Kori Linae Carothers

October

2008-10-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

I will take this time during the debate to do something NON-political. ( For those of you that know me.. know that I absolutely can't stand politics) So.. here are some thoughts about the time of year we are at, what is coming.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I always get hankering to be where the leaves are in a state of change. I also love the chill in the air. Where did the time go? Summer just flew by.. I guess because I was having fun. I feel like I am changing too. There are SO many things that are touching my heart, my soul. I don't like to change, because there is always some personal growth associated with that.... and sometimes it can be painful. But I always like what happens to me afterwards. I feel better, I am better.

This month I am working on A Roses Tale. I got so burnt out in September, that I worked on other things, getting a routine with the family because of school. I even wrote a few new songs. I am now digging into what needs to get done.

November wow.. that month is going to be incredible. I will be in Studio from the 13th until the 17th, recording Midnight and Nantucket. When I feel ready to announce WHAT studio and who I am working with, I'll let you know.

My re-designed website is almost done. I am excited for you all to be able to see it. My daughters did some of the artwork and Pete has been doing a fabulous job incorporating all the fun pieces of art they did for me.

Pete.. have I told you that you totally rock ? Well, I'm telling you again! You DA MAN! Thank YOU!

More to come...

K

Memories

2008-09-23T12:02:00.001-07:00

21 years ago, my nephew JD passed on. I was given the extraordinary gift of taking care of him in the summer before he left this world. He'd wake me up in the morning in a game of peeking from his bed. I'd open my eyes, he'd hide. He would never want any of us out of his sight. At night I'd take him outside and hold him while he would look up at the stars in the sky. I'd sing quietly to him.

He touched so many in his short life. I only wish was that he would have continued living.

I am grateful that he and I crossed paths and that my sister trusted me enough take care of him for that short moment in my life....

September - November

2008-09-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

Ok... I have now uploaded all six songs that we have finished so far for "Trillium". You can listen either at my website or on MySpace. Links:

Kori's Website
MySpace

I'll be getting ready to record Midnight and Nantucket in November . I also plan on visiting family for Thanksgiving. Is it already time to do that? Time is moving along so quickly.

The rest of this month, I will be working on A Roses Tale, Midnight and Nantucket. Hopefully we'll finish A Roses Tale in October.

My website is still under construction. We have so much to add, like a digital download shop! You'll be able to download mp3's directly from my web shop. You also be able to purchase CDs from there as well. Pete Havey is doing a fabulous job.. he's been sending me previews of the pages.. and I am extremely excited! Pete.. you da man!

iRoknNod Records website is also under construction. We are no where near being finished. Hopefully by the end of October we will be up with new additions.

More as I know it!

K

XM

2008-09-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Great news to share with you all. XM's Channel 76 Fine Tunings is picking up the surround sound mixes of Blue Ice, Nez Perce and Tangled Up!!!!

My thanks to Jeff Silverman for his fabulous talent of Sound Design/Mixing/Mastering, Tom Shinness for his excellent work on Blue Ice, Jim McCarty for his excellent work on Drums for Tangled Up and Randy Landas on Bass!! Kathleen Monahan at KDM and for Jeff Oster for his encouragement when we worked together in March on Dancin in the Clouds!

You guys totally rock!

Lets partaaaay!

K

The Schmooze

2008-09-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I think my head has cleared up from exhaustion from Sunday’s event(s). I really had a great day. My first order of business was going on KSBR’s Morning Breeze Cruise with DJ Thornton and performing was Jeff Oster.

I was a bit nervous to get on this boat. Its called the Explorer and it launches from the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor. It has been a while since I’ve been on a boat..and I wasn’t sure if I would have my “sea legs” in good order. Lucky for me, I was just fine. The waves were not that bad! I wore my waffle stomper shoes.. ie: shoes that won’t slip or slide.. they just kept me standing which was a good thing! It was SO excellent to see DJ and Jeff again. It was since March since Jeff and I worked on Dancin in the Clouds. So it was fun to see/hear him play his music on the cruise. I will be doing the cruise in October. I look forward to that. I will NOT be able to bring my beastie of a Korg onto that boat! lol... I think I will need to invest in a smaller keyboard. I am looking around for one.

