Vicky Emerson

Four weeks away from the due date for #2. I can't believe we are a month away and that's if this little guy or girl doesn't decide to show up early! Here's a pic of Liv, the 8-month bump and I before the CD Release show at The Dakota in Minneapolis:

January was an amazing month and I have so many people to thank. Thanks to all the folks that braved the freaking cold weather to sit and listen to my music. I was touched by your tenacity to be there even though your car must have been about a -20 degrees when you entered it after the show.

I'd also like to thank the local press in Wisconsin and Minnesota because even though I haven't lived here in awhile, you treated me like the hometown girl. Your willingness to listen and offer up words of encouragement is greatly appreciated.

Mother Banjo and her band folk-rocked the stage at The Dakota and help bring a sold-out crowd to our CD Release party. It was an amazing feeling to walk on a stage that so many incredible musicians have performed on and see a full house of smiling faces. Thank you to the Dakota for hosting and also to my incredible band for helping their very pregnant friend play the music of Dust & Echoes with passion.

Many people ask me about the balance between motherhood and music and I can't speak for every mother out there, but for me, it's not without immense struggle. I think back to before Olivia was born and the hours and hours I spent on social media and promoting, booking and preparing for shows. I'll be honest, I have a fraction of that time now. So, what does that mean? It means that you pick what's important.

I'm a perfectionist so it's a real battle to not try and do EVERYTHING. My husband is always reminding me to prioritize and even though I hate to admit it, he's right. Priority number one is always the music. Always. If your performance is sloppy, that is simply not fair to your audience and truly, it's not fair to yourself either because time on stage is so limited, that you really need to make it count. Make the evening as great of a performance as you can. I feel that because my performances are very few and far between, I don't ever hold anything back anymore. Maybe motherhood gave me more guts as a performer and a writer? I'd like to think so.

So, what about the other stuff? The P-word: Promoting. This could truly take over your life if you let it. The key is knowing where and how your fans get there information about your shows, try to be succinct in your message and then walk away--go pick up your music and practice.

Finally, be reasonable. Don't try and go from 250 shows a year, to zero shows, and then back to 250 after you have a baby. Unless you are Beyonce, this will be an unreasonable goal. Go to the venues that have always supported you--with a crowd or when no one shows. Only book a handful of shows because you won't have the time to prepare or promote. Learn to be OK with saying "No" when you know you can't balance everything. It's OK to say it. The world won't stop, I promise.

Trust me, I'm still learning but I thought I would share what little insight i have gained in the last two years. Being a mother is one of the most amazing journeys a woman can take but that doesn't mean all of the other things we were before children just fade away. it just challenges us to learn a new balancing act.

Cheers to my fellow moms in music and I will post pics of the new kiddo in March!

xo,

v

I'd like to think or at least hope, that life is leading us in the right direction. A little over a year ago, we followed Joe's job from NYC to San Francisco. We thought that San Francisco would be a permanent move for us or what we would fondly call 'home.' Initially, it was great! We arrived in August. Then, September and October are their summer months, so we enjoyed beautiful weather while the rest of our family and friends in the north prepared for winter. 

We found doctors, dentists, and playgroups for Olivia. We went on date nights. We called the police on our incredibly loud neighbors so many times. We watched Olivia go from crawling, to walking, to talking, to flat out running wild. We tried to find good solid folk venues in the city and failed. We enjoyed our local Farmer's market every Sunday and bought fresh fruits and vegetables for to make healthy food for our family. We met some nice people. We met some not-so-nice people. We got terribly sick of the disturbed and very large homeless population. We tried to enjoy the temperate climate and go outside every day. We were a little surprised that we found San Francisco to be even more expensive than Manhattan. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, we tried. We thought we would love it and we didn't. My husband thinks because of our family situation, it's hard to take advantage of all of the places outside of San Francisco. We only made it out to wine county twice the entire time we lived there and for those of you that know I love my wine, that is pretty amazing.  But, wine country just isn't a place for toddlers and taking a three hour car ride to see the redwoods with a screaming kid doesn't exactly spell relaxation.

So, in August we were forced to reevaluate. My husband was laid off and we looked at each other and said, "What's next?" 

