening.
Until next time, signing off.
*Unfortunately there is some fine print here. The poster is free, but I’ll need you to pay for shipping. Sorry, folks!
So a little while ago (ok, longer than that) I found out that some friends of mine were working with the fine folks over at Archer Productions to produce their first album. I’d had the privilege to listen to them perform things at Indy area bardic circles, as well as Indy Pagan Pride Day for a while, so I was pretty excited. Cernowain Greenman is a guy who really gets into the groove of his music, so you have as much fun as an audience member as he seems to have as a performer. And with the lovely Anaan Sapphira backing him up with vocals and various percussion, all of the songs are wonderfully aurally flavorful. I’ve also been seeing stirrings on Facebook about things involving djembes and various bowed, stringed instruments. So yeah. Kinda excited for the release of their CD.
Well, it’s finally here, and I wouldn’t be a decent friend if I didn’t plug the shit out of it. So consider this the beginning of that.
You can listen to all of the tracks on the album, as well as read the lyrics, by going to their Bandcamp page. You can also download a digital copy of the album and take it with you wherever you go. They’re still working out how to distribute the physical copy of the album via the ‘net, so I’ll be making an updated post once that gets worked out. In the meantime, go have a listen at the Bandcamp page and send a little patronage their way. Support a fellow indie artist and get some nifty music in the process. And if you act soon, you’ll still have plenty of time to save up and buy “Cold September Ground” in December ; )
So the fourth week of my last semester at school is drawing to a close, and it finds me hip deep in the midst of many, many shenanigans. First off, my summer break from working on Cold September Ground is officially over. I’m getting back into the thick of things already. With thanks to my tech guru (otherwise known as my husband), the hardware in my home studio is up and running. This means that I’ve started mixing tracks for the album again. First on my mind was “The Singing of Dragons”, which is coming along beautifully. We’ll see where whimsy takes me next.
In addition to that, my lovely ladies and I will be diving back into the studio next week to finalize the recordings for several tracks. There were some changes made at school over the summer, so my mentor for this project is graciously allowing me to use his home studio. My set-up isn’t quite ready for recording yet (microphones are useful things to have), but soon I hope to change that. Thanks to stomach issues earlier this year, I will need to re-record all of the main vocals, so I’m excited to hopefully get to do that in my own studio.
I’m very close to feeling that all of the artwork for the album’s case inserts is done. I still want to run it by one of my other instructors who, aside from just being generally awesome with all things visual, would provide a good second set of eyes to spot anything I’ve missed. Other than that, that’s all coming along well.
And of course I’ve been working on items for my backers from the Kickstarter campaign. I’m making good progress on them, and I really think their recipients will be pleased with them. I’m working on them in between all of my other tasks and duties, and just at the moment finding time for them is a little dicey. But I still hope to have everything ready for the backers by the album’s release date of December 1st.
Other than that I’ve been attending ceramics and metalsmithing classes, both of which are beyond my normal scope of activities. It’s been fun to work on different sorts of projects. I’m also continuing my guitar lessons, and thankfully my teacher is very patient. And just the other day I discovered that my fairly basic sewing machine can sew leather, so I’m itching to get back to working on my first leather corset. Things are going well with my band, Wax Chaotic, and in case you’ve missed it, we have a house concert coming up on October 1st. Details for that are on the Schedule page. And finally, in addition to all of the above (and possibly some other things I’ve forgotten), I’ve also been hard at work preparing a portfolio website for when I start job hunting. That project has been a lot of fun so far, and I hope to have it finished by the end of this semester.
So until next time, I’ll continue being insanely busy, but hopefully also being insanely productive. I’ll keep you posted as things progress. December 1st isn’t far away!
This post is part of the Lyrics Dump Promotion. To read more about the promotion, please see Soap Box – Various and Sundry.
Well, since I don’t have anything else to write about this week, I thought I’d share with you some lyrics for a new song. I might try to get a rough recording of it up sometime (once my studio actually has a microphone…)
This was inspired by my band Wax Chaotic’s concert at MuseCon. Being that we call ourselves Wax Chaotic I suppose it shouldn’t be any great surprise that Murphy keeps following us around. In this particular instance, one of the strings on Crystal’s guitar snapped as we were just getting into the meat of our set…and then proved incredibly stubborn to remove from the guitar and change out. I think it ended up taking three people, including her, and a pair of pliers to get the bloody peg to cooperate. So I decided to not only immortalize this event in song (because if we can’t laugh at ourselves, we’re in trouble) but write a song that could be performed in the instance of anything like this ever happening again. I’m sure that now since we have it we’ll never need it.
