Starting with… David F. from Thorold and his crew from Lake St.Peter (Ontario), who were the very first folks to send in footage.

David, Andy and Leslie Cowpokin’ in Lake St. Peter, Ontario

Not only that, but I found this familiar face included in the files David sent me. Washboard Hank heard about my project through David I presume? – here he is… wearing full bells ‘n whistles!

The one and only Washboard Hank winding up!

…to play his (cow) bells and whistles.

Next came footage from Guido T. & Conny S. This may have been the furthest footage traveled to get here – all the way from Dusseldorf, Germany! (Later, you’ll see a submission from Solingen, Germany too. I’ll have to double check the distance in google maps.) Here is an example of horse power not only under the hood, but behind the wheel too.

Pony On The Autobahn (With Fuzzy Dice)

A few days later, I received a memory stick full of footage from Toronto. Tania, Diane, Oscar, Shannon, Bella and Ken scripted several colourful scenes… an entire song’s worth… filmed them in a park in their “one-horse-town”. The memory stick included on-the-set photos too. Here are a bunch, starting with some shots of fabulous artwork by Oscar.

Sky Full of Stars! (by Oscar Sza)

Blazing Trail of Star! (by Oscar Sza)

Chalk Drawing (also by Oscar!)

Here is the whole gang (minus Tania, who is behind the camera.)

Parade in the Park!

Some close ups of the feature actors:

Giddy Up Horsie Ride ~ Shannon & Bella

Ken! (who with that awesome hat could also be called Oblio :))

Diane On The Set

Then I received this lovely postcard in the (e)mail, It’s from Guido O in Solingen, Germany…

This was taken last November when I played there at Tom Bombadil’s in Solingen.

Next, Kat Leonard sent me some fabulous footage of her dancing around the stage one afternoon (By the way, Kat & I were co-participants in the blogging challenge I did this winter!). Here are a couple of screenshots:

Kat Dance #1

Kat Dance #2

Then Tania A. sent me some cool abstract footage of stars being lit up by a spot light and also a short clip of a pinwheel spinning. Here are some still captures of the shining stars:

Tania’s Glowing Star #1

Tania’s Glowing Star #1

A few days ago I received the penultimate submission from Laurie in Lilloet. That’s right folks, we’re home on the ranging with a bonafide cowgal and horse. [And yippee-yi-yeee, I used penultimate (meaning: second-to-last) in a sentence!]

Laurie and her horse

It’s to the range she’s bound!

Beauty!

Yesterday I received the last submission. A delightful scene in which Jay F. dances around in his hallway. He also included this still photo on the DVD:

Jay Showing Us The Words To Shooting Star!

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And there you have it! Horses, dancing, shooting stars cows and cowbells. Sheer awesomeness. Thanks again, I am so thrilled with what was sent in! And I can’t WAIT to see how it looks once everything is edited together.

So give me a few weeks here… I am thinking of editing the video while I’m on the train traveling across Canada in early June. [Aside: Once again I am taking part in VIA's OnBoard Musician Program playing music on board in exchange for passage. Pretty sweet deal! When I'm not playing shows, eating or staring out the window at the prairies, I'll let the rhythm of the wheels on the track evoke the gait of a horse. Hopefully inspiring some good creative editing.]

Okay. Give me a few weeks to post then. Till then… Wishin’ you far! :)

A bit of downtime happening here in my personal blogosphere. Maybe it is a much needed rest after the mara-blog-athon of this winter’s blogging challenge, where I lived and breathed this place. Although I am definitely proud to be crowned winner of the Canadian Social Media Blogging Challenge, turns out a girl needed a breather come spring.

Maybe it is the lulling effect of this gorgeous, warm weather we are having this May. Right now I can hear the chirp of birds echoing through the forest behind my house. (I can also hear the buzzing of mosquitoes waking up from their winter slumber. Less chirpy, that sound. *sigh*) But other than the bugs, wow… it has been stellar these past few days.

