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Musicians on Vacation

It’s an ongoing issue.  

“Technically” I’m on vacation.  Technically I’m sitting in a pub in England writing this blog.  But it’s not really a vacation.  The only difference is I don’t have students for two weeks.  And I’m in England.  

Is it really a vacation?  

In two weeks time, I have co-written 4 4-hand piano duets and one 4-part choral piece. Unto myself, I’ve also written another 4-hand piano duet, 2 blogs, and the beginning of 3 poems. I’ve learned 2 pre-existing duets (well, one and a half. The Dvorak is really difficult and I’d rather study it and do it justice than try and pound it out really quickly.) Reading-wise I’m on my third book since I left.  And there’s more.

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Behind the Song: Tidal Wave

When it comes to songwriting it’s pretty common for me to write a song and not really know what it’s about for a while.  Sometimes years.  Recently I  found myself humming a melody over and over.  It took me a few days to realize that it was actually an old one of MY songs – Tidal Wave.  When I realized it – I had kind of an “ah-ha” moment.

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Notre Dame Et Moi

Mike texted me this morning and told me that Notre Dame was on fire.

I’ve been working the last week on a hard deadline (you’ll see the big announcement on Wednesday) so I took one moment from what I was doing to pull up a fresh browser window.

I don’t know what I expected.  But not that.

My throat did that thing when I’m going to cry.  I instantly shut it down.

“No time to feel this”, I said to myself.  “Have to finish work.  Have to teach.  We will feel this tonight.”

 

Now it’s tonight.  I’m safely home. All duties completed.  I can sit here with a dark glass of red wine and feel every last bit of this.

Here is my story about Notre Dame.

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Kat Downs

Answer the Damn Call

A common question I get asked in interviews is “What made you choose to be a musician?”

I almost always start laughing.  CHOOSE to be a musician? I didn’t CHOOSE to be a musician.  Who would ever do this to themselves?  In fact, I’ve quit being a musician five times I can think of and I’m sure there were more than that.  I consider quitting at least once every couple of weeks to this day.

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What Is Brave?

I was never taught to be brave.  To my recollection.

It was more the opposite.  Not cowardly, but timid.  Don’t raise your voice, don’t handle things yourself.  Always ask for help.  Defer to men.  Defer to adults.  Don’t draw attention to yourself.  Be a polite quiet lady.  Demure.  Graceful.  I was taught to stand up straight, how to choose the correct china patterns, correctly set the table.  How to correctly clean the house, and fold laundry.  I was taught how to dress appropriately for specific occasions.  How to place my hands and feet just so when having my portrait taken.

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The Story Behind “Burst”

“Burst” was released to the world as a music video yesterday – this song is very near to my heart and I’ve been feeling super vulnerable for the last two weeks gearing up for it.

I wrote this song when I was at my most raw and I wanted to capture what was going on inside my head.

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