I watched an amazingly inspiring movie the other day called “Julie and Julia” about Julia Childs journey and the woman who was inspired by her, decades later. In the movie, Julie (Amy Adams) starts a blog around her decision to cook-through Julia Child’s entire French cook book. This story is juxtaposed against the story of Julia Childs learning to cook and write her first cook book in France. It is a delicious feast for the senses and I highly recommend it.
Anyway, throughout the movie, Julie is inspired and kind of mentored by her “imaginary friend” Julia Childs, as she works through this journey and ultimately finds herself along the way.
I can completely relate (as I’m sure we all can). Throughout the making of the “Beu-tiful” project, I have had certain, particular ”imaginary mentors” guiding me thru. I would like to pay homage to one of them here. Her name is India Arie. She is a beu-tiful soul and songstress. If you don’t know of her, perhaps after reading this, you will.
She does not know me, nor I know her (on the physical plane)….yet… she is my spiritual friend. I know this to be true because I have felt her with me during times of joy and times of pain.
During the promotion of our ”Decisions” album (years ago), when asked by interviewers “who would you like to work with in the future?”, my standard answer was always “India Arie”. I really don’t know why, other than it just popped into my head when asked (and… obviously I loved her message & her music). It is funny, looking back…because I did not realize in what capacity we would work together in my future….I assumed it would be musically…(Reminder: DON’T ASSUME anything!)
It wasn’t.
About 2 1/2 yrs ago I was not singing, but working at “Shiki at the Beach”, slinging sushi, mopping floors and cleaning the bathrooms after my shift. To my surprise, out of the 4 cd’s they played continually on a loop at the restaurant, India Arie’s “Acoustic Soul” album was one of them. When I say continually…I mean for the entire time I worked there they never changed the cd selection! So, every single night, Ms. Arie and I would fold napkins & set the dining room together, with her reminding me that “I’m not the average girl from the video…my worth is not determined by the price of my clothes…no matter what I’m wearing I will always BE ….ME.
Every night, every single word….became significant to my process. I began to “see the God” in my customers and find the “Strength Courage and Wisdom” that has “been inside of me all along“, as I swept the floors night after night, dreaming of a new, revived music career.
I really had no idea until listening to her recently, how influential she has truly been in my life. Since the day I first watched her, so humbly, being interviewed on Oprah’s sofa (say that 3x fast!)…she spoke straight to my heart with her deeply sincere, lyrical, RB voice.
She has sung to my spirit through her acoustics, and reached out to me during my dark night of the soul, with her affirmative lyrics….over and over and over again…subliminally keeping me afloat through the rough waters of uncertain times.
She is a blessing to me and others, I’m sure. I picture her as a vision of walking bliss and serenity…the embodiment of pure acceptance of what is…(tho I know she is just a human being with trials, like me, who knows how to love herself, her family/friends, her God, and just enjoys making music). I love her for being herself and for being there for me with her countless revelations that have inspired my own understandings of truth. This truth has grown in our musical lives and has influenced the choices we have made and continue to make.
I don’t wish to walk in her footsteps, but to stroll musically beside the woman I call friend (imaginary or otherwise)….Maybe, just maybe…someday we will meet, and take that stroll together
… ”where we’ll go, baby I don’t know, maybe we could just sit and watch the flowers grow…”
I made this sculpture the other day, on a rainy afternoon, with the aura of Arie around me. It is simply called, “Strength, Courage and Wisdom” . It’s an affirmative work of the hands and spirit. It now sits on my altar in my bedroom, representing each of these elements, pouring forth into all whom I pray for daily.
*India Arie, if you are out there listening…know that you are loved. I believe in your journey and I dedicate your song “Wonderful” back to you:
You inspire me the way you make me feel inside is amazing
Your honesty your artistry is engaging
You are everything I hope to be
You have touch my soul I want you to know you are my hero
You got so much soul to put it plain and simple you are wonderful”
Years before the movie and the phrase ”pay it forward” became familiar to the public; I introduced my family to the ”The Chain of Kindness”. At a thrift shop one day, I had come across a tiny box, no less than2 inches wide on each side, wrapped in sea foam green paper with a matching ribbon and a little piece of card stock stuck to the top, with a poem typed on it that reads as follows:
“This is a very special gift
That you can never see
The reason it’s so special is
It’s just for you from me”
Whenever you are lonely
Or ever feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift
And know I think of you
You never can unwrap it
Please leave the ribbon tied
Just hold the box close to your heart
It’s filled with LOVE inside”
We formed a family tradition around this. This little box was to be given in secret to the recipient (anyone in the house), upon the delivery of an “act of kindness”, then it was the recipient’s responsibility to make the next delivery…in secret…to whomever they felt like blessing. For example….say I had “the box”….If I set Danielle’s bed for her….I’d leave the box on her pillow and when she saw her set bed, she (would hopefully smile) pick up the box and start thinking of what she could do for the next guy. It became a fun activity around our house for a time. That little green box surely made the rounds, while creating a lot of heartwarming memories for me and all the little guys.
Growing up, we had been taught about tithing off what little we had and about “going the extra mile” instead of just doing “your share” as a way of giving back and growing up spiritually. The chain of kindness was a way of going the extra mile to tithe your time (and love) and turn it into someone else’s joy…with no cost to anyone but a smile.
This weekend, hanging out with my grown up siblings and the bunch of new little guys running around our feet, my Mom (Beach Gram) was kind enough to host a massive sleep over for the grandchildren. She came up to me Saturday afternoon, kissed my cheek and handed me a little green box. My heart welled up immediately. I knew by the texture exactly what it was. Upon thumbing the worn edges of this tiny box in the palm of my hand, I let fall a few tears of joy tempered with a little melancholy, for everyone was all grown up now and this was such a part of a certain time in our lives. The creased & stained poem read exactly as it had decades earlier, minus a few blotted letters, but the box itself (which sits on my lap now) felt different. It is warm. It is light. It feels most alive, with LOVE.
