November 3, 2011- 36 hours and counting!
It’s 8AM Thursday, the day before our Iowa CD release show. Since we got back from England (was there performing at the Lancaster Music Festival) we have been working non-stop to get this show ready. Feeling so appreciative for the amazing group of musicians playing in our band on Friday! Yesterday got the first shipment of cd’s in the mail! It’s a crazy feeling opening up that first cd out of the plastic wrap, taking out the liner notes, and reflecting on all of the hard work and all of the people who’ve made the album possible. I feel very lucky. Other than the band, we have a fantastic team of people working behind the scenes to make this happen. We have guitar techs, light and sound crew, video crew, merchandise table people, ticket takers, will call attendant, hair and makeup/stylists… I could go on and on! Jeb Hart (musical director/in charge of lighting/sound) has been drawing up staging diagrams, lighting schemes, making sure the band’s in tip top shape and making sure gear and instruments are ready to rock! It’s hard to believe the effort that goes into just one show! Our goal… make this a special night to remember! Today I plan on practicing and taking an hour off to get a manicure.
September 12, 2011- Six months and no blog? Shame on me!
Danika here… it’s been a nutso couple of weeks. Was in Nashville at the beginning of Sept. recording the vocals for my 2nd album. Whoo hoo- MY 2ND ALBUM! Clearly I’m excited. Was in and out off meetings all week as well. Busy, busy! This week we went to the gorgeous state of Colorado to do a show at Colorado Mountain College. I was wondering if the high altitude would make it hard to sing. You know how when you’re from the flatlands of Iowa if you go hiking in the mountains, the air seems so thin it’s harder to breathe? I was afraid that would happen with my singing… it didn’t, so phew! I’m super happy lately because I LOVE fall and everything about it. Pumpkin lattes are back! I made some delicious pumpkin bread on Sunday as a way of relaxing. There’s something about baking bread that relieves stress for me. Strange I know. This weekend heading back to Nashville to FINISH THE ALBUM! Soon my friends, soon! FYI… I’m trying to blog at least once every two weeks. I feel like if I tell you about it I’ll actually do it. Once I get going, I really do love blogging. There’s something about sputtering on about whatever comes out of your head I find really freeing!
April 19, 2011- Portrait of a Killer
Nine out of ten of my blogs are music related, which makes sense. I’m straying from the norm with this one though. Lately I’ve been obsessed with watching documentaries. It all started with Food, Inc. I’m officially freaked out by some of the food I’ve been eating! This led to a documentary about organic eating, which lead to one about how our body works “The Incredible Human Machine by National Geographic”. There’s an amazing 10 minute clip in there about Steven Tyler’s vocal chords. Super cool. Eventually those films all led to Stress: Portrait of a Killer. I’m not even going to try to relay all of the scientific evidence in this film about how stress leads to our early deaths (and makes us fat, tired and depressed). Bottom line though… stress is scary… I’m getting stressed thinking about the dangers of stress! When’s the last time you tried to consciously reduce your stress level? Me… can’t remember. I did get a good reminder that it’s ok to chill out every now and then and smell the roses. So… do something nice for yourself today, put your feet up, relax, clear your mind… might even help add some time to your hourglass.
March 16, 2011- Road Stories!
I've spent some serious time on the road lately from Iowa to Kentucky, Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and on to Austin today for the SXSW (south by south west) music festival where I'll be playing another five shows. American is BIG! Speaking of big, I've never seen so many huge churches as I have in Texas. Whoa... After Austin, we'll be heading to Atlanta.
I've met a ton of incredible musicians along the way and have played with some people I've know for awhile. I'm absolutely blown away by the talent that is out there! In St. Louis, had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Lily Papas a friend from Iowa City and former band mate. Last night in San Antonio met up with Chris Miller from Cedar Rapids to do some tunes!
Another reason I love touring?... I'm a total food lover and I really enjoy trying out all the local favorites. Fried pies? Yep, never heard of them before but let me tell you they're amazing! This calls for mass amounts of exercise of course, but it's totally worth it!
Also got some cool news this week that I'm heading out again on tour during May. This time to England, Scotland, Wales and Poland. To check out tour dates please seewww.danikaholmes.com and click on "calendar!"
Hope you're having a fantastic week!
Feb. 23, 2011- “There’s Nothing 100 Gigs Won’t Fix”
As I'm gearing up for our Spring Tour this March I've been doing a lot of thinking about the live performance side of what I do. “There’s nothing 100 gigs won’t fix.” That’s the advice my friend, editor of premier guitar magazine, Jason Shadrick gave me when I asked if he had any suggestions for our live show. He gave me this advice about eight months ago and at that time I remember thinking how it sounded like so many! Since that conversation we’ve got an additional 70 or so odd gigs under our belts and now it seems like so few. In so many ways I agree with Jason, but 100 gigs can’t fix it all! Here’s what I’ve come up with during the past 70 shows:
Things 100 gigs CAN fix:
- Butterflies- I still get them before most shows, but they disappear after a few songs, especially when I see a few smiles from the audience.
- Learning to take cues from my band without them having to scream “last time” over at me! (What, I thought that song had an extra chorus there?!)
- The time it takes to sound check and load in and out. We have a system and we’re not afraid to use it!
Things 100 gigs CAN’T fix:
- The uncertainty of the vehicle you’re using to get there! Being broken down on the side of the road 45 minutes before your gig starts is no fun…
- The uncertainty of life… you never know what kind of news you will get the day of a performance. What you can control however is how you react and the vibes sent to an audience.
- Getting musicians to show up on time! And no I’m not naming names! Will 200 gigs fix this?
Please feel free to weigh in, would love to hear your thoughts!
January 24, 2011- First 2011 Blog- All the Little Lists
I’ve never been a new year’s resolution person. Seems way too daunting! I am a goal setter though. Usually those “goals” are in the form of to-do lists I make for myself. I’ll pile 20 little things onto a list and cross them off one by one. That actually makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something vs. the “during the next year I’ll…. blah blah blah”. If it works for you than great! Ironically, “write blog” was one of the little things on my most recent list. The reason I mention all this is because I’m really starting to value and understand all the little things that start adding up to big things. A song idea starts in my head, makes its way to paper, than eventually to an instrument for a rough demo…If it’s any good than it’ll get considered for an album. Once recorded it can get turned into a music video, released to retailers and digital distributors and performed at live shows. Now how do I put that into one big goal? That’s why I like my little lists! Next up on my list… “start new song”… who knows where it could end up! Maybe it’ll just be a crumpled up piece of paper at the bottom of a trash can…. OR???
