Donna Beasley: News

Check it out in the reviews section -- Country California -- a very funny blog about country music with a serious turn every now and then. Very nice review from C. M. Wilcox. 

Oh...and Under The Rushes is on itunes!!!!!!!!!!

Under The Rushes is now available on CD Baby and on Digstation. Follow links under the Purchase tab. 

Take a look at the "reviews" section. "Under The Rushes" got a nice little mention by Robert K. Oermann in Music Row Magazine. Mr. Oermann is a respected music critic, author, and historian. I am most appreciative of the kind words!

Donna Beasley & Appalachian Therapy have been included in the following impressive line-up to play a benefit concert for Nashville flood victims. Click on the "calendar dates" tab for details.

Confirmed Line-Up: Mindy Smith, Tommy Womack, Irene Kelley, Robby Hecht, Randy Kohrs, Like Candy Red, Donna Beasley, And Okay, Steve Lee and Sara Jean Kelley

"Just What I'm Looking For" is a featured track on the No Depression website! Check it out:

http://www.nodepression.com/?xg_source=msg_feat_track#music_player

I have submitted to over 30 blogs for possible review of "Under the Rushes" via a service called Reviewshine. Hopefully, I will have something to post under the "Press" tab before too long.

I have uploaded a couple tracks under the "Music" tab and you may sample additional tracks on my MySpace site. Visit "Links" to hop over to MySpace.

There's a saying among music makers: "you never really finish a record, you just give up on it." And folks, that time has come. The order for cd duplication was placed Tuesday. We are looking at a possible July 1st release date. Check back for more preview tracks to be added.

CDs will be available through CD Baby, Amazon, and this website. Downloads will be available through iTunes and Digstation. Check back for links!

I've added a preview from my upcoming CD, "Under the Rushes" It is a song called "Mountain On My Back." I hope you like it.

A word from The Nashville Scene about tonight's show, which Tom & I are happy to be a part of:

An instant Nashville tradition on arrival last year, this irresistible night of atonal amour is a couples-only affair onstage, as more than two dozen Nashville musicians and their musician-or-not significant others team up to sing duets — which last year meant anything from Laurie George & Dan Baird doing “You Don’t Miss Your Water” to hosts Anna & Michael Webb proving the world hasn’t had enough of “Silly Love Songs.” This year’s songs are still hush-hush — although we understand Helen Stevens & Bill DeMain plan to leave us in XTC — but couples so far include Andrea Barrett & Jason White, Kristi Rose & Fats Kaplin, Jill & Billy Block, Charlotte & Peter Cooper, and Sabine Schlunk & JJ Jones. Best of all, there’s no cover — proof that somebody up there loves ya.
Sat., Feb. 13, 8 p.m., 2010

Thanks to Steve McIntyre at http://coverfreak.com for posting my song and some complimentary tri-syllabic adjectives to boot! Here's what he had to say:

Donna Beasley “Love My Way” (Psychedelic Furs)
This song never really did much for me, what with the monotonous buzzing of those synthesizers and of the singer’s voice. “Languorous” isn’t a word I often use to describe the music of the Psychedelic Furs, but Donna Beasley infuses the song with an exquisite sense of languor.

Brian Ibbott has added my version of "Love My Way" to his Coverville podcast and he had some very kind things to say about it. Thanks, Brian! Check out his cool show here:

http://coverville.com/archives/2010/01/coverville-644-all-i-want-is-you-and-this-indie-hodgepodge/

A blog about cover songs called "Cover Me" added my version of "Love My Way" to their weekly post. Thanks, guys!

http://covermesongs.blogspot.com/

My random, meaningless ponderings can now be found under the "blog" tab and we (the "royal we") will keep this tab for music bid'ness news only. Management appreciates your cooperation and patronage.

We shared Thanksgiving with our friends, Bob and Etta Britt. I've talked about Bob before. He has played on both my records. He currently plays for Wynonna and in the past has played for John Fogerty, Dixie Chicks, and on Bob Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" record (just to name a smattering). Etta is a blues singer who fronts her own band and sings with other soul powerhouses in Kentucky Thunder. Bekka Bramlett also shared the day, and a little of her spectacular voice. She has sung with Fleetwood Mac, Faith Hill, Vince Gill and others. She is daughter of the legendary duo, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. Google those guys...Delaney taught George Harrison how to play slide guitar, for starters. So, we had a great day of music...oh, and food too.