We were out on the ocean for about an hour methinks.. and had a grand time. Saw the same old sea lions. BUT we did see some porpoises, I was able to film a pod of them swimming around out there. We were hoping to see a Blue Whale.. but didn’t happen. OH well there is always next time.

We came back, and then it was time for the Schmooze. WHAT an awesome event! Evran Ozan, Denise Young, John Luttrell and Jeff Oster all performed. Nope I was a spectator! I loved watching them play live. I took a lot of video with my Flip Mino camera. Its a pretty good little video camera. It does have a problem tho, zooming in takes the quality out of the picture. Something to remember.

DJ did a fabulous job putting it all together, she had some GREAT sponsors: What a Dish, Two Guys Grilling, Its All About the Cake, Amazing Grapes, Sugar Pie’s Coffee House and Bakery. Elements in Harmony, Mahi joined in and brought out some sushi, The DoubleTree Guest Suites in Doheny Beach. It was also her birthday too. Totally rockn DJ... thanks for supporting our music!!!!

Evran Ozan is amazing. This is a 15 yr old guy, that plays Native American Flute. He did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed his sound.

Denise Young came on stage and played her keyboard.. she is a lovely woman and her music reflects that. I really enjoyed listening to her play. Jeff came up with her on stage to do a song with her called “Autumn Colors” It was so beautiful!

John Luttrell came up next, he had his crew with him, Kal Drakopoulous and Robert Murray. They did a great job as well. I have heard him on KSBR’s Morning Breeze and I met him there as well. He’s a very down to earth guy and his music brings you into his world.

Jeff Oster came up with Lars Hidde and Kelly Park. I have never seen him play live, and so this was a treat for me. It was fun to hear him play and watch him play the Flugelhorn and trumpet. His style reminds me of the many times I listened to Herb Alpert when I was a kid. Of course he was one of Jeff’s influences and one of mine as well. He definitely has his own style of writing which really comes from his heart. I love it when musicians write this way. All of them that night had a magic quality to their sound. Oddly enough, I found out that Denise, John and Evran live in the area!!!! Why are we not playing more? Its all about pop and rock, but our music definitely has its own qualities that I think would be a blast to explore since there are quite a few of us living here. It shocks and amazes me that more venues don’t take advantage of us since we DO live in the area, we could give some awesome concerts. I am going to have to work with The Irvine Spectrum and get us all on stage there. I think we’d pull in quite a few people. What do you think?

I will be uploading video once its all edited and good to go.

In short, I truly felt so inspired after a very rough summer. Music wise it was great, I set a goal to finish six of the 9 songs I am doing for Trillium and accomplished that goal. Personally I’ve struggled and still am, but I know all will turn out fine. After the concert, I feel very inspired to just continue to learn and grow.

Thank you SO much for your support and your comments, emails and friendship. You truly keep me inspired.

Namaste,

Kori

September Updates

2008-09-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

I am blissfully sleepy, I did not get home until 12am last night from the Schmooze. Let me say that I had a great time yesterday and at the concert last night. I met a lot of amazing people and musicians. I'll blog about that later on this week once I get my head together and some video of it as well.

For now, I have a few things I need to tell you. We added a new musician spotlight to my website and uploaded all of the finished songs from Trillium. Aeone is the September Spotlight. Also, the newly designed website will have a digital download store.

For now, I am crazy busy trying to get the week planned out for family, music.

I keep telling you all thank you.. I really mean it. Thanks.

Peace in Music,

K

Lately...