And so, I present to you, the Wax Chaotic stalling song.
Technical Difficulties (Please Stand By)
Lyrics and music by Katt McConnell
Oh
Holy hell
She’s gone and snapped a string
Who knew that that would go wrong?
I guess while she’s replacing
It
The show must go on,
So it’s time for the Wax Chaotic
Stalling Song.
We are experiencing
Technical difficulties
Please stand by
Shit, as they say,
Well, it happens all the time,
And we just have to laugh, or else we’ll cry.
It’s
A good thing
Our guitarist came prepared
For an occurrence such as this.
So while we wait for her,
We’ll
Keep you entertained.
It’ll just be a sec—dammit,
Are there any pliers in the house?
Since
We are Wax
Chaotic, we shouldn’t be surprised
When we’re paid a visit from our “friend”.
Murphy is a bastard,
But still
This song has chords transcribed
Just in case she jumps in
Before the end.
Yeah, we just have to laugh, or else we’ll cry.
This weekend, the girls and I (and lots of other nifty people) invaded Itasca, Illinois for MuseCon I: Finding Our Muse. Neither I, nor my band mates had been to MuseCon last year (they had a year zero as sort of a trial run, from what I gather), so we were looking forward to experiencing a new con. It was a pretty awesome con. In the interest of advertising for something I enjoy, I thought I’d make a post about it.
Highlights!
The con suite—It had actual food in it. No offence to other cons out there, but it was really, really nice to have a con suite that was more than some greasy chips and a few cans of a few varieties of soda. My only complaints are that there was no ketchup (three kinds of mustard, but no ketchup), no lunch meat (plenty of sliced cheese, bread, PB&J, and condiments, but no meat), and no bottled water. The hotel provided us with water, so while we did have that coming out of our ears, there are some people with whom Chicago-area water does not agree. I would be one of them. But those three things aside, the food was good, the variety was excellent, and the food prep people were awesome and lovely. We got there so early on Friday that Gabrielle and I decided to go help out until reg opened to stave off boredom, and I like to think we made some new friends in the process. Friends whose names I can’t remember. So if you’re reading this and you’re one of those wonderful ladies, I’m sorry and I promise it’s nothing personal 
Programming—MuseCon is all about learning and having fun. There was art, there was science, and it was all lots and lots of fun. The art included everything from music to crafting, and the science included everything from pictures made from lightning to playing around with liquid nitrogen. The programming is enough to make me want to come back next year. There was something for everyone and while we attendees sometimes had to make difficult decisions regarding what we wanted to see next, I take that as a good thing. See, we were having trouble because there were so many interesting things to go see. I’ve been to plenty of cons where I couldn’t decide what to go to next because all of the programming was either uninteresting to me or just outright lame. There was hardly any of that at this con (and you just can’t please everybody, so what little of it there was I’m certainly not holding against anybody).
Staff—It’s hard to find things to say about the staff. They’re seriously just that awesome. Everyone was helpful, everyone was friendly, and everyone worked really hard. Everything from ops to the things listed above was run smoothly and I know it had a big impact on the overall feel of the con, and made it much more enjoyable than it could have otherwise been. Of course being one of the musicians who performed there as part of the music track, I have to mention that Gundo, Dave, and Hey You were really awesome to work with. And I don’t think I’d be speaking out of turn if I say that, in case the music track person for next year is reading this, the girls and I would really like to come back and play for MuseCon again.
Scheduling—I know that the lunch and dinner breaks were not invented by the folks who ran this convention, but I love them anyway. It was nice to have some time set aside that was meant for eating so that you didn’t necessarily have to worry about missing a panel that you really wanted to go see. I will say, though, that the breaks either need to be longer, or would be more effective in a hotel that is closer to outside food. While there were something like three or four restaurants in the same building as the hotel (and in some cases run by the hotel), they weren’t cheap or even necessarily all that quick (we only went to one of them, so I can’t say for certain about any of the others). So there was a bit of a crunch on the time scheduled in for meals because of proximity to quick and cheap food. But at least there was time scheduled. I hate missing part of a con because I need to take a break and go eat.