Today, I will send it to my little brother in Atlanta, with the gift I bought for his 30th birthday (which is at the end of the month). He will surely feel the same as I, when he opens the envelope, and beholds that little green box in the palm of his hands, after all these years.
* I also send it to YOU in spirit, dear reader….a gift of kindness that extends from the heart of our family to yours (to your homes, your family and loved ones)….wrapped in decades of love, joy and gratitude. May the grace of these blessings bring favor and forgiveness to all your relationships and may love and light be reflected back to each giver…100 fold!
Make your own “Chain of Kindness”. Be creative….use the template I have shown you, or create your own!
On our first album “Decisions” (available on i-tunes), we included a quote in the liner notes by one of the best-known mothers of women’s suffrage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
“So closely interwoven have been our lives, our purposes, and experiences that, separated, we have a feeling of incompleteness”
The interesting thing is, I just realized this is only half the quote. The second half is actually very poignant and appropriate for the second half of our musical journey together. The completed quote is as follows:
“So closely interwoven have been our lives, our purposes, and experiences that, separated, we have a feeling of incompleteness - united, such strength of self-assertion that no ordinary obstacles, differences, or dangers ever appear to us insurmountable. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton)”
Wow…How could I have missed that? Maybe because it wasn’t meant to be revealed to me until now.
Today I reach the realization that it is a TRUER statement about the relationship we share as sisters and business partners TODAY because of what we’ve been through in our YESTERDAYS…
Last night, thumbing thru an old journal from 2001 (the year we released our first album)
I re-read a funny, metaphorical passage I wrote about my sisters and my feelings towards the business at the time, which I’d like to share:
Candice’s Journal Entry, Oct. 2001
“Sometimes this career is like an amusement park attraction…terror, anticipation, excitement and that special unknown you can only experience for yourself. It’s comparable to being strapped into a roller coaster ride after waiting, all day, in line. You’ve been told everything during your wait…safety issues, how much fun it is, how scary it is, how nauseating, and also how very short the ride is (so ENJOY IT!) You start out pretty confident, but gradually you become more anxious…approaching the line, hearing the screams, approaching your seats.
“How many in your party?”
(gulp) ”4!”
You question… this is a party?
The bored guy at the head of the line is not amused. He shuffles you thru, yells at you to “BUCKLE UP”. You do it, fumbling, and take some big, deep breaths, questioning yourself again (why’d I wear flip flops???! Can a small person fall out of this thing?)
Your Mom and Dad are waving and watching from below….cameras in hand.
NO FEAR…(gulp) You force a grin. Your sisters make fun of you. You relax a bit.
Then you start slowly approaching the incline….notch by notch, never really knowing when to expect that “hurling-into-space-at-lightening-speed” sensation. Your mind is reeling. You are aware there are twists and turns, loop-d-loops, rapid inclines and descents along the way. You know cause everyone has told u so… you have seen it from ground level…from a distance, read about it in the brochure, seen it on TV. You have even seen some people come off the ride exhilarated…. some throwing up, some ready to go home, some ready to go again. You wonder if you have lost your mind…. why have you put yourself thru this….but you have passed the “bail out” point now and are strapped into the moving vehicle, right next to your sisters! It is far more intense then u anticipated.
Right before the drop…They stop the ride….a delay… Something may be wrong, but they won’t tell you. They just tell you to please wait….be patient…they’ll have it up and running in a minute (or 20). You want to RUN…but you can’t… you are on the incline track with gravity, terror and a (ha ha) safety belt pinning you down…..they apologize for the delay and eventually the cart starts rolling again, without your consent. You feel completely unprepared now but you grab the sweaty hands next to you and thank GOD and fate for boxing you in on all sides by your mates, your best friends, your sisters. They egg you on, they encourage the adventure. They are gonna scream and laugh and cry right beside you. They giggle and say “if we die…at least we die together! But it could be the ride of our lives!” They remind you why on earth you jumped on this line…on this ride… to begin with. The also remind you why you’d regret it if you took the last exit and watched them take off from the side lines without you, hair flying in the wind behind them.”
YES…The ride was indeed short, exhilarating and worth all the bugs we choked down…
But I guess that’s why we hopped back on the line again, laughing this time, with less fear, skipping arm in arm all the way. But how could I possibly take any ride without these sisters of mine…all of them.. the brilliantly colored threads in the fabric of my existence! It is true that we have become so interwoven…so close knit, so united, that we have created an intricate tapestry between us, a safety net for one another, and a magic carpet to take us beyond our dreams. This tapestry has become a beu-tiful parachute that carries us over what would appear to be dangerous or insurmountable to most and it is a warm blanket that lays us gently to rest when rest is called for. Christie, Danielle, Jilaine, Gabrielle, and Julia…my seamstresses of life….I love you and the beu-tiful works we make together, out of lives well lived.
*Please look forward to new blogs to come bi-weekly from my sisters Danielle and Christie. I am very excited for you all to hear their unique perspective in their own voice, and get to know them as you know me.
Much love and light to all….Cand 
Today marks the release of our first independent EP on our own label (Beach Breakz Records), Beu-tiful Vol.1!
An exciting, long awaited day for all involved.