On the other hand, it could be the result of all the non-blog writing I’ve been doing lately. I seem to be existing in a vortex of deadlines for grant proposals, cold call emails and other administrative blah blahs. Ugh. In fact ~ ladies & gentlemen ~ right now I should be finishing up another proposal that is due this Friday – I am hoping for travel funds to return to Europe this fall. (Fingers-crossed please!) But, alas. I am not writing that. I am writing this.

You could also look at these as bird food.

I know there are plenty of words out there / in my brain, but sometimes sitting in front of my laptop type-type-typing depletes me. Ever have that sensation? It is a weird, hollow feeling, and I simply cannot string two words together. Marshall McLuhen’s Medium is the Message. Maybe staring into a lightbulb (aka my computer screen) for hours is turning my brain to mush. A moth drawn to flame… zaaaap! (How meta… writing about how I’m having trouble writing!) What I really need to do is to stand up, step out into the yard and rub my feet into the freshly mowed grass. Reading a book and/or listening to music helps too.

Speaking of reading, I have been sitting outside on the front deck of my house catching up on my friend’s blog about her coast-to-coast bike trip across Canada. A gift to herself on her 40th birthday, she started out in Ucuelet BC two weeks and a half weeks ago and as of yesterday she had reached in Castlegar BC. Lucky for us, she has been diligently (and hilariously, in an understated sort of way) documenting her travels. I am inspired by the hugeness of her adventures! If you like bicycles and courageous women, you can follow Kate’s journey too by visiting her blog here: katebikes.wordpress.com.

Hobby Horse Fact: “Baron Charles von Drais patented the hobby or dandy horse in France in 1818. The hobby horse was a forerunner of the bicycle and was introduced into England in 1818 by coachmaker Denis Johnson, who took out the British patent.” No pedals. You propel it with your feet.

My bike’s still in Toronto, so I will only be hopping on the ol’ hobby horse figuratively today. Instead I will tear off my socks and go for that toe-hugging coolness of the grass that I mentioned earlier. Clear my brain. Get this darn proposal written…

PS, if you yourself need a little dose of chirping birds chirping, here is a lovely 9 1/2 min. video I found on Youtube through a random search. I didn’t upload this, but it sounds close to what I’m actually hearing (a little more rambunctious, perhaps.) I thought I’d share it with you to give an idea of what my day as been like so far and so that you can have a breather too!

There is a herd of about 20 caribou that at certain times of the year live in the woods along a very narrow strip on the Barkerville Highway. This is near Wells in British Columbia.

I am told the caribou feast on lichen – that they are delicate nibblers of the wispy tendrils hanging off the evergreens. Every once in awhile you catch ghosts of them whispering through the trees.

But yesterday… there they were. Four bucksome caribou hanging out in the middle of the road. Licking salt, I presume.

Not playing music or writing songs, not emailing or being social online. Just licking salt.

I Never Was a Prom Queen, But…

Imagine the trophy is a dozen roses and the hat is a tiara.

Hahaha! But seriously, I am super glad I took part in the challenge, and I am honoured to be selected as its winner… thanks Songwriter’s Association of Canada (SAC) and thanks Ariel Hyatt for putting on this first ever Canadian version of the Music Success In Nine Weeks Blogging Challenge. A most excellent way to spend the start of 2012. And as it turns out I didn’t even have to wear a bathing suit to win the fabulous prizes.

Queen For a Day, But This is No “Royal We” Here

I’d like to send warm fuzzies out to my fellow participants for doing the challenge with me (with a special shout out going to Lily Cheng, who not only blogged with us but also facilitated the challenge. Thanks Lily!) We spent a concentrated nine weeks tackling topics and tasks related to social media. Collectively we set up a pretty substantial Canadian corner of new Facebook & twitter music accounts. We got comfy with Youtube and rss feeds – and then we blogged about it so that our fans could join us on the journey too.

