Katey Laurel

Happy Month of Valentines

2012-01-31T09:46:00.000-08:00

I have a free gift for you! --------------------------------------------->

Just type in your email address and zip code to get a download of "Everything I Love."

Happy Valentine's Day, Lovelies.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Official Two Birds Video

2011-12-24T15:31:00.000-08:00

Available TODAY, October 18th!

2011-10-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall, Everyone! Enjoy my new single, also on iTunes:

Katey Laurel Wins Texaco Country Showdown Colorado State Final

2011-09-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Nashville, Tennessee (September 6, 2011) – Surpassing the competition at the 30^th Annual Texaco Country Showdown Colorado State Final, Katey Laurel proved worthy of the state title and $1,000.

Copper Country at Copper Mountain Resort showcased acts which had won a local contest sponsored by radio stations throughout the state enabling each to perform at the state level competition of America’s largest country music talent search.

Katey Laurel, representing radio station KCCY of Colorado Springs, won the state level event.

After receiving the judges’ highest scores, this singer/songwriter took home the night’s top honor.

At the state competition, Katey Laurel performed original songs, Be Somebody and Under These Tires.

Other sponsoring radio stations were: KSKE Avon, KEKB Grand Junction, KXBG Loveland,

KKXK Montrose, KWUF Pagosa Springs, and KQSW Rock Springs, WY.

On November 5, 2011, Katey Laurel will compete in the Southwest Regional Final at Shuler Theater in Raton, NM to determine if she will advance to the National Final. Regional Winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to in Nashville to compete for $100,000 and the coveted title, “Best New Act in Country Music.”

About the Showdown: Annually, over 450 radio stations across the country sponsor local contests.

Winners advance to their state events where prizes include $1,000 and the opportunity to compete in one of five Regional events. The five Regional winners receive an all-expense-paid trip to the National Final in Nashville to compete for $100,000 and the coveted title, “Best New Act in Country Music.”

Each year, more than 50,000 artists compete throughout the U.S. Past local, state, and regional winners include: Martina McBride, Garth Brooks, Miranda Lambert, Neal McCoy, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley and Billy Ray Cyrus. Visit www.texacocountryshowdown.com for more information.

"Begin Again" part of Feature Film Soundtrack

2011-05-06T08:56:00.001-07:00

Driving by Braille (2011) hits the festival circuit this summer starting with the Breckenridge Festival of Film June 9-12th. I'm so excited that "Begin Again" is included in the soundtrack to this Moonhill Productions film! This calls for a mountain roadtrip in June, right?

Available NOW!

2011-01-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

My new album is out as of 1/11/11 for digital download from iTunes, CDbaby.com or digstation.com/kateylaurel. OR if you'd rather buy a hard copy, click the "Music" tab to buy! Or, click on the "Press" tab to see what folks are saying about it already!

MIX Podcast available now!

2010-12-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

Listen or download here:

http://podcast.mix100.com/kimn/2720347.mp3

It has three songs, my arrangement of "Emmanuel," "Two Birds" and "Star of Hope."

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

MIX 100 Warm and Fuzzy Christmas Show this Friday!

2010-12-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to let you know I'll be playing a few tunes live on air on 100.3 FM (MIX 100) in the Denver area this Friday morning, December 17th at 8 am! Jason Vigil, Megan Burtt and a great host of other amazing Denver musicians will be playing starting at 6 am. Tune in to join us if you can!!

Love,

Katey

FUNDED!!! Thank you, thank you ALL!

2010-12-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

This morning I am so happy to announce that the project has been funded! SUCCESS!!! If you are one of my backers, I will work on putting together your packages of goodies as soon as they arrive. I'll be checking in with you about mailing addresses, sizes, etc next Thursday after it officially closes. Pre-orders are still accepted until the end date for those last minute folks. :)

Thanks so much for the early birthday present! I am thrilled, overwhelmed, overjoyed...thanks for helping this one piece of the puzzle succeed! You have helped me feel like I'm on the top of the mountain!!

Love,
Katey

Save the Date!!

2010-11-09T08:34:00.001-08:00

Brought to you by Heineken!

2010-11-03T08:22:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends!

This week Heineken is sponsoring a FREE download of my song "You." Come over and get it!

http://www.reverbnation.com/heineken?artist_id=269612

Thanks so much for listening...

Cheers,
Katey Laurel

Please help fund my new record by pre-ordering it!!

2010-10-24T15:22:00.001-07:00

Jango Radio and Noisetrade.com

2010-10-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

You can now listen to my music on Jango.com! The link is just to the right of this post. :)

This week, I also have a new collection of B-Sides from Upstairs, Downstairs available FREE exclusively for my fans at www.noisetrade.com/kateylaurel (or see the widget on the right). Just fill in your email and a link will be sent to you in order to download the five songs.

