The Best Feeling In The World…
Posted on | May 15, 2012 | No Comments
…Is feeling like you’ve done something well.
A couple summers ago I made a demo with my greatest friend Fred Champion. I was proud of it, enough so that I actually let people hear it. I let Fred, Logan MB and Lynn Casper (two also great friends) make videos for three of the songs. I put them on youtube. (They can be found here!) and then I woke up this morning to a fan letter on my facebook page with a link to a cover of my song Safe and Soundless.
I was blown away by how sweet the letter was, of course, but more so honored that someone would take the time to make my song theirs. And then I discovered that he wasn’t the only one!
(What voices y’all have!)
I can’t put to words how flattered I am… so keep em’ coming! I’ll post them here! And THANK YOU!
Rue’s Lullaby. (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)
Posted on | March 16, 2012 | 1 Comment
I’m a really big fan of The Hunger Games and I’m a really big fan of lullabies. When I read the books I immediately came up with melodies for each of the beautiful, sad songs and decided to record them… Here’s Rue’s Lullaby from the first book. I hope you like it!
Getting Weird on The Waqueline Stern Show, Part Two!
Posted on | February 9, 2012 | No Comments
So, January has been a slow month… because my sinuses hate me and my wisdom teeth decided to run away. But, I found a couple of days to be well enough to perform a couple songs with my good friend Andy Bilinski on the Waqueline Stern show on Carrboro’s WCOM. And, as you might have expected, I made everyone as uncomfortable as I possibly could. Thank you, thank you.
Here’s a video of the show:
(I love the still shot that they chose for this video! I look-ov-er-it! But I had a good time! I swear!)
Tags: Andy Bilinski > Carrboro > Innuendos > Local Radio > Waqueline Stern Show > WCOM
My Tops List for 2011
Posted on | December 22, 2011 | No Comments
Oh hey blog! Long time no… Don’t give me that look. I was all over the dang place playing YOUR Holiday parties! Anyway.
The year is coming to a close! It’s been the craziest year of my life. That’s really all that I can say. A look back at my blog will prove that but also personally… man. Nuts.
One thing that has been really awesome about this year is all the collaborations I’ve done with other artists. As someone who is a ‘business’ (<-- loose term) it's really wonderful for me to get together with people who are also trying to build their own little empires by being talented and driven. In whatever way. Music, jewelry, shoes, clothes, chopsticks... it's rad to see people doing what they love. So without further adieu, here are some of the awesome people who I think you should support in 2012!
Castles Couture
Caroline Castle made me an awesome outfit for my birthday show at the Whiskey! I’m wearing the boyfriend sweater and cheekies (more on the cheekies in a minute.)
Boyfriend Sweater! (Pictures from Facebook by Christina Laine-Magliochetti)
If you look closely you can see the cheekies through my white sweater (but don’t look too close, u nasty!) …but they are one of my favorite things and I wear them all the time!
Mill No.7
For HearNC… I worked with Celina Chapin from Mill No. 7 on a dress for the festival. Unfortunately, on the day of the show, I ripped the back of it Hulk Style. (It was actually because I had already put my shoes on and my heel got caught whoops) But this is the dress!
Oh, yeah. Mill no 7 is an upcoming fabric and design company based out of Chapel Hill, NC.
Here’s a full length of the dress MySpace style.
Now this. This was one of the highlights of my year. Before I started playing music professionally…and was awkwardly playing my little songs every six months in a loud coffee house, it was common knowledge that if Ron Liberti did any artwork for you– you were on your way. I would drag my guitar case up Franklin Street here in Chapel Hill and would look for Ron Liberti show flyers– handmade prints that were one of a kind designs. I got drunk on free wine at art show after art show where Ron’s stuff was being shown… And now my time has come! *victory*
Ron designed the poster/t-shirt design for HearNC this year and guess whose name is all over it?!
(Hint: It’s mine.)
Here’s a funny story for you: I had never met Ron before HearNC. We were watching Animal Alphabet and standing side by side when he leaned over and whispered, “Long live Freakers, right?!”
