Career Development Grant
Career Development Grant
Heart in the Moonlight: To record and produce a full length album of regionally inspired folk songs. To work with an experienced producer and seasoned musicians.
Tara Makinen: executive director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Moira Villiard: visual artist, cultural programming coordinator at American Indian Community Housing Organization; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, and former Children’s Theatre employee; Tammy Mattonen: visual artists, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Kathy Neff: musician, Director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner; Emily Swanson: arts administrator at Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community; Christina Nohre: writer and arts advocate.
Kristina Estell: visual artist, university fine arts instructor; Faith King: creative writer, visual artist, arts organization member; Karen McManus: musician, administrator at Mesabi Symphony Orchestra; Sarah Waddle: Program Manager for the North House Folk School, arts educator; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Kathy Neff: musician, director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Christina Nohre: writer and arts advocate.
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
To use my musical and life experience to create music in its purest form – music for the sake of beauty, storytelling, and connection. I have been writing and recording Americana songs for the past fifteen years using my three main instruments of fiddle, guitar, and piano. I am a singer songwriter who grew up in the mining culture of Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. To work with Iron Range based sound engineer Rich Mattson to create an album of dreamlike songs called Heart in the Moonlight. To work with experienced musicians (steel guitar, dobro, accordion, banjo, guitar and harmony singers) to push my musical skills and allow me to grow as a musician. Recording Heart in the Moonlight at Sparta Sound will allow me to articulate the vision of my music. It will allow me to make my best recording and teach me to be a better producer. I can then use those skills in the future with all of my musical endeavors. Recording with Rich and other experienced musicians will push me to think of music differently, move my songwriting forward, and most importantly allow me to create the most beautiful album I can. I will have reached my goals when I have created an album with unique instrumentation that has beautiful harmonies and is produced to sound like a dream. I grew up listening to the mining trains' whistles every night when I went to sleep. There is something about the whistle of a train that is hollow, lonesome and hopeful. My father worked in the mine and I can still see his rickety old metal lunchbox and hear the sound of his rusted blue dodge pickup firing up for work. When I moved back to Virginia five years ago, I saw the Iron Range's landscape through fresh eyes. The mine is literally at the edge of town and encircles the whole town. The town is like the heart of the mine. This landscape is odd and beautiful at the same time. The old mine pits on the Iron Range have a unique beauty with their blue/green water and rusty shorelines. A big part of my heart will always be here, and I will have been successful if I can convey this love through Heart in the Moonlight.
The actual measurable outcome is that I have created an album of twelve songs called "Heart in the Moonlight". I was thrilled to work with and re-connect to many talented musicians throughout my career. I also was blessed to play with a steel guitar player (Mike Randolph) who now will play shows with me. I had the privilege of working with engineer Rich Mattson during the whole recording and mixing process. I also got the chance to record an entire album in the area where I grew up and included musicians from the Iron Range as well. My goal was to create the most beautiful music I could and to enjoy every minute of the process and I succeeded!!!!!
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