Also, if you haven't already subscribed to my mailing list for updates and exclusives, please sign up on the right side of the site. I have a new album coming out in a couple months and don't want you to miss the announcement!!

Thanks again for all your support!

KateyLaurel.com overhaul

2010-09-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

Just wanted to say my blog/website has gotten a much-needed facelift and the new photography is courtesy of Andrew and Alicia Booker of www.bookerstudios.com. Check out their portfolio! They are artist rockstars.

See you soon.

Katey

"Upstairs, Downstairs" at Whole Foods Market Tamarac

2010-08-26T10:16:00.001-07:00

On September 14th, my CD "Upstairs, Downstairs" will be available for purchase at Whole Foods Market Tamarac.

“Whole Foods Market Tamarac is proud to support their Local Denver community! Beginning September 14th, 2010 -Local Music will be sold exclusively at Whole Foods Market Tamarac. Located at 7400 E. Hampden Ave Denver, CO 80231."

www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Durango Expo "Write With a Hitmaker" Contest, Vote for me pretty please and thank you?!

2010-08-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm in the running to.....(drumroll)....write with a hitmaker! Please vote for me here if you get a chance!! Thanks in advance for all your support!

https://www.wizehive.com/voting/durango/4/3

Oh yes, and I'm headed to Nashville to record with producer-extraordinaire Neilson Hubbard in two weeks. I'm SOOOOOOO excited!!! More on that to come....

2010-06-03T18:47:00.001-07:00

Howdy Ya'll!

2010-05-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for sunny days, right?!

Just stopping by to say "hello" and let you know I haven't forgotten you. Maybe myself, but certainly not you!!!

I'm debating entering the Colgate Country Showdown again this year. I sometimes get confused about whether I'm truly Country or not. What's your take?

I've been co-writing with several great folks so far this year....Lee Johnson, Rob Drabkin, Jason Vigil, Bob Rae and Stephen Styles to name a few. Lovin' it! Hopefully there will be some new recordings around the corner.

Take care and keep in touch!

Love,
Katey

Is Spring Springing?

2010-03-12T12:59:00.000-08:00

Hello!

So glad that the weather has broken 50 degrees and we may seem some green grass sometime in the next month! I just got back from the Durango Song Expo in California which was SUCH an amazing experience. Met so many great writers and industry folks and made a lot of new friends. Not to mention saw green grass too.

In other news, there's not much coming up on the Katey Laurel calendar in the way of live shows, but that's okay, I'm cooking up some new songs and thinking about starting a new recording project this year. Shhh...it's a secret for now.

Sean Morse and I will be performing "Futher on Down the Road" for a blues dance competition in two weeks since there was a routine made to our tune. Fun! More on that to come...

Now go soak up some rays! I think I might.

NoiseTrade Widget

2010-02-23T09:20:00.001-08:00

2010-01-15T09:34:00.001-08:00

2010-01-06T18:33:00.001-08:00

Playlist 7

2009-11-30T09:12:00.001-08:00

I'm officially on "Playlist 7" sponsored by Microsoft Windows 7...this is so fabulous!! Please visit http://www.reverbnation.com/playlist7?artist_id=269612 and download my track FREE! You can download up to seven of the 50 artists for free, then next week the featured artists (if I'm in the top 7) will be made available to everyone! Your download and vote is GREATLY appreciated....

XO Katey

Keeping up with the Joneses

2009-11-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

Hi friends and neighbors!

Just dropping by (if you can drop by your own blog, that is) to say "hi" and explain why the blog is taking over for the webpage currently. I will be building a new, simple and easy to navigate html site over the next few months with my brother in the captain's chair and myself in the navigator's seat holding a map for guidance. In the meantime, here I am. I've put up the main links to the side here (--------->) so you can still find tunes to listen to, albums to buy, pictures to look at, etc etc. Here's one from my latest shoot with Art Heffron. Happy Tuesday, and here's to taking small steps forward in the world of technology!

Love,
Katey

Nine West Announces Fifth Weekly Winner of the Vintage America Voices Contest - With Video

2009-08-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Nine West Announces Fifth Weekly Winner of the Vintage America Voices Contest - With Video

2009-08-06T10:36:00.001-07:00

Part 4: "Pedro, do you like my bangs??"

2009-06-25T14:05:00.001-07:00

Part 3: The Jewish Wedding

2009-06-25T13:59:00.001-07:00

There were people crowd-surfing on chairs and having Kosher food to bagpipes, Jewish polkas on a keyboard and modern dance DJ tracks until all hours of the night. These people know how to PARTY. Someone threw up outside because they said they had drank an entire bottle of whiskey. Yikes. I didn't get a picture of that, fortunately, but the flowers were beautiful.