I also agree with the person who said, during the feedback session during Closing Ceremonies, that there needs to be a breakfast break—the con suite and ops need to open sometime before programming starts so that we can grab a bite or register/get signed in if we still need to.
I think that’s about it for now. I had my wisdom teeth out this Monday and am getting a little woozy from my meds, so I think it’s time to go back to sleep. I would like to ask, though, if there are any con officials/people who know the con officials reading this post, if you have day rates for the con. If you don’t, you probably already know that it might be a good idea to have them, but I’m going to throw that out there anyway just in case : )
The people at MuseCon were an awesome community and just full of all sorts of nifty things. I can’t wait for next year’s con. I already have some panel suggestions in mind to send along as soon as I’m able. For now, I’ll just leave off here with this:
MuseCon
Apparently I somehow forgot to write a blog post for this one. That’s what happens when I spend every day up to my ears in alligators, folks. And not the kind who like to take tea and go dancing with snakes. The kind who like to eat your brain. (So I suppose they’re zombie alligators?)
In any case, this song is one of the few on this album that doesn’t really fit in with the whole “ghost” theme. It’s on here anyway because I wanted it to be. And also partially because as I said in the entry for “Cold September Ground”, I didn’t realize the album even HAD a theme until after I finished writing the title track.
“9 Lives” is basically a gamer anthem. The first chorus came to me one night as I was getting into bed. It was one of those random things. I hadn’t intended to write a song about gaming and the fact that I not only did so but it came out the way it did strikes me as a bit odd. I only consider myself a quasi-gamer. To me, a true gamer is someone like my husband. He has a huge video game library, multiple systems (including PC), a wealth of tabletop RPG books, a collection of tabletop games (such as Fluxx), and various bits of paraphernalia relating to (mostly video) games. He takes a strong interest in gaming culture and holds strong opinions relating to people who try to legislate against gaming. He enjoys game-related media such as TV shows and movies (though don’t worry—he has standards, and anything directed by Uwe Boll gets an immediate pass). He reads gaming webcomics. He enjoys lots of stuff found on The Escapist. Gaming is pretty much his life.
And allow me to say that he neither lives in his mother’s basement nor goes long periods of time without showering. That is a stereotype that is ill-deserved by most of the gamers I know.
So you get the idea. Compared to my husband, I’m barely aware that gaming even exists. Yet out came this song, which is one of my favorites, and I’m hoping will be a favorite of many other people as well. And the joke in the chorus, “And I’ve many more than nine lives” was entirely unintentional but too funny to resist. Yeah, I’m a dork when it comes to puns.
This song contains direct references to the “Halo” series, “World of Warcraft”, “Left 4 Dead”, the “Super Mario Brothers” games, and the “Fable” series.
At time of writing I’m intending to re-record this song so there isn’t much I can write about its production. I will say that I have plans. Lots and lots of plans. Muwahahaha.
9 Lives
Lyrics and music by Katt McConnell
There is a place that I like to go whenever I’m feeling down
When I need to release my anger or stress, or I just want a night on the town
I don’t take the highway, I leave the car in the driveway,
Instead, I pick up my control,
Turn on the TV and then the explosions
Are the music that soothes my soul.
For I am a warrior,
I am a cyborg,
I am a bard—but with knives!
I am a pirate,
I am a ninja,
And I’ve many more than nine lives.
Life’s pretty taxing and dull when you spend your day working nine to five,
And there in that setting you’ll soon go insane if you don’t find a way to survive.
We all need to play, and at the end of the day
When the real world has gotten me down,
I enter the realm of missions and spells
And I no longer feel like I’ll drown.
For first I’m a zombie,
Then maybe a vampire,
And sometimes the peasants survive.
Next I’m an outlaw,
And then a commander,
And I’ve many more than nine lives.
Some call me odd for finding escape in worlds that could never exist,
But we’ve all got our methods for coping with life and all of its myriad twists.
I must have my fantasy to survive my reality,
And it’s never once failed me yet.
And besides, you know sometimes
Those pixels deserve what they get!
Sometimes I’m a plumber,
Sometimes I’m a princess,
Sometimes I’m a healer who revives.
I might be a hero,
I might be a villain,
But I’ve many more than nine lives.