It was right in the middle of the whole Urban Outfitters scandal (read more about that here) and so we just went on about how much UO blew.
So that’s a small list of (some) of my favorites!!
Happy Holidays!!
(And yes, the rest of the pictures have been filtered by Instagram. I’m super obsessed. So if you happened to see your feed fill up with pictures of me cam-whoring… I’m sorry. I didn’t know how else to edit and save them!)
Watch Me Get Weird On The Waqueline Stern Show on WCOM.
Posted on | November 9, 2011 | No Comments
I messed up a manicure and (apparently) put one of my good friends to sleep… but here is my very spontaneous performances on WCOM of Foxes. Enjoy!
Fireworks, YouTube! Fireworks, HearNC!
Posted on | November 7, 2011 | No Comments
Oh Hello Blog.
I know it’s been a while… but I’ve been really busy seeing all of you in person, playing shows all over the dang place. But there have been some awesome things happening and instead of being so mysterious like always, I’m gonna tell you about them. In full. Basically. I think.
A lot of you have asked about my plans to move out of NC to chase dreams of stardom in bigger cities. When I left Wilmington, that was my plan. It’s the advice a lot of people have given me. Greener pastures and all that. But when I moved to Chapel Hill I really fell in quickly with a lot of awesome musicians and opportunities… TV shows, recurring gigs and one of my favorite events ever to be involved in; HearNC.
I was a part of the very first HearNC last year and it was such a blast. Not only was I new to town but I played original music with a full band (something I rarely do) and showed three music videos made by my very talented friends Lynn Casper, Logan Mock-Bunting and Fred Champion and walked away feeling really good.
It’s hard to think of a way to top that– or to even match it– but I was offered the opportunity to be a part of the festival this year and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
WATCH THIS VIDEO TO FIND OUT WHY (<–very mysterious. just a little.)
I’ll blog every day this week so make sure you check back as I fill you in on the awesome collaborations I’ve been doing, give you sneak peeks about what’s to come and show you lots of my face.
Love, B.
Busy October! WCOM, Pink Ribbon!
Posted on | October 12, 2011 | 1 Comment
Oh hey guys,
Just repacking the bag I unpacked yesterday from my trip last weekend to get ready for this weekend. (Whew.) Anyone have any foolproof way of packing a dress you don’t want to get wrinkled? I hate ironing. Comment below. I’m getting ready to head out of town for the Pink Ribbon Event tomorrow in Wrightsville Beach and I expect to see all of you in your most glamorous…
But if for some reason you can’t make it, snuggle up to your radio and listen to WCOM on Friday at six because I’ll be there! If you’ve already loved your radio too hard.. you can listen live
I’ll be talking about some of the projects I’m involved in and they are trying to convince me to do a song but we’ll see.
Don’t miss it!
October 13th in Wrightsville Beach
Posted on | October 6, 2011 | No Comments
This is next Thursday! I’ve been looking forward to it for months! If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet please do! This organization is something I feel strongly about and the people behind it are dedicated and amazing. So dress up and do your part! Tim and I will play a special set during dinner and I expect you to be there and look FAB! YOU! LUSS!
If you need more info, click the link and learn more about the Pink Ribbon Project!
Playing Dress Up with Edge of Urge.
Posted on | September 14, 2011 | No Comments
Edge of Urge and I got together to rekindle our love affair recently. You see, I love them. The people, the clothes, THE FEATHERS. So I was excited to head up into their ultra secret magic rooms and take pictures wearing clothes that, seriously, are amazing. And they posted a blog about it! Like to hear it here it go:
A special thanks to Michael Ussery for the styling and Marlowe Images for the shots!
Where I Was Where I Am.
Posted on | September 11, 2011 | 4 Comments
That time of my life is riddled with holes and smoke. I was nineteen, in my first grownup apartment, in a town where I knew very few. My bedroom was amazing. I had spent all the money I had on new things, a new bed, a new bed frame, a dragon dream catcher on my roof, a new desk, a new computer. My bedroom was something to be proud of– and there was a great window on the wall opposite the door where I had an unspectacular view of the parking lot. But still… it was mine. I had a purple down comforter that I looked forward to every night… and I can still remember the sound it made when it moved with me in it. I woke up late. I had forgotten to set the alarm on my new cellphone and I sat straight up into the filtered, ten am sunlight and I just knew something was strange.