Part 2: The Matt Morris Experience

2009-06-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

This was just about my favorite show ever. Andrea and I talked about sharing Carl, and Matt totally astounded us all with his amazingness. The poster pretty much says it all. For more, watch the video.

My crazy week in photo review...Part 1.

2009-06-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

So...a week ago I started off with a show in Avon at Loaded Joe's, where my brother had this cup of hot chocolate. It caused me hot chocolate lust.

The Ubisububi Trap

2009-06-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

I'm out and downstairs at St Marks and The Thin Man at this cool little listening room, The Ubisububi Room. I'm surrounded by folks drinking hot chocolate and cucumber vodkas, smell a faint whiff of patchouli (or is it pot?)...the walls are covered with gorgeous rugs. My friend Sean Morse (whom I am co-writing with these days) hosts a little open mic here on Monday nights and we're going to do our two new co-writes tonight. Shows are fun, but I really find inspiration in these settings where people pour out their hearts for no reason other than the love of art...no money involved. It's like fuel for my musical soul.

I have the coolest fans...

2009-06-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

Just look at these girls! Can't wait to see them from a big outdoor stage someday. :)

What happens if I really go COUNTRY??? Help, I need someone (preferrably Alan Jackson) to explain this to me...

2009-06-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

So, all the songs have been coming out country. I think KYGO is partly to blame for this phenomenon, as well as such cool pop-country songs and artists like Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker (Go Hootie) and Keith Urban. So, anyhow, I think this is happening, although I may want some help from my good friend Jason Hoffheins for some electronic beats 'cause that would be the coolest. Alright, in other news, I have the most amazing band for this weekend so come out to People's Fair and throw down some hoop-holla'. I have no idea what's happening to me. I have a new song about Myspace and Facebook with a quick reference to Twitter. I'm loosing my Folk-pop mind. :)

I Only See Your Face on Myspace
C 2009 Katie Laurel Smith, Kate Laurel Publishing/ASCAP

I only see your face on Myspace
How come you never come around?
When can I get back over to your place
And turn your world upside down

Babe, you know I miss your smile
Haven’t seen it in quite awhile
Except for that handsome picture
On your online profile

There’s a million ways to tell you
I miss you more and more each day
Guess I could just friend request you
Maybe that’s how I could say:

I only see your face on Myspace
How come you never come around?
When can I get back over to your place
And turn your world upside down

Should I put my face on Facebook
Write a message on your wall?
Your number shows up in my phone book
But it never rings at all

If I get to leave a comment
It would go something like this
Ever since you’ve been gone dear
All I think about’s your kiss

You have got me Twitter-pated
With your latest greatest tweet
I know updates are overrated
But your status sure sounds sweet

Your social network is working hard
Ever since the day I broke your heart
But Babe, you’ll never guess just how far I’ve come
I’ve been doing a little cyber-stalking of my own

(You know what I’ve found?)

I only see your face on Myspace
How come you never come around?
When can I get back over to your place
And turn your world upside down

Should I put my face on Facebook
Write a message on your wall?
Your number shows up in my phone book
But it never rings at all
Your number shows up in my phone book
But what happened to a good old-fashioned phone call?

NoiseTrade Widget

2009-03-19T10:36:00.001-07:00

Creative genius

2009-02-17T13:54:00.000-08:00

Who hasn't wondered if they're going slightly crazy? I know, I know, this isn't usually a fun discussion topic, but I just got finished watched a video of a very moving (and entertaining) speech given by Elizabeth Gilbert on the topic of creative genius and how it (usually successfully) threatens to ruin our artists and writers of this day and age. If we would only give creative credit where credit is due...anything TRULY beautiful that we create is "borrowed" from the Author of Life Himself. He gives us the ability to sub-create (since we're in His image), and that truly does take off some of the pressure/responsibility of placing any lasting value on what we write, sing or paint. It is all for Him...I think I can handle this better somehow now with that reminder. I remember Dr. Schleiffer teaching us this very thing in college (my Theology of Music in Worship senior seminar). How did I forget that enough to feel like this channeling of creative energy was in fact my own, so much so that the emotionalism threatens to undo my mental sanity?? Thanks, God, for reminding me I'm just a human being. I'm ready to write Your songs as you give them to me.

I thought I would escape the 25 Random Thing Madness....

2009-02-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

...but here I am, getting showered with 120 rose buds to satisfy the creative photographic whim of my good friend Charles Crabtree who now lives in Poland. It was a bit uncomfortable.

I once had Chai come out my nose when I was laughing in the Meadows Lounge at Huntington College. That was also a bit uncomfortable.

I sleepwalk. And talk.

I used to be a professional artist. Not a musical one.

