Thursday, August 27, 2009

An Embarrassment of Riches

First, a video from the recording studio featuring a new song dedicated to you.

Demo Recording with Sean Slade from Kim Boekbinder on Vimeo.



This last week has been a time of wonderful support. I feel so lucky, and whelmed and flowing over with gratitude. I am absolutely humbled by the generosity of spirit I have encountered these past few days. Thank you.

I have been fed, entertained, taught ukulele, given sparkly dresses, given a place to sleep, picked up, driven, cared for, and supported by so many that I'm at a loss.

Thank you: To those who donated to my $500 fundraiser for my first day of recording. I made $1500 total! You &$#%#$ rock!

Thank you: Beth and Kayla for kittens, couches, uke lessons, patience, and guiding through the subway system.

Thank you: Molly Crabapple for letting me play Dr. Sketchy's and being such a **^&%^$ amazing artist and friend.

Thank you: Ryan, who drove Kayla and I to Boston in the middle of the night - with a kitten - and whose generosity is inspiring.

Thank you: Sean Francis, who makes me happy.

Thank you: Bonnie and Chuck for food, bed and love. And Ross!

Thank you Sean Slade for such a great day in a great studio. And Adam, and Alex, and Paul at Camp Street Studios.

Thank you: To my mother who drove from Toronto, ON to see my show in Boston and to her boyfriend (who actually did the driving.) My mom showing up made me so happy that I cried and ran down the street to hug her.

All of you mentioned above, and those of you who donated, and those of you reading, are so very appreciated. I feel like I'm flailing in sea of words which cannot express how happy/supported/awed I feel.


Here are some of this week's exploits in video form:



Live at The LilyPad in Boston - with Kayla Oberlin:



The whole show:




http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2037680





Video from Dr. Sketchy's:





Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Tiny Fundraiser Launched!




Sean Slade (producer of Dresden Dolls, Radiohead.....etc) is excited to work with me and I am REALLY excited to work with him. We are mutual fans and this is one of those moments where all my hard work seems to be paying off with a great opportunity (for more hard work!)

Sean has graciously found a way to make the recording as cheap as possible for me, but it's still more money than I have. So I'm kickstarting my recording with a tiny little fundraiser for this one day of recording with an amazing producer!

After this one day of recording Sean and I will spend the next few months planning the next phase which will lead to an album (or two!)

I need $500 at the very minimum to make this work, any more money donated will go into the album fund and will help more than I can possibly express.

Since my home is filled with amazing things I have decided to send care packages to those who care and support my musical career. I wish I could spend all day everyday making packages since it is such a rewarding thing to do for others. And I hear I send great packages!


Follow me to get updates on the recording process - videos, songs, tweets!:

http://www.twitter.com/kimboekbiner
http://www.kimboekbinder.com

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tour recap

I have so much catching up to do here in blogworld. My little one week tour with Mark Growden was really interesting. It was my first solo tour ever and it was terrifying and wonderful. Terrifying because i am really scared of performing solo. Wonderful because I met so many great people, and performed through my fear.

Day #1: Justin and I drove to Chico to meet Mark, on the way we stopped to take photos of ourselves among the depressed sunflowers. We then stopped for peaches and pie at a fruit stand and I got some mango salsa which I insisted was really a good gazpacho and ate with a spoon while Justin laughed at me. We decided that my tour nickname would be "a half a slice of cheese" and Justin's would be "Chaucer." The first show was put on by the lovely folks at Tion in Chico and was attended by some Octo-Shirt wearing fans! Go me! I was really nervous but I made it through. Thank you Christopher for making me feel slightly famous, and to all those cute boys at Tion who danced the night away with me after I was done singing.

Days #2 and #3: Drove to Eugene and sang a song at Sam Bond's to entice people to come to our show the next day. Micheal and Leah were putting us up in their gorgeous fairyland cottage in the backyard. Mark made breakfast and Justin made a giant bee for the stage. At some point in the afternoon before my show the bottom dropped out of my confidence and I almost started crying while I sang. The show was magical anyway, and I was joined by a great saw player named Erin. We were fed wonderful food and entertained by Michael's super talented band "Mood Area 52" and basically seduced by two of the most beautiful people I have ever met. Seriously: Michael, Leah, THANK YOU!

Day #4: Portland bound! We played a secret house show at Genia and Tia's where I met Jordan and Katie who had hung posters for my street team. Thank you! Thank you!! I was only a little nervous. Then we had macaroni and cheese at Montage.

Day #5: Drove to Seattle, ate yummy Ethiopian food at Seattle center and ran around in the fountain, then did gymnastics on the lawn. Handstands are getting pretty good. Then we went to Max and Theresa's house where Olivia had set up a wonderful show for us. I was almost not nervous at all, the show was really fun. The house was great, the people were even greater. I love playing house shows and I love Max, Theresa and Olivia for making it happen. Thank you!

Day #6: Back to PDX for our show in Portland. I was a little worried about time since I had promised my street team I would make pie to thank them for helping me promote the show. My friend Molly let me use her oven while she made art - Molly is one of my favorite people and artists in the world. She rocks. I got my pie made in time while Justin made me a narwhal for the stage. We had a pie party in front of the venue - along with some fans too young to go to the 21+ show (I hate age restrictions!) Sal, Mark, Katie, Jordan, David, Molly: THANK YOU!

The show was great, the venue sounded fantastic, I was only a little nervous, but mostly very charming - or so I heard. Then we had more macaroni and cheese at Montage and I got a giraffe shaped takeout package.

Day #7: Drove to Medford which sucked. Played late to a very nice but very small crowd. Then we drove until 5 am to Chico. That really sucked.

Day #8: Justin and I left Mark in Chico and drove on to Nevada City where I did a short set in a record store. Thank you Mat at After the Gold Rush Records, and Tyler, and Jinny, And Jen, and Ben!

Day #9: Nevada City was filled with smoke from fires so we hightailed it out of there with me in a fit of coughing.

Thank you to Mark Growden for touring with me. Thank you to Sean for sending me uplifting text messages and general goodness. Thank you to Justin for EVERYTHING, you are my favorite touring buddy.

Now I'm home, getting ready to record my album, buying tickets to fly all over the place for shows, feeling good but nervous about the future and getting on with my life.




Song today: Canto 1 by Le Loup

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Self reliance, and the bees knees.

Yesterday I read "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson who says, "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."

Yesterday I got a present! This video was made by David Westway of Portland, OR. David is also a talented poet.



Yesterday I made t-shirts for my upcoming tour, using some wings I had around the house I made myself a pattern which reminded me of a phoenix bird (as does my new hair color.) For now the shirts will only be sold on my tour at live shows, but when I come home I may sell them online.





Yesterday I uploaded songs onto my bandcamp page. These are new songs and old songs with new arrangements which were recorded live at my show in Oakland last Saturday.

Bandcamp!

Yesterday I made myself an interim website. Just something to pass the time until I have some art that I want to use for myself. Ideally I'd like to not design my own website, but I think it's kind of charming.

www.kimboekbinder.com


I leave for this tour with Mark Growden on Saturday:


08/08 Chico, CA
08/10 Eugene, OR
08/13 Portland, OR
08/14 Medford, OR
08/15 Nevada City, CA



If you are nearby you should come out and see me. I play new songs, old songs, happy songs, sad songs, ugly songs, beautiful songs. I have a new guitar.

Yesterday I talked to my dad, he is doing really well, feeling great, losing weight, loving life.

I love my life too.

It's the bee's knees.