An amazing creative surprise from a fan…

“So I ‘covered’ three of your songs today.”

The message was from one of my fans and fellow songwriters, George Kelly, who sometimes performs as Saint and Kings. We’ve played shows together and he bought my lyrics + poetry book the very same hour it was posted.

He took some of the lyrics in the book and wrote his own music to accompany them. Then he sat down at GarageBand and whipped out a few demos in a day.

I was floored.

I’ve never had someone do this for my songs before. It’s so amazing how someone’s completely fresh perspective can then influence my own perspective on my songs.

The delightful thing is, of the three songs he ‘covered’ (listen to them below), there’s one song he chose, “The World Didn’t End,” that I myself haven’t even written the music to yet. That’s the whole point of me publishing the book: I wanted to share my creations even in their unfinished format.

Well, George inspired me to fast-track finishing that song. Who knows, he may even get a cowriter’s credit on it.

With his permission, I’m posting his versions of my songs below.

I’m rendered speechless.

Thank you, George.

a song has finally been birthed.

i am not myself / i am so much more

remember when i had that contest where all y’all voted for your favorite @ Little Spiral @ quote?

remember the quote that won?

it was “i am not myself / i am so much more.”

and it was funny, because i actually had not finished the song. like, at all. i had some scraps of ideas, but nothing was coming together. it felt stuck in waiting.

but this week, a big stumbling block shifted out of the way. i was at a Social Artistry retreat, focused all on bringing our highest selves down to earth to do good work.

hmm. sounds familiar. it’s as if i was… not myself…. but… more?

HMMMM.

that big stumbling block i talked about? that was me. i got out of this song’s way. I channeled this song in two days’ time —lightning fast in the @ Little Spiral @ galaxy. and i performed it at a talent show at the retreat.

you guise.

let me tell you.

it was fucking MAGIC.

i recruited the entire room to sing along with me, like a human-powered loop pedal. a friend caught it all on video. the rest of the retreat i got people telling me how the song won’t leave their heads, how the lyrics were perfect, how it sent chills up their spine, how awesome it was to participate in that moment of music-making.

and i cannot fucking WAIT to share the video of that magic with you.

it’s called Not Myself, and it will be my first official Patreon-supported piece of music.

what is patreon, you might ask? it’s a way to crowdfund creative projects on an ongoing basis. instead of pledging one time for a massive project, like an album, patreon lets me take pledges per song i release. i am only planning on releasing music once every other month or so, but you can put a cap on your pledge in case you need to watch your budget.

i’m planning on releasing this song soon, while it’s still fresh from the ether. patrons will be the first to hear it outside of the retreat.

i can’t wait to tell you the back story of this song.

i am teeming with excitement.

your pledge means the world to me.