2008-08-29T14:03:00.001-07:00

Ahhh the weekend is here. I have finally recovered from my trip to Nashville. We accomplished a TON this summer. 6 songs mixed, 3 of which are surround sound mixes and 3 of them are mastered and ready to upload onto my digital download store when we re-launch the website! Totally rockn now!

I have to thank Pete Havey, Jeff Silverman for their hard work!!!! You guys totally rock. I could NOT do all of this without your help.

Now we have 3 more songs to go, A Roses Tale, Midnight and Nantucket. I will be starting from the ground with A Roses Tale. I learned something VERY important with that song. BACK UP YOUR WORK! lol.. DON't LEAVE the computer without doing that. Whether it is music, art, writing, photos.. etc.. you do NOT want to lose your hard work.

This weekend I take a break from composing etc.. and play. Saturday will be busy with the family. Sunday I go to the KSBR Morning Breeze Schmooze which will be a lot of fun!

Enjoy your weekend and have a GREAT Labor Day!

Peace in Music,

Kori

2008-08-20T08:42:00.001-07:00

I made it back home from Nashville after a very productive week of mixing in surround sound and stereo. Blue Ice, Nez Perce and Tangled Up sound very amazing in surround sound.

Now I need to finish planning our school year and be ready to teach.

Thank you for being so supportive!

Peace in Music,

Kori

A Gentle Reminder...

2008-08-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone...

I wanted to remind you that I will be on KSBR Radio 88.5 Jazz FM, The Morning Breeze with DJ Thornton; tomorrow morning( Saturday August 9, 2008) from 8am Pacific to 9am Pacific. We will be offering previews of Nez Perce and Tangled Up on the airwaves/internet.

You can tune in via internet as well here is the link for that:

KSBR LISTEN LIVE

If you live in the SoCal area, come on out to the KSBR Schmooze in Dana Point on Sunday August 31, 2008. For more info please click on the link below:

KSBR Morning Breeze Schmooze

Come join us.. Jeff Oster, John Lutrell, Denise Young and Evren Ozan will be there performing! Also What A Dish, and Two Guys Grilling will be providing tasty vittles. Wine provided by Amazing Grapes!

Thank you all for your wonderful support!

Kori

Lazy Days of August...

2008-08-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

I have been battling a sinus infection. WHO in the summertime gets these things? Pete...DON't answer that! lol Its all your fault. :P

I am actually feeling a little better. I hope by the end of this week I'll be 100%. I get mighty cranky when I get sick. I don't like slowing down, however this thing stopped me from doing anything since Monday. I am actually feeling energetic enough to think about what I am doing this month.

August is when I feel the laziest, but that can't happen this time because I am going to Nashville to do some mixing and working on a few songs in surround sound. Blue Ice we'll be adding some really fun instrumentation to it as well. I am feeling very inspired by it.

This month also, I'll be on KSBR on Saturday August 9th from 8am Pacific to 9am Pacific. I hope you'll join us in the a.m. Because Tangled Up and Nez Perce are being previewed on the airwaves that day. So grab your favorite morning beverage, newspaper and listen in. I always have a blast when I am with DJ.

As you all know, my home life is always somewhat un-predictable. A week ago our 7 year old son called 911 - UNBEKNOWNST to us until we get a phone call from the Orange County Sheriffs Dept. About 7:30am this is the phone call we received: Me "ummm a hello?" "Yes this is the Orange County Sheriff's Department.. did you just call 911?" Me: "ummm.. what? No!" "Yes you did... do you have kids?" Me "ahhh.. yes we have 4. ( I am fully awake by now) Let me ask them." I calmly but quickly run downstairs located this wiley boy of ours and directly asked him.. "Did you call 911?" I gave him the MOM KNOWS YOU DID IT look. He tells me Yes I did. Good boy.. no lies there. "Would you please put him on the phone". Me: "Yes Ma'am". She proceeds to ream him. I get back on the phone with her. Me: "Thank you for your help". She says.."You make sure he doesn't do that again". Me: "Yes Ma'am.. no problem".

