Posted by: @ May 8, 2012 - 16:05
Today is Robert Johnson's Birthday! The legendary Blues guitarist would be 101 years old.
To celebrate his music and the impact that he had we have acquired a brand new animation detailing the fabled story of how Johnson acquired his guitar playing skills.
Click play, share and enjoy!
Posted by: @ Apr 24, 2012 - 13:04
This year we have travelled a bit further afield on our mission to celebrate music from around the world.
In March, we packed our bags and headed for a surprisingly sun-soaked Miami to catch the Winter Music Conference.
WMC is a key event in the calendar for global electronic music lovers. From house and techno to drum & bass and dubstep, the conference attracts some of the world's greatest DJs and producers.
We were lucky enough to speak to a few of the great artists in attendance, and ask why music matters to them. Watch the videos below to see Paul Oakenfold, Matthew Dear, Tensnake and others on why they love music.
James Zabiela
Tensnake
Claude Von Stroke
Paul Oakenfold
Radioslave
Matthew Dear
Heidi
Posted by: @ Mar 12, 2012 - 11:03
Alistair the optimist is a musician suffering from Motor Neuron Disease. Alistair has created an album to cement his legacy and help support the work of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. You can support Alistair and the MNDA by purchasing his album here. Check out his story below and find out why music matters to Alistair.
Making music has always been extremely important to me, it makes me very happy. I first started playing drums when I was 12 with free lessons at middle school and a guaranteed place in the school band. Unfortunately for me drumming was a popular choice and the music teacher had to break up the school drum kit and let all the drummers have one drum each. Of course we all wanted the snare drum but had to take turns and sometimes be demoted to a dented cymbal. After a while my parents paid for me to have a few private lessons and I started to get a little better. I loved The Beatles and wanted to be Ringo. I annoyed the neighbours by playing along to Beatles cassettes, something I found tricky as Ringo whilst complementing the songs always seemed to play the unexpected. The old familiar story unfolded through university and beyond with me playing in a number of bands until either they broke up or my work and family commitments made it more difficult for me to find the time. In fact I'd carried on my love for music but neglected to play it myself as much.
In 2010 I was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (known as ALS is some parts of the world) and very rapidly started to lose strength and coordination in my limbs - not very helpful if you want to play drums. MND is a degenerative terminal illness with no known cure or effective treatment. Music has played an even more significant part in my life since my diagnosis as it's now become part of my therapy; lifting me when I'm feeling down, helping me to forget my worries and my health for a short time, and enabling me to reach out to a large number of people. The 'reaching out' part I'm talking about refers to the Alistair The Optimist' campaign for the Motor Neurone Disease Associaion. The campaign is raising awareness of MND and optimism and my part in that has been to get some of my friends and band mates back together and record an album of original songs.
The album was recorded over 3 days in August 2011 at Cross Leaze Farm Studios near Bath. The studio was built and is owned by Charles Grimsdale, who my band mate Matt had met through the local music scene. We met Charles and he kindly offered to record the album with us - for free! We all agreed that we should try and capture as many tracks as we could over one long weekend, and to do this Charlie suggested we set up the band to record a live session. This turned out to be a fantastic idea as the studio (a stone C17th barn with views across a gorgeous green valley) suited a live and mainly acoustic vibe, just what we thought we were after. In the end we managed to record the basic live performances of all ten songs that weekend, as well as vocal and guitar overdubs. Of course my drum set up had to be adapted to my new playing style. I was no longer able to use the foot pedals and my strength and coordination in my upper body were on the wain, my stamina was also becoming a problem. We overcame these problems by setting up the bass drum on it's side next to the snare so I would be able to play simple rhythms with my drum sticks - additional percussion was overdubbed my me afterwards (or Alex when I became too tired). Also, we had written (by accident or design?) short and uncomplicated songs which certainly made my drumming role a lot easier.
I am amazed by how much we achieved during the three days at the studio and also by the quality of the finished tracks. Of course we had a few tricky moments, particularly at the beginning of the sessions when our lack of confidence in the songs and our own parts really shone through. We were very under-prepared for the recording sessions and at times it showed. Alex, Jez, Jim and I had met up for three rehearsals beforehand but the entire band had never played the songs through together before we started the live recording session! In fact Paul and his guitar had only just flown in from the states the day before and Matt had been on holiday. I am pretty sure the whole weekend would have been a disaster had Jez, Paul and I not spent a long time figuring out arrangement ideas, sharing lyric and chord sheets and compiling a spreadsheet called 'who's playing what and when'. Bizarrely, the preparation we did for the album did feel very reminiscent of my teaching career - I felt like I was planning a series of lessons......rock n roll!
