alexis harte - 6 spoons of honey
Why my radio silence...?
It's been a complicated year.
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cd artwork and design by alicia buelow |
From high to low, 2010/2011 witnessed: a baby boy born in August; the launching of Pollen Music, a custom music and scoring collective with 3 of the most inspiring composers and individuals I've had the pleasure to work with; and a post-thanksgiving fall down a staircase (luckily sans baby boy) that landed me in the ER with a broken L3 vertebrae.
Between these events, I managed to make a new CD called 6 Spoons of Honey which, on reflection, seems to encompass all the highs and lows the year brought. In fact, I may have written the whole thing while airborne above my staircase — cartoon-like — in that calm alert state just before free-fall.
My fall laid me up for awhile through the Winter. I couldn't lift my new son, got a tad too dependent on percocet, but also had some needed time for reflection and writing. Sometimes it takes your feet flying out from under you to realize that landing back on earth alive and still able to walk is a gift. "How can you sit there, rooted in your seat, when outer space starts 'neath your feet?"
Everyone I know has been tightening their belts, making do with less, finding non monetary ways to enjoy themselves..."If the flowers I gave you, stayed living on the vine, I could give you flowers all the time."
6 Spoons of Honey builds on my past collaborations with producers Jon Evans and JJ Wiesler and involved a total of 19 players. While guitar is always ever-present on my records, and this one is no exception, you will also hear a metal filing cabinet used as a kick-drum, a chapei dong veng (a gourde-based cambodian stringed instrument), banjo, cello, a harpsichord found on the street (not a fun thing to tune), berimbau and more.
Still, I promise it's not art-rock. I've tried to make (most of) these songs as singable and memorable as campfire ditties. I think this record will make you smile – the one you will reach for while you make dinner after a long day.
I was going to make it a digital only release but I'm still a bit too tactile for that. I still want something to look at and flip through, even if it's a CD, not a record.
If you don't want to deal with packaging and just want it digitally, you can find it here at Bandcamp. This is a great site because you are not limited to MP3s. You can download in full resolution (which I highly recommend). Please note: I'm letting people name their own price for the download version.
6 Spoons of Honey is also available on iTunes.
If you want a physical CD with stunning artwork by Alicia Buelow, they are available on CDbaby. If you want to download the album first, and can manage $15, I'll send you a signed copy of the actual CD. The CD comes in beautifully designed "eco-wallet" (no plastic or shrinkwrap) with lyrics printed and photos. $15 covers all postage and everything."
It would mean a lot to me for you to hear these new songs, so even if you can't afford $15 right now, download it for whatever you can afford to pay, even if its a token amount. I know a lot of you are under-employed at the moment, so I hope this CD can provide some needed distraction, while also being a worthy companion to better times.
Thanks friends,
Alexis
NB... I'm donating a percentage of sales to the Healing Hunter foundation with supports research into finding a cure for AML Leukemia in children. Hunter Zen Thawley, a remarkable young boy who passed far too early, inspired the song, Day at the Sea. 100% of the proceeds of that track go to research for finding a cure this disease. If you purchase the entire CD, 8% (1/13) goes to the Foundation.
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