And I’ll need every one of those lives…
This summer I’ve been pointedly taking a break from as many things as I can. Aside from the general stresses of school, I got married a year ago and then started working on my Capstone project shortly thereafter. This means that I have been planning, organizing, and managing two very big and important projects—in addition to attending to my usual responsibilities to school, my husband, my friends, and my family—for the better part of three years now. Because of this, I haven’t been able to have much downtime or to take some time solely for myself. My stress levels have been reaching critical heights lately, and I’ve gotten very close to either melting down or exploding or both. So I’ve been more than a little selfish with my time and enjoying the hell out of it, for once.
All of this serves as a somewhat wordy intro for want I want to talk about this week. See, while I’ve been taking a break and avoiding the world, I’ve gotten back to doing something that was one of my first passions. That “something” is writing. I love to write, and I especially love to write fantasy. I love it so much, in fact, that I was intending to study it in college (thought as I mentioned that didn’t work out so well). I’ve put a lot of time and effort into getting better at what I love to do. A lot of that time has been spent doing what I love to do. And I realized recently that I might have an interesting insight to share with fellow aspiring writers.
Keep in mind that I’m not really expecting anyone to be all that interested. After all, who the hell am I? I don’t really even have anything published yet (although I do have a story or two up on my website). But this is something I know a lot of beginners don’t necessarily think about (at least, I didn’t), so I want to write about. And I do love the sound of my own voice (keyboard?) so here we go.
I enjoy character-driven storylines, whether I’m the audience or the writer. I think people are interesting, and I like to care about the people I’m either reading or writing about. So as a writer, I have to find ways to allow—or sometimes force—my audience to identify with the characters I’ve created. And doing that is very difficult if I can’t or don’t identify with my characters. Whether I’m writing about a farmer or a mass murderer, I have to know what’s going on in their head so that I can tell people about it.
Where to start? Getting to know real people that actually exist is hard enough, let alone someone you just made up yourself. But remember, in the second case, you are the one with the power. You get to decide how things work. All you need is a starting point. If you’re having trouble getting into your characters’ heads, ask yourself this question: What did your character have for breakfast that morning?
Seems pretty ridiculous, right? I think that’s the reaction that question gets from a lot of students at my school—see, I’ve borrowed this question from one of my instructors. There are many, many places to start when trying to get to know your characters, and breakfast is as good a place as any. (Is it any wonder that we call this instructor’s house the hobbit hole?)
So, what did your character have for breakfast? At the face of it it’s a pretty simple question with a variety of equally simple answers from which to choose. If you’re going to go with those simple answers, the next question you need to ask yourself is “why”.
Say that your character had eggs for breakfast. Like I said, that’s a pretty simple answer. So next we ask why your character had eggs for breakfast. Was there no cereal in the house? Or do they just not like cereal? Are they having eggs for breakfast because that’s just what they normally have? Why is it that they normally have eggs for breakfast, if they do? And if they don’t, is it because this morning is somehow special (and if so, why)?
You can see how it snowballs. By answering these questions, you create the background for your character. It’s not a very detailed background right now, but that’s where other questions come in.
After a while of asking “why”, it’s time to start asking some other questions. Namely, “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, and “how”. You’ll be surprised at how much information you’ll come up with for something as simple and silly as your character’s choice of breakfast food.
Who did your character have breakfast with, if anyone? What are they going to do after breakfast? Where are they eating breakfast? When are they eating breakfast? Is it actually in the morning as most might assume it is, or is it at a different time, and if so, why? How did they obtain their breakfast? Did they make it themselves, or did a servant bring it to them? Did they have to steal it or scrounge it from a garbage can in order to eat?
Character development is all about answering questions. I usually create a character by starting with a set of facts, and then flesh the character out by answering questions. Take Alexis, for example, in “Jak Frost”. I knew she was older—near the end of the time we consider middle-aged. I knew she was female. I knew she was leaving where she had been and going somewhere else. And I knew that in the process of going somewhere else she would find great love (‘cause I’m a sucker for romance). With these facts in mind, I began asking myself questions.
Where was she coming from? Why was she leaving? Where was she going, and how would she get there? Was she wealthy or poor (that falls under “who”)? This love of hers—I knew he was supernatural. Had they known each other before, and if so, when? Why haven’t they been together all this time? How can Alexis go off and join him, being that he is a force of nature and she is a normal, mortal woman?