I nearly faint with exasperation. I asked him WHY he called 911. He told me he wanted to use the new phones to call someone! LOL. I said.. next time you get itchy to call anyone, please call me on my cell phone!

Children....

Overload

2008-07-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been extremely emotional. In the last few days my father in law was/is in the hospital in serious condition. In fact it is so serious, that the Doc told us to bring everyone in the family home. Its a trying time for my family.

Other things have popped up, but it would take all night to write about that.

Today Nez Perce is the next song to be finished with mixing. Jeff Silverman truly caught the vision of this song. I uploaded it onto MySpace and on my website as well. KoriTunes.com

Come on by and listen!

More to come...

Songs I am working on...

2008-07-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

I am rehearsing for the next song to be worked on. Actually.. there are three that I am working on. First I will write about Nez Perce.

Nez Perce, is inspired by the Nez Perce nation. Its my way of expressing my feelings about their story. For those of you that don't know much about them, I would ask you to visit these websites:

Chief Joseph

Nez Perce Tribe

I first learned about this tribe when in Junior High. My history teacher had us watch: " I Will Fight No More Forever". It was about Chief Joseph and his tribe, how so many things went wrong from the get go when people started settling in the Wallowa Valley. My heart ached, I felt so sad about what happened. About a year ago, I found this movie on DVD, and watched it again. Once again I was touched by their story. Before I bought my first Native American Flute, I composed a song that sang about my feelings about their story. Now I am ready to record it at Sonikwire Studios on July 15th using the Korg as the accompaniment and my Native American Flute as the main instrument. I am so excited to be finally doing this.

I've been searching for someone from the tribe to see if I could get a recording from them speaking Chief Joseph's words in their native language. So far, I have yet to have an answer to my research. I am determined. I know that somehow, I'll find a way.

The other two songs I am working on are A Roses Tale, and Blue Ice. A Roses Tale I am re-doing all the parts from the ground up. I lost some of the files that I had and so I've got to record everything all over again. *sigh*.. BUT I am feeling very inspired that it will all work out.

Blue Ice is completely Korg Synth right now, I am looking forward to having this one recorded. Its the most ambient of the songs from Trillium.

The facelift for my website is coming along quite nicely. I can't wait for you all to see it! Our girls did some of the artwork you'll see on it.

That is what I am up to for the remainder of July.

More to come...

2008-07-03T12:33:00.001-07:00

Tangled Up and Carpe Diem are sounding amazing. Lots of good karma going on in the creation of the music.

July

2008-07-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Happy July everyone! Hunkering down for this month's insane schedule. I have myself to blame for that.. BUT I like crazy busy. Here is the lowdown:

Carpe Diem is mixed, will work on tweaking it in August.
Tangled Up, is getting mixed.
A Roses Tale is getting remixed - hurry and d/l the copy I have up for free.

My website is currently getting a facelift. I am not sure when the re-launch for it is. Its going to be fabulous. We will have our own download store using my favorite player.. Wimpy Rave! Just keep an eye out for it.

Middle of July, I am recording Nez Perce. I am hoping it all works out. Then IT gets mixed. 5 more songs to get mixed after that. I am sure you all are wondering WHEN the CD gets released. I'll tell ya when I know that with a definite date.

Ah.. one more thing, my website has a really cool widget on the front page. Its a Twitter box. Its a mini blog of sorts.. I can text from my phone what i am doing at any given moment. So you can go by and check out whatever I am doing.. sleeping, doing laundry, umm.. lets see.. working on music! ALSO on my "contact" page there is another widget.. its a shout box. You can visit that page and type a message to me and I'll be able to see it. Its like a little chat box.

OH.. and one more thing... LOL... I'm sure you noticed the new page when you visit my profile and the new photos. I am very impressed how well they turned out. Message me which one is your favorite to go on the CD cover and if I choose what you suggest, I'll send you a free copy of the CD when its released, AND mention you in my liner notes!

