Tag Archives: band

Thornfield CD on the way!

Hi guys!

So you may have noticed that it’s been a looooong time since I’ve talked about anything music or Thornfield related. In fact, probably a good number of you are like Thornwhaaaat??

Well, to catch some of you up, Thornfield is the band I’m in with my friends Eric and Carrie. Here are Eric and Carrie, 2 of my most favorite people in Chi-town.

Our style is folksy/singer-songwriter, a little jazzy, a little bluesy, a little showsy . . . well, I guess it’s a bit of a mish-mash. But a mish-mash that I absolutely LOVE. And who needs labels anyway? We make music that comes from our hearts. End of story.

Anyway, the last time we played a gig was in December at Kevin and Katina’s wedding.

It was lots of fun . . . which reminds me that I never shared the rest of the pics from Kevin and Katina’s wedding! Whoops.

Then Christmas and New Years happened, and, well . . . I guess we’ve been taking it easy and recovering from our musically busy fall and holiday season. But behind the scenes, we’ve been getting ready for our first recording experience.

With certain life changes happening at the end of the summer, we wanted to lay down some tracks and get our music recorded for posterity. Then, we’ll count on this album to keep the memory of Thornfield alive until we can come back together again and make (and record) more music.

So just to be clear–Thornfield is in no way, shape or form dissolving–it’s just a hitting a rather large pause button come this fall. At least let me believe that.

And I do. I do believe.

Anyway, our first mission was to decide if we were going to wing the recording experience with random equipment and the help of friends, or actually pay for studio time. We decided on the latter option after much thought. The next leg involved finding a studio. After nixing the expensive options, we found a little place called Handwritten Recording. And what do you know–it’s right here on Belmont Avenue, and I pass it every single day on my way to work. And the crazy thing? I’ve never noticed it. I wonder how I would have felt if, 2 1/2 years ago when I started my job, someone had said “Hey, look at that little recording studio at Belmont and Southport, kind of hidden behind that one tree. Well in a couple years you’ll actually be in a band, you’ll have written a bunch of songs, and you guys will be recording your first album.”

I think my mind would have been blown.

We met with the owner of the studio (also the engineer), Rick. We loved his enthusiasm and openness. We also loved his price. We asked a crapload of questions. And then we signed ourselves up! Our first session in the studio will be this Saturday from 1-6pm. In that nice little 5 hour chunk we hope to lay down a ton of basic tracks.

Of course, this should go pretty quickly since we don’t plan on making any mistakes.

Yup.

(snork snork)

Our friends Petras, Jon, and Graham will be joining us to lay down tracks for drums, bass, cello and harmonica (Graham is a genius harmonica player–wait til’ you hear him go!). We’re so excited, and we couldn’t do this album without their generous help. Especially without drums, it would just be a puny mess (no offense meant to our own wonderful music, in which I have full confidence–we just need that rhythm, baby).

Of course, when our album makes it big and sells 1 million copies, we’ll make sure to give each of these guys a nice sized check to properly thank them for their contributions. Uh-huh. I’m counting on you, people! In fact, let’s make it 2 million in sales while we’re at it.

These pictures are from our big rehearsal the other weekend, which Petras recorded for the benefit of the different participating musicians. It was a blast. It was extremely hard work. It was uber fun. It was exhausting and draining and we needed tons of Brie and crackers and clementines and such to keep ourselves going.

I’ll make sure to take pictures and tell you the full story of our album-recording experience–and please send some prayers upwards on behalf of our little group if it happens to strike you between 1 and 6 this Saturday! We’ll use all the divine intervention we can get.

Adoption and gigging

Good morning, my lovely friends!

So . . . adoption. Foster care.

It’s something that’s on my heart.

No, I’m not ready to adopt at this exact moment. But it’s something that’s mulling around there in my brain and in my soul.

I have a strong empathetic vein running through my heart–I’ve always cried easily when I see the distress of others. When I was growing up, for example, all I had to do was see one picture of an orphan in a Compassion International advertisement and I was brought to tears. As a pre-teen and teenager, I also fell in love with fictional orphans such as Anne of Green Gables, Emily of New Moon, and Jane Eyre, which (odd as it may seem) made me start really desiring to take care of the motherless and fatherless. When I was 15, I determined that I wanted to run an orphanage when I grew up. Then I realized there wasn’t exactly a college degree called “Orphanage Manager,” so I ended up applying for the music program instead.

So even though my dreams of caring for orphans haven’t exactly materialized in my life, recently those thoughts have come back. I’ve been stalking some Chicago adoption websites and reading up on how to become a foster parent. My friend Sarah told me about a program in Austin, Texas that involves local photographers taking portraits of the kids that are up for adoption, so I contacted the organization that runs a similar program in Chicago–I would love to volunteer my lens, if there’s an opportunity. And of course, I’ve been thinking about logistics–how exactly would this all happen? Would we wait until we had children of our own? Would we wait until my husband finished school? Would we wait until I was able to stop working and stay home?

I’m not on the edge of the adoption/foster care diving board, but I’m at least feeling the rungs of the ladder leading to the top, testing out their sturdiness, and pondering the height of the thing, if you’ll allow the metaphor. To climb it? Or not? I want to pray actively about my future, and my role in this world full of kids who don’t have parents or homes, who may be going to bed scared, hungry, or in real danger.

I’m grateful for the empathy that I feel, and I pray that God will never allow callouses to grow over my heart, but I also know that feelings are not enough. What good is empathy unless it takes action? That’s why I’m really excited about an event here in Chicago this coming Saturday called “Together for Adoption.” It takes place from 9 to 2:30, and it’s not too late to register if you’re in town! The event description says: “Join Dr. Russell Moore (author of “Adopted for Life”),  Jason Kovacs (co-founder of Together for Adoption), and a half-dozen presenters for a unique one-day event on regional and global orphan care.  Our hope is that you’ll leave with a deepened sense of God’s adopting love for you, as well as an increased love and desire to care for the orphan and the fatherless.”

I wonder about adoption. Is it a case of ‘the need is not the call’ or is that my heart presenting excuses to not do what Jesus commands when he tells us to take care of the orphan and the widow? Is it enough just to give money–or am I called to something more radical? I need the Spirit to shed some light on this. And to give us direction. The thought of foster care and adoption inspires me–and scares me to death. I know there are no guarantees, no easy paths. It can bring great joy, but also strain and stress. I have a lot of thinking to do. A lot of praying.

Anyway! My band, Thornfield, will be playing at the adoption conference during lunch. And once the conference is over, we’re hiking our butts over to CityGrounds where we have a gig. The talented Andrew Jackson, a local singer songwriter (no, not the long-dead ex-president, just to quell any zombie rumors) will be playing the first set at 8pm, followed by our band around 9pm. Come on out! We’d love the encouragement of your presence there! Here’s the facebook event page for y’all’s reference.

So Saturday will be full of music, and (hopefully) hearts open to God’s leading.

What are your thoughts on adoption and care for orphans? Or your experiences? I’d truly love to hear from you.