“My (Our) Big Fat Great CD Release Party”

It had all the trappings of a wedding…on a shoestring budget. Venue booked, invitations sent out, replies received, food, drink, lots of hugging and kissing, a room full of friends wishing you well! And, just like at our real wedding, we were having so much fun, the evening flew by.

Although this is our second CD, it was our first CD Release Party. If we had known how much fun they are we definitely would have had one for ‘Darlings Of The Open Stage’.

The ‘Little Child Big World’ CD has been a full year in the making. We started recording it at Kevin Quain’s studio in September 2008 and picked up the finished product from the manufacturer in September 2009. All thirteen songs on it were written in 2007 and 2008, following a trip we took to Ethiopia, Uganda, and Malawi. They represent an important moment in time for us, both personally and musically. Although Dwight had previously been to Uganda and Tanzania, it was my first time on the continent and the trip was truly life changing, both in the way I view the world and because I had never written a song before then.

Releasing a CD that is so personal and filled with songs of a social justice nature, comes with a certain amount of risk. If the response of the audience at the party is any indication, it was well worth the risk.

It was the first time we’ve played with a full band AND back-up singers! And that is quite a different experience. I am used to just the two of us, occasionally joined by either a bass or violin. We were so pleased to have Kevin Quain, Adam Warner, Shelley Coopersmith, Kim Cole, and Michelle Rumball, who all performed on the CD join us last night. An all star cast! Myself and the girls all wore brightly patterned African kangas, wrapped around our waists.  With no pins or clasps, we all had some advance concerns about whether our wrapping technique was sufficient to keep them from falling off mid show. Thankfully we have retained our G rating as a family friendly act!

We played the songs in the order they appear on the CD. In this time of the iPod Shuffle and individual track downloads, the order of songs may not have the importance it did in the “old days”. However, for those people who like to listen to a CD from beginning to end, the flow is paramount in creating the mood and taking the listener on a journey.

Looking out from the stage at the packed room was a huge thrill. The seating in the back room of The Cameron House is tiered, so the view is pretty much great from every seat. We had set the tables with Ethiopian woven mats, small bark snack boats, and little red votive candles that cast a beautiful glow on the faces of the audience members. To see everyone listening and watching so intently was wonderful, though it did cause me to mist up a few times.

Here was the pièce de résistance…we got a standing ovation at the end of the show! How exciting is that!?! Right now we’re on a real high. Just to illustrate how high…we got home at about 11 last night and realized we hadn’t eaten since lunch so Dwight said “Let’s order a pizza”. And here’s the funny part…I readily agreed without reservation. Normally I would have put forward all the health reasons why eating such heavy food late at such a late hour would not be wise. But look at me…livin’ on the edge. What kind of crazy rock and rollers order pizza at 11 o’clock at night?