After we had finished the recording session then the lengthy and at times difficult process of post production and mixing began. We added more guitar, harpsichord, zither, ukulele, dobro and percussion parts and also wrote a few string parts which were beautifully played by Catherine Strauch and Maria Beaven. At this point the album went 'transatlantic' as Jon Nachez (California) - horns, and Kathryn Calder (Vancouver) - backing vocals, added their talent to the mix. Kathryn is an established singer/songwriter and member of acclaimed Canadian band 'The New Pornographers' and it was simply brilliant that she offered to help with the album. Kathryn got in contact with me via facebook after hearing about the 'Incurable Optimist' campaigns. She had lost her mother to MND/ALS a couple of years ago and was really excited about the album. Kathryn was very busy and getting ready to go on tour, but she found time to run down to her friends studio and record some beautiful vocals for three of our songs.
The album was mixed by a host of volunteers including members of the band, Richard Wilkinson (offered his services after seeing an 'Incurable Optimist' poster on the Tube), Graham Pickford (sound engineer/producer and friend of Jim), Charlie Grimsdale (with Patrick Phillips and a memorable visit to Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios) and Paul Lane (recording engineer and colleague of Jim's). All fine and talented gentlemen who gave their time and expertise and sprinkled magic dust over all our mistakes. Eventually the 10 tracks were ready for mastering (I still don't understand this 'dark art') and sent up to Jay at KJAMM in Nottingham and then either uploaded to various digital platforms by Ditto Music or replicated to CD by John at Double Vision Group. I asked friend Marcus Walters at New Future Graphic if he would create the album artwork as he is a genius artist and designer. I love the artwork and think it ties in with the flavour of the music. I was keen to have all 6 members of the band on the cover as this project was all about friends working together, against time and in order to realise an ambition. With my name in the title I was especially focused on communicating that this was a band and not a solo record.
Music matters to me and my family and friends because it is something we enjoy doing, it brings us together and makes us stronger. My album matters because it is part of my legacy and through the songs we have written I can communicate when I am gone.
Alistair The Optimist
Posted by: @ Feb 8, 2012 - 12:02
Can you imagine The Beatles conquering the charts without George Martin? Or a band like U2 managing a world tour without an army of roadies?
Every musician has an unsung hero in their life, from the person who gave them their start, to the sound mixer that pushes a sound to become something extraordinary.
Today Music Matter launches our Unsung Hero campaign, and we want you to give these behind-the-scenes rock stars the recognition they deserve.
We asked some of today’s top artists to nominate their unsung heroes, and we collected some incredible stories of collaboration and friendship. Now it’s up to you to vote for your favourite:
http://www.whymusicmatters.org/unsung-heroes
Give these unsung heroes of music a chance to shine and you could have your very own moment in the spotlight. Every person who votes will automatically be added into a prize draw to win a pair of tickets to the BRIT Awards ceremony at the O2!
We’re thrilled to have this opportunity to celebrate talented musicians, their heroes and you, the fans.
Posted by: @ Dec 28, 2011 - 11:12
2011 has been a great year for the Music Matters campaign, and a great year for music! Thousands of music lovers have joined us in our quest to spread the word about supporting artists, not to mention some incredible musicians including Elbow, Bernard Butler and of course The Beatles!
As the year draws to a close we want to know about your musical highlights of 2011 - what were you listening to, where, and how? Help us pull together a list of Why Music Mattered in 2011?
http://www.whymusicmatters.org/take-the-survey
Take our survey now and you could win a whole range of goodies, from signed CDs and records to a very special Beatles goody bag!
We'll be hitting the ground running in 2012 but until then we want to wish you a very happy, healthy, and music-filled New Years Eve.
See you in 2012!
Posted by: @ Dec 22, 2011 - 12:12
At Music Matters HQ the festive season is now in full swing, and that means we have had the standard christmas pop classics on repeat. But as much as we like to hear Mariah telling us what she wants for christmas, it was about time we found some lesser heard christmas classics to help keep the festive spirit alive.