I've worked for the Forest Service, been an executive assistant, waited on billionaires, worked security, modeled, sold cowboy boots and coffee and counseled adult college students, all within a matter of my first ten years of employment. None of these trades are related to my college degree.

I read a 1500 page novel when I was in first grade.

I got in trouble for reading a steamy romance novel when I was in third grade (refer to previous).

I hiked 58 miles in 8 days when I was 10 years old.

I never had a private lesson on the instrument I went to college for, before college that is.

I lived in a Volkswagen bus, a one-room cabin and a teepee when I was an infant.

My brother and I shared a bedroom until I was 14.

I've never owned a television.

I have had 6 cars in 10 years...two Hondas, two Volvos and two SUVs.

I love honey in and on almost anything (except dill pickles, you people are sick).

I have never had a speeding ticket.

I have never had a flat tire.

I need to knock on wood immediately. Good thing I'm surrounded by strange antique trunks and sewing machine cabinets.

I love vintage leather coats from thrift stores.

I used to work out obsessively, now I don't work out at all. I look almost exactly the same.

I don't enjoy being cold and rarely participate in winter sports for this reason. Colorado may be the wrong state for me. See next for explanation.

I used to shovel my car out of four-foot windrows of snow at 5:30 in the morning to get to basketball practice in HS. I no longer enjoy cold weather or morning workouts. I also used to ice my sprained ankles in buckets of icewater prior to practice, also not enjoyable during the winter when you're thin and get cold easily.

I am not nearly as cynical as this makes me sound. I'm actually quite optimistic.

I love to give backrubs. And footrubs.

I have been an extra on a Nike commercial.

I'm going to someday go on a national tour. Not sure if it will be as a musician or a retiree in a motorcoach, but either way, I'm makin' it happen. :)

Too much social networking. Too much socialism. Too much too much.

2009-01-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

Aghhh, Facebook, you are the bane of my musician existence! If there were less Facebook updates and Myspace comment approvals and iList and Craigslist postings and dot-dot-dot, maybe I would write more songs. I'm disappointed by my lack of personal conviction and crazy addiction to social networking. It's not even social, it's voyeurism at it's best and I don't even spend much quality time with my REAL-LIVE-IN-PERSON people. Yikes. Not that I don't want to know what so-and-so's husband looks like and reminisce about days we used to sled in colder weather than the last two days in Denver, or fight that urge to let Nate Krey know I still use the same microwave he gave me when I lived in his basement in 2005...but you know, dangit, where's the creative songstress? Online? Or on the guitar? Sadly, not the latter.

I HAVE been working on some new songs believe it or not, several of which I will play out at Dazzle tomorrow night. Not sure why I write this. I think only three people even know I have a blog. I'm inspired by Andrea and John, who actually keep blogs that are bold, beautiful and entertaining all at once. I used to be a journaler, so why not now? Why not? Because I'm spending too much time on Facebook, that's why. I'm going to do better, take more cell phone pictures and randomly rant about the thoughts in my head. And write more songs. This is going to be fun, people. As Susan Enan sings, "Bring on the wonder, bring on the song...I've pushed you down deep in my soul for too long..."

Ahhh, much better.

Little Suitcase

2009-01-19T09:51:00.001-08:00

I've got my little suitcase
Full of little heartaches
It's sitting by the door

I'll take my little suitcase
Full of little mistakes
You won't see us anymore

Ooooooooo
I love you so
Ooooooooo
Just wanted you to know
Take me back, won'tcha please?
My little suitcase and me...

Opened up my little suitcase
How'dya ever erase
All those memories from before?

And now my little suitcase
Is full of just happiness
I'm not leavin' anymore, anymore

Ooooooooo
I love you so
Ooooooooo
Just wanted you to know
I'm down on my knees
I don't wanna leave
Take me back, won'tcha please?
My little suitcase and me
My little suitcase and me

All I ever wanted
Is here in your arms
Your forgiveness
A brand-new start

All I ever wanted
Is here in your arms
Your forgiveness
A brand-new start

My little suitcase
Full o' your grace
My little suitcase and me

My little suitcase
Full o' your grace
My little suitcase and me
My little suitcase and me

Whoa. Back when I was a creative 25 year-old...

2008-12-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

I found this somehow randomly in an old myspace account from when I was 25. Whoa. I used to be able to write, for real. Think I should use it for my bio?

I thought about the Army.

I also thought about playing French Horn for studio sessions in LA until I found out that only three people in the world do that. And I love Ben Folds ("Army") but all puns aside, after that realization, I really did think about the Army. And the Marine Band. And the Air Force, all at the recommendation of my favorite college professor and mentor...until I remembered that I'm an artist and true artists see the beauty and the pain in everything and more often than not go insane. The regimen and the mental "boxiness" of the military mindset would only accelerate that, I'm certain.

