on family and albums

The last seven days have been book-worthy.  Epic.  

The kind of week that you reflect upon twenty, thirty, hell- fifty years later and recall the moments it was comprised of, in crisp detail.  I'm not even sure I've had time to process it all, but I'm sitting on my couch having the first coffee of the day, and it looks pretty good from here.

 photo by Teresa Pemberton

My big project is done, in a way.  Family Album came out eight days ago.  I finished the new website mere hours before the release day came, and come it did.  And then it went, just like that. 

My birthday followed, on the very next day.  I happily spent it with family from out of town who graciously traveled to be part of the big week here in Nashville.  Neither my sisters-in-law nor my brother had ever been to Nashville, so it was fun to show my town to them in the little time that existed between events.  Good food was eaten, landmarks were pointed out, honky-tonk music was experienced.  It'll do for a first time.  I have a feeling they'll all be back.

The CD release show was this past Friday night, at The Family Wash in East Nashville.  Contrary to my original idea, I did not get on stage with a bunch of people I've known for a hundred years and/or am related to.  I had a great band that was a mixture of the former category and a new category: hired.

I've been admiring the playing style(s) of Jen Gunderman for some time now.  She's really quite incredible on the keys.  She joined us for the set and really completed the sound.  I absolutely love playing with her and hope to do tons more of it.  Tim Marks and I have been talking about making some music together for a spell now, and we finally took the plunge that night.  He played upright bass for my set, and kicked major butt while doing it.  Radness.  Greg Hagan returned to my band on electric guitar, but this time also played a little mandolin on 'These Hands'.  He rules.  As for drummers, I had an alternating duo that would have made anyone jealous: my love, Jerry Roe and my brother, Bo Bertold.  They took turns on drum kit, sang vocal harmonies, played guitar (Jerry), and led a song vocally (Bo).  I mean, it really doesn't get any better than that.  My heart was so full of goodness, gratitude and light.  It will radiate from me for a long time to come, I'm sure.

The show was perfect.  So many people that I love and respect were there to hear our music.  Jamie has a really special place there, at The Wash.  It feels like home, somehow, which was exactly what our show needed.  I hope that everyone in the audience enjoyed it as much as we did.  There are one zillion photos and videos from that night that I'll do my best to sort through and post them to flickr and youtube, I promise.

The next two days were a Brand New Experience for me.  We shot my very first music video.  A group of freakishly talented and organized people descended on The Fort on Saturday morning, February 26th.  They had coffee, clipboards, walkie-talkies, shot schedules, lists, and most of all: the best intentions in the world.  The months of meetings, conference calls, emails, planning and plotting were finally over.  All that remained to be had was the real experience... And an experience it was.

We spent two very full days shooting at my home, the property of my future father-in-law and his wife, The Family Wash, and the house/recording studio that belongs to Eric McConnell.  We also did some cool shots of me driving a 1962 Buick LeSabre on old country back roads.  (I've always wanted a car like that, to be perfectly honest.)  Every location was amazing, and every person was incredible.  I can't remember an experience in my own life that has gone that smoothly.  I am so honored for my music to have been the catalyst for such a group to assemble and conquer.

I'm going to gush about every single person here now.  I can't not say it...  It just wouldn't be right.  Carl Byrd directed this project, which is so crazy and amazing that I still can't even believe it.  I've admired his work for a loooong time (since long before I knew him), and am in awe of the fact that he is working in conjunction with my art these days.  Y'all know the man, trust me.  Remember the dancing Audrey Hepburn GAP commercials?  Yes.  That's Carl's work, among so many other brilliant examples.  His team came with him from New York, and really made this whole thing happen.  Jennifer Moore has been coordinating and producing this project since Day One, and has done a wonderful job.  I have felt so respected, heard and celebrated by everything that she has done or said to me, and I am filled with gratitude for that.  Erika Walden was the script supervisor for every single shot that was taken, a job that can only be done by folks who have the ability to pay the closest attention that is humanly possible.  Her energy was amazing and supportive, and we all loved having her here.  Jeana Hong was the mastermind behind all travel, lodging, permits, good faith letters, meetings and group correspondences.  Brilliant.  We'd all be tied in knots without her.  I was made to look much more beautiful than I've ever actually been by the genius handiwork of Teresa Pemberton.  I have been watching her make stars and models glow for years, and it was nuts to actually be the girl in the make-up seat while while she combined magical fairy-dusts to make me shine.  What an honor.  My dear friend Eric Kosse took the weekend off from being a world-dominating wardrobe stylist to make sure that all of the finer details of me and my life were accurately captured in the shots.  He acted as a real advocate for the more personal elements of the story which were so crucial to the project.  Also, this whole thing can be traced back to him saying to Carl, two years ago, "We need to work with Buick on her music projects!".  Thank you, friend.

John Wynne and his Assistant Camera, Drew Dutton came from Denver, CO to shoot the video.  John is an old friend of Jerry's who expressed interest in the project when it was first shaping up, and we brought him on board.  The dude's amazing, y'all.  He had SUCH good ideas, and a lovely grasp of what the visual story needed to be, in order to match the music.  It was a pleasure to work with both him and Drew.  They were a perfect fit.  Somehow, we were sent the most amazing grips of All Time, as well.  Jeff and Matt from Citation Support here in Nashville were a dream team of know-how, good humor and comradery from the start.  They totally elevated the experience into feeling very professional, and it was noticed and appreciated.  We even had a Production Assistant (I've never felt so "For Real") who seamlessly set-up and broke-down food, coffee, supplies, etc at every single location we worked at, without leaving a crumb of evidence behind.  Danny, you're the man.

The last batch of people are my heart.  

To my brother Bo, best friend Eliza and sweetheart Jerry:  I cannot thank you guys enough.  For being my family.  For getting up every morning and making sure the house was ready to be shot on camera.  For shlepping all over Hell's Half Acre.  For getting me coffee and cookies.  For being in the video.  For being so patient and understanding.  For meeting me with smiles every time I looked at any of you...  I am so grateful.  This record is about and for you, and I cannot believe we're here.

The video is for the first song on the record, 'True Story'.  It's very possibly the happiest song I've written, to date.  I've not been known for my light, cheerful work up to this point, and it's quite interesting (and almost surreal) that the song we just poured so much work into is all of three minutes long, and outlines a series of short but true tales about my life.  Musically, it matches it's message.  We have sparkly sounds of toy piano and glockenspiel, clean twangy electric guitars, gang vocals and a tempo that makes your body move, despite any effort you might make to fight it.  I wrote the song in my little pink office one Autumn night, and made a GarageBand demo of it right away to send to my best bud Eliza to listen to.  I remember saying to her, "I wrote a fun song!  It's different than all of my other work!"  Well, it was different for me then.  Not today.  Today I'm a happy, happy woman, and you can expect more sunshine from me, I promise.  

This is only the beginning.

Thank you for listening.

xoxo, bu

p.s.  Here are some assorted photos, and there are more to come!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/buickaudra/sets/72157626181752146/