Another year over! Can you believe it? Another year that has passed in no time it seems! 2017 was packed with new adventures, many tiny accomplishments and some setbacks as well!
As the year ends, I enjoy looking back and resuming the ups and downs. So here we go:
January-June:
The year started out excitingly, as I signed up for an audio technician course at Akademie Deutsche Pop. Within this 6 months formation, I learned a lot about the physics of sound, learned how to mike various instruments, how to record music with Logic and Pro Tools, how to make music via Midi pads and much more. This course was well worth the workload that went into it! We finished off recording a band project in a six hours recording session including a rough mix. I am proud that I pulled trough! I excelled with a 90 % certificate! Well done, Katie!
March:
In March I went to London with my hubby- to go to C2C country festival, which takes place once a year in London, Dublin and Galway. I got to meet Charlie Worsham there. The short encounter was a big highlight for me, as Charlie is one of my favorite Nashville based songwriters. Two weeks later, we went to see him play in Munich. One day, I hope to open up for one of his shows! Dream big! That´s what they say! 😉
June / July / August:
In the summer I spent most weekends in the studio, recording some of my own songs..I learned so much during that time, but I also encountered difficulties in the way my voice sounds in certain situations. Furthermore, my guitar playing drove me crazy at times…especially when forced to play on a click! There´s still so much left to learn! My recordings are far from perfect, but I am proud and happy to be able to record demos now.
I wrote a whole lot of new tunes this year, but I´d say 8 songs are actually album material. They are called:
- Like a child
- High
- Love don´t die
- Fly again
- Who I am
- These walls
- Downtown
- Sweetest Memory
As you see- I have much work ahead of me. So far, only 2 of 8 have been recorded.
September:
In September I started teaching two colleagues how to play the guitar…our weekly lessons were a great way for me to develop a teaching concept, which I am now refining. I am pretty sure I will keep teaching music in 2018!
October:
In October I went to Berlin to take part at Songscon– a songwriting fair, which was an eye-opener and helped me take myself seriously as a songwriter!
I pitched a song to Universal Music and they adopted it into their sync database. I am so proud! It was truely my most precious musical accomplishment so far!
November:
In November I went to Cuba with my boyfriend. Everyone knows Cuba is home to many a musical styles and especially home to percussion. I met a cool percussionist who agreeed to teach me a lesson on the Bongos in the streets of Havanna! That was super cool!
December:
Back in Germany, I got to play my first ever real gig in December at Trouve Bel store in Munich. This was truely nerve-racking, as I had never performed my own songs before, nor had I ever had to built up a stage myself. That night of December 14th I truely grew as a person. I set aside my fears and just did what I truely love doing: I shared my music with people! It was great!
What´s next?
So what´s the outlook for 2018? There are so many things on my bucket list…I don´t even know where to start…I would like to continue with part two of the audio technician course, but since I am starting a new job in January, I will have to see whether that will be possible.
On other news: I will take drum lessons this year, as I might quit playing the Congas and move on to playing the drums in the future! I´m a rocker at <3 !
Moreover, I plan on recording the many yet unrecorded songs, that I have waiting in line and I will sure want to write many more new songs!
I would like to play regularly at open mic nights and become better as a performer. I am working with Agnes on my vocals and am hoping to be able to sing at weddings next year!
I plan on visiting many cool concerts and participate at songwriting events and fairs.
Most esentially I would like to earn a bit of money through music….so let´s see how that will go for me!
Little left to say:
Thank you all for travelling down the road with me! I am grateful for your support and I wish you all a successful, happy, healthy and exciting new year!
Yours
Katie