I've had more than a handful of jobs already in my twenty-five short years, none of which have appealed to me. The least of these was filing government paperwork for the USDA Forest Service (one of several "desk" jobs I tried my hand at), seconded only narrowly by running shifts for the illustrious Starbucks Corporation in roughly six different geographical locations. I've waited tables, painted informative signs, sold cowboy boots and played for weddings. In all of this, I learned to write songs.

Songs, not music. Music is notes and tone painting and dynamics and all that expressive, yet replicative jargon I learned so well in college. Songs are heart, soul and breath. I've learned that life may kick you in the face, but if you laugh through your tears and cry into your pillow at night to the God who listens and comforts you and occasionally answers in a hushed voice, then will you find the key to opening the songbox of your soul. And when you're a writer, or a painter or a pianist or an architect, you live dreams. You see the world in a sharper, clearer (although not always more recognizably beautiful) way. Tree branches seem to cut the air and ice crystals are diamonds. Relationships are unmeasurably deep and never quite what they seem. "Fifteen Hundred Miles" becomes a metaphor for distance of the heart and mind. And no other occupation will ever capture my imagination or my passion...I am both doomed and blessed to be a creator. The security blankets and the 401Ks and the 2.5 car-garage-suburban-American ideals will never be for me. So you see, I thought about the Army. And that was all.

Help, I'm stuck!!

2008-08-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

I just got finished having a coffee meeting with my graphic designer regarding the album cover, and I have NO IDEA what pictures to use. Aggghhhh!! Can you please vote on this? Just write me an email at mail@kateylaurel.com...keep in mind it will be intertwined with cool Luke Flowers graphic-ness....Which ones do you like?

Goodbye, Corporate America!

2008-07-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

Big changes. I put in my notice and will shortly be out of the corporate box doing what artists do best...starving and looking for ways to make the rent whilst pushing my latest artistic endeavor.

The album is finished, and after a long and laborious process, I am the proud parent of my first full-length studio project. Paul and I are in the throes of discussing what to name the little chap. Right now, the nomer "Upstairs, Downstairs" is winning by a nose.

Luke Flowers and I will be putting together a graphic scheme to represent it in the next month or so, and the Andrews family (and hopefully my best buddy and favorite guy) will be taking a short excursion to the coast of Maine to get the project mastered at Gateway. Release time TBA. I'm currently working on the preliminary steps of local radio and national tv/film synchronization campaigns.

The mind is a powerful thing. Expect big things from this little engine that could in the next year. For now, goodbye health insurance and paycheck stability. Hello dreams.

:)

Katey

Fox 31 "Good Day Colorado"

2008-06-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

was the most beautiful morning in the world...a little chilly at 6 am as Rob (Drabkin) and I pulled up at Civic Center Park for the little live promo were were doing for Fox 31 on behalf of the People's Fair this weekend. The sun came up over the capitol building, and the city and county building was on the other side. There were flower beds full of geraniums and young, little assorted annuals, and the grass was greener than I've seen it in Denver in years. (It just rained for the past two days straight.) Wispy clouds rolled through a georgeous blue sky and I thought to myself, "Why on earth do I work in an office building?" I think I'd get up at 4:30 am everyday if I knew I was going to be doing what I loved that day. And outside, to boot!

I met some new friends (Perry, cameraman for Fox--also happens to be a friend of Breck's like all good camera people in Denver, Jay Finesilver, CFO for Comedy Works as well as a huge organizing factor for the fair, and Chris, meteorologist for Fox) and saw some old ones (Tommy Nahulu, local artist/muralist). Tommy told me had shown up at about 4 to presketch his mural, and I empathized for a second (only minutes before I had picked a very sleepy, bed-headed Rob Drabkin up at his Writer's Row apartment on Sherman street with his Martin guitar, computer case and iPhone...he had been out late at another show, and still trooped his way through the live feed with me on tunes we hadn't played together since last summer on 9news). I'm the queen of run-on today, but that's okay, I'm telling a story, much like Kerouac, about the sights and sounds and people of crazy Denver. Wham bam!!

When I walked over to Tommy's mural, I was shocked to see it was a sketch of.....ME. "Tommy, when you said you were doing a live mural, you didn't tell me it was of me!!" I was shocked. Not only was I going to appear on the promo as some sort of People's Fair poster child out of all the 600+ musicians that audition for this thing, but now I was having a depiction of me painted and then auctioned/raffeled off for the event this year. This was kind of blowing my mind. Or maybe I was just half-asleep. Guess I felt like some local celebrity for a minute. I'd like to credit Tim Sutherland for the photo Tommy used to depict me on the mural. I snapped a couple shots of Tommy painting, Rob playing and Perry shooting (video). Enjoy! Hope you see you at the real thing tomorrow, 6 pm, Colfax and Bannock stage.

