Gaelynn Lea July Newsletter
Happy July! I hope you are  enjoying the sunny days of summer! Paul and I are about to head out on another East Coast tour, so I before we leave I wanted to share a slice of our life with you, give you some fun recording news, and send you a list of upcoming shows with ticket links! Have a wonderful rest of your summer and soak up the sun!
A Month (Mostly) in Minnesota!
After nearly  half a year of traveling,   Paul and I were finally  home for almost a whole month this June... and we definitely made the most of our time back in Minnesota! 

First and foremost, we FINALLY got moved into our new apartment! We started renting a cute little studio apartment in Duluth way back in January, but until June we had stayed there less than a month total.  So we took advantage of our time home and got ourselves moved in at long last. We unpacked the storage unit, bought a few new pieces of furniture, hung a couple pictures et voila! Home sweet home!


Another fun thing that happened this June was that I wrote two new songs!  I was commissioned by t he Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra to compose two pieces to be included in a medley of my original music. I'll be singing them while accompanied by the chamber orchestra on July 27th in Duluth! Writing new music on a deadline was a fun challenge for me! 

I tried the two new songs out with my band-mates Al Church and Dave Mehling a couple weeks ago at the super fun Grand Oak Opry in St. Paul, and we've decided to put them on the next album as well!


A few ot her highlights of being back in Minnesota for a bit included smelling the lilacs in full bloom, spending time with family and friends, sitting by our beautiful Lake Superior, cheering on the runners & wheelchair racers during Grandma's Marathon, recording a TV pilot about busking with fellow Minnesota musician Brian (GB) Leighton, playing on a train for Blood on the Tracks Express with Al & Dave, camping with Paul and my sister and brother-in-law and feeding a mini donkey during our one-night getaway at the quaint Shire in the Woods

All I can say is, it was lovely to be back in Minnesota... There is no place like home! 
 
 
New Music, New Album... New GoFundMe!
This year I've been on the road a lot, but nonetheless I have managed to write several new songs... and I am excited to say that I am officially starting to work on my next album! I am planning to release the album in 2018... It will be  a collection of highly personal songs covering themes such as life, death, anger, grace, love and disability rights. This music is a bold new statement straight from my heart and I can't wait to share it with you! 

Recently I  had the pleasure of recording a few of my newest tracks with some amazing musicians down in Minneapolis at The Pearl Recording StudioZachary Hollander, who owns the studio, is going to be the recording engineer for this album. He also he did my last EP, The Songs We Sing Along the Way... Zack is super fun, talented and very professional, so it was a delight to be back in the studio with him! 

I've known for awhile that I wanted to play with Al Church and Dave Mehling on my new album, but Dave suggested we try finding a bass player and a drummer as well to fill out the sound. So we recruited the extremely talented Andrew Foreman on bass and Martin Dosh on drums... and the weekend we recently spent at The Pearl was truly magical! We played, talked, laughed and ate tacos together... and we worked our tails off and recorded a total of four new tracks in two short days! 


In addition to t he four new tracks we just finished, I am also planning to include two songs with  Alan Sparhawk  on the new album... He is a dear friend and a very special part of my musical journey. Alan introduced me to the looping pedal back in 2011 and played alongside me as I performed my first-ever original song in our duo, The Murder of Crows . I am so excited that he will be part of this collaborative album as well!

Recording has gone really well so far, but there is still a lot left to do! I am aiming to release two of my  most recent  songs in November 2017 on a 7" vinyl (and online!) and t hen release a full length album in mid to late 2018. I really want to do this next album t he right way in order to maximize its c hances of success, so that means extra expenses like more mixing time, hiring a publicist, and pressing vinyls. When its all said and done, the total cost of this album is going to be about $28,500. 

I recently created a new GoFundMe campaign to raise the funds for my full-lengtalbum project. It is clearly going to be a very costly labor of love, so please consider donating to the GoFundMe to help make the it a reality, and share it with all the music lovers in your life! In addition to other fun prizes, anyone who contributes $15 or more will get access to my full-length album once it comes out in 2018!

Thanks to the generosity of friends, family, and music fans I have already raised over $2,100 towards the album on my GoFundMe page... I am so grateful for their support, but we still have a long way to go! No matter the amount, every single contribution counts and will get me that much closer to completing the album without debt! Together we can make this album a reality... Thanks in advance for your help!
Hitting the Road Again: July Tour Sc hedule 
Paul and I  had a great month spending time with family and friends in Minnesota, but now it's time for us to hit the road again for a two-week tour to the East Coast! It should be a fun trip... We'd love to see you at a show somewhere along our route! 
  

 

 

 

P.S. I am SO EXCITED to report that in August I will be heading back to t he U.K. to perform in the stellar  Green Man Festival in Wales... What's more, w e've added  four other shows in England as well!  I am happy to report that in addition to traveling with my husband Paul, Dave Mehling will be accompanying us on this tour... Not only will he be helping with travel accessibility, but he'll be joining me on guitar! C heck out my full tour schedule below for all my UK show information!

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