My roommate, who I barely remember, and I had a houseline and a fancy answering machine and I walked down the stairs of my first apartment and saw that we had a few messages. I panicked. Today was supposed to be the first day of my new job at a telemarketing company. I knew it was going to be them, telling me I was fired before I was hired, telling me to go back to bed. I waited a minute– staring at the blinking red light. When I finally pressed it, it was my best friend Amy’s father– sounding tired, sounding scared. He was a big Italian man. He asked me if I had heard from Amy, that something had happened in New York, that a lot of the phone lines weren’t working.
Please call me back.
It was his voice that told me that whatever had happened was big, was scary, was wrong. We didn’t have cable. I sat down in front of our new entertainment center, haphazardly put together by my sister who just wanted to help, and turned on the TV. I could only get a blurry, quiet version of one news station. I could hear what was going on more than I could see. News reporters sounded scared and confused, video was scarce and more confusing. I went upstairs. I turned on my new computer. I waited for the dial up to finish. I tried to go to news websites. Nothing that made any sense. It was a fire. It was a plane crash. It was something else. Nothing was consistent.
I picked up my new cellphone, then. I had always been so proud of Amy. She did exactly what she wanted to do. She escaped what I held onto. She got out. She went to New York, dyed her hair, drank alcohol, lived.
The first five times I called, the lines were busy. There was nothing. My phone downstairs rang… I ran down the stairs of our new apartment and picked it up. It was Amy’s dad. He sounded even more tired, even more scared.
No, I haven’t heard anything. She’s fine, I promise. I’ll call you if I hear anything, will you call me too?
I called my parents. They couldn’t believe it. They loved me.
I don’t remember if it was four hours or ten hours after that. I never brushed my teeth, I never put on clothes, I never moved from where our new houseline and new answering machine was. I just held onto my new cellphone and called Amy over and over and over again.
All circuits are busy.
I didn’t understand what that meant. My cellphone was new. I can remember how the woman’s recorded voice on my cellphone sounded less and less patient as she told me, ‘all circuits are busy’ over and over again for hours.
I can remember that it was getting dark. Our new kitchen with its windows were less and less bright. The sun was going down outside of our new apartment. I was listening to the exasperated recorded woman’s voice on my cellphone when the houseline rang. I picked it up on the third ring. It was Amy’s dad and he was crying. I didn’t think he would ever cry.
She’s okay. Her building was evacuated. She will call… okay. She’s scared. But she’s okay. She’s okay.
I don’t remember what I said. I remember being embarrassed that I was so overdramatic. Was I being overdramatic? I slid down the wall of our hallway and cried for the first time. I cried for everything. I started to think about how there were a million faces somewhere around me crying just as hard. Even harder. I cried for the recorded woman’s voice.
For Amy’s dad. For someone else’s dad.
I don’t remember much after that. I may have called my new job. They understood and asked me to come in the next day. I ate, I slept.
The next morning I woke up to the filtered morning light from my window with its unspectacular view of the parking lot. I listened to my down comforter. I listened to my new cellphone and its alarm clock. I got dressed, I got in my white car, I drove to my new job. It was like everything was normal again. When I got to my new job, the woman who introduced herself to me was pretty and the boss. She showed me around– a lot of people sitting at desks and talking on phones. We were all given a random list of phone numbers and we would call them and suggest that they buy something. I don’t remember what anymore. I hated talking on phones, I hated calling people I didn’t know but it was a new job and I needed one. She assigned me a desk. I couldn’t make eye contact with anyone. She walked away to bring me a list of numbers and I sat there, waiting, looking ready and excited. She came back and smiled at me. I told her no when she asked if I had any questions and she walked away, telling me to get started and to have fun.
I looked down at my list of numbers.
Manhattan, NY, 212, New York.
I got up. I walked out and went home.
I called Amy.