One thing that we knew for certain was next was the addition of #2 in March and after spending so much time so far away from family and spending a fortune on babysitters, it became clear that it really would be a good thing for our kids to grow up around their extended family. And we were raised in the Midwest, and I'd like to think we turned out okay:) 

For me, I missed the seasons. I missed the music community. I sincerely missed our friends and family. There was a lot pulling me east with the exception of one thing: winter. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes me want to be sick. The only thing that provides me with any comfort is that I remember loving winter as a child and maybe by playing with Olivia in the snow, I may be able to rekindle some kind of fondness for the season that destroyed two of my vehicles and cancelled countless numbers of shows.

So, this week our movers come. My husband starts his new job in a few weeks and we are very thankful that this situation worked out the way that it did. I look forward to seeing many of you in the upcoming months.

Farewell from San Fran,

Vicky

Hello everyone!

Just because I have been somewhat dormant on social media, it doesn't mean there isn't any work being done!

August has been a month full of preparation. I have been going through all of my contacts assembling an updated list of radio stations and press folks. I'll be sending them a copy of 'Dust & Echoes' at the beginning of October along with the all of the wonderful people that contributed to the Kickstarter campaign. As I have been going through my contact list, I must say reading some of my comments has been highly entertaining. Most of the comments are very positive but there have been a few that have not. For instance, one press contact I reached out to sent me an email and this was my comment about that exchange:

"I sent him an email and got a really super shitty email back from him. He signed the email "Dick." How fitting."

The other task at hand is developing the artwork for the album which may sound like an easy project, but it really isn't. Trying to represent ten songs on a cover with relatively small dimensions is a challenge. I am working with my very talented sister-in-law, Becky Dahlquist-Eckhoff, from Minneapolis. She also did the design for 'Long Ride.' After going back and forth with ideas for a few weeks, we are now both in love with the cover art. Here is a preview:

Final recap from the studio!

I flew into Minneapolis yesterday after saying a tearful goodbye to the hubster and my little daughter. She gave me a big kiss, a hug and said "Bye bye Mommy." I cried all the way to the airport! But, my husband make an excellent point. He said, "Look at the amazing music you get to make and the role model you are for our daughter." Point taken.

Thank you to everyone that jumped on board, reserved their copy of the new album, and helped get me into the studio to make this new album. I am beyond grateful for your support and enthusiasm that much to my surprise, spanned the globe. I heard from so many of you, in many different countries and also the tried and true fans that have been there since the beginning. I am so blessed to have such a completely awesome following. I am SO excited to share the new songs. We have started today with one of my favorite songs, "Tennessee." And, I happy to report that the band is nailing this tune as I write this! The other two that we will work on today are "Washington Street" and "Reverie."

You can see Aaron Fabbrini on bass in the picture below along with producer, Matt Patrick, at the computer helm.

It is hot here. I've completely adjusted to my San Francisco temperate climate of 65 degrees, so this 85 and sunny is a little sweaty. For all of us! Thank goodness, the studio is stocked with plenty of La Croix sparking water!!

Stay tuned!

I

It all began on a sunny day in May.

My Mom and Dad came out to visit us in San Francisco but they decided to leave my youngest brother (their pug, Sammy) at home with a dog sitter. About 24 hours after their arrival, the tech savvy dog sitter they hired started taking pictures of Sammy and sending them to my Mom's phone. There were pictures of Sammy sunning himself on the lanai, and pictures of Sammy eating treats on the couch, and pictures of Sammy running outside in her hard. Rough life, eh?

My Mom was so excited to be receiving these things called 'text messages' that she brought her very outdated phone to me and asked me to send the dog sitter a message back.

I said, "What do you want me to write?"

She began, "Please tell her that I miss him very, very much and I'm so happy to see him so happy and that we will be home very soon and that even though we miss him, we are having a very, very good time with Olivia, Vicky and Joe."

When she finished, I said, "Mom-that is an email you just dictated to me. Text messages are very short." So, I wrote, "Glad to see he is happy." And I hit send.

Well, about 2 seconds later she pinged another text back and my Mother's phone beeped to alert that she had received yet another message. Oh, and then she got really exited.