Then, Tom had a call from his friend, Phillip Russell (a really good singer and songwriter) to play a gig with him the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Phillip is married to Patsy Lynn, Loretta's daughter, and won a Grammy for a co-write on Loretta's "Van Lear Rose" record. That song was "Miss Being Mrs." By the way, that is a great record Loretta did with Jack White of the White Stripes. Get it, if you don't have it.

So, anyway, it was a fun gig of mostly covers. Tom played awesome! He and I did a couple songs. However, I did have to follow Patsy singing "You Ain't Woman Enough." That was the only downside. Tom played guitar for Patsy and Peggy's band back in the day. That's how they all hooked up. And now db has crashed the party.

I'm thankful for the great food and even better friends and music this Thanksgiving weekend 2009!

I've added lyrics to the songs from the new record, called "Under The Rushes." Check the "music" tab and scroll down.

I finally had my photo shoot for the new record with Nashville photographer and graphic designer, Pierrette Abegg. My friend Heather Dryden was on hand to direct the shoot. She directed the shoot for my "Good Samaritan" record and did the artwork design for that CD. I've changed the design for the site, as you might have noticed, and added a couple of the new pics. Pierrette and Heather did a WONDERFUL job at the shoot and Pierrette has done amazing post-shoot work on the pics. I'm very, very pleased with the results!

Tom is finally home for a couple months and his goal is to finish mixing the record during this time. He will be going to Australia for three weeks the first part of December. So, he's using that as his deadline. After mixing is complete, it will be mastered. Depending on how the tracks sound after mastering, a few mix-tweeks may be necessary. Once we're happy with what we hear, there will be final mastering then duplication of the actual CDs and artwork.

I had an artist acquaintance tell me that he is not duplicating any physical CDs -- he's only doing digital downloads. That may be the smart way to go in what is almost 2010. But I am old-fashioned. I want a physical copy of my music, of other people's music I like. I want photos. I want artwork. Lyrics, when I can get them.

I don't want one killer single. I want 11 songs that transport me into the artist's world. "It's a singles market," someone told me. My response was that labels are not signing very many real artists capable of producing a CD full of quality music. And just because that is the case, no one will convince me that the album is dead. No, buy ANY of the Neko Case records I have in my collection. You will see that the album is not dead.

In fact, I've already asked Santa to bring me a copy of Neko's "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" on vinyl for Christmas. To quote my own lyrics, "I'm a quarter jukebox in a karaoke world."

This is only my second record. But I get the sense that every record has its one or two tracks that you just can't seem to get off the ground. You like the song. You like the performances. You recorded it in the same session as other tracks that seem to shine. So, what is it? Something is missing. Something you can't put your finger on. It just sounds...so-so. Alright. Okay.

We had been battling “that” track for months now and we finally whooped that track. It was kind of a rockin’ little number that wasn’t all it aspired to be. The first thing we decided was that the piano HAD to go. We were definitely taking that out. Yep, ix-nay on the iano-pay. Funny. Now, the piano is probably the most prominent instrument.

There was a lot of good stuff going on instrumentally. But it was like trying to listen to 7 different interesting conversations at the same TIME. So, to put it simply, we simplified. There's something to be said for not being afraid to tear down a wall to redecorate the room. If it doesn't work, rebuild it. But, ya know, it might be just the thing.

Now, we are breathing a sigh of relief. We took the one song on the record that was bringing us down and made it into something that we, or at least I, love. WOW…it’s a whole new track! Love, love it. Now, it’s a Donna Beasley song. And now, by gosh, we nearly got us a record.

In the past couple weeks we have had so many great players putting down parts for the new record. One particular stand-out track called "Just What I'm Looking For" features Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives) on guitar, Phil Madeira (Buddy Miller band) on B3 organ and accordion, and Elizabeth Cook and Tim Carroll on backing vocals.

Some of the other great players we've had include Bob Britt on guitar (Bob Dylan, John Fogerty) and Chuck Mead (BR549) on harmony vocals. Of course, there are many other great players putting down great parts...I'm just talking the past TWO WEEKS.

I may not be cool enough for my own record.

