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Heather Cairncross

Jazz Singer

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Making An Album – The Journey And The Pitfalls

Me – scared?

Today I begin my diary about making an album, highlighting the pitfalls I discover on the way. (I think I can already hear cheering from my family and friends and lovely, loyal supporters).

Many of you will have listened to the interviews I did with Ewing Stevens on his radio show in New Zealand. His producer Jason Beaumont contacted me after I wrote about the Susan Boyle Sessions I sang on. After the interview, where they played some recordings of me from Myspace.com, Jason told me that lots of people had contacted him asking after the show asking where they could get hold of my CD.

When I do solo concerts and gigs, people are always asking me if I have a CD – it’s all very frustrating because after over twenty years as a professional musician, I have recorded for just about everybody – but have never recorded something with just me.

After a particularly enjoyable evening at Steyning Jazz Club, where yet again people were asking me for my CD my friend and singing pupil Tom Chapman came up to me and took me to one side and asked “seriously Heather, why haven’t you got one?”

I told him that it was mostly for financial reasons. As a jobbing musician, I am very lucky that I can make a living as a singer (partly down to the fact that I do lots of different types of singing, so I have a better chance of work than if I were just doing opera, for example) At the end of the month it’s a miracle if I can pay the bills, so there certainly aren’t a few spare thousands sloshing about to make a CD.

But it’s not just the money.

I have discovered that there is a much bigger obstacle in the way – me.

Singers, as a breed, are insecure. I think that one of the reasons we put ourselves up there with only our vocal chords and lungs for support, is because we need the audience to say, well done – you’re ok. It’s a very humbling and emotionally exposing profession when it’s done well. There are obviously things you can do to ensure it does go ok. Singing Lessons, vocal practice, learning you music thoroughly, playing with the best colleagues……but when it comes down to it, one frog in your throat can distract you and make you forget your words or make you go wrong. It’s only your professionalism that steels you through such moments and I’m a firm believer in “Tits and Teeth”.

NEVER show the audience that you’ve gone wrong – they mostly won’t have noticed, unless you point it out to them.

So, I admit it – I’m scared of making a CD – nobody wanting to either buy or listen to it. Or that it won’t be any good. Or that my colleagues will judge it harshly. I remember when a friend of mine spent a lot of money making a solo CD and another colleague said very disparagingly ‘why on earth did she bother to make yet another album of songs people had recorded before – what was the point?” That really stuck with me and encouraged the fear. What could I say in my interpretation that was different, unless I wrote completely new material? So this stopped me starting. In my mind it had to be the most original perfect thing, or there was no use doing anything at all.

So that’s what I’ve done – nothing.

Until this year.

My big sister came to live in my spare room and she has been pecking away at all those negative beliefs. She took me right back to the beginning. IF I had a CD, how would I sell it – how would I get it to people that might want to buy it?

“Nobody will want to hear about me” I whined to big sister. “Just do it!”, she said. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

So I started this website, writing a few of the stories I had regaled my family with at the dinner table. I was surprised to find that I was wrong – it seems that people actually find my profession interesting. Big Sister Nicola has been helping me with some of the technical stuff and lots of internet marketing advice on search engine optimisation – she is a whiz at all that.

Last week, Tom came up to me at our local pub, the Brunswick. We go there on a Tuesday for their excellent Jazz Jam and to meet up with friends. People of ALL standards get up and play with the house band and every week some surprising and often fabulous things happen. He said he’d been thinking about what I’d told him and, if it was just a case of money, then he was willing to give me the money to get the CD made!

Now I was really scared – elated, but also afraid as my main excuse had gone.

Making An Album | Heather Cairncross and Tom ChapmanThe next day he came along to another pupil’s Open Garden day, where each year I sit and sing with my guitar. This is where people open their garden to the public for charity and it’s usually a lovely occasion. Unfortunately this year it was rather cold and wet, as you can see from our clothes. Tom looked round the beautiful garden and then sat and had a cup of tea and slice of cake with me while I was on a break and told me he was really serious about doing this and asked HOW would we go about it? My sister snapped us together for posterity.

What to do? Who to do it with? Where to do it?

I had been putting out tentative feelers all year, asking colleagues where there was a studio with a decent piano. Apart from the really obvious and expensive ones, like Abbey Road, it seemed they were all coming up with a studio in Hastings, run by a really good Trumpeter. I had emailed him to find out rates a couple of months ago, but when I emailed him back to ask for dates he wasn’t available until the middle of September. I looked at my diary and realised that, after a couple of very quiet months, the middle of September started a period of back-to-back tours with the Monteverdi Choir and Synergy Vocals – no two, free days together until November. I was despondent.

Another part of my avoidance technique had made me inexplicably reluctant to call David Newton, the fantastic pianist I had worked with in the Arundel Festival, whom I knew I wanted to play piano for me. Again, I don’t know what was stopping me. I told myself that I couldn’t call him until I had found a studio first. It suddenly occurred to me that HE might know of a studio, as he has recorded with so many wonderful singers.

So yesterday, I took a deep breath, picked up the phone and called Dave. I explained that what I wanted to do was make an album of voice and piano. No overdubs – just whole takes of songs. My favourite standards, with just voice and piano. I wanted to do it soon and then the ‘next’ album could be more ambitious, have more people, be more experimental, be better! I just needed to get it done and stop making excuses.

I explained what I was aiming for was the albums I love and admire containing only voice and piano – the song being the only star. Those albums are the Tony Bennett, Bill Evans albums called Together and Together Again; The Intimate Ella with Ella Fitzgerald and Paul Smith and the Duet album with Doris Day and Andre Previn. In fact Dave suggested a song from the Doris Day album – spooky!