It happened on a cold winter night, a year and a half ago…we came up with “the plan”. I had been working 3 jobs… a server at “Shiki” (sushi restaurant in town), a singer and a vendor selling hand poured candles at the local farmers market where Christie sang bi-weekly. During this time, Christie was teaching vocal lessons and coaching students, while Danielle condo cleaned and gardened 4 days a week.
The 3 of us, collectively, were writing original songs on the side while singing 3-4 hours of covers at restaurants and bars 2 nights a week to keep the music alive in our hearts and some $ in our pockets. We were experiencing several “lean” & rather difficult years that almost made us ditch the family business, but instead turned out to be the catalyst for what was to come.
We were all feeling kind of lost…exhausted…broke…and unsure about our musical future. We had been planning and demoing this “New Beu” album for quite some time, working with Ondre throughout 2008-9 and not really getting anywhere fast. Plus Jill had left the group and went back to school to get her degree in Marketing.
Jan. 1, 2010 rolled up on us fast!
I recall a Blue Moon shining down on me as I lay on my back, in my driveway, talking to my sisters on my cell phone… sometime past midnight.
I sang them my song “Blue Moon” that I had written that fall. They loved it.
I remember telling them, it is this year or nothing for the music. We either made the album finally, or I was done… Though I didn’t want to, I would have to find some other path to dedicate my energies to because I couldn’t see myself waiting tables forever…dreaming of a music career that never came to be.
They agreed. On the phone, under that full moon, we made a vow to each other to schedule out the year, and no matter what….give a valiant effort to make this thing happen. If it didn’t…we’d simply move on.
We started with the micro movements my creative guru, SARK, speaks of in her book “Making Your Creative Dreams Real”, and decided to tell Dre the plan.
The plan was to make enough cash to travel to Miami, every 2 weeks, for 4 days at a time and record at least 1-2 songs at a stretch. We could stay on the couch of our GBF, Glenn Packard (Independent Tour choreographer/ Brooke Knows Best co-star & singer of the NEW HOT SINGLE “LOVE DANCE” out in Aug 2011, courtesy of Beach Breakz Records!) or camp out on the floor of Dre’s studio.
We did both….frequently…and it was taking its toll as well as taking infinitely longer than we had fore seen.
By April 2010, with the first 4 songs almost completed, but our $ flow and energies becoming depleted…Ondre got the dreaded phone call that his lease was up and the studio had to close down for relocation. We were at a standstill and feeling pretty beat up. Traveling like that while working 3 jobs a piece and still being present minded Moms, was not working out for us. So our Mom stepped in with arms wide and we prayed. And we visualized. And we prayed. And we released old fears. And we prayed. And we set goals, wrote objectives, mission statements and a manifesto to MANIFEST the energy, health, family time, peace, people and finances needed to finish creating what we believed to be a project with a purpose beyond mere fame, fortune and accolades.
In May, I called Dre and asked if he would move himself and some equipment up to NSB for the summer to finish the project. We told him he’d have to step out in faith with us. We had nothing to pay him but we would put him up and find a way to get 10 $’s an hour to throw him for engineering. It was the only thing we could do.
He agreed. (He believed with us and he still do
We had been actively seeking an investor, but had no one yet. So we began, as if we did, and set up shop at The Ted House (…aka Beach Breakz Records…aka Hot Box studio). Ted House housed our studio…our friend Charlene, and our friend/roomie Ruby and her fam of 3 kids. We pretty much had a full house for the entire summer and a lot of music to make. So we did. We hunkered down and got it done…a step at a time…and each step was a miracle of love…with me continuously documenting on my little hand held, all the while.
June 2010 was dedicated to getting tracks done…we flew our brother Jesse (a physics professor who plays amazing guitar) and his lady Regina (a Dr/Pharmacologist who also happens to play incredible cello and is a concert pianist) in from Atlanta to lay down live instrumentation. Christie & OnDre recorded their brilliance one magic summer night that gave the studio house the vibe of a conservatory. By the end of the month, before any vocals were layed down, Christie and Dre made beats for the songs that had none and finished the ones that did. While they fleshed out and filtered all ideas through Danielle, I watched, documenting everything.
June/July was vocal city, man! Lots of laughter! Lots of unraveling of the mind….
Days that started at 10am and ran til 2 am…with loads of coffee & junk food….and exhaustion. Christie, Dani and I took turns in the vocal booth while Dre engineered. While Christie and Dre were one team…Dan and I became a team of our own. We watched kids daily, waited on Dre and Christie who were consistently neck deep in pro-tools, did album art and lay out design, and hand dyed/sewed costumes for the photo shoot we were to schedule in Sept.
August was mixing month for Christie and Dre. I was worried about them. So many ungodly hours spent in front of the computer like cave dwellers in the dark. It was an intense month. Jill was getting married in Oct. and we had many exciting wedding events planned. We also had a massive photo shoot coming up. We had a very tight schedule but managed to be able to give equal time to everything. August also marked the month our Investor, the wonderful Kristy Brandt (the Painted Flower Lady in the video and mother of the girls who play Kid Candice and Kid Christie), decided to invest in the project with us. Good thing too… we had much to still accomplish and more faith than $cash$ money in the bank. (bless her and her family!)
By Sept. Christie and Dre were still not out of the water with the tracks and vocals, but we went ahead and arranged our own photo shoot at The Brandt’s gorgeous beach home that month. We hired Jacob Zobrist to photograph, and Haley Carr & our Mama to do make-up and hair, while Dan and I scouted the location and styled the whole thing.
Oct. began with Jill’s wedding, and ended with part 1 of the mastering process. We asked Dre’s uncle, Jose Blanco (grammy winner for J Lo’s “On the 6″ album), to come on the project to master the final versions (and inversions) of the compilation.