She wanted me to teach her how to respond on her own. I taught her that she would have to hit the key several times in order to choose what letter she needed to make the words. I reiterated to keep it short and to the point. So, she got comfortable on our couch and started to compose her text message. I was out in the kitchen with my Dad but we were able to track her progress because she had the sound up as high as it would go on her phone pad. Every time she choose a letter, the phone made a very loud, "BEEP."

It was almost painful. A minute would go by and we would hear, "BEEP." One letter.

Then, another minute went by and we would hear, "BEEP." Another letter.

Another minute and then, "BEEP, BEEP." Two letters.

After a long beep-filled 20 minutes, she completed her text, hit send and came out into the kitchen with a big smile on her face. "I like this texting thing," she announced.

About 30 seconds later, the dog sitter returned her text and then she scurried back to her place on the couch. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

I told my Dad if she is going to do this, for everyone's sanity, he needed to upgrade her phone and shut the keypad sound OFF!

For those of you that have visited the Kickstarter site, watched the video (our daughter is my new PR agent!) and contributed--THANK YOU!! We are almost a third of the way to the goal but WE ONLY HAVE 18 MORE DAYS LEFT! You can pre-order your new album and it will come autographed to your door before it's available for sale. There is also a Live album up for grabs there as well. I can't record this without your help, so please take a moment and swing by.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1781848481/dust-and-echoes-new-album-by-vicky-emerson

There are acoustic renditions of two new songs on my website for you to listen to (Tennesee and No Glory), if you haven't had an opportunity to hear them live. I'm so excited about this new album! I hope you will consider ordering your copy today! THANK YOU!

 

I hope all the Dad's out there had a wonderful Father's Day!

Take care,

Vicky

www.vickyemerson.com

Hello new shiny journal!

I've filled up another journal so it's time to pack it away and begin a new one. I spotted this one when I was out walking my daughter and I felt that a little daily reminder to stay positive the next few months couldn't hurt.

With much excitement and some trepidation, I launched my Kickstarter campaign. I know it's a new thing for many people but in the past few years, it truly has become a trusted resource for artists to utilize fan funding for their new recording project. I really wish I could tour the way I used to in order to generate the funds needed to produce an album. This makes part of me feel like I am letting people down. But the other part of me realizes that my daughter and husband need me to be home right now. 

So, after MUCH thought, I decided to give Kickstarter a try and put the future of another album into the hands of my friends and fans. If you haven't seen the video, you may want to check it out. Our little Olivia is quite the PR agent:)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1781848481/dust-and-echoes-new-album-by-vicky-emerson

I look at the journal and it's like introducing yourself for the first time. I wonder what kinds of songs ideas will be scribbled amongst its pages. What set lists will be arranged and rearranged and rearranged again for upcoming shows? What little stories and notes will I go back and read that make me smile or bring a tear to my eye? Only one way to find out and that is to dive right in and start writing.

A BIG thank you to all of you that have jumped on board so early in the campaign. Your support and enthusiasm means SO much!

More soon...

I've decided to include the other love in my life in this blog and that would be (drum roll please!)......(but I'm sure many of you can actually guess this)....(and no, it isn't wine)......(well, most of the time it isn't wine).....it is COOKING!

I grew up on a farm in rural Wisconsin where we raised pigs and beef cattle as well as a vegetable garden. As a kid, I wasn't all that fond of the garden because my job was to weed it. By hand. Frequently. In the hot sun. (You get the idea.)

But now, I see what an awesome thing it was to be surrounded by fresh produce all year long. We would have vegetables from the garden during the summer and then my mom would freeze them for winter. Now that I live in the city, I constantly wish I had room for a small garden to tend. Luckily, we are a few blocks from a really awesome farmer's market that is open all year long. (Score one for California.)

I discovered that I had an interest in cooking when I realized that in order to eat in a healthy manner, I needed to cook the food myself! Trust me, I had some serious failures. Pizza dough that was hard enough to give you a concussion, pork that was so overcooked you could have made shoes from it, and many, many more. This is why I would first suggest that if you are venturing into cooking, cook with wine. Always. And have a frozen pizza in your freezer just in case you have an epic fail. There is an Amy's spinach pizza in my freezer right now as a matter of fact, just in case!