We asked the Music Matters community to help us put together a more alternative selection of tunes and once again they have delivered a great playlist. Click the link below to hear Music Matters take on a alternative Christmas spotify playlist.
http://tellus.whymusicmatters.org/christmasplaylist
if you don't have spotify you can download it here
Posted by: @ Oct 31, 2011 - 12:10
Happy Halloween! You guys helped us come with an especially eerie selection of tunes for our Halloween Spotify playlist. Check it out here - if you dare…. (you can download Spotify here if you need to)
http://tellus.whymusicmatters.org/halloween
Posted by: @ Oct 21, 2011 - 17:10
The days are drawing in, the leaves have fallen - it's official - summer's over and winter's knocking on the door!
Fear not, our fantastic Music Matter fans on Facebook have come up with this beautifully autumnal playlist to soundtrack a walk in the park kicking up the leaves, or an afternoon staring out the window clasping a big old mug of hot chocolate!
If you have access to Spotify (You can download it here if you don't) check out the "All the leaves are brown.." playlist by clicking here.
We always want to know what you think. Did we miss out a classic song, is this playlist spot on? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or leave a comment below!'
Posted by: Alex Vanthournout @ Sep 21, 2011 - 13:09
As London Fashion Week is slowly drawing to a close, we went around the shows all week and looked at how designers are using music in their collections and shows.
No one uses music more than true music fan Christopher Bailey, designer of Burberry, who often uses young musicians in his advertisements, created the Burberry Acoustic Sessions and always has a host of artists on his front rows.
This time it was no different: established names like Kanye West, Paul Weller, Ellie Goulding and The Feeling sat next to young talent like Sam Beeton, Misty Miller and George Craig. The soundtrack to the show also featured big names like U2 and Joss Stone next to Kill It Kid.
Have a look at the video of the show below, and let us know: do you think the choice of songs enhances the experience? Or do you think it doesn’t matter?
Alex Vanthournout is a freelance fashion journalist and the author of popular blog www.alexloves.com. Originally from Belgium, she now lives and works in London. Before going freelance she earned her stripes at magazines like Wallpaper* and Elle Belgium, before a stint in PR at the Louis Vuitton press office. Her favourite band is The National.
Posted by: @ Sep 14, 2011 - 12:09
The Beatles’ music has always been a very essential part of my life from my early childhood, attending university in Liverpool and through to teaching their work as an A level subject.
It is simply impossible to specifically say why The Beatles have had such an impact on my life but their work seems to transcend the world of music and singing. When listening to their early work I often think of my younger life when I would sing along to tracks like “I Wanna Hold your Hand”, “Eight Days a Week” and “Please Please Me”. These tracks are indicative the carefree teen (girl or boy) having a laugh and a good dance to a cracking tune. There are also tracks such as “This Boy” which harbour deep feelings of melancholic love and loss through detailed heartbreaking harmonies; things that almost every teenager could identify with back then, now and always. Further along in the catalogue, songs like “Eleanor Rigby”, “Strawberry Fields Forever” and the mystery that is “A Day in the Life” make me think about music in a more grown up way.
Having had to teach the rudiments of the compositions for the last few years I’ve had chance to deconstruct the songs and appreciate them for their beautiful and almost haunting artistic complexity. In short, it is this duality of meaning and tone that elevates The Beatles above everyone else.
If you want a dance and a crazy night out they will Hold Your Hand and if you want to write an academic essay they will allow you to Work It Out.
Nick Whitfield
Above: Nick with his class and his Beatles goody bag prizes. Nick won our Beatles giveaway by successfully inviting friends to join the Music Matters campaign to enter our prize draw - keep your eye out for news of more giveaways soon...
Posted by: @ Sep 9, 2011 - 17:09
Now that August is officially in our rear-view mirror, we're reminiscing about sunnier days with a Summer playlist – put together with a little help from our Facebook friends.
For those on Spotify check out our Sounds of Summer 2011 playlist for a few summer classics as well as some recent greats. As usual if you think we've missed a song that made your summer let us know on Facebook or Twitter... Enjoy!
Posted by: @ Aug 18, 2011 - 14:08
My earliest memories are all Beatle flavoured. Holidays in austria to the sound of rubber soul. Our flat in berlin space hoppering to "revolution". Enforced bowl haircuts...