By the end of the month, Mom and the 3 of us sat down together again to create new objectives/goals to be set as we prayed on what those should be and how we should proceed. It was evident that the video for D.O.A.L. had to be done before Christmas.
That brings us to Nov/Dec….and the insane world of film making. We wrote a treatment & a beat sheet, conferenced & collaborated with a director and a cinematographer (check em @ www.vedrosmotion.com)…And eventually flew them in from LA for a week to help us make the magic happen. Dani and I made more costumes and props (this time with Mom & Christie) and transformed Moms back yard/under her porch and our sister Gab’s room (the red room footage), into our dream within the dream for the 7 minute feature video. All close friends and family were there. It was like being in an awesome time warp with everyone you love.
January-Feb was all about video editing, album art for promo cd’s and Dre and Christie doing ADR for the opening of video. Our brother Damian is our graphics department and so he helped Danielle and I to develop the motif for the 6 EP’s
Feb-April of 2011 brought on a period in which we assembled our team, did copy rites, contracts and figured out how to function as an independent record label. We then hired a management team called I AM Entertainment (Manny Lujan and Morgan Stone!). “I AM” helped us create (and MAKE!) the website and then found us our distributors (the lovely Cindy and Stephen Wrench) and the PR woman (Elizabeth Neff) who helped us set up our social networking and launch party red carpet event.
*Around this same time, a little glitch in the copy rite department concerning our song “Sister” (vol.2) brought Christie back to the mixing board. This divine delay, however, turned the project around. She was so re-inspired, she went back and opened up a few tracks to add some new ideas, and hence, also developed the “Inversions” album.
That kind of brings us to date, with May and June being the promotional phase leading to this very days events….the big VOL.1 release!!!
WHEW!!
…are ya still with me? That was a lot to relive!
Anyway, to make a real long story short….this labor of love has the hand print of dedication all over it. Everyone who was there…knows. Everyone who wasn’t….well…you WILL when you watch “The Beu-tiful Project”…a documentary filmed by moi… created and starring EVERYONE
To all our family, friends, collaborators, supporters, non-supporters, fan-friends (The Fam), and the curious…We thank you for dreaming with us… this dream.
Much appreciation and love to those (who know themselves!) for continuing to see the dream of completion thru to fruition with us!
Hallelujah! WE DID IT!!!!
Storytellers: The definition of an “L-A-D-Y”
L is for Love
A is for Acceptance
D is for the Divine spark
Y is for saying YES to LIFE!
Over 3 years ago, on a June evening such as this…. I bustled around my kitchen, multitasking as usual, as I made a Shepard’s Pie for dinner, fed my 6 month old child in her highchair, and scratched out a stream of lyrics onto the back of an envelope while intermittently singing some raw vocal ideas into the pen sized microphone attached to my portable recorder/cassette player.
These were the humble beginnings of a song entitled “Definition of a Lady”, but it was the start of so much more to come.
In the months following the birth of my baby Arabella (and the traumas we both incurred at the start of 2008), I found myself drowning in the emotional tides of postpartum depression and stuck in the doldrums of a post humus music career. EXHAUSTED & feeling like I was in a body that was not really mine anymore, in a parental role I was unsure I was succeeding at, and devoid of all hope for any musical endeavors whatsoever…..I knew it was time I made some changes and did something…ANYTHING…to bring myself back to life.
My circle of women (and a few key men in my life) were INSTRUMENTAL in helping me find the will to transmute all the negatives I was internalizing into positive outward manifestations of the NEW me and the new and improved life I desired.
In April 2008 my sisters and I met On-Dre Mendoza. Introduced to us by Jilaine’s now husband (Chad Shea), Dre was a young, talented producer & engineer (just out of Full Sail University) who were interested in collaborating with us to put a fresh spin on some old songs of ours. Not sure what direction we were going for at the time, we chose to recreate a demo of a song I had written with my brother Jesse, called “Runaway”. It was jazzy and cool and had a sweet beat behind it, which encouraged all of us to continue working with Dre.
By May 2008, my child’s health had improved dramatically, but my own health issues became an increasing concern. Thankfully, my mother hens and sisters all saw this clearer than I and rushed to my aid. They took time to babysit Miss Bella so I could join a Bikram Yoga (month long) Challenge and get myself physically healthy and mentally centered again. While my man worked multiple jobs to keep us afloat financially, my ladies all took turns taking care of me, making inspiring play lists of work out music to get me moving, cleaning my house, cooking and helping me cope with new mommy-hood, while trying to bring our music career back from the dead.
At this time, On-Dre had been consistently working with us for 2 months (revamping a few more old tracks of ours) but he had also begun sharing a few of his own compositions with us as well. Per my request, he put together a cd of 5 original tracks for me to listen to during my bike rides/work outs. His beats were amazing…hard…raw…FIRE…I was hooked immediately. Being a lifelong fan of R&B and hip hop music, I remember selfishly hoarding that cd of his. I knew it was MINE to write to! I knew there was something there that resonated deeply within my musical self. I know now it was straight up…inspiration. It was a resurrection of hope. It was the kind of music I TRULY enjoyed listening to and writing to. It was the kind of sound my sisters and our friends had ALWAYS listened to, and it was so very far from our past career…. from Disney or Pop/Country or any of the musical boxes I felt we had been crammed into over the years. To me it sounded close enough to what you might hear on commercial radio, but different enough to be fresh and interesting… had it the right lyrical and vocal content. So many possibilities!
After multiple listens to these tracks on multiple occasions, suddenly it was as if my heart just cracked open from the inside and music poured out. I wrote 4 songs in one day! That had NEVER, in my entire career as a song writer, happened to me before. Among these 1st songs written were ”Unconditional Love” (Beu-tiful Vol.3) and “One Song” (Beu-tiful Vol.3).
