Appearances by.....

People are slowly but surely beginning to enhance my album and make it shine.

William Gaylord has put his prodigious guitar skills on both "Can't Fight" (an edgier track for me, and the most alternative of the album) and "You Are What You Choose", a piano song that I've always wanted to record.

Robert Sims the lead singer of the band Scattered, Smothered and Covered has been kind enough to consent laying down soulful harmonica and harmony on the song "Long, White Robe". This song has deep church roots, and is heavily influenced by sacred harp singing. To find out more about that old mountain sound, go to http://fasola.org/.

Max Ribot , one of the best classical guitarists I've had the pleasure of meeting, is the newest addition to the project and will be making his guitar sing through the strains of "Sweet and Low", a love song that I've had written for a while but which through request, had to be on the album! :)

Last but certainly not least, my own mom Cindy Harter has added beautiful harmonies to "Sky's lullabye", a song for my niece and her Granddaughter, little Sky Noel.

That's it for now! Thank you to all these amazing musicians for sharing your gifts!

Songs and sushi on a stormy day

Today was yet another magical day of recording the album with my ptoducer, Will. I brought sustenence in the form of California rolls and we got to work, tracking two songs, "White Robe" and a brand new, never-before-heard track "We Will Never Die". However, the clouds kept interrupting recording. Literally. Like magic, as soon as I'd start singing some thunderhead would butt in and rumble for a good long minute. We'd wait for a moment, start again and interrupting cloud would be at it again. It was enough to almost make me a believer in Zeus. It was like prank calls from heaven.

After we finished recording, we sat down and set up a date for the cd release party!! Everybody mark your calendars for Dec. 18th!! It's gonna be so fun and you'll get to hear the songs before anyone else:) peace for now!

Maggie

Harvest Moon.... or, I LOVE bluegrass

This past Thursday night I got a really exciting opportunity. I was able to play guitar and sing with some talented bluegrass/blues musicians at the Harvest Moon Cafe in Rome. The restaurant was practically a soundbox (all high ceilings, wooden floors and vault-like interior) and the audience was amazing.

Nothing can take your breath away faster than trying to keep up with a harmonica, mandolin, guitar and fiddle all going at hyperspeed as they blaze through a bluegrass tune. Still, I was smiling so much it actually hurt my face. And, bonus, I got this AWESOME t-shirt from the restaurant that's the prettiest tie-dye I've ever seen. Thank you to Timothy, Robert and Roger- what a great night!

Studio times are a changin.... (to be sung like Bob Dylan)

So, I spent the afternoon playing all sorts of ambient tones on a keyboard with my hardworking and ever hilarious producer, Will. We were enchanted by tones like "pulse" that sounded like windchimes faintly heard from a distance, but we laughed our heads off at other tones like "dissecting aliens" which to be honest sounded like farts in the bathtub. Haha, yeah pretty bad.

Recording has been so much fun, and it's glorious and sad all at the same time that we will be done within a month. Mixing will start in mid-October and then mastering, printing and voilà! Album by Christmas:) Stat tuned, I'm figuring out where and when to have a cd release party and everyone will be invited to the glorious event! Love you and my blessings! Maggie

Recording the Album Has Begun!

Yesterday, after a long hiatus in Italy and then St. Simon's Island, I came back into Cartersville to begin recording with the talented Will Wheeler. Our goal is to create an album within the next three months and have it clean and ready for printing before Christmas.

It's so exciting to be in the studio! I love the process of build songs layer by layer, adding and subtracting until you reach that perfect balance of melody and energy.

In the meantime, I'll be thinking of album titles. Naming the album is always the hardest part, because it is the introduction to the whole thing. Erp. Pressure. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Two New Songs On My Myspace!

I have just posted two new songs to my myspace. One is an original called "Lady Mountain" that I wrote as I was driving home through the tennessee mountains. I was in my convertible with the top down and there was this beautiful mountain range in front of me that looked just like the silhouette of a woman laying down and facing the sky. It got me thinking and before I knew it I was scrambling for a pen and paper as I drove. Not the safest way to travel, haha.

The other song is a cover of Pat Benatar's hit "Love Is a Battlefield". It's such a great, tragic song that I couldn't help but record it with a little acoustic emo twist. Nothing makes me happier than a good ole sad song :) Here's the link to my myspace:

www.myspace.com/loveinyourears

Enjoy!

Things To Keep You Up At Night

like time
eating a hole in my winter coat that I left hanging,
with the words still dangling
and the closet door open and all the skeletons waving.

like hope
an ocean I can hear through the window
rising and falling so
vast and far I can't fathom what is down deep below.

like love
running wild and frightening the junkies
I'm holding a roman candle
lit and sparking diamonds on my ugly sleeves.

like music
kissing softly on my ear and at my throat
moving my soul with notes
that fall singly and dissolve like crystals of snow.

like you
the face I imagine even now before sleep
the thing I need
more than all of these, the thing I would keep.


Painting: entitled 3 pm, one of mine from the "Wasted" series.