A life long obsession.
The Beatles were my bible. My infant imaginings are scratched and peppered with images of cowboys on rafts with the arrows of indians wizzing past their ears to the sound of "tomorrow never knows". Terrifying mines full of shadows, rubies and eyes - "strawberries fields forever"...
The voices, the chords, the words, the guitars flipping backwards and the sitars... familiar stories on mad cushionings of alien sound.
The Beatles were smiling wizards... sweet, young and mop topped or bearded, flared and weirded... from cuban heals to bare feet and plimsolls they built the foundation of modern pop and the inspiration for my own journey into it. thats why Music Matters.
Posted by: @ Aug 17, 2011 - 08:08
Writing a short film about The Beatles is one of the scariest things I’ve ever been asked to do. I had a little panic attack that involved standing up, then sitting down, then standing back up again, over and over until my flat mate got sick of it and told me to stop. These guys are seriously important to me, they always have been. They mean an awful lot to pretty much everyone I know. I have had serious bonding moments with complete strangers over a shared love of The Beatles.
At a certain point once I had stabilized my breathing and managed to stand still for a whole 5 minutes I realized this was the point. To make a film about the importance of The Beatles I had to talk about how much they mean to one person and that person might as well be me. Suddenly realizing that I had just written my self into a film about The Beatles I started panicking again.
From here the script came quite quickly. I had a bit of a poke about on the internet to find some Beatles-y illustrators to work on the job with me. Pretty quickly though I realized that I had to make sure I was working with my friends on this one. I wanted to make something personal and full of love so the whole process needed to be very personal.
To keep things as simple and clear as possible I made my animatic, which is a story board timed out to music, using simple stick figures. My intention was to update them with more involved drawings at a later date once my friends and I had figured out a style.
Each of the four songs that I used was written by a different Beatle. I don’t talk about the individual importance of each of the members of the band in the script. They all bring quite different personalities to the table and this comes across in the broad range of emotional experience you can have when you listen to them. Hopefully this comes across through the music and the changes in mood without actually being discussed in my film.
So I made my little preview film and sent it off to my friends at Music Matters. A little while later I hear back that it’s going ahead. Then I hear that Paul and Ringo were quite taken with the stick figures and I go back to having panic attacks. It hadn’t occurred to me that Beatles were actually going to look at the film, let alone give me feedback. Really useful feedback at that.
I had started thinking that there was a lot to be said for the funny looking stick figures but wasn’t sure if I had the balls to suggest that that was how I intended to make the final film. If Paul and Ringo dig it though I thought, then it’s on.
For the dreamy part of the film I was still really keen to use my talented friends. I like the idea of stick figures dreaming of being drawn properly. It was a bit of an international crew. Giles Dill and Darren Turner were in London doodling characters and I was hanging out in Australia at the time with Rick Mereki and Ross Paxman who were drawing the dreamy BG’s. Jason Mildren who did the typography for the Dream Sequence was also in Oz. Being an ace typographer Jason might be keen to distance him self from my decision to use Helvetica for the rest of the film. It’s simplicity and familiarity felt right though.
I didn’t really direct the crew all that much. There was a brief of course but I love their natural styles and wanted them to draw in a way that was personal and not overly dictated.
Disaster struck when Rick got offered the dream job of getting flown all over the world to make a (now very well known) travel film. His schedule was ridiculous and I thought there was no chance of me getting any drawing out of him. It turns out though that Rick is an absolute trooper and he drew for me on every flight between every country.
All the crew wherever they were in the world put in a lot of love. My buddy Hana Davis helped me to cut it all out and I was relieved when I slapped Giles and Darren’s stuff on top of Ricks and Ross’ and it came up looking tops. Massively relieved. I had made the right choice in getting my friends in and letting them do as they please.
So pleased was I with my buddies at this point that I drew them all and popped them in for the Hey Jude sing along at the end. All those guys are my friends. Apart from Bill Murray I just couldn’t resist putting him in there for no good reason. It might seem a little self-indulgent something like that but it was in line with my philosophy for making the film. Make it personal and fill it with love. It’s a pretty good way to approach life in general I think and The Beatles wrote a song or two that suggest they might agree.
And here it is...
