1. Black is the Color (virgin effort)

Because they asked, and I love my sons, I found some courage. Settling my psyche down to find my center was a lesson in itself, and one I did not quite fully achieve much to my dismay. I have so much respect for artists who do this for real. Despite being completely out of my comfort zone and nervous as heck, the results are acceptable enough for a virgin effort by a kitchen singer. I guess. Going back to re-do some notes is a possibility, but for now it will remain raw and flawed. I would rather not take it all so seriously. It’s just for fun anyway. :)

Natalie Merchant said I could sing one of her songs (thank you Megan). However, after two takes it didn't feel or sound right. So I switched, and tried my variation of a classic song I dearly love, the timeless and heartfelt Black is the Color. And it stuck.

The whole experience felt a bit surreal. There's a recording studio in town, but I choose the one inconveniently located way out in the middle of nowhere. (Likewise, it's always been Margaret's Hebrides and not John's Edinburgh.) The drive is about 12 or so miles down a lovely winding country road; the kind of road whereon the locals drive like maniacs and the new-to-the-area like cautious grannies. I had not been on the road since the wildfires tore through the canyon and up the butte walls last summer and it was wrenching to see the charred remains. The road follows alongside Butte Creek, past the historic Honey Run covered bridge, and further up the road over the steel bridge (the starting point from where I tubed down the creek so many years ago - a right of passage for all Cheekoians), past Centerville Cemetery, past the point where the road narrows and there is no longer a center line, and then down, down a rutted side dirt road to the studio. Settled amongst scrubby woodlands and a towering butte for a backdrop it is quite the picturesque spot and well worth the drive to get there and back.