Thanks again for the messages, comments and support you have given me. As always..

Peace in Music,

Kori

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-06-23T19:51:00.001-07:00

KSBR 88.5 Jazz FM

2008-06-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

This morning I spent some time with DJ of the Morning Breeze. We totally enjoyed ourselves and chatted as usual. I want to thank her for taking the time to talk about Trillium and play Carpe Diem and Dancin in the Clouds and playing them on the air.

I did come on earlier than planned today. So if you missed it, sorry about that. There will always be next time! :)

I am feeling quite blessed by Jeff Oster, Seay, Heath Vercher, Jeff Silverman, Jim McCarty, Sonikwire Studios,my family with the creation of this album. I wish I could express my thoughts in words, however I tend to express myself better musically. Trillium is that expression!

Wishing you all a wonderful weeek!

Namaste,

Kori

Some things you should know...

2008-06-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

I am in the middle of editing Tangled Up.. and decided to take a quick breather to update you on some things.

On Sunday June 22, 10am Pacific - 11am Pacific, I'll be on KSBR 88.5 Radio, the Morning Breeze Program with DJ Thornton. I hope you will tune in here:

Listen LIVE KSBR

I am in crunch mode to finish the tracks for Tangled Up, so that on Tuesday June 24, Jim McCarty, Randy Landas will be putting the drum/bass line in. Looking forward to that.

After that.. the rest of the songs will be set up for mixing. Nez Perce will be recorded in July at Sonikwire.

I want you to know I now have Tania Elizalde on board as THE graphic artist extraordinaire for Trillium's artwork. She did the artwork for Heath Vercher's CD "Soul Fire".

Tania Elizalde

Thanks to you all for your support, emails, messages. I definately enjoy hearing from you and your support means so much to me.

More to come...

If you will indulge me...

2008-06-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

I am reminded every once in a while that I am a Mom of 4 kids. Today was one of those days.

I got up about 6am, walked with a friend of mine. I came home.. and realized we had a full day ahead of us. Piano lessons at noon, and two doctor appointments for the boys. The lessons were fun, as I take the boys to the park and let them run amok. The girls have their lessons and we were there for an hour and a half. Its so nice to let the boys burn off energy! Then we hauled it over to the doc office.

All of the kids were with me, the two boys were getting check ups, our 5 yr old was getting 4 shots, and our 7 year old was getting his Varicella vaccine.

I thought that since the younger ones had run around, that they would be mellow. HA HA HA.... I am laughing at the experience because they were crazy. Not only were the boys in rare form, the girls were a bit squirrely. The boys... oh man... talk about "entertainment". Dr. Pittaluga was dying laughing at their antics. I could only smile and laugh too.. as its just such a typical day with them even more so today. They were showing off at what they could do. 5 yro would say ( when testing his hearing he could hear the beep) " I hear the wax moving along in there!" LMBO! Then we had to tell her about the McFly dance. We have this nickname for our 7 yro son... and its McFly. He proceeds to do this dance when we call him that. Its very menacing, full of music and sound effects provided by him of course. I am turning red as he does this. 5 yro son NOT to be outdone.. is trying to climb up out of the window.. by climbing on his 14 yro sister.

Finally, its time for immunizations. I neglect to tell 5 yro son, that they will poke him with a needle to give him a shot. He ends up waling at the top of his voice, and I calmly explained to him.. I forgot to tell you they do that when you get a shot. He looks at me and says, I am NEVER coming here again and WHY did they poke me for?!!. My bad. 7 yro son knew what was coming, he didn't EVEN flinch. Didn't cry. I was shocked.. he's the one that usually melts down. *sigh* The intern was the one that gave him his shot, that was amazing in itself.

I took all of them to a local frozen yogurt shop for being somewhat good and that seemed to help our youngest son forget about the HORRID experience.