Posted by: Lindsay McHale, Head of Music Services, Nordoff Robbins @ Aug 11, 2011 - 11:08
Music has played a massive part in my life since I first started playing the piano aged five. I’d always wanted to be a music therapist but I decided I should get a “proper” job – and took a place on the graduate training programme at Warner Music International. I spent two years there before moving on to be International Product Manager at Decca and finally Senior Product Manager at Universal UK.
I was at a Nordoff Robbins fundraising event with Russell Watson, one of the artists I looked after, when I realised I wanted to become a music therapist. I heard a mum speak about the massive difference music therapy had made to her child’s life and I realised I wanted to do something where I could really be sure that music mattered and made a difference every single day. I left Universal in 2006 to do the 2 year full-time Nordoff Robbins training course and I’ve been a music therapist since 2008.
It’s not easy to understand how and why music therapy works. It has the potential to have such a massive impact on so many people – on babies, children, teenagers and young adults and the elderly. And at Nordoff Robbins, we work with people with all kinds of challenges – those with autism, dementia, depression, mental health problems, those who’ve had a stroke, a brain injury and even those with a terminal illness. For some, music therapy offers physical benefits, for others emotional or social ones. It can help people feel able, motivated, social and self-confident and give hope when times are rough.
One person I’ve been working with is Coco. She’s 8 and has autism. She finds the world a confusing place and simple tasks like brushing her hair or taking a walk can fill her with anxiety and stress. Coco loves to strike up a conversation but finds language really confusing and often struggles to understand what people are saying. She finds learning new things a real challenge.
I worked with Coco for 2 years and she made incredible progress in her sessions during that time. Coco’s mum wrote to me recently, to let me know just how much music matters to Coco:
“You have allowed Coco to be herself and have given her a unique opportunity to express and explore her creativity. Through your music therapy you have given her the freedom to grow and flourish without inhibition. Thank you for these special gifts you have given her. We owe this amazing experience to Nordoff Robbins’ existence and pursuit.”
Nordoff Robbins is proof of just how much music matters - as a charity, we’re 100% reliant on fundraising and donations. The music industry play a massive part in supporting our work and without their support, we would not be where we are today, providing over 50,000 music therapy sessions annually.
But ultimately, what matters more than anything is the music. Music allows us to communicate without words and can fill a silence when someone cannot speak. The power of music is unique and for most of us it plays a huge part of our lives. For people like Coco it provides a lifeline, a way to take part in every day life. Music matters to Coco and to the many thousands of people Nordoff Robbins support. Quite simply, music provides a voice we all deserve.
Posted by: @ Jul 14, 2011 - 17:07
It's Bastille day, so we're marking it in true Music Matters style - with a playlist!
Check out the tracklisting, and if you have access to Spotify, you can listen to the frenchest songs (in artist, or inspiration) that our beloved Music Matterers could muster here.
Posted by: @ Jul 13, 2011 - 16:07
Hello all,
I have collaborated with my very talented friend Laura Dockrill to make a short animated film about why music matters, in particular the music of Nina Simone.
I am so happy to be part of this campaign as it’s all about how important music is! Back when Nina started she used it to make political and social statements that were integral to where we are today. It was part of the jigsaw that made people see that segregation and slavery was absurd and inhumane. She and her peers were so courageous to stand up to "the man" and help make these changes which we can still push further today.
I suppose the music matters campaign is all about appreciating music and those that make and listen to it. Musicians throughout history have always moved people whether it be emotionally or socially and I am so proud to be part of something that has such influence.
This campaign is helping to support is the artistry of music. The time and effort put in to making records and recording them beautifully and really thinking about what we are saying needs to be preserved. I hope you like the little film Laura and I made about why I was so inspired by Nina!
Lets all keep listening to and buying great, inspiring music and making statements in our own sweet way!
Viva la revolution!
Love love love is all you need.
Paloma x
Posted by: @ Jul 4, 2011 - 18:07
With the help of our lovely Facebook friends - we've put together a little playlist to celebrate July 4th, and all the great music that America has given to the world.
If you're based in the UK - check out our "Star-spangled playlist" on Spotify. With a touch of irony that Alanis herself would appreciate, our friends from across the pond can't currently access Spotify, but here's the playlist in it's entirety to help your celebrations go with a swing.