The Spoiled Under-30 Crowd

2008-05-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

I read this forward today and decided to send the following response to some of my close friends because it brought up some memories of growing up. I forgot to add that we had a PARTY LINE that we could eavesdrop on the neighbors when I was a kid. Enjoy!

"I know, I know, it's a forward. Think it might make [some of] you laugh. :) I'm the spoiled brat here apparently, although I think growing up in the mountains set me back about 5-10 years technically and socially so I'm probably more in the same boat as you are than the typical under-thirty crowd. For crying out loud, I grew up without TV at all because there was NO reception (ha!), and we didn't have a microwave or the Internet until I was in late jr. high/early high school. I remember being leery of opening a Hotmail account when I was a sophomore/junior and reading all the fineprint because I was convinced there was no way email could be free. I also bootlegged my favorite Gin Blossoms and Collective Soul songs off the radio with my cassette recorder with the dj talking on the front and back end of the tunes like the author describes below--I laughed out loud when I read that. I didn't even have a CD or CD player until about 1997. Haha! Here's to a beautiful early summer weekend!!

See you soon...K"

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears

With their tedious diatribes about how hard things were

When they were growing up; what with walking

Twenty-five miles to school every morning ... Uphill BOTH ways

Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,

There was no way in hell I was going to lay

A bunch of crap like that on kids about

how hard I had it

And how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of

Thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my

Childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you

Don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The

Internet . If we wanted to know something,

We had to go to the damn library and

Look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write

Somebody a letter. with a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and

Put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to

steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and

shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to

tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the

Beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you

Were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy

signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either!

When the phone rang, you

Had no idea who it was! It could be your school,

Your mom, your boss, your

Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you

Just didn't know!!! You had

To pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video

Games with hi gh-resolution

3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games

Like 'Space Invaders' and

'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You

actually had to use your

Imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or

Screens, it was just one screen

Forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting

Harder and harder and

Faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such

Thing as stadium seating!

All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy

Or some old broad with a hat

Sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that

Was only like 15 channels

And there was no on screen menu and no remote

Control! You had to use a

Little book called a TV Guide to find out what was

on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had

to get off

Your ass and walk over to the TV to change the

Channel and there was no

Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons

On Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to

wait ALL WEEK

For cartoons, you spoiled

Little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat

Something up we had to

Use the stove or go build a frigging fire...

Imagine that! If we wanted

Popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing

And shake it over the stove

Forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids

today have got it too easy.

You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted

Five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,

The over 30 Crowd

Boxsprings and bedhead

2008-05-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

I think my boxspring was finished with life. I decided to look around (mostly on Craigslist and at a couple white-trash furniture stores) for either a platform bed or a decent used boxspring. I know, this is terribly interesting, isn't it?

I decided I'm too poor to buy another one. Well, not poor, but I just really don't want to spend money on boxsprings. On any type of boxsprings, new, used, broken, perfect or otherwise. I want to spend money on people I love, flowers to plant in window boxes and pressing albums for people to listen to.

I got home from my show in FC last night (rather late for a Sunday night with cubicleness and important business-woman dayjob responsibilities to get to the next morning) and discovered, *gasp*, to my delight, a perfectly uncompromised boxspring sitting merrily in the alley next door to my basement apartment. How perfect! If only it wasn't midnight!! If only I hadn't been hauling around 150 lb keyboards and driving for an hour in the dark already!! If only! I knew what I had to do...

I wrestled this giant beast into the yard with the help of Brooke's little hand-truck from the basement, where she's been (not too terribly successfully) trying to move for the past few months. This would work if the sidewalk and gate were wider than a couple feet across. Oh, if you only could have been a fly on the wall for this one. Not a soul around to call, especially at midnight on a Sunday night. I knew if I didn't save the damsel in distress, no one would, or worse yet, someone else would, or the rain would fall on her, or...a squirrel would pee on her (like one did on Breck when we were walking into the yard a month or so ago). I had to know if my mattress sucked or if my slumber could be saved by this beaut.

I somehow managed to get it downstairs, move my bedding and mattress, vaccuum the God-forsaken far-reaches of "under-the-bed-land" (don't tell me you haven't visited that region before) and slept better than I had in my own bed in years. Or at least in the two years since I've had this, unbeknownst to me, broken boxspring. I woke up feeling dandy. Even bedhead couldn't look bad on a morning like this.

KLS

Bad, bad Diary. wrist-slap

2008-05-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

I'm chastising myself for being so bad at writing in my blog/diary. I think it's because I always think I have to have something of deep importance to say. Wait a minute. That's quite narcissistic, isn't it? To presume that I EVER have anything of deep importance to say that will impact another soul. Ha!