PS Speaking of Youtube, you should totally subscribe to my channel! I started a “Homemade Music Video Project” during the challenge: my goal is to make homemade, no budget videos for all of my songs. Me editing them and everything! (There are three so far and more on the way.) Other fun stuff you can do: sign up for my mailing list, follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook. Hurray! Phew… is that… it?

Sixty of us started back in January. Out of that emerged a core group of about twenty singer-songwriters who stayed in to the end, supporting each other through the weekly to-do list. We had (and in fact still have) an active Facebook group where people shared their successes and their challenges of the business and posted information and support for each other. Several genuine friendships started through this challenge that have extended beyond the end date. I still pop into the group quite regularly to see what everyone’s up to and to soak up some extra love when I’m feeling out of sorts with my workload. The DIY model says we are autonomous in exercising creative and administrative control over our work, yes. It is also clear that the “social” in social media truly drives us humans. We need connection and community to thrive.

Maybe that is one of the reasons blogging is so perfect in this day and age of friends & fans spread out across the globe. An artist’s blog is personal and self-directed and, yet it can be highly interactive too. Online connections are sometimes maligned as shallow, and for sure there can be a Pollyanna-ish-ness that can drive me nuts sometimes. However it seems to me that online relationships when properly nurtured can be pretty darn real too.

The Take Away

As songwriters, we are all-the-time creating narratives for ourselves and others to sing. But when it comes time to write ourselves into the world… that same creative glean can get muddied. (Okay, this might be a “royal we”.) One of the biggest take-aways for me from doing this blogging challenge was the shifting away from an emotional space of passive want: hoping someone will “discover” me [my music] and moving to that of an active space. Blogging is active. It is constructive. It is also relatively inexpensive to do. As a bonus, blogging is creative. You don’t need a record label or Billboard approval to share your thoughts and your work. You just need to trust in the strength of your creativity and your ability to connect. That, and a bit of time to jot it all down.

The Other Take-Aways

… are pretty awesome too! I look forward to talking with Ariel about the ten-week Cyber PR campaign. Can’t wait to find out what’s in store once my music goes out directly to her network of bloggers and podcasters. Will my work connect on that scale too? Thanks, Reverbnation, for their contribution to the amazing prize list, too. And I’ve already had a skype meeting with Dave Cool of Bandzoogle to discuss building a second website for my little indie record label, since I’ve already got www.karynellis.com (come visit!) I’ll let you folks know when the new one is up and running too.

Okay. Now… THAT’S a wrap of the blogging challenge. But, folks, you can be sure my musings will continue on. If you’re reading this somewhere other than on my blog — Letters To My Editor — do pop by for more posts. You can also subscribe while you’re there to get my upcoming posts directly in your inbox.

Till next time!
Karyn

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Missed the original postings? Here is the complete set of links to all nine weeks plus a pre-challenge warm-up:
Warm up: Does Anybody Ever Win These Things
Week 1: What The Mayans Can Teach Us About Setting Goals, Or…
Week 2: Hold the door, this elevator is going up!
Week 3: Home Sweet Homepage
Week 4: Social Media and the Theory of Everything
Week 5: Music Videos Are Not Dead! They’ve Just Gone North For The Winter.
Week 6: I’ve Looked At Blogs From Both Sides Now
Week 7: Poor, Poor Baby
Week 8: How much IS that doggy in the window?
Week 9: And That, Folks, Is A Wrap!

(Not sure what I’m talking about? Click on WRITING > MSi9W3 in the navigation bar. It’ll take you to a week-by-week blog about the challenge.)

Found this 60-second clip from a tour that Ann Vriend and I did in 2005… 2006…? We are on our way to Sudbury!! Um… after the bank, after Long and McQuade… and after fanfare from friends and friendly arm waves from the guy on the roof!

Speaking of videos…. you may recall the idea for my Homemade Music Video Project is that I want to make videos for every song I’ve ever recorded / will record! (As many as I can, anyways!!) I’ve finished three, and now I’m thinking about what to do next…

Grab your video cam / camera phone / iPhone or whatever way you have of creating moving pictures… and I want you to film yourself singing along with my tune “Shooting Star”. You can be as simple or as extravagant as you like! Costumes are great! Miniature ponies… well, you know how I feel about those. YES!