Use the comments section below, or get in touch on Facebook to let us know ifyou think we've missed any essential sounds of the States!
Posted by: Conor Ryan, Animator @ Jul 1, 2011 - 08:07
I chose to make my film about Phil Lynott because he is not just a hero of Irish music, but an iconic and influential figure in Rock music the world over.
He was also an Irish artist who left Dublin for London to further his career as myself and my brother Eoin (Art Director/illustrator) also did.
Also, Thin Lizzy were perfect as I wanted recognisable, powerful and iconic music to back up the film and being a character animator I wanted a true character to focus on and characters don't come any bigger than 'Philo'.
While writing the film, I found that I had to explain to a lot of people - particularly younger and non Irish/British people - who Phil Lynott actually was, sometimes just the mention of Thin Lizzy was enough, if not then a quick rendition of the line 'Boys are back in town' would always do the trick. This influenced my film to walk a line between a micro-documentary and a tribute so that hopefully some people who previously only knew the music could now meet and appreciate the man behind it.
Philo's music matters to me because I grew up with it and it's as fresh to me now as it ever was and Phil Lynott still stands tall in Dublin.
Posted by: @ Jun 30, 2011 - 13:06
Philip Lynott,live and dangerous, in the spotlight, audience on their feet, the boys are back in town.
Philip fashioned this imagery after his heroes, that had been his musical inspiration.
That swagger, that ease on stage with his audience, all made for the boy with a bad reputation.
The Philip Lynott I met in the summer of 1973 was really quite shy about his abilities as a performer and writer.
He had grown up in Dublin in the 50s and like most of his generation had been influenced by all things Irish and American.
The traditional Irish music scene and the America of Hollywood.
The characters and scenes he wrote about in his songs would have all featured in the films he saw in the Roxy cinema.
The cowboys lonesome on the range, nightlife in the big city, renegade Indians, wailing sirens, a jailbreak somewhere in this town tonight. The flickering screen was to be his early muse.
The traditional Irish music scene in Dublin was to see a young Philip at poetry readings, learning about Irish folklore that would feature in his early songs. This is where he began to learn his craft from some of the finest Irish musicians and poets.
On a cold winter’s day he would, for the price of a coffee, spend endless hours amongst them in the Coffee Inn on South Anne Street.
He would sit around talking about the when and how there would be an audience for his songs.
It was to be a journey across the Irish Sea with his band Thin Lizzy that would involve me in his life.
The group had signed to Decca records and he had become a musician in search of fame and fortune. I was to be part of that search as his friend and manager I spent 15 years helping him realise his dream and it was to be a dream that endures through his music.
Countless fans around the world listen to his music today because for them, his music matters.
Chris O’Donnell
Former Manager, Thin Lizzy
Check out the Music Matters Animation celebrating Phil Lynott here
Posted by: Alice Gold @ Jun 22, 2011 - 14:06
I once went to Glastonbury with a large yellow blanket and 4 cans of Stella...(!) I hitched a ride with a band I barely knew at the time and slept the first night in one of the straw chicks they thoughtfully leave about. Luckily it was a warm night and I found myself a tent for the rest of the festival.
Glastonbury is more than just a festival..its a part of many people's lives...often a coming of age...of real freedom, a place where people first experience feeling love for humanity on a massive scale. It is unforgettable...even though some hours are usually...unrecollectable!
To be opening up the Other Stage at 11am Glastonbury 2011 is a mighty honour indeed. I am excited beyond belief and nervous in the best way possible. I am going to sing my heart out and try to stay present throughout the set to absorb it all as much a possible...There isnt a Glasto 2012 so that makes this one extra special.
Over the years I have cried tears of overwhelming joy, (and probably tiredness) listening to Jimmy Cliff sing "Many Rivers to Cross....", sung along loudly to Radiohead headlining, screamed lovingly at Shirley Bassey, passed out at Sunrise in the Stone Circle. One of the most special experiences in hindsight was stumbling unexpectedly into my cousin, who I had lost touch with for years, under the flags one Saturday night...We have been in touch ever since.
Music brings people together - that's why Music Matters! And Glastonbury, in my opinion, is the best music festival for that.
Alice will be performing on the Other Stage at Glastonbury 2011 at 11am on Saturday 25 June. Find out more about Alice and check out her music at http://www.alicegold.com.