I saw two great concerts last week. Wednesday, I was headed out to see Chris Isaak give an in-store acoustic performance at Best Buy. However, I got my wires crossed and showed up on the wrong night - actually, the night he was playing the Ryman. Stupid me.

Since I was all dressed up with no place to go, I thought I'd see if I could get a good last minute ticket to catch his Ryman show, with the Wrights opening. Turns out, for $75 (ouch) I managed to get a front row seat an hour before showtime! A little pricey, but, hey, it's FRONT ROW.

The Wrights were fantastic, as always. They are flawless. I've never seen them hiccup. I dig their laid-back, groovy style. And they write great songs. Check them out, if you're not familiar with them. My favorite recent thing is their cover of the Roger Miller song "In the Summertime." Bea-U-ti-ful. Oh, and their drummer for the evening was my next door neighbor, so that was cool! I love East Nashville!

Chris and band were awesome, as usual. That's my third C.I. show. He never disappoints. Wish I could've seen that in-store, though. Holy cow.

Saturday night it was back to the Ryman for Neko Case -- a concert I've waited a longgg time to see. Ohmygod. Words cannot describe how much I love this woman and her music. I sat there completely mesmerized, knowing every song, and filled with such appreciation for all the people who showed up to hear this music. It seemed it had existed only in my head, until the moment I was hearing it live. Kinda like seeing a ghost in a roomful of people who are seeing the same ghost.

And that roomful of people was certainly varied - in age, sexual orientation, what have you. Quite a diverse group. Very encouraging.

No histrionics or rock and roll moves from the woman herself. She just stood there and delivered those songs in that voice. Great band too. I wish I would've had a better seat. I was about as far back as you could get. The show was not advertised long enough, in my opinion. I checked her website. No mention of any Southern U.S. dates. Then, boom, the tickets had already gone on sale by the time I saw an ad on Facebook. Seating was the only disappointment of an otherwise amazing evening.

I've been debating the importance of, me personally, playing live, given the current state of the economy, the music industry, and trends for youth and/or gimmick. Some of my independent artist friends have said for a couple years that people just aren't turning up for their club shows. Many of the rootsy bands who are enjoying success are young and attract a similarly young audience. And, of course, the mainstream high-level artists always seem to sell tickets despite whatever may be going on in the world.

So, as an unknown artist playing laid-back, heady kinda music in small venues, it's a high mountain to climb in order to try and build a following in that way. As a gigging artist my age put it yesterday, “people our age just don’t come out for shows.” My stubbornness on this issue is that I don't believe, as many music business professionals posit as though it is gospel, that playing live is the ONLY way to build a following. I believe it is ONE way. How much time do people spend surfing the internet, watching t.v., going to movies versus attending gigs? My 20-something niece tells me that if she hears a song she likes in a t.v. program or movie, she writes down the name of the artist and looks them up on the internet. A good song placement can be a tremendous profile raiser.

My point was that, despite my recent musings and misgivings, my experience seeing Neko Case convinced me that it IS important for people who dig your music to see you perform it live. That's all I was really trying to get at. Now, to find people who dig my music...

I'm R-E-A-L-L-Y excited about the caliber of folks we have had and will have coming to the house to play and/or sing on the record -- just in the past week and next. I will only reveal one name...Kenny Vaughan. He's one of Marty Stuart's "Fabulous Superlatives." He's played guitar on many a record made in this town. And I'm so happy to have him playing on a little track called "Just What I'm Looking For." He really classed it up. Thanks, Kenny!!!

Here's a recap on record # 2. We began pre-production in October. We cut drum, bass, and acoustic guitar tracks in December with Paul Griffith, Steve Mackey, and Scott Neubert. We managed to get a couple of good vocals while we were tracking. And Scott also put down some banjo, mandolin, and dobro. He's handy that way.

We went back in the studio in February, mainly to cut more vocals. However, we were pretty ambitious that day. We ended up getting Steve Cox in there to play piano on a couple tracks, Matt Combs to play fiddle on a couple tracks, and Scott for more acoustic guitar and dobro parts. That didn't leave too much time for singing. But I still got a couple of songs knocked out. Tom was even more ambitious on the road. While he was out teching some dates for LeAnn Rimes, he magically recorded Michael Webb playing some organ and electric piano. Tony Paoletta recorded some steel guitar at the house. Tom's been working on guitars and I've sung more vocals and backing vocals (ooh and ahhs and the like) also at the house.