He told me that he’d recently recorded in a large, private house in London with a fabulous piano. A Double Bass player, whom he had worked with many times had brought his microphones and recording equipment to the house and he’d never heard a piano sounding as true and excellent as the recording they’d made. Dave said he’d call the owner of the house and the Bass player and try to find two consecutive days. He rang back an hour later and, as he went through the possible days my heart sank as on pair, I either had a rehearsal or a BBC Promenade concert. Then we hit on three days together that we could ALL do, so we chose two – IN TWELVE DAYS TIME!

Now I’m really scared!

I’ve made a list of songs, twenty three starters, which I have to cut down to about twelve. I have to sort out charts and keys and in twelve days time I will record them – and then we’ll see what happens. There’s album design and manufacture and technical things like licensing and selling on Amazon, Itunes and Spotify to sort out. I’ll keep you posted on that but for now I have to focus on the music.

No more excuses.

As always, if you enjoyed this blog and would like to know when I write a new article, or bring out the new CD, don’t forget to add your email address to one of the boxes on the top right hand of this page. Then click on the link in the email you get from Feedburner to confirm your interest. Your email address is completely confidential.

I welcome your comments and perhaps even song suggestions!

 

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2 Comments

on Making An Album – The Journey And The Pitfalls.
  1. Jim Whyte
    06/08/2011 @ 14:14
    -
    Reply

    All the best with it Heather. It will be wonderful, no doubt.

  2. Marketing Plan | Week 1-3 | Solo Album By Heather Cairncross | Business Success Factory | Business Marketing | Internet Marketing
    18/08/2011 @ 17:21
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    Reply

    […] expression in the picture above *grin* and she’s documenting those on her blog and you can read the first instalment here all about that – or listen via the podcast if you prefer that.  Funny the daft things that […]

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Heather Cairncross Singer

2 days ago

Heather Cairncross Singer

A Lesser spotted August Jazz gig!We are delighted to reveal the musicians who will play at this year’s Winchfield Festival. Eight nights from Saturday 7th August until Saturday 14th August. Sat 7 Aug: The Festival opens with the electrifying Tango Siempre, UK’s leading Tango Company, who will take us on a breath-taking journey into the heart of Tango Argentina. www.facebook.com/Tango.Siempre/Sun 8 Aug: Fenella Humphreys Violin and Cara Berridge, playing violin and cello, will thrill the audience with pieces from Bartok, Bach, and Ravel.Mon 9 Aug: The Galliard Ensemble, comprising flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn form one of Britain’s leading chamber groups, known for its virtuosic, entertaining and distinctive performance. Tues 10 Aug: 16-times Best UK Jazz Pianist David Newton and singer Heather Cairncross, with drums and bass will perform some mesmerizing jazz with great technical artistry. www.facebook.com/AltovoiceWed 11 Aug: Robert Plane, an eloquent and impassioned clarinetist, will join the Solem String Quartet to perform the wonderful Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A major as well as the Coleridge-Taylor Clarinet Quintet in F sharp minor. The Solem Quartet has established itself as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation, presenting daring feats of virtuosity within thoughtfully curated programmes. www.facebook.com/robertplaneclarinet and www.facebook.com/solemquartet/Thurs 12 Aug: Welsh harpist @Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita, will bring an exciting repertoire of music which draws on the deep harp-based musical traditions of both countries.www.facebook.com/CatrinFinchSeckouKeita/Fri 13 Aug: 12 Voices and 4 Saxophones will come together in an exciting collaboration between Corvus Consort and the Ferio Saxophone Quartet. Their programme will include a variety of classical and baroque pieces which explore the close interaction between the timbres of voices and saxophones. www.facebook.com/corvusconsort and www.facebook.com/feriosax/Sat 14 Aug: Elton John Band, a professional tribute act, will perform an exciting finale to eight nights of a fantastic music festival. www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100028245982648&ref=sgm

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Heather Cairncross Singer

2 weeks ago

Heather Cairncross Singer

Vocal Health and Fitness Workshop For Your Choir | KatieThomasConductor.com

katiethomasconductor.com

Arrange an online interactive Vocal Health and Fitness Workshop for your choir with freelance conductor and BBC Symphony Chorus Vocal Coach KATIE THOMAS

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Heather Cairncross Singer

7 months ago

Heather Cairncross Singer

Take 2!

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Heather Cairncross Singer

7 months ago

Heather Cairncross Singer

UPDATE. Well it seems it was too good to be true….following the government’s unclear announcement the managers of the pub have cancelled the jazz for now. I’m really sorry if you’ve booked a table but you now need to call and cancel to make sure they don’t take your deposit. Hopefully we’ll revive this gig in the near future. I KNOW!!!! This Sunday lunchtime in Brighton

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Heather Cairncross Singer

8 months ago

Heather Cairncross Singer

The Swingles & The Stay at Home Choir – You’re All I Need to Get By

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Heather Cairncross Singer

9 months ago

Heather Cairncross Singer

In the absence of any live Prom concerts (courtesy of Covid 19), the BBC is re-running many gems from previous years. Tonight on BBC4 at 19.00 is @johnwilsonorchestra with a starry cast of soloists and the ever splendid @maidavalesingers in ‘The Broadway Sound’. Possibly the campest ever prom?Back in 2012 when this concert was recorded, I still wrote a backstage blog which may interest some of you – it seems a lifetime ago and I sincerely hope that those wonderful concerts will be back in business next year – in fact any concerts…..the prospects seems rather bleak at the moment.heathercairncross.com/the-broadway-sound-singing-in-the-john-wilson-prom-2012/

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Making An Album - The Journey And The Pitfalls - Heather Cairncross UK Jazz Singer