I recall sending a million texts to my sisters that day, being like… nobody bother me…I’m on a roll…..I got it…I just wrote our new album…this is what we are doing…it’s gonna be awesome!!!
Immediately after, I called a meeting of the minds and sat my sisters (and our friend Charlene) down to listen to what I had been writing. Right before I sang for them, I became totally terrified that they would think I had gone off the deep end, but another side of me was surfacing…saying BE BRAVE CANDICE… step up to the plate and just BRING IT!
So i did. I sang those songs in their rawest form and watched the faces of my cheering section just transform in front of me. Song after song…they went from anxiously awaiting…to totally diggin it…to pure excitement…into straight-up tears. Exactly the range of emotions I had hoped for. I was so relieved. They loved it. We ended up brainstorming the night away and started formulating a very loose outline for a new album and image. We decided to call ourselves Lady Beu (pre-Gaga times) and wanted to create The Lady Beu Review…a show case of stylized, jazzy songs with sick beats, Fosse-esque choreography and everything from costume to sets in the motif of red and black polka dots.
With that decided, I thought we could definitely use a BANGER of an anthem to go on this album. It had yet to be written.
After that night, though, I was super charged. That’s when I felt I really got my overall chi flowing again. I went home and over the course of a few days, hammered out the basics to “Definition of a Lady”.
As further inspiration…One of my “work out” play lists I’d been listening to, had a few songs from one of my favorite underground rap artist, Mickey Avalon.
( If you don’t know of him, his music is pretty sweeeet. He’s totally gross, amazingly talented and his songs are clever… his style, laid back & lackadaisical.)
I had been listening to his track, ”So Rich So Pretty”, thinking to myself….man, I love this song but, my God, these girls he talks about in his lyrics totally SUCK…he makes girls sound like a group of dirt bag, drug addicted, gold digging, whores….to put it mildly.
Although, I loved the beat and the way he performed the song, I really couldn’t digest the negative connotation to those lyrics. Not something I wanted my baby girl growing up listening to, for sure!
Plus, personally, I did not want to be caught singing those lyrics (accidently) in front of anybody…they were not really appropriate for most occasions, if you catch my drift.
So, privately, I started playing around with the idea of a poetic kind of rap song with a big vocal hook/chorus, that emulated women rather than showcasing the unflattering attributes of some Dudes version of a misguided, fantasy “party girl”.
As a listener, I wanted to hear a song that portrayed a rounded view of DIFFERENT kinds of women….the creative, the cute, the sensual, the fun, the classy- but-still-likes-to-have-a-good-time-while-saving-the-world-and-raising-a-family-kind of gal…
Ya know… the kind of real, inspirational, brave women I knew in my own life…the kind of women I had been celebrating every year at my annual Lady Bugs Ball. I knew this song wasn’t just to be our ”Lady Beu” Anthem…or a song about my LBB ladies, alone….
I wanted to create the Ultimate Woman’s Anthem…a gift to ladies, and a reminder to men that we do exist.
So, I went to work…
Verse 1, was loosely written in my head, as an idea/ poem during a long bike ride.
The revision of Verse 1, Verse 2, the Chorus and the bridge had all been written acapella, while dicing up onions, garlic and browning ground beef for dinner.
The completion of Verse 3 was written months later in the shower when the inspiration struck.
The sick beat you hear was found on another one of On-Dre’s original track cd’s he put together for me. Made long before I came along with the melody and lyrical content, his track fit my song like a glove and influenced the final outcome and structure of our single.
The rest….including background lyrics, harmonies and the haunting hook “bada dada dum…bada dada dum”…were all created and enhanced by the collaborative efforts of my sisters Christie and Danielle, in the Miami sessions with Dre, recorded in March 2010.
The final, slowed down, backwards sounding beat that is the tag on the song…was divine intercession at its coolest, a purely serendipitous occurrence….just an accident in playback that made us all go…YUH!!!!
What a process!!
I still can’t believe it sometimes…..This little seed planted over 3 years ago has now grown into the single, the video, and the message we get to share with our fans today.
Let us pray:
May this colorful, little bloom of a song germinate from coast to coast…growing richer in fragrance as it reaches from NY to LA and beyond!
Namaste and Amen!
And in the words of Dre… YUH-YUH-YUH!
As it goes every June, our mother’s family reunion took place in Brooklyn, NY this weekend. However, a reunion of a different kind took place for us in the days proceeding. Although my sisters and I could not stay for the actual Family Reunion on Saturday, we spent some wonderful one on one time with many of our relatives during our few days in town. Starting on Thursday with our ”Single Release Launch Party” that was held at ”Planet Rose”, an intimate karaoke hot spot owned and operated by our Uncle Jack, and cousins John and Missy O’Reilly (of MTV’s “Boiling Points” fame). Ever the gracious hosts, they accommodated all our needs and then some, making this event not only affordable, but as comfortable and memorable as any celebration could be. (Much appreciation to www.planetrose.com!)
Having a wide span of family members means there are many, many people to get together with and not always enough time, but we did our best. It also means there is a rather large, shared, gene pool of familial traits, talents, resemblance, humor, spirituality and connectedness floating around. We all share a rich history and an everlasting bond that seems to not be impacted by either time or space. When we get together, it is as if the years apart have not been. We are blessed. All families have their trials and tribulations, but happily, our giant family has something special that surpasses all else, and that is the genuine love and compassion we have for one another. There is so much generosity, support and shared laughter between us all….these are the threads that weave through the ties that bind.