Then send your footage to me by May 1st! Once I’ve collected enough material, I will edit it together to make the coolest video ever!!!

You can either send the footage to me via dropbox by sending me an email to mathilde.the.cat@gmail.com. Or, you can stick the files on a DVD and mail it to:

Karyn Ellis
4025 Barkerville Highway
Quesnel BC V2J 6T8

(Let me know by email if you’re sending it to me this way so that I know to look for it!)

***Important Note***, before submitting be sure to click here to read and indicate you agree with the TERMS OF USE! (to make sure we’re on the same page about how I’m going to use your footage.)

A Couple of Tips:

1. Your footage doesn’t have to be super pro or anything, but do try to make it the highest resolution you possibly can.
2. Remember to use the sun or set up lamps so that we can see your lovely face!
3. If you’re going to sing the song in your shot, play the tune while you’re filming and sing along to the track… that way your mouth movements will line up during editing!
4. Don’t be afraid to move the camera closer to you.
5. Be silly. Be serious. Dress up! Or just be yourself.
6. Save the footage as .mov or .mpeg (or any file type that final cut pro x can deal with is groovy.) If you need help figuring out how to transfer files, you can try this page: Importing personal photos and videos from iOS devices to your computer (apple support) (I’m not much of a tech wizard myself, so if that doesn’t work, best to ask a buddy.)
7. Speaking of photos, you can send a bunch of those too!
8. SHOT IDEAS
• Dressing up like Kareoke Cowboys and singing along with the tune
• Animated sequences
• Singing puppets
• Lasso-ing and juggling acts
• Panning across a sunset landscape
• Sitting in your kitchen drinking coffee
• Sitting in your kitchen playing guitar
• Group sing-a-longs (especially in the “you’re just what I needed” part)
• Recreate the Ed Sullivan Show
• Miniature ponies!

Click here for lyrics and a downloadable version of the song (feel free to set the price to 0.00 for a complimentary download.)

The more footage the merrier, so please share this call with your friends. Don’t feel like you have to send in tons of footage… even five seconds would be great! But please try to limit your submission to five minutes (one, maybe two passes of the song). It’s just me editing this stuff, and I want to have enough time to watch and pick from everyone’s submissions.

Oh my goodness. Typing this out, I’m getting more and more excited by the idea. My dear friends, get filming!!!! How cool is this going to be?

XO Karyn

PS, Having never tried anything like this before I anticipate there will be some interesting technical glitches along the way. Let’s help each other out as we figure our way through. It’s going to be tremendous.

PPS, Did you read and agree to the terms of use yet? Remember: Before I can use your footage, you need to CLICK HERE to read and indicate you agree to THE TERMS OF USE!

With the blogging challenge now officially over, I set myself the task of filming / editing the next video in my Homemade Music Video Project (you can read more about the project here.) For number three in the series, I went back to my 2005 album Hearts Fall and picked Angels In Snow. Emblematic of my mood and the unseasonably warm late winter/early spring all across North America, I chose a song about longing, love and the end of winter – of “early spring thaw cracking”.

There I go jumping into nostalgia again.

Unlike the rest of North America where spring is kicking in full force, forty minutes from where I live – in the sleepy town of Wells British Columbia – there is still plenty of snow. Surely this is where fairy tales are born: in a setting ideal for ice queens ~ winter gardens full of pacing tigers and white roses. The population of this town shrinks to around 100 in the winter months, blooming again to 300 in early summer when the actors come to work in the nearby historical town of Barkerville.

And like Gretyl finds the frozen garden, I reentered the song Angels In Snow… my 2012 face singing along with my 2005 voice. (Hey! Seven is one of those fairy tale numbers, non?) I remember that youthful flutter in my chest – the dizziness of falling – best approximated by falling backwards into a bank of snow. Wearing no coat, no mittens. Making snow angels and feeling the icy cold clutching at bare hands and running down my neck. Watching snow flakes adrift in air and on eyelashes in the brilliant afternoons of late winter.