I think people are put off by cooking because they think it takes a lot of time. And it can if you are using your stove as a storage drawer and you think a whisk is something they do at the airport to people at the security checkpoint.

However, I will be posting some recipes that I've discovered don't take a lot of time and are incredibly flavorful and healthy.

Here's are two new salads:

1.) http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Arugula-Salad-with-Lemon-Parmesan-Dressing-352111

My notes: 

I didn't use nearly as much olive oil and served this with grilled chicken. But, I do like their suggestion to use as a pizza topping. That could work as well.

2.)http://www.sprinklesofparsley.com/2011/04/asparagus-pea-and-pancetta-spring-salad.html

My notes: 

I don't think you need the sugar as long as you have a really, really good balsamic.

Alright, more to come!

I am asked this question a lot: "How does New York compare to California?"

Funny, I am never asked how places compare to Iowa. For those of you that come to live shows, you know my issue with Iowa. Two words people: Tractor Pull.

Here is my experience and my opinion has not changed since becoming a resident, either.

Californians are laid back. I, however, am not. Now, with some wine I am able to achieve a relaxed state, but I could never call myself laid back. I think I tried once and my mother said, "No way, Vicky. No. Way." So, as a performer with such a relaxed audience you can feel as if you are not connecting and folks, that is not a good feeling. However, after performances people tend to be very generous and genuine. They just aren't overtly excited like say, a Texas crowd would be.

I can't believe I have lived here for eight months and haven't done a live show. I've had offers but between my hubby's work schedule and hiring new babysitters for our daughter, it has been more of a challenge that I originally thought it would be. I do have a house concert next weekend in the East Bay and I am really looking forward to it.

As for New York City, from a performer's perspective, it still has my vote 

Everyone, meet Matt Patrick. Mr. Patrick owns a pretty awesome studio in Minneapolis and I was fortunate enough to record there three years ago. I met Matt through my good friend and amazingly talented drumming machine, Steve Goold. He thought Matt's perspective as a producer would match well with the kind of music that I write.

Well, Steve was right.

I think Matt's gift is that he is able to hear a song in it's roughest form and then, somehow can hear how to layer it with other instruments and harmonies to really make it beautiful. He is also able to coax incredible vocal performances out of singers. People, that is a gift. Singing into a microphone in a small, usually very warm room for hours and hours is hard. Very hard. Think about singing in the shower---ALL DAY. That should give you a visual.

We recorded 'Long Ride' in July of 2009 with the help of Steve Goold (drums) Tyler Burkum (guitar) and Aaron Fabbrini (bass.) My time was very limited so we had to crank out the entire album in five days. If you say this to other music folk, you receive the'deer in headlights' look. It was an immense challenge but we were able to pull it off and I feel that 'Long Ride' contains some of my best work. I know I have Matt and the musicians who played on the record to thank.

Fast forward to today, three years later, I am please to announce that Matt and I have found a week to record in July. I can't tell you how excited I am to be returning to the studio to work with such talented and genuinely nice people. And yes, we are challenging ourselves yet again by attempting to record the entire album, including vocals, in five short days.

Crazy? Yes.

Possible? Most definitely.

Photo by Paul Seeling.

Spring is here and in San Francisco, it looks pretty much like every other month that I have been here. I'm not wiling to go on a limb and start proclaiming that I miss the seasons of the Midwest or New York because ya'll still have that nasty one called winter in there, but time seems to stand still here.

Nevertheless, my calendar says April and even though I don't have any shows scheduled, things are very busy. Launching the new website was no easy feat. After extensive research, I decided to go with Host Baby, which is CD Baby's website service. I have been a client of CD Baby for ten years. I think they are the best for independent music distribution and I have had positive experiences with their customer service. So, when it came time to develop a new website, I wanted to be able to do most of the design and updating on my own, and I didn't want to pay a fortune to do it. We have a daughter now and just a head's up, kids are expensive!! Anyway, my research revealed that Host Baby offered exactly what I needed for the price. 

I have been working on designing the website the last few months and now my focus turns to completing the album. I'm tossing the idea of putting a cover song on the album but I also have two other songs that are definitely contenders if I can finish them in time. 

My intention is to update the blog frequently with my progress on the development and then recording of the album. Thank you for coming along on the journey!