As we all know, family is not limited to blood relatives alone. We also had an emotional reunion with our mentor, musical father figure and friend, Mr. Steve Greenberg of S-Curve Records. He came out to show his support and we enjoyed a heartwarming, long overdue reconnection, regaling stories of our past as we shared the Beu-tiful music of our present, with he who educated us so well. We also reunited with our old pals Chuck Taylor and Jeff Kilgour as well, and even made some new friends, all of which sang the night away with us to MANY karaoke classics after the “official” gathering ended. Good times, good times…
Coming to NY, in a way, is always like a home coming for us. We originate from the small town of Monroe, about an hour from NYC but have lived in Florida for the past 23 years. Forever the water baby, I always said I had the best of both worlds growing up…from the house on Walton Lake in Monroe, to the Beaches & Riverside of our little barrier island town in Florida. In 2001, we moved back up to NYC for a short time and spent 6 months living in the Chelsea area during the making of our first album, “Decisions” (available on i-tunes). It was a special time. Seven of us squeezed into a gorgeous apartment that overlooked the city…the empire state building stood tall to the left and the Twin Towers graced the skyline to the right. Two months after we moved back home to Florida that summer, New York was never the same. Those precious memories of our first taste of city life with our Mom and siblings will forever live on in our memories. Every time we return to the Big Apple, a certain nostalgia takes hold and simply sweeps us all away (as it has a tendency to do for most, ask Carrie Bradshaw). For the few days we are there, we walk block after block, taking in the inspirational views and quickly transform into the New Yorkers we were born to be. But two days home (in the humidity) and I am like a mermaid put gently back into the salt water. I am readjusting quite nicely to my beach, my bed, my bike, my car & the background sounds of ocean waves and star light, once more. Not even the historic bright lights of the big city can top what my little family has to offer right here in my living room. This will always be home, and for me, it is truly where the H-Art is.
*Thanks to all the family who showed their love and support (there or from a distance) to help us celebrate and accomplish all we needed to during this very important trip out of state. Thank you Mom & Marshall, Damian, Gabs, Jill, Charlene and Dre for helping us put it all together (and my business partner, Elaina, for hand pouring our ”Endless Summer” candles for the gift bags!www.newsmyrnacandle.com).
*We would especially like to thank our Dad and Step Mom (Andy and Stacey) for the encouragement and the hotel stay. Wish you & Julia could have been there to enjoy! We missed ya.
We also missed our 2 other brothers company (Jess and Jame)…wish we could have flown everyone up!
*For all who were there in spirit and in person when we needed you most, may you each be abundantly blessings in return!!
Collaboration~ The art of working together
Collaboration is not limited to the workplace. Throughout our days, we come in contact with this act of joining forces on many levels.
As responsible individuals, parents and community members, we collaborate on the raising of our children, the evolution of our government, the advancement of our education & health care systems, our communication & spiritual connection with others, and the preservation & progress of our world as a whole.
As lovers, family members, and friends we collaborate in our intimate relationships in a similar manner.
As spiritual beings, we collaborate with our creator/ our source (whatever name we personally give to our inner, guiding essence) in our daily walk.
As creative beings, we often collaborate with other artists to create those massive ”projects” we could never conceivably create alone.
Recently, our mother gifted us with a book called “The collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together”, written by the immensely talented choreographer, Twyla Tharp. In her 40 years in the arts, she has gathered much insight to the inner workings of the collaborative effort. Her enriching journey has inspired many, including my sisters and myself.
To quote Ms. Tharp:
“Collaborators aren’t born, they’re made. Or, to be more precise, built, a day at a time, through practice, through attention, through discipline, through passion and commitment – and most of all, through habit.”
Some of her wise advice in maintaining good collaborative habits is as follows:
1) Aim high
2) Everything-and everyone-matters.
3) There are no “details”
4) If you do things right along the way, the end takes care of itself.
The entire “Beu-tiful Project”, from conception to fruition, has been a daily practice in honing
our collaborative effort. To try and dissect every little piece and label it with authorship, is to destroy the beauty that is the whole.
The lovely word ”Gestalt” means, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There is no better way for me to describe the creation of every inch of this journey, (including: music, lyrics, production, artwork, costuming, photography, concept, art direction, website, verbiage, marketing, public relations, business relations, intimate relations, spiritual relations, the making of the video for the single, the staging of our performances, and the final touches that created our upcoming 6 EP collection), than this.
Long ago, in prayer, our mother gave us a word of knowledge. She told us that the spirit would lead us step by step by step, not all at once, but step by step, and each step would be a miracle. LOVE is that miracle, and it has become part of the truth we rely upon to carry us through the next phases of the path laid before us.
This, my dear family and friends, has truly been the most BEU-tiful part of the entire collaborative process…
Experiencing each individual creative soul come into their own, blossoming and blooming in this beu-tiful, “Avant Garden” we have all planted, watered, fed, and pruned together, with love.
*We offer much LOVE and GRATITUDE to all our beu-tiful gardeners, and to everyone who enters our garden path, enjoying the fragrance of our collaborations, together.
Harmony: an agreement; accord; a consistent and pleasing arrangement of parts. The simultaneous arrangement of tones.
In Music, it takes precision, concentrated effort and often a lot of present moment awareness to achieve.
In life (home and the workplace), it takes the same amount of concentrated effort, present moment awareness, dedication, humility and love to act in accordance with the principles of harmony, and essentially, the principles of LOVE.
This is not always easy to achieve naturally but something we can learn to do, if we practice doing it consistently.
Accordance:
I like to think of it as “A Chord Dance”…dancing within the chord progression of others.
Much like any other skill, in order to not step on toes while you are learning this dance, we must use our awareness, know our limitations and work to grow beyond them.