No stunt doubles or snow machines were used in the making of this video.

With Dizzying Certitude, So It Comes

In addition to (or perhaps as a subset of) that fuzzy warm feeling, this week I have also been awash with something akin to shame. Like butterflies, but the manic kind. Internal logic runs along the lines of this:

Me 1: Ah! This will be fun. I’m going to make a video for my song, Angels In Snow…
Me 2: That old thing? Shouldn’t you be spending your time writing something new instead of rehashing old songs?
Me 1: It’s a perfectly good song!
Me 2: Why didn’t you make the video when you released it? You had your chance. That window has shut. It’s catalogue now, baby.
Me 1: Wait a minute… Youtube didn’t even exist back then. Beside, I just discovered how much I love making videos!!
Me 2: Too bad, so sad! If you didn’t write the song this morning, how can you *truly* call yourself an artist?
Me 1: What, there’s a time limit on creativity?
Me 2: Gotta be fresh, baby.
Me 1: You’re a spoil sport!
Me 2: You’re cheating!
Me 1 & Me 2: You are! You are! [point & pout]

(etc, etc and so forth)

And so comes the poignant feeling that I somehow let the opportunity pass me by and that there is no catching up with time. <== That’s where the shame slips in. Tell me, what is this strange impetus to always be making something up-to-the-minute brand new… new… NEW!?! [Cue Tom Wait’s song, “Step Right UP!”. Now there’s a man who can ride the nostalgia wave to a tee.]

It is the ebb-and-flow of these periodic bouts of being deflated. But hang on now… isn't deflation the same as exhalation? Just a part of the breath cycle. So I did it anyways. I made the video.

And here it is…

Watch: Homemade Music Video Project – #3 – Angels In Snow

(Thanks: Kate Sulis, for helping with the filming. And Judy Campbell, for letting me tromp all over her Tomato House.)

To describe her music, I snagged this great quote from her website: “Musically, she’s been described as the antidote to too much Joni Mitchell, a tougher Dolly Parton a sexier Janis Joplin, but Andrea Ramolo has a soulful and sultry sound that’s all her own.”

K: You’ve been called a “tireless road warrior”. A quick glance at your past tour dates, and one can see you’ve pretty much been everywhere in Canada! Where did it all start? What initially inspired you to make albums and take your music on the road?

A: I became really serious about music after a pretty intense career as a dancer and actor.  I was a later bloomer.  My mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer while I was in university and I had just gotten out of a really long relationship so I picked up my dad’s old guitar, more out of therapeutic necessity… and started learning and writing my own songs.  Singing and storytelling have always been a big part of my life.  So the transition of becoming a songwriter happened pretty organically.

At the time, I worked at the infamous Orbit Room in Toronto owned by Alex Lifeson of Rush and really developed a close kinship with the incredible musical talents that came through there.  I learned about life on the road and life off the road, while sharpening my craft and writing more of my own songs.  And after another heartbreak it all sort of came together pretty quickly.  I needed to record my songs… and I had a plethora of talented musicians at my fingertips, so my first recording experience was fantastic.  

I released my first indie solo album in 2008 and wanted other listeners besides my friends and family to hear the tunes.  I wanted to play and to travel and get more inspired.  And so, I booked my first east coast tour and since that, I’ve pretty much been living out of a van for half of the year and travelling coast to coast and playing for audiences of 5 and audiences of 15,000.  It’s been quite a ride.

K: Sounds like it! How many shows *do* you play a year?

A: Well I’ve released two solo albums- one in 2008 and one in 2011 – and within that time frame, I probably played around 150-200 shows a year.

I kept myself really busy.  It was almost like a self-imposed boot camp.  Living out of a van was not easy.  I like comfy beds and showers.  Most of us do.  But concentrating on nothing but music for 6 months straight, morning, noon, and night and playing almost every night of the week in a different town kicked me in the butt and really helped me evolve as a writer and performer.  It also gave me tons of material to write about.