I had to find answers for these and other questions in order for me to know who Alexis was and what her motivation(s) is/are. A character without motivation might as well be a rock.
See, the way I see it, there are two primary components needed to have a good character: Personality, and motivation. If a plot is nothing without conflict, then a character is nothing without personality and motivation. Who is your character and what does she want? If you can come up with good, believable, logical answers to that question, then you’ll have very strong, believable characters. You’ll breathe life into something that previously didn’t exist. And yes, sometimes it feels a little like playing god.
So if you’re a writer who’s working on character-driven storylines, ask yourself questions. Ask yourself a lot of questions—although remember that at some point, you need to stop. The goal is acquaint yourself with your character well enough that you can tell their story. If you get too far beyond that point, you’ll just be spinning your wheels.
This method of asking questions can work for world building, too. Your world might not be sentient (but then again, it might) but you can still think of it as a sort of character. The setting is just as important to storytelling as the people are. Start with your facts about the way things are, and then figure out why things are that way.
In one of the stories I’m working on, for example, I know that in this one particular city, the buildings like to collapse a lot. This fact is very important to the development of not only the plot, but the characters. I had an easy answer for why the buildings collapse—technology is out of balance with the world around it, and as a result it tends to tear the world around it to pieces. But from what I know of the way this world works, that explanation wasn’t good enough for me. I figured there had to be another reason behind it.
Then my husband reminded me about liquefaction. Liquefaction is what causes landslides. The ground is unstable due to excessive saturation, and it can crumble or turn into a swamp or slide down a hill. Well, it just so happens that this city with crumbling buildings is located near the base of some mountains. So not only do they get a lot of runoff from the mountains, but it rains there a lot because the clouds get trapped by the mountains. Add into that the fact that the city is not only sitting on reclaimed land (land that was once a lake or a swamp but was filled in) but riddled with subway tunnels, and that makes for some very dangerous ground.
I sound like I really knew what I was talking about, huh? Well it wasn’t until Sean brought up liquefaction that the pieces fell into place. I knew about the mountains, the rain, and the subway tunnels. What I didn’t know about was the history of the land itself. In the process of puzzling this out, I determined that in order for this very important element of the story to be believable, I would need to create a perfect storm of geology.
So I started asking myself all of those questions I’ve already talked about. And I determined that the site of this city, south of mountains that catch a lot of rain clouds, used to be a lake. A big lake. At some point in time, something shifted under the lake, and the lake turned into a sinkhole. Now there were miles of natural underground caverns with a portal to the outside world. That was fine for a time, until a land developer came along and decided that this location would be good for a city. Since there’s no accounting for (presumably) human craziness, he filled in the sinkhole lake and began building.
The city arose. The rain and water from the mountains kept coming. The city constructed subway tunnels. The buildings started to fall, and I now have some very important aspects of The World As We Know It. See, to create good characters and build a believable world, it’s not enough that you find answers to your questions—they must be logical answers to your questions. For that reason, you will probably as yourself “why” far oftener than you will ask yourself any of the other questions.
So you can see how sometimes developing your setting can be just as important as developing your characters. I know it can seem like a daunting challenge, but remember that the challenge is half the fun. And never stop asking questions. If you know that something is one way, whether you’re talking about a person or a mountain, don’t just accept that that’s the way it is. Ask yourself why that’s the way it is. And then try to keep up as the snowball gains momentum.
I have always loved dragons. Ever since I was a young child I’ve been surrounded by fantasy, and so I am familiar with beasts such as dragons, unicorns, gryphons, et cetera. I love learning about new mythological creatures. I love looking at artwork done of mythological creatures. The Last Unicorn is one of my favorite books and movies (although I’m quite irritated that the most common edition of the former is edited but that’s another story).
So I like to write about creatures of myth. Doing so is fun in and of itself, but also in some cases it gives me an excuse to research something I don’t already know about (which is an added bonus). I’ve got a few in mind that I intend to write about someday. This song, on the other hand, was neither planned, nor expected. It came to me out of the ether when I was at Liz’s house one day.
There are plenty of people out there who would call me weird or crazy but I do believe that somewhere, in some form, creatures like dragons really do exist. When the chorus came to me I decided that that’s what this song should be about. Its original form wasn’t quite what I was going for, so I re-worded it in preparation to putting it on this album.
