Rachel Lee Walsh

This past week I finished my EP, “She’s Not Waiting”, which is a sampling of my upcoming full-length CD, which I hope to have finished by the end of this year. The EP includes the title track “She’s Not Waiting”, as well as “Please Come to Brooklyn” and “Elizabeth Dawn”. Take a listen to the songs on the EP below. Currently, I’m in the process of having the CD duplicated and packaged. It should be ready for purchase very soon! Although the eventual full-length CD will include other musicians besides myself, the three songs on this EP are recordings of just me on acoustic guitar and vocals. So stay tuned for ways to get your hands on this unique copy!

Just another reminder that if you are interested in helping me raise funds to complete this CD, you can go to the Donate/Pre-Order the CD page here on my site. Lots of great gifts that I’m offering for donations, including merchandise, house concerts, and the ability to sneak into a future video I’m going to be making. You can also check out some pix of recent studio dates on posts below.

This past week, I was again at BaranStoll Studios recording for my upcoming CD. I worked on the vocals and guitar for “Elizabeth Dawn”. It’s one of my older songs, but truly one of my favorites. When I was recording the vocals, I was remembering how I ended up writing the lyrics. I got the idea while on a long road trip I took years ago headed down through the South from New York. I met an young adolescent girl along with her sister and mother at a campsite I stayed at while in West Virginia. They were “on the run” from an abusive husband and father and their story just touched me tremendously. They were also incredibly welcoming to me by helping me pitch my tent in the rain and cooking me dinner on their campfire. The experience has stayed with me all of these years.

The recording itself went overall pretty well. I am definitely learning quite a bit about how I work best in the studio. My main challenge is trying to get an authentic live performance to tape, so to speak. I’m recording vocals and guitar separately so far, which sometimes stifles my natural performance behavior. So, we are working on getting the best performance whether it means continuing to do the parts separately or together or having someone else play the guitar parts so I can concentrate on the vocal performance as if it were live. Stay tuned for some audio clips soon and tell me what you think. On another note, one of the rituals I am developing to do after the sessions is to make a trip to one of the best pizza places in NYC – TWO BOOTS!!! Two blocks down from the studio! Besides Grimaldi’s, it really is my favorite pizza! What a treat after hard work!

It’s going to probably be the end of the year before I finish the whole CD, due to availability of musicians, the engineer, the producer, and trying to come up with funds to make the CD. Although, my main goal now is to release some sort of sampler of about 3-4 songs from the CD by the middle of August. I still have a good amount to raise, so if you are interested in donating/pre-ordering the CD, please do, by clicking on the link at the top of my page. IT WILL HELP TREMENDOUSLY! I CAN NOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH, LITERALLY, EVERY DONATION COUNTS!

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Ten Ten watches over everything

Leyla listens to our recording from patio

This past couple of weeks, I began recording scratch tracks with Lee, who is working as my producer. We are recording what one might call the rhythm section of my music before we head into the actual studio for recording. This amounts to a rough of the guitar and rhythmic click track to use as a guide to record to. I also began working on some new video footage with my friend Jennifer for my song “Please Come To Brooklyn”. See pix below. There are for sure a few themes emerging in the process of making these recordings and video. Can you guess? Dogs, small and makeshift spaces, portable computers, and no sleep.

Lee setting up session for "She's Not Waiting"

Jen setting up video session for "Please Come To Brooklyn"

Doyle watching over guitar

I’ve just started the process of making a new CD. The producer, engineer, musicians, and songs are picked. All that I need is the funds to help make it happen! About $5000 to be exact! Notice my new page “Donate/Pre-Order the CD” where I’ve provided new options for pre-ordering the CD and making donations to the cause. Some great goodie packages are available for donations of $50 or higher, including t-shirts, personal songs written by request, and house concerts! My ideal goal is to have the full CD, or at least a sampler version, in hand by mid-August. Essentially, I’m making the CD in chunks, on a weekly basis, as I am able to raise money. So, my ability to make a great recording is directly tied to my ability to raise funds, which is directly tied to your support, which is always greatly appreciated. Every dollar counts, literally, so if you can help, please do.

Thanks,

Rachel

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