Hello Everyone!

Thank you thank you thank you for your emails and tweets and Facebook messages wondering how we’re doing with the final touches on the CD!

Truth is, we’re going slow. That’s all.

My intention for this CD was that it had to be fun.  Too many times in the past, I’ve pressured myself big time during the making of a CD. So, this time, I started with FUN as one of the intentions for this CD – which means, sometimes we go slow! (And it means that I delayed my last visit to NYC til mid December!)

Also, the mixing process at this point is kinda tedious!

I’ve met lots of you at live events and retreats and such – and we’ve talked about this process at Be My Record Label. What I’ve said is that if a musician asked whether or not to do this kind of website – my advice would be this:

Hire someone or get a fan to do all of the reporting and blogging! Don’t try to do it yourself!

It really does get too challenging to do blog updates AND stay engaged with the creative process of making a CD!  It requires two different mindsets – which is not easy when you are literally drowning in your own songs and the instruments on them.

Making a CD is a deep thing. That’s the best way to describe it.  Writing a blog post about the day’s work (especially when you got nowhere) is like coming up for air after swimming underwater all day.

So, this is just a note to let you know we’re still working on it. Ben and I did a long phone call yesterday and went through my notes on the mixes. He’s back in the studio this week.

It’ll still be a while before the CD is released.  Photos, graphics, marketing ideas, etc – those will take some time too!  If you are impatient, and/or angry, please email us from christinekane.com and we will TOTALLY be happy to refund your purchase. No questions asked!

Otherwise - I’ll come up for air to ask you a few things in the coming week or so! (I think I’ve chosen a title for this CD - but maybe someone will have a better idea!)

Hello Record Producers!

So, I’ve noticed something.

You’ve been out of touch in the last month.

Okay. Okay. I know.

It was ME that was out of touch!

And actually, I planned it.

It was a gift to you.  Really!

Wanna know why?

Well, think about it.

The next time you’re at one of those froo-froo music biz cocktail parties, you can hang out with all of the artist management types and record producer types, and say things like:

“Geez. ‘Artist Management.’ Now THERE’S an oxymoron.”

And you can join in on all the stories about all the artists who just kind of disappear in the midst of important projects and the like.

Here’s what you can say:

“I’m producing this one chick? And we were in the thick of a pre-launch campaign. We’d given her close to FIFTEEEN THOUSAND BUCKS.  We flew her to New York City three times. She SEEMED like she was into it.  And then?”

(And here you take a swig of your Grey Goose dirty martini. And you shrug.)

“Nothin’! She just DISAPPEARS.”

(Pause to wipe your mouth with your sleeve.)

“What the f-?”

And someone else will pick up the story with, “Oh, that’s nothing.  I was working with Boy George once…”

See what I’m saying here?

I’m giving you the TOTAL UNEDITED experience of working with an artist.

PLUS, the added bonus of getting some dirt about other artists in the process!

Cuz let’s face it…

The fact is this:

Artists are flakey sometimes.  We’re downright divas at other times.

And I have given you full-on membership benefits – the right to roll your eyes whenever you’re in a discussion about artists. (You can thank me at one of the CD release shows. Or in the comments section below.)

Seriously though…

There are five things that have kept me away from this project.

Here they are in no particular order:

1 – After my three days at the studio in September, I got very sick.

I think it was lack of sleep.  The West Village apartment I’m staying at is very loud. (One night I woke up to the sound of one of the patrons of The Monster vomiting exuberantly onto the street below me.)

2 – I got well. But then I got sick again two weeks later.

(Probably from remembering the vomit episode.)

So, Ben and I cancelled our October AND November studio times so that my voice would mend thoroughly before I hit the studio again.

3 – I’m not exactly loving the current mixes of the songs. (Sorry, Ben!)

I’ll post these next rounds of mixes, and I’ll write about my hesitations. But it’s taken some listening for me to be able to articulate what I’m hearing.  This is one of the things I forgot about when I started this site.  You always end up getting one round of mixes that doesn’t quite feel right.

4 – I’m a little stuck on the song-contest song for Barbara!

The song is called “How to Be Real.”  And I’ve written and re-written. And I’m a hyper-critical writer.   But it has to be done before I go back to the studio!

5 – The U.S. Elections.

I’m mostly not political.  But in the past year, I’ve become passionately political. I’ve turned into a Rachel Maddow fanatic. And I have no fingernails left.

Now, I don’t expect you to believe the same things I believe. But I also am not a big fan of the Shut up and Sing campaign.  I do think our whole planet is at a crucial tipping point, and that politics is reflecting it.

So, before I post another song –

(Tomorrow, if I’m in a good mood. Thursday, if I’m not.)

go vote today!!!!

A kajillion thank you’s to the people who jumped in on this contest!

BeMyRecordLabel has now surpassed the 10K mark in CD pre-sales - partly because of people who were willing to take a fun little chance on having a song written about them.

And the winner of the contest is from my own town!

Barbara Verba, from ASHEVILLE, NC!! Come on DOWN!!!

(And I definitely gotta get writing on this one! NYC is a week away! So, Barbara - let’s talk soon!)

Thanks to everyone who entered! If I had the time, I’d write a song for each of you!

Hi Record Executives of the New Millenium –

Here’s a total of the Pre-Orders sold so far on my new CD since the July 21 launch of Be My Record Label. (Exactly six weeks ago.)

But first –

The Big Ticket Items

People want to know about the two big ticket items on the Pre-Order packages. (”The Executive Producer” and the “Private Concert” options.)

So far, no one has purchased the big ticket items.

With the exception of two purchases of the #4 packages — all of our sales so far have been purchases of the 1, 2 or 3 packages. Musicians, artists, and marketers are always curious about those big ticket items - and they write to ask me if anyone has bought them. So, with that out of the way…

Current Pre-Order Total:

$9625.00

Now — $10,000 is my first big milestone for this CD. (That’s a good budget for many indie songwriters.) The last time I posted the numbers just short of a big goal - Beth jumped in first thing in the morning and pushed the total up to $6000. (Then Anna and a few others jumped in as well! Thank you all ever so much!)

So for the Beth’s and Anna’s of the world — here’s a quick deadline reminder:

The big drawing for the chance to have a song written for you, about you, around you — or for, about, around someone you love — is going to happen NEXT WEEK. The drawing happens on September 8. I’m going to put each person’s name on a piece of paper and put those names into a hat. (If you entered twice - then your name will be in the hat twice.) A few more people getting into the drawing will push this number up to the $10,000 milestone.

Just know this…

If I post your song after writing it — you might have all kinds of people writing in about how lame your drum loops and Wurlitzer are!

Again, thanks for your continued participation in this strange little experiment!

It’s Friday night. I drove to Charlotte today, and I flew up to Laguardia Airport.

We begin recording again tomorrow all day.

Some people thought that last week was it. That the record was done.

That, my friends, is putting great faith in my recording studio prowess!

(It’s funny to read some of the comments on the last post about the drum loops growing on you. That’s what happens. You take home a rough mix - and you get attached to weird things. So, I should warn you — these songs will definitely evolve.)

I’ll post the next song on Sunday!