When there is discord in any situation, people intuitively feel what we call “the rub”. Something seems to rub us the wrong way, goes against the grain, and just doesn’t feel right.
If we are not careful, we can easily get annoyed, upset, frustrated, agitated, depressed, heart sick or begin to make assumptions, lash out, disconnect, hurt people and allow ego to run the show.
The same applies in music…when the musical chords don’t line up precisely where they need to be to create that perfect harmony of sound…there is discord, it is uncomfortable to hear, and rubs the listener the wrong way.
Being a family who is in business together, we are often faced with the balancing act of creating harmony with one another (musically, professionally and personally). This is not always easy.
Interviewers & fans often ask us “Do you guys ever fight?” Well, the obvious answer is “of course we do, we are human beings. We are not perfect and -NEWSFLASH- no one is.”
We are not always cheery, cool-calm & collected, nor do we handle every situation we are faced with, with the kind of grace, dignity and peaceful diaogue we aim to.It is sometimes disheartening when we fail to exemplify the attributes of love and instead give into the flesh, the ego, and the fear that causes us to lash out and spew our own issues onto one another. What is “heartening” (is that even a word?), however, is the fact that we are on the journey of awakening together and we love one another (and the world in general) deeply and sincerely.We are continually evolving past old, destructive patterns of discord and remembering to chose harmony & love, instead of fear, as we move towards wholeness.
If we are actively present in our lives and return to our source in these moments of discord, we can shine the light in those remaining dark places and correct IMMEDIATELY the error of our perceptions.
We 3, personally, take heart in the blessings of instant forgiveness and try not to waste precious, present moment living, beating ourselves up, feeling guilty or wallowing in regret.
Most of the time that means having the nerve to examine our conscious, to review our true intentions, act in humility by admitting the error, apologize and ask forgiveness.
Not always will that forgiveness be readily given by the human beings who have been hurt by carelessness (happily, sometimes it is), but it is always forgiven immediately by God.
Our only job is to accept it and forgive ourselves and others fully, in the present, and do better next time.
The past is past, the future has not yet happened. TheNOW is the point of power.
Recently, the fear of launching this massive project that has been so dear to us, so close to heart, has created great amounts of stress and subsequent dis-chord within our circle in the last few weeks. It isn’t any ones “fault”. It just is.
The duality of life is ever present and the shadows of fear often disguise themselves so cleverly and inconspicuously at times that we fall into the traps of reactive behavior.
That is why we must be vigilant. That is why we must meditate and stay in prayer. That is why if we are to “talk the talk” we must do our best to “walk the walk”, even when the road is rocky and our shoes of peace are wearing thin.
Our mom taught us this quick little prayer of release to say when we get off track, “Bless our mess”. Then we put it in Gods hands, and let it go.
To paraphrase Maryanne Williamsan’s, The Gift of Change, “God can turn any scar into a Beu-ty mark.”
And so it is
*Our sincere apologies to anyone who has ever been hurt by our careless acts, behaviour or words. May we each learn to walk in forgiveness, understanding and the unconditional love that is in accordance & harmony with the light of our highest good.
Tomorrow night, at the Predators game in Orlando, is the first time we’ll be singing the National Anthem as a trio.
So I thought I’d recap a few of the National Anthem experiences we’ve had in the past (as a quartet) with our sister Jilaine.
1. The NY Jets game at The Meadowlands (Jets vs the Bills).
Best experience. Very surreal. To be in the middle of a stadium football field, seeing your faces magnified on the jumbo trons is a feeling like no other. The echo of our voices in the empty stadium at sound check was insane compared to the roar of the stadium when there was a full audience. It was like the football players were Gladiators. I remember we were allowed to warm ourselves on the benches cause it was 40 degrees outside and I got a Gatorade towel. We also got free Jets hats and scarves before we went out and sang. When we finished, we were leaving the field by way of the sidelines, and were flagged down by Michael Imperioli (of Soprano’s fame), who was sitting in the stands. He told us he really enjoyed our performance. I’ll never forget that. I remember being led to our seats, watching the game with the biggest smile on my face and eating the best hot dog of my life!
2. A Transworld Convention on the one year anniversary of 9/11, at an event hosted by Queen Latifa.
This was a rough one for us. Our family had lost our cousin Lucy the year prior, in the tragedy at the Twin Towers. The atmosphere that day was very heavy, very somber. We had to do this performance and no one felt like performing. We decided the one thing we could not do on stage, no matter what, was cry. Our voices had to be the conduit for others to experience their own release. We could not allow our own grief to deter us from the humbling honor bestowed on us that day. We got up there on stage and dedicated the anthem to our cousin, and when we finished, there was complete silence. I remember that holy silence. We exited the stage quietly to a slow rising of applause and found ourselves face to face with Queen Latifa. She was very inviting and kind to us in that solemn moment we spent alone together backstage. Then she did the best thing a person could do. She made us laugh. Before she went on stage, she paid Christie a wonderful compliment about her arrangement of the anthem and made our day.
3. Orlando Magic Games!
Always fun to sing for the home team! We have done several games and each time it has been a pleasure. I think we may have even won some of those games we sang at. My favorite was the Magic/Bulls game. There used to be a dress code for singing the anthem, if I recall. No jeans, I think. I remember we always changed into jeans afterwards, tho, to go watch the game with our men. Anyway-GO MAGIC!
Jill may not be singing with us tomorrow but she’ll be there representing with her husband Chad for Bogo Magazine, the Orlando publication they created together. They are working with the Predators tomorrow, so be sure to check them out. www.bogomagazine.com Those with iphones…Download their app and leave positive reviews!!! Go to Bogo Magazine in the App Store.