In the meantime, though, I did trot it out at filksings and people seemed to enjoy it well enough. I certainly had fun with it, particularly at one ‘sing when people started joining in on the chorus. There were people singing in multiple different ranges, some of whom were harmonizing, and it was fantastic. But one of the things that really struck me was a friend of mine singing his part way down low. It was a good, solid bass. And I decided right then and there that if I were ever to record this song that I would want a multi-part chorus for the choruses.
Luckily, Serendipity was on my side with this song. Liz and Crystal were of course already there to provide soprano and alto parts respectively. Being part of a play that Crystal directed last year taught me that our mutual friend Jesse Dollar had a very pleasant tenor. I already knew my husband Sean could hit some lower notes. And due to my good fortune of seeing Wild Mercy in concert numerous times, I knew that Barry Childs-Helton had a good low voice for my bass part.
It was easy to make a collection of vocalists for this endeavor. But the arranging for their parts was and still is totally beyond me. I wasn’t worried about Liz or Crystal, of course, because they’ve been arranging their own harmonies the entire time anyway, and doing a marvelous job of it, too. But for male vocals…yeah, no idea where to start.
But remember the nice lady who came in to play flute on “The Garden”? She just so happens to have a degree in music and generally be very musically talented. And she agreed to help out with the vocal arrangements for this song. She did a spectacular job and despite what seemed beforehand to be daunting work, she was really helpful in enabling me to get the dragon chorus that I wanted.
You might be able to tell from the chronological order of this posting, but this was the last song we recorded. My gracious vocalists met two nights a week to go over their parts and get ready to record. They picked things up very quickly, particularly Barry who had other pressing commitments and was therefore unable to attend most of the practices. I’m still impressed with how fast he learned his part. I also have to give him major kudos for coming to record despite being troubled by the last clinging vestiges of a cold he’d had the week before.
So just in the pre- and production phases, there’s been a lot of work that’s already gone into this song. I haven’t even started mixing yet, but I can’t wait. Sean and Barry’s low notes come out of the speakers and hit you in the chest in a manner that is incredibly delightful. Jesse performed his part so consistently that his multiple takes sound like I just copied and pasted the waveforms onto a new track (and he wasn’t even trying! It’s pretty amazing). And Liz and Crystal as always created beautiful parts that they then performed very well.
It might just be how excited I am over the chorus of this song, but I kinda feel like this track is “Cold September Ground”’s crown jewel. I think you’re all going to really enjoy listening to these fine folks. And I hope the lyrics will take you back to that time in your life when the existence of creatures like dragons was too logical to refute.
The Singing of Dragons
Lyrics and music by Katt McConnell
As children we all heard the stories
Of creatures that died long ago,
Of dinosaurs of land, sea, and air,
And their likenesses we’ve come to know.
But my favorite stories are stranger—
They have valor, and fire, and gold.
But those tales are just make-believe,
They aren’t real—or so we’re told.
But I’ve heard the singing of dragons,
Calling to me from the deep.
Soothing my worry-filled slumbers,
Flying with me in my sleep.
I know my brothers are out there,
I know my sisters still soar,
For I’ve heard the singing of dragons,
And know they will sing evermore.
Dragons were once feared and worshipped—
Dragons were loved and adored.
They lived in the forests, they swam in the seas,
And wherever we hadn’t explored.
Now we think of them only as fiction,
But I for one can’t help but feel
That for all of the stories we have from yore,
That those dragons of legend are real.
Yet never today do we see them
Except in our artwork and dreams.
And scholars still ponder the meaning behind
Their appearance in literary themes.
Few folk believe they existed,
Or if they did, were much more mundane,
Yet I can’t shake the feeling they’re out there somewhere,
For reasons I cannot explain,
Except to say…
And if you’re like me you’ll agree that
We feel their presence each day,
And celebrate their mythology
In many of thousands of ways.
And some people feel they’re amongst us—
This indeed is a truth that I see,
For I’ve felt them near in the dark of the night,
And the spirit of Fire glows in me!
At time of writing, this track still needs a few bits here and there recorded. But I feel that what’s been done so far can provide sufficient blogging material.