So, I'm embarking on a new journey. Making notes about the day. Everyday thoughts. Nothing of consequence, really. Musings. New songs. Progress. Regression. I'm going to embed this or link it my website/myspace so you might actually read it. Up until now, only me and maybe one other person even knew I was attempting to write an online diary of sorts. People like John Common and Katie Herzig are inspiring me. Maybe SOMEONE will want to hear the strange and often very normal thoughts of an artist/songwriter.

Today is a beautiful day. The trees are getting their light-green little new leaves. There are droplets of water on everything from yesterday's storm. The clouds are light and wispy. Spring is finally here. I guess the longer we wait for something, the more we appreciate it. This applies to love as well. I'm in love. In love with God. In love with life. In love with the hope and spirit of a new season of music. In love with a wonderful man. Everyone should feel this way at least once.

The album is almost finished. I think the waiting philosophy also applies to this. I appreciate Paul and Jessie so much (as well as Nigel and Fiona...the children that have become my comic relief and weekly muse when I arrive at their home/studio). Last night, Paul and I started mixing the song "Waiting." It all seems so appropriate. It grooves GOOD. You're going to love it. I love it. Even Jessie loved it as she sat on the couch and knit a triangle with yellow yarn that she told me, proudly, was made of corn. Corn. Something I can't eat for 10 months because I just got braces. They hurt. At least I can still sing... :)

I'm gearing up for a big launch of some sort. When the project is done, there is some sort of overwhelming responsibility to DO something with it. I'm not sure exactly what that something is. A marketing, PR and radio campaign, of course. I want as many people to hear and enjoy the fruits of our labor of love as possible. Any suggestions? I think there will be big changes in the near future. It is exhilirating and terrifying at the same time. I don't think I'll be working in an office cubicle for much longer.

Some book I was reading said the 3% of the population who really meets their personal and professional goals are the people who write them down. That's it. Solidify the dream. I will be a full-time professional musician by 2011. I'm going to have a song cut by Keith Urban. I'm going to make it. What are your dreams??

KLS

Take It On

2007-08-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

In a small town
It's easier to forget
All the troubled times
Live with no regrets

For what's been done
It's easier to believe
In a love that lives
Beyond memories

We lived in the past
The weekend's come and gone
I showed you my world
But life changes come
And we take it on

On a dirt road
Somewhere near the sky
Heaven knows
How the time flies by

And we both know
We've seen it all before
Oh, everything
We feel it even more

We lived in the past
The weekend's come and gone
I showed you my world
But life changes come

Come and live my life with me
Share my memories
My waking dreams
I'll show you everything
Everything
Everything

We lived in the past
The weekend's come and gone
I showed you my world
But life changes come
And we take it on

26...

2007-07-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

I'm trying desperately to make it through another day at the office day job with my back, pelvis, hip and head hurting like I just beat myself up on a 50-mile bike ride or something to that effect. The actual cause? Stress and a couple trips to the chiropractor.

Yikes. So 26 is considered young, right? I'm feeling like I'm aging already, and can't remember a morning when I woke up without my neck killing me or my whole body feeling as stiff as a board. I think the subconscious pain is dwelling in the back of my head, whispering sweet nothings and draining my energy source like a tap on a sugar maple.

I try to get out and walk about twice a day, and up until about a week and a half ago, I was jogging a couple times a week. Nothing like my crazy college days, but enough to feel like I am in decent, flexible shape. Now I feel like I can't move right about 70% of the time. Am I already on the downhill slope?

It's kind of sobering to consider that if we're not green and growing, we're ripe and rotting. Or as John McCrea (Cake) croons "As soon as we're born we start dying, so we might as well have a good time." Jenny (Redmond) Cambron once told me that the nerve endings in our brain solidify at 26-27, so that is the point that we fully realize our mortality. Hence the reason we all do young, dumb things like ski jumping and skateboarding, flips off diving boards and signing up for the military BEFORE that happens. Now I'm terrified to go downhill skiing or even climb trees. I'm too tall and gangly and might hurt myself.

So here I am, at the apex of my twenties, youthful for the last time, noticing that a sleepless night leaves circles of transparent, lined and somewhat frail-looking skin around my eyes. I've got WAY too much work to do to be getting this tired this young. I think it's time for massage therapy and bath salts. Beauty sleep. I'll certainly not make the cover of the Rolling Stone at this rate. Maybe I'm just tired today. Maybe I just have a show tonight and am feeling like I want nothing more than to take some kind of painkiller and drift off to sleep with the new Hawaiian Breeze floor fan Breck bought me blowing on my face.