*For anyone who is interested in a little bit o’ history, The National Anthem was written in the year 1814. Like many great songs, the lyrics to this patriotic tribute started out as a poem. The “Defence of Fort McHenry” was the poem written by a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, named Francis Scott Key. He wrote this after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812.
Please to enjoy…
O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
’Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Happenstance = Beu~tiful Opportunities
Never be deceived by the notion that any undertaking that is worth its salt will be quick, easy or painless in its processes. The evolution of a project is often, in the words of Pee Wee Herman, “like the sweater that keeps knitting and knitting and knitting”. There are times when you may think everything is finished and ready to roll, and then something unexpected or serendipitous occurs that can shift everything into a slightly sharper focus of the overall vision. When this happens, you’d be remiss if you did not sit up, take notice and make room for change. Sometimes, it is those moments of happenstance that make all the difference in the world. By opening ourselves to the possibilities of the unknown, we allow that divine x-factor the opportunity to create blessings in our life. We have recently had two such acts of happenstance enter our journey in the last few weeks. Thankfully, our open minded team has been able to assess each situation, adjust for the highest good, and overcome any incurred stresses, accordingly.
Happy Accident #1:
The recent collaboration on the life affirming, dance hit “Live Laugh Love Dance” with our good friend Glenn Packard.
On May 16th 2011, our “Independent Tour 2004″ Choreographer, and one of the stars of VH1′s “Brooke Knows Best”, Glenn Packard, debuted his upcoming single “Live Laugh Love Dance” to thousands at a Gay Pride Week event in Miami. Only 7 days prior to this unveiling, Glenn asked Christie to listen to some ideas he had for his upcoming single. She then brought us sisters & our track producer, OnDre, together with Glenn and his track producer, Lorenzo Nicholson, to help collaborate on this amazing project. In the end, this song not only showcases Glenn’s talent as a choreographer, but more importantly, emulates his effectiveness as a motivational force in the lives of many. His motto has always been “Dream Big”, and ever since we’ve known him, he’s done just that and SUCCEEDED! The greatest part is, he’s been an avid supporter and participant in making certain dreams of ours come true, and now we get to help return the favor.
It’s funny to think that I was just walking out the door to go home after our show the night Christie said, “WAIT- Do you guys want to help me on this project for Glenn?”. She read us all the texts he sent us about the collaboration on that first night, and as fate would have it, the original lyrics he had been considering for the verses just never came thru. If they had, we probably would not have the same song we have today.
* P.S. We hope everyone gets it stuck in their heads just as much as it’s been stuck in ours.
Ooh la love! Ooh la Dance! ….is all I will say*
Happy Accident # 2:
The unexpected creation of the “Beu~tiful Inversions” album (a special edition to the “Beu-tiful” EP compilation).
At a recent show of ours (on the same weekend as Glenn’s debut) our sound system suddenly dropped out and we ended up singing a good portion of our original songs almost completely accapella (well, to very faint, almost empty tracks). This particular performance experience spawned an interesting idea. What if we were to go back and open up those existing sessions we’d finished, and create new versions of the pre- existing songs, versions that were completely “stripped down to the bare essentials”. We went home and started playing around with that idea. For the past week and a 1/2 straight now, Christie’s main mission has consisted of producing/arranging Love Dance and re-visiting every single track on the Beu-tiful album to create its inverted counterpart. The result of her workaholic tendencies is a musical experience that is in 3 words, a work of art, her art. They are not quite accapella pieces, nor remixes, and they can’t be called “unplugged” because they are thoughtfully affected and artistically rendered. What Christie has so brilliantly done is what we’ve been calling an “Inversion” of our original record. It’s the hidden VERSION found IN side of the Beu-tiful album. Basically, she took what we originally made and flipped it. In order to properly complete this massive undertaking in a timely fashion, however, we have made the quick decision (during this busy time) to travel down to Miami, Fl and reunite with our track producer OnDre to finish all 6 EPs worth of the Beu-tiful compilation ….once and for all! The long term plan is to offer the inversion of each song alongside the original. Each EP released will have its “Beu~tiful Inversion” counterpart. The first two EP’s to be released to retailers on June 30th 2011 will be “Beu~tiful Vol.1″ followed by “Beu~tiful Inversions Vol.1″. Please to enjoy We are diggin it BIG TIME. Hope you do too.
Subsequently, we have recently set up Camp Beu at Mix Masters Studio in Miami, FL for the week. We’ve been camping out in the live room, just like those late winter days in 2010, when we first started the recording process here. It’s been a long road, but funny enough, we’re finishing up right where we started, surrounded by all the same people, returning to where it all began, only weeks before the first release. This is our final production trip in preparation for the national release of our single “Definition of a Lady” at the end of the month…and what precious times these are. I am reminding myself to soak in every minute of it now, in the present. Lots of laughs, loads of insanity and long hours that we’ll not soon forget. We thank our musical brother OnDre for blocking off 4 days of high demand studio time for us ladies, and all our boys: DJ Haze, Problem Child, Bubbie, Lionel, Lil Chris, Big Chris and Big Dee for accommodating us…once again
Cheers on this Cinco de Mayo, to the happy accidents that bring people together. Happenstance works in mysterious ways…..
*Please visit our sweetheart, Glenn Packard @ http://www.glenndouglaspackard.com/ and be sure to follow him on Facebook and Twitter (@GlennPackard)
*If you are interested in following any of our Mix Master Studio mates: Follow them @DJHaze305, @Drizzle305, @BubbieBlack, @PurpleLabelDee @PurpleLabelEnt, @730Problem