I am just about to release my third album… this time with a project called Scarlett Jane with my good friend Cindy Doire.  We’ve been writing and recording and getting a team around us, so I have actually been pretty stationary since the fall, which is very new for me.  I have itchy feet and I don’t know what to do with myself half the time.  But I’m lucky to live in such an incredible city.  There’s a great scene going on in Toronto.  Scarlett Jane is going to be hitting the road in May and June, then doing the Home Routes Concert Series in the prairies in the fall before we head off to Mexico and Europe for some shows.  

K: What’s your favourite part of being a musician? The music? The touring? The fans? The lifestyle? The schedule?

A: Wow.  It’s everything really.  The music is the impetuous for it all of course… and it’s what sort of helps mould the lifestyle or the schedule or the touring.  I love being on stage with other musicians and sharing in creating something all together that moves people in one way or another.  I like collaborating.  And I feel more at ease on stage than I do in many social settings.  I also love songwriting.

[Songwriting is] painful at times and I find myself lying in the fetal position trying to come up with the best possible way to communicate this or that… musically and lyrically.  So it’s challenging and puts you in a very vulnerable place… but it’s so rewarding.  I also love all the beautiful strange misfits (like myself) who flock to this sort of lifestyle.  The night owls, who’d rather sing you a song than waste time talking about the weather, so to speak.  Life makes more sense to me in music and in songs.  And I feel like you can really get to know people intimately through their music.  It’s so revealing.  I guess I’ve always been a revealer… and one who is drawn to those who feel the need to reveal.

K: You and I met at Ladies in Waiting, a cool weekly music series that you, Cindy Doire, Sarah Burton, Faye Blais, and Sara Fitzpatrick created and ran in Toronto. I loved how you organized it: each show featured you and the other ladies trading off hosting duties depending on who was in town and / or away touring. And then you’d bring in special guests to play one off shows, with a focus on showcasing women musicians. That series seemed to act as both a bonding space for that community of women singer-songwriters and a homecoming for you whenever you were off the road.

A: Ladies in Waiting ran at Not My Dog for over a year every Monday night.  Monday became the new Friday and as you mentioned, all of us ladies, who are dear friends and supporters of one another, brought our new tunes to showcase.  What ended up happening was that we would all end up on stage with one another, singing impromptu harmonies, playing percussion, and just having an amazing time.  It was a great playground for trying out new material and jamming with new musicians.  And we developed quite a steady following.  We’ve had so many female (and some male) guests over that year, I can’t even remember them all.  Samantha Martin, Kayla Howran, Jadea Kelly, yourself of course, Trish Robb, Jenny Allen, Mel Brulee, Kristin Sweetland.  Man we know so many talented beauties.  

K: And speaking of creating / bonding, you mentioned earlier that you and Cindy Doire have started a new band together called Scarlett Jane.  How did that project come about? What was the inspiration for the name?

A: Cindy and I have been friends for years.  We fell in love with singing with one another the first time we met and over the next while, we’d write songs, guest on each other’s albums, team up for double bills, do short little tours when we had the time.  We were finding that we wouldn’t see each other for months and months except when our ferries criss crossed over the Atlantic, or when we’d plan to meet in the prairies for a coffee while we were on the road driving in opposite directions.

We’ve always had many of the same musical influences and the same sort of thing cranks us.  So it just made sense… and we’re really excited about the album and thrilled with the outcome.  We originally called ourselves Calamity Jane to allude to the dark country/folk noir sort of vibe that the new songs took on.  But we discovered that there are a few bands by that name around the globe… so we tossed and turned for months and really liked Jane but not on it’s own.  We are roommates so we would lie in bed and send phone messages to each other late at night with band name ideas.  It was driving us crazy.  Finally… we came up with Scarlett Jane and it stuck.  