We've got more steel to record, more guitars to do and re-do, more songs for me to sing, and some guest vocalists . Oh, and acordion! I'm excited about that! (And to hear Tony play steel again!)

I am doing my own artwork design. But will have someone who knows what they're doing lay it all out. I'm in the process of choosing a duplicator. But we're still a few months away from needing those services!

It is SUCH a longgg process. But, to borrow a phrase from a friend from India, "slowly by slowly" it is all coming together.

Work on the new record continues. We had a second day in the studio. We managed to get keeper vocals on 3 songs, fiddle on 2 tracks, dobro on one track, and piano on 2 tracks. It was a good day!! I like how unexpected things come up, like telling that piano playing fool, Steve Cox, "since you came all the way down here, let's find another track for you to play on." And you end up with piano on a song that you hadn't originally planned to have piano on! I think the trick is to plan what you can but leave enough open that you can let talented people do what they do. Have a roadmap, but be willing to say, "hey...let's veer over HERE."

I am looking forward to singing a big 'ole country music male/female duet on this record. That's something new for me. And I have some cool background vocalists lined up. I'm not going to drop any names 'til it all goes down.

I've been getting artwork ideas, looking at photos and drawings, spending hours sampling fonts, that sort of thing. I need to have a photo shoot but want to wait until it's a little warmer. I'll be going with an outdoor theme again, like my last record. The title calls for it. I don't want my mug on the cover this time, though. Maybe a back cover shot, an interior shot, we'll see. Those kinds of decisions are hard to make. But I just don't want to be on the cover. That simple.

It's cold outside and there's snow on the ground. We're hoping to stay in and get lots of work done today. We actually have a deadline for our perceived 5 best tracks. We've got 2 weeks to meet that deadline. Tom's teching on another big tour this year and they're keeping him pretty busy. They're also giving him steady paychecks, so can't complain too much.

I'm already feeling a little sad that this whole thing will be done before we know it. The excitement that comes from giving shape to new music will be replaced with phone calls, mass mailings, and meetings...and lots of nail biting. So, for now, I'm going to enjoy the process. I'm going to enjoy this period of time that bears little criticism and self-doubt and thoughts of what anyone ELSE will think about it. I will revel in my musical hedonism and cups of chai tea and having snow on the ground on a Sunday morning.

Today's the day we track for the new record! It's going to be a long one. We have turkey chili, Panera bagels, chocolate pie homemade from Elizabeth Cook, brownies I'm getting ready to make, green tea with honey, some wine, some champagne, some beer for the guys, lots of water, pecans for me (which cost $10 in the store...whatsup with that?? I'm going in the pecan business), probably more stuff Tom will bring 'cause he thinks of everything.

So, gotta run. Gotta go sing some songs.

I'm drinking lots of water, doing vocal exercises, massaging the ole' vocal chords, and practicing the new songs in preparation for my big day Friday. (Oh, and transferring all the money out of my savings account. How could I forget that one?) We will be recording bass, drums, and acoustic guitar for, hopefully, 9 tracks for the new record. We recorded a couple already here at the house and we've got one we're going to leave sparse, without bass & drums.

If I had to describe the new record, I would say it is less introspective and more universal. It crosses less of the spectrum than, say," City of Devils" versus "I'm So Glad I Let You Love Me." However, I do have something real pop sounding and something kinda old school yet slightly commercial country sounding. But that's about as broad as we get this time. I wanted to reign this record in a little. It is confusing for the listener, I think, to cover so many styles. It's hard for people to figure out who you are as an artist. Hopefully, that will be communicated a little more effectively this time around. Although, that's still something I'm figuring out myself.

In the end, you will either like it or you won't. Same deal as the other record. People will either think it's good...or they will not. I can't worry about that, though. I just have to focus on making the best record I possibly can and a great deal of that focus is on the session this Friday. So, wish me good luck and good voice!

I've added my version of "Little Drummer Boy" to MySpace, if you want to go check it out. It got a little play in the UK last year. We recorded it for a charity project. But due to miscommunication re: press time, it did not make it on their CD. Eventually, I plan to have a whole Christmas CD recorded - or at least a 5 song EP. Someday.