Like many of the tracks on this album, I originally wrote this song in high school. Its original form was that of a lyrical narrative–the story had a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. And it wasn’t that great of a story. It was supposed to be mystical and maybe a little whimsical…and creepy. Yeah, some of those elements didn’t work too well together. But I really liked the name so I decided to keep that part, scratch everything else, and start again.
If you were to ask me what my favorite season is, I’d have to tell you that it’s fall. I love it when the seasons change–spring is a close second–but there’s something about the changes fall makes that are uniquely special. Fall is the world brushing its teeth and checking the door locks and making sure the cats have enough food and water before turning in for the night. Fall is energy and frenzy leading into quiet reservation as it slips into winter. Fall is jubilant and celebratory at the same time as it’s weary and maybe a little sad. I decided to try and capture that in song.
This was the last track on the album I finished writing. I had some trouble with it. See, knowing what you want to say is one thing, but figuring out how to say it, ah, that’s another matter entirely. I also had to deal with the fact that I had so much to say that it was a little overwhelming. I even went strolling through the woods of a local park to try and clear my head and find inspiration (thankfully I avoided being “inspired” by the walnuts being knocked out of the trees by little birds flitting about in the branches forty feet above my head).
I’m very happy with what I ended up with. It summed up my feelings about the season without belaboring the point and it was something I could use as a wonderfully fitting introduction to the rest of the album. Which, by the way, was not intentionally themed in the beginning. I didn’t mean to make it a compilation of what are, for the most part, ghost stories. It wasn’t until after I finished the lyrics for this song that I realized that’s what I had done.
So I had the lyrics. The tune, on the other hand, was proving to be more uncooperative than the lyrics. I was able to get the hook at the end of the chorus, and then the whole chorus, and then a rough idea for the melody for the verses, and that’s where I got stuck. So I took it to Gabrielle (AKA Liz) and she helped refine that rough idea for the verses into something much better.
The recording was fairly standard, but again we aren’t quite done yet. I mean for this song to have bodhran on it, but I’m not entirely certain how to mic it properly. That’s something I intend to work on this coming fall after I’m done with my hiatus from this project. So I suppose I’ll keep you posted.
Real quick before I spit lyrics at you and go off to check the laundry, I’d like to note that, like just about every other track on this album, I really can’t wait to show this one to people. But really the primary reason for this is the harmonies that Gabrielle and Crystal created for the choruses. They’re…something special. And definitely worth waiting for, trust me.
Cold September Ground
Lyrics by Katt McConnell, music by Katt McConnell and Gabrielle Stork
The fog moves slowly inward like sand in an hourglass,
Measuring the time until midnight.
Twining breathy fingers through blades of frosted grass,
It signals the coming of the twilight.
Again the balance comes between the light and shadow
As smoke from Mabon fires scents the breeze.
One look into the evening fog and you cannot help but know
Tonight there’s more within than just the trees.
There’s a sense of something nebulous
As once more the Wheel turns ’round
When the last of summer fades away
And we’re left with the waiting—with the waiting,
And the cold September ground.
As we whirl closer to winter, there is frisson in the air,
An alien vibration on our skin.
It’s a feeling other seasons of the year can never share—
And it only ever starts when fall begins.
It’s anticipating something, though what it is is never clear,
Yet from this suspense we’re never freed.
Waiting is never so poignant as when you know a change draws near.
And the change that looms ahead is great indeed.
We all can mark the time of year by this feeling in our bones,
Though most don’t know what it means.
Yet it stalks us in the daytime and seeps into our homes
As the sun sets alight the changing leaves.
Those of us who walk the path on which the ancients trod before
Sense the season’s change with eager hearts.
We know what the feeling means—it means the veil grows thin once more,
And tonight the air is charged as autumn starts.
This evening as the season shifts and the sabbat fires burn,
The shadows in the fog seem half alive.
Not only those of mortal flesh can feel the Year Wheel turn,
Or wait for something yearned for to arrive.
As the veil is growing thinner and more diaphanous by day,
The bridge between the worlds is clear to pass.
So the spirits wait for Samhain, the Mischief Night, to play,
As the fog marks the time like an hourglass.
There’s a sense of something nebulous
As once more the Wheel turns round
When the last of summer fades away
And we’re left with the waiting—with the waiting…
For these songs, I totally, totally cheated. I’ll tell you how and why in a moment, but for now some background is necessary.