Cindy Doire and Andrea Ramolo are Scarlett Jane

K: You and Cindy are both well-known for strong abilities and leadership as solo performers. What’s it been like working together as a band?  How do you deal with creative decisions? What’s your writing process like together?

A: We really work as a team and discuss any potential decision at length before jumping into something. We push each other as well… which is needed sometimes when you’re your own boss.  We actually have a great thing going and communicate very openly with one another.  We’re not always going to be on the same page with creative or business decisions… so we share our opinions, argue our points, and then end up coming to a consensus in the end.  We have our own process and it works for us.  Creatively, we’re of the mind that we write better together than apart.

And songwriting can be a very sensitive endeavour. Like with anything else, we’ll both create and share ideas and lines and melodies, etc… and eventually we put it all together and fine tune it.  Our debut album ‘Stranger’ was written on a writing retreat we forced ourselves to go on in Mexico.  Quite painful, I know. We had a blast.  We finished the album on a retreat in a cabin in the woods in Northern Ontario and in our apartment in downtown Toronto.  The songs came together really quickly because both of us had been saving tidbits of inspiration from our time apart.  And it was all perfect timing.  We both were mourning break ups and it’s really easy to create when you’re feeling so lost and low.  It kind of just pours out of you.  So it did.  Lucky enough we had each other to fall apart with, so it was easier to get back up.  The buffet and open bar at the resort in Mexico made it a bit easier as well. 

K: Cindy Doire is another fabulously seasoned touring aficionado. You mentioned Scarlett Jane will be hitting the road soon?

A: Yes.  We have about 40 dates booked across Canada commencing after our Toronto release show at the Dakota Tavern on Thursday, May 10th.  We’ll be touring with a full band out west and then as a duo out east.  We’re also doing the Dauphin Country Music Fest and Mariposa among Home Routes Concert Series and a few other great shows this summer.

K: You’re previewing your debut Scarlett Jane record “Stranger” on March 15th at the Dakota in Toronto. What can we look forward to with that show?

A: Unfortunately the album is not packaged yet.  But we’re really excited to showcase our new tunes in a great little spot with our new touring band.  We’re also shooting a simple single camera live music video that night.  The show starts at 10pm and tickets are $7 at the door.  We have Ryan Weber of the Weber Brothers playing piano, Justin Ruppel playing drums, and Greg Cockerill (whose band will be closing the night) playing lead guitar.  All members were involved to some degree with the album recording.  

K: For those of us outside of Toronto, how do we get our hands on the new album?

A: ‘Stranger’ will be available via our new web site www.scarlettjane.com, as well as on iTunes.  We’re not certain about who will be physically distributing it at this point, but I’m sure there will be other ways to get your hands on it.  And of course, my favourite way to sell albums is right off the stage after a live show.  CD’s make a great souvenir.  We’re also going to be re-releasing the album on vinyl at some point.  All these exciting plans.

K: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me, Andrea!

Lightening round: If you could bestow a superhero nickname on Cindy, what would it be? What superhero nickname would she give you?

Well… we sort of have these pseudo names. Hers is Bindy Boychuck… I forget where it came from. Mine is Audrey Rogers because I was once introduced and brought onto the stage at a show in Vancouver as that. I’m not quite sure how that came out of Andrea Ramolo, but I guess the initials are correct.

K: And finally… which time change do you prefer: Spring Forward or Fall Back? Why?

A: I’m one for moving forward so spring forward all the way.  I feel like I have so much more energy when spring is near.  I feel healthier and I really enjoy being outside.  Cold weather tends to keep me indoors and gives me a bit of the blues.  I crave sunshine and people out on the streets. Today was a gorgeous day and the sidewalks were so colourful.  

K: Lovely! Good luck with your show at the Dakota on March 15th and with the launch of your new Scarlett Jane album!

VISIT Scarlett Jane’s brand new website to hear music & find tour dates: www.scarlettjane.com

VISIT Andrea’s website: www.andrearamolo.com
FOLLOW Andrea on Twitter: www.twitter.com/andrearamolo