Young is starting to feel old. I think too much. Luckily, I've been told that the types of things that cause me so much anxiety in my twenties (the constant driving desire to succeed, please everyone and never let a soul down) subsists in my thirties. However, most of this stress is in my head, and I'm already an "old soul." I've been like this since I was ten, so if most people start having this type of anxiety in their twenties, doesn't that put my somewhere in my late thirties in "soul years"? It's not letting up. I worry that I might not be the person everyone thinks I am. In fact, I now know I'm not. Luckily, I know I'm the person God knows that I am, and I have to learn to be content with that. At least someone knows me and still loves me. I'm afraid I might fall apart anyway.

Dwelling on things seems to be a favorite pasttime of mine lately, and it's driving me insane. I then get really upset about the fact that I'm upset about things. This does absolutely no one any good whatsoever. Someone please tell me this is a phase?! Maybe it's all the change that has happened in my life this year. It probably doesn't look like that much from the outside, but on the inside I feel like I just walked into a new life. Everything that happens takes me a process of processing, whether consciously or subconsciously. I seem to try to understand why EVERYTHING happens rather than just enjoy the experience and let the chips fall where they may. This is very energy-consuming. I also tend to get suspicious and sensitive about everything, or take things personally (those of you who deal with the brunt of this, consider this another roundabout apology...I appreciate your patience). I have a hard time believing and trusting much. Maybe I am going through some sort of time period of human growth and development. Maybe I should take a class. Or study for a CLEP exam. Psychology should explain me, right?

Okay...so enough is enough. I'm not whining about looking old, but rather feeling older than any person my age should. Perhaps all that over-analyzing and thinking ahead in my childhood and teens is finally catching up with me. Anyone know where the Fountain of Youth might be?

KLS

Hurry up and wait...

2007-07-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Does anyone ever wonder why there is so much "hurry up and wait" in this world?

Hurry up and get to work on time on Friday so you can sit there and wait for the day to get over.

Hurry up get to the chiropractor's office so you can wait in the waiting room.

Hurry up and get your project done so you can wait for the rest of world to discover it.

It seems like there is a lot of this going on in my life right now. I am rarely on time to anything anymore, not because I'm disrespectful, but rather because I'm trying to minimize the wasted waiting time. Am I wrong? It's even less effective or efficient to be early, I'm discovering. And no one will ever notice if you're early or late, so what is the difference? Which leads me to my next point. Why are we governed so strongly by this human concept of time? Time passing. Time flying by. Time crawling by. Like watching paint dry. Or water boil. Why are these considered negative pastimes? They always have positive outtcomes. They are peaceful and teach us patience...

I think we all seek contentment and an understanding that time is our friend rather than an enemy that cages us like animals. I would love to see time as a blank canvas on which our experiences are continually painted in many layers of colors, oil paint that dries slowly and takes on a richer hue with age.

I'm hurrying up and waiting for that day. I'm learning a little more with each season.

It is Official

2007-07-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

I've officially started a "real" blog that will contain my random musings...I guess it's a little invitation into my head, so to speak. I'll share bits and pieces of my thoughts from time to time. Welcome!!

KLS

Katey Laurel

Happy Month of Valentines

Merry Christmas Everyone! Official Two Birds Video

Available TODAY, October 18th!

Katey Laurel Wins Texaco Country Showdown Colorado State Final

"Begin Again" part of Feature Film Soundtrack

Available NOW!

MIX Podcast available now!

MIX 100 Warm and Fuzzy Christmas Show this Friday!

FUNDED!!! Thank you, thank you ALL!

Save the Date!!

Brought to you by Heineken!

Please help fund my new record by pre-ordering it!!

Jango Radio and Noisetrade.com

KateyLaurel.com overhaul

"Upstairs, Downstairs" at Whole Foods Market Tamarac

Durango Expo "Write With a Hitmaker" Contest, Vote for me pretty please and thank you?!

Howdy Ya'll!

Is Spring Springing?

NoiseTrade Widget

Playlist 7

Keeping up with the Joneses

Nine West Announces Fifth Weekly Winner of the Vintage America Voices Contest - With Video

Part 4: "Pedro, do you like my bangs??"

Part 3: The Jewish Wedding

Part 2: The Matt Morris Experience

My crazy week in photo review...Part 1.

The Ubisububi Trap

I have the coolest fans...

What happens if I really go COUNTRY??? Help, I need someone (preferrably Alan Jackson) to explain this to me...

NoiseTrade Widget

Creative genius

I thought I would escape the 25 Random Thing Madness....

Too much social networking. Too much socialism. Too much too much.

Little Suitcase

Whoa. Back when I was a creative 25 year-old...

Help, I'm stuck!!

Goodbye, Corporate America!

Fox 31 "Good Day Colorado"

The Spoiled Under-30 Crowd

Boxsprings and bedhead

Bad, bad Diary. *wrist-slap*

Take It On

26...

Hurry up and wait...

It is Official

Bad, bad Diary. wrist-slap