I could write more.. but I don't want to embarrass my children too badly! lol... I just could NOT let this one go away without blogging about it.

Two new songs Posted..

2008-06-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

Just received the new mix for Carpe Diem today from Jeff Silverman! WOW WOW!!! Seay will be putting the vocal tracks soon. We are prepping it for 5.1 surround sound mixing. So lots of tracks on this piece!!!

Tangled Up is posted as well. I will be putting it up on my player at my website in the next couple of days.

Thanks for all of your support!

Peace in Music,

Kori

A Roses Tale

2008-06-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

You can download A Roses Tale for free on MySpace page. You can click the title of this blog and it will take you to my profile and you can download it! : )

June is here, Carpe Diem is the next song to get mixed, A Roses Tale is due for a remix. Tangled Up gets drum/bass tracks. I also will be getting new photos. Its been since 2005. So I guess its time to get some new ones done.

Nez Perce is going to get recorded in July. My new flute is amazing. The sound of it is pure bliss!

Blue Ice, InSync, Trillium, Nu Beginnings will be the next songs I'll be working on to get mixed. Midnite and Nantucket will be worked on in October. I'll tell you more about that later on.

Thank you for your support!

Peace in Music,

Kori

Minor Website changes...

2008-05-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone...

We just finished adding some additional things onto my website. Like: links to iRoknNod Records webpage, new musician links, a Twitter Box, a ShoutBox on my contact page! Click on the title of this post and it will take you over to my website!

Thanks bunches for your support!

Peace in Music,

Kori

Bought a new flute!

2008-05-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

A new Native American Flute. I was hoping I was going to get it yesterday.. now I need to wait until Tuesday!!! I hate waiting.... so much for patience!

Why did I buy a new one? The one I am currently using was my first flute I bought.. however, it was not concert tuned. Probably why I was losing my mind when I played it @ my concert with Heath in April. It is in the key of A.

I hope to purchase more flutes. I hope to find an Irish flute that my hands can reach. I bought a beauty of an Irish Flute about a year ago, and I had to return it because it was made for a man's hands. HOW RUDE! lol

Anyway, I'll be recording Nez Perce in July with the new flute! yay!

More to come...

K

InSync...

2008-05-18T11:21:00.001-07:00

InSync will be the first one on the CD "Trillium". It is an introduction to what your listening experience will be like: Extremely diverse. However, I'll talk about that later in this post. I will probably extend the songs length as a few of you wanted more after hearing such a short clip of it. It actually isn't a clip.. its only a minute long..but I am sure to add more to it. To listen to it, go to the link click on it under the title of this blog.

This album is different than anything I have done in the past. I'll have songs that are strictly electronic and songs that will combine the electronic with the acoustic instrumentation. Lots of percussion/drums. The "theme" of Trillium is that it is number 3 for me. Many of you will experience.. Wow the music is so different. This is the direction I have been heading for. I have more tools at my disposal and I can combine the acoustic with the electronic much easier AND I am having many guest musicians working with me. Already, you know Jeff Oster and Seay are contributing. Jim McCarty is my drummer. I am keeping a lid on the other musicians that will be joining me until we have the songs "in the can".

You are experiencing what I am. I am writing about it all, I am showing you what it takes to get the music done the way I want it done. The video and pictures are my way of letting you "in on the fun".

I thank you so much for taking the time to be a part of this musical journey.

Peace in Music,

Kori

Celebrating!

2008-05-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

We are celebrating the birth of iRoknNod Records, we received official documents today in the mail and everything is all set up and done.

I think I will celebrate without getting too goofy. Let me say, thank you for your support!

Peace in Music,

Kori

Video

2008-05-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ok.. I worked all day yesterday getting this video uploaded, designed etc. This is when I was in the studio with Jeff Oster in March. Its not the best quality.. but I did it and I am sure I'll learn more! hehehe