What have I been up to, you ask?
So much has been going on in the last few years, since the releases of Delicious and Solo Live. I figured I’d give you a quick update starting from then!
Spring 2014 After several years of touring heavily (solo, duo, with the band), I had new songs that were road-tested and I was ready to start a new record. But I found I had run out of money! I couldn’t make the record of my dreams like that, so I decided …
Summer 2014 … to go back to my ‘day gig’ at Columbia University in New York City to make sure I could make the record these songs deserved. Then…
Fall 2014 … after I started working I expected to ‘play out’ a lot less since I had no time to book shows (that is a TON of work!!!), and since, well, I was working day gig and recording a record in NYC. I was ok with that. I saved up to make the record and …
Fall 2015 …we laid down ‘basic tracks’ and vocals for a few songs at Grand Street Recording with Erik, Steve, Arthur, and Tommy (and Jake at the console!). It was magic and we knew we were onto something here. Then …
Winter 2015 to Fall 2018 … I got a booking agent. This meant, we were playing locally all the time and touring in the summers. I continued to work day gig (and got a promotion!:) and I would use all my vacation time to tour and work on the record. Erik and I would get home late from a gig, find a local eatery at midnight or 1 am, and start coming up with more ideas on building out and finishing the record. These brainstorming sessions led to the wonderful collaborations on the record that include Raul Midon, Tank and Jelly, Doug MacLeod and others. As we kept adding a new guest artist, we’d move the timeline for release. We did this more than a few times! But we never wanted to rush it. We wanted to get it right. Speaking of not rushing things, after almost -?-teen years together as a couple …
Fall 2018 to Spring 2019 … Erik and I decided to get married! We began drinking champagne. We got married at NYC City Hall (bliss!) on Erik’s birthday in December 2018, then went to “Tiny’s” nearby and continued drinking champagne. (Three days later, we were in SoCal to record our last guest artist, Doug MacLeod on “Better”, our wedding prezzie to each other.) In April, our friends threw us a party at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem. It was a fabulous affair and there was an amazing Jazz Trio. And guess what else there was. Champagne! From there …
Summer 2019 … we took just a few days off to escape for a ‘mini-moon’ (my way of holding out for a full TWO week vacation at some point in the future). When we got back, it was time to get back to work in finish that record (in between the day gig and the increasing local shows). We had a serious plan and we started executing it, we began …
Fall 2019 to Present … mixing, mastering, hand-washing, mask-wearing, photo shooting, artwork reviewing, website renewing, practicing self-care and meditation, having moments of great hope, then exasperation, feeling emotions high, emotions low, zooming-with-friends, and working-from-home…
So this is where we are now! I hope that you’ll join us on August 28 @ 9pm (8:45 to get your technical thang in order!). You will be able to link to the concert and interact with us as we release the record!
August 28 @ 9pm - CD Release Event - facebook.com/kirstenthienmusic