This is one of the many songs on this album that I originally wrote in high school and then re-wrote for inclusion on this album. It was originally only five verses long. The re-write made it eleven. I was very iffy for a while about including this song on the album at all because it’s so long. The fact that I keep calling it “this song” instead of “these songs” alludes to what happened to make up my mind on the matter.
Liz (or Gabrielle for those reading the credits) suggested I try making it a two-part song. I honestly hadn’t thought of that, but upon looking through the lyrics found where a good place to cut the song in two would be. Thus, “The Stallion and the Rose: The Price” and “The Stallion and the Rose: The Debt” were created.
The original song was inspired by the cover of a blank journal my now mother in-law gave me as a present when I was in high school. I went a-Googling just now to see if I could look it up to show you guys, and discovered it’s actually the cover of a book called Ombria in Shadow. Thankfully the story I came up with and the one upon which the artwork is based don’t seem to have anything in common Unfortunately I was unable to find a larger version of the same piece on the artist’s website, but I think that Mr. Craft is now officially one of my favorite artists.
So. The cheating. See, since these songs were originally one song and therefore have the exact same melody, I decided to be devious. I didn’t see as there was any reason to make Crystal play through both songs for the recording, so I had her play through “The Price” because it’s the longer of the two. After that I only had to go in and cut out one verse’s worth of reps, and I was done. She was able to run off to the end-of-school thing she needed to go to with her fiancé (who is a fellow IUPUI student and graduating as I’m writing this) and we were able to run through the vocal recordings in about an hour.
And while I’m on that subject, please allow me to extend my heartfelt thanks to Sean (my husband), Liz, and Barry Childs-Helton for their work on these tracks. See, with how long these songs were I didn’t want the vocals to be only me. How boring would that be? So I conscripted some friends. And they were wonderful to work with. They’re all incredibly talented and they picked up their parts quickly. They brought the characters to life just as I was hoping they would, and I think their contributions to these songs are going to be a real treat for everyone. I’m very excited to share their work with you.
(And by the way, Barry is part of his own band, Wild Mercy. They’re pretty bitchin’. You should check them out.)
I think that about does it for this track. In the interest of conserving space, I will direct you to the Music page for the lyrics to these songs rather than post them here. It will make for less irritating scrolling, I feel.
“Stepping Stones” is about no one in particular. It’s about whoever you want it to be about. It’s dedicated to all of those people to insist there’s no point in dreaming, ’cause you’ll only fail anyway, and actually go so far as to insult you and put you down in their efforts to “protect” you from failure. I dislike those people. You can think I’m crazy, sure. But don’t put me down just because I’m actually willing to try for my dreams.
It took me a little while to write this one. I knew roughly what I wanted it to say, but I couldn’t get it to come out right. After a while of keeping it on the back burner, I finally came up with something that felt satisfying.
This song was inspired when I was working on notes for one of my crazy-long-time-in-coming novels. I was trying to connect a point A to a point B in one of the story lines, and made a note to myself about laying out the stepping stones. That phrase stuck in my head.
The chorus provided us with some interesting times at first. I unwittingly changed time signatures (yeah, I’m the dangerous kind of singer/songwriter), so we had to figure out how to even things out and wrestle the thing into submission. At time of writing I’m still working on the percussion for this track, which I’m hoping will turn out to be dumbek (or djembe) and tambourine.
Stepping Stones
Lyrics and music by Katt McConnell
You call me crazy for daring to dream
You say I’ve lost my grip on reality
But crazy is quitting before you even begin
And I won’t be kept down by your fatality.
There’s too much glory inside me to hide,
And it’ll claw its way out as it wants to.
I can’t keep it in, and should never have tried,
Especially not for someone like you.
I won’t stop
Till I achieve the dreams I’m meant to.
I will fly
Just to see how high I’ll get to.
I’ll lay out the stepping stones
As I make my way,
And being called crazy
Is a small price to pay.
You laugh when I fumble and claim you were right,
But mistakes aren’t the end of the story,
Through your disbelieving, I’ll continue to fight
To properly honor my glory.
It only appears like I’ve lost my direction
But that part of the tale is but half.
Every wrong turn is a chance for reflection,
Another reminder that I make the path.
I used to wonder why you couldn’t just let me be happy…
Then I realized that I don’t need you to let me do anything anymore.