Wine on White

Hellloooooo!

So, I released my album, SoulMade on October 15th.  After giving birth, I went through a mini-bout of postpartum depression.  You know, you pour your heart and soul into something, you nurture and care for it as it develops.  Then, you bring it into this world where you know no one will love and care for it like you did when it was in your womb.  It is no longer “safe” but open to criticism, to indifference, to abuse.  Then, there’s also the fact that you don’t feel it moving inside you anymore….an emptiness, separation.  But, after a few days (maybe weeks), you snap out of it and realize just what a feat and what a joy it was to bring this thing to life.  And, you begin to celebrate each accomplishment, each baby step taken, and the bonding takes place.  Soon, you realize you enjoy it so much that you want to have another.  That is where I am now…

I’m working on another :)….only it will be a short, (couple of songs) EP.  One of the songs I wrote recently is called “Wine on White” and has a jazzy vibe to it.  I don’t plan on rushing things this time as I will be continuing to promote SoulMade and do live gigs.  Speaking of which, I have my very FIRST EVER gig in LA this month.  November 19th @ TheWitZend.  I’m excited and looking forward to sharing the stage with about 6 other acts that night.  Should be a fun time.  If you’re in the area, you’re invited!!!  Here’s a link to the venue that has all the details.  Wish me luck!  Peace to you all 🙂

If blues, jazz, and soul music had a baby…..

THE ALBUM IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!! :))))))

Finally, finally, finally!!!  The album I’ve been working on since the beginning of the summer is complete.  My first ever and I’d say my best work yet!  I cannot wait to share the songs with you.  Today I’m going to be giving an exclusive preview of each song on my Facebook page.  If you’d like to preview the album before it gets released tomorrow, please join my FB music family as I will be posting the private preview on there at 12pm PST.   And/or check the FULL album out tomorrow (October 15th), the OFFICIAL release, which will be available at http://monicadockery.com (not viewable until tomorrow).

YAY!!!!!!!!!

HipHop and Soul fall in love :)…Featured guests on my album!

Three of my fellow artists/collaborators/friends have contributed their talents to my upcoming album….5 days left till it is released!  I thought I’d share these featured tracks with you today!  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  Thanks so much to my dear friends:  Here are links to their pages in case you want to hear more from them:

Dash the Baptist: https://soundcloud.com/d-dash-flow

Ben Z: http://benz.bandcamp.com/album/my-new-mix-tape

TheNamesMillen: https://soundcloud.com/thenamesmillen

Album Update #5 ……the end is near!!! :)

Hello!  Before I get into my post, please take a minute to watch my new music video!  It is for a contest.  Each view gives me a point and helps me rank higher in the contest.  So, you’re welcomed to watch as much as you’d like and do share!  The contest ends Nov.9th and finalist will then compete to win a chance to make a professionally produced EP w/Don Was (wha? 🙂 ).  Hope you like it, it is a very personal song for me.

http://songwriter.revimage.com/channels/Monica+Dockery

Now, to the ALBUM UPDATE.  If you’ve been following me on here, you may have read about the album I’ve been working on for a few months now.  GREAT NEWS!!!!!  I’m nearly 100% finished!  Just tightening up the mix/master on each song.  It will be ready to launch October 15, 2013.  So excited to share these songs :)!  Finally.  Since the end is near, I thought I’d give a sneak peek at the song list for the album ( not necessarily in order).  Here it is:

Audiobiography (bullet)                                                

Sweet Cali

UI

The One

Two Shades

Smile                                             

Anything But        

Christine Alice                                 

Dollar N a Dime

Sam I am 

John Henry

In the Mood

Purple                                                                            

Dreamin A Way

Moving away

One Inch

New Day

There is a Light 

Two Moons

Dadi da da

Birthday

Keep checking in!  And leave a comment to let me know what you thought about the video.  Would love to hear your thoughts! 🙂  Thanks.  Have a great weekend all!

Help me win the Guitar Center Contest!

Helloooo!

I’ve been M.I.A. for a while on this blog, but for a good reason. I am nearly finished with my album!! It will be available October 15th! So excited. Now…..

I have also been busy trying to gain support for my entry into the Guitar Center Singer Songwriter Contest 3 w/ Don Was. The more online activity on our contest page, the better our chances. So, it would be WONDERFUL, FANTASTIC, AWESOME, if you took some time to watch my two videos that are up on my page. Note: the link only works from a desktop, no mobile devices. By you simply watching my videos on the contest page, you will be helping me come that much closer to a dream! Please show your support, watch and share with as many friends as you can. You can even view it multiple times for multiple votes. Thanks so much! Can’t wait to share more of my project with you soon! And btw, the contest ends Nov.9th, so please keep checking back on the site as I will be uploading at least one more music video there before the release of my album. Cheers everyone! And, thank you so much in advance.

Album Update #3 – 3 Reasons Why Recording Sucks….until

Hellooo!  A picture of me getting ready to do a full day of recording….I had just woken up (one perk of recording from home…you can do it in your pjs….or well…you know)

Time for a little update on the progress of my FIRST EVER, self-produced album :).  Ok, so I have officially gone into the phase that involves full-day recording sessions and the thing that I realized is…..recording sucks.  I have recorded before, many times – for other people’s projects and for singles of my own and that has always gone pretty well.  But, recording vocals, background vocals, guitar, AND percussion instruments for 21 songs (19, 2 bonus) is INSANE!!!!  I clearly had NO IDEA what I was getting into when I first started this project.  Holy crap.  So, here’s the top 3 gripes I have about recording:

1)  You can’t just wing it.  If you knew me, you would know how much I despise planning.  However, with recording, I have found you HAVE TO plan.  Sure, you can improvise and such while you experiment with the styling and embellishments here and there….but, you have to plot out your moments and nail them while keeping tempo, proper pitch, maintaining the ability to emote, making sure you’re not too far or too close to the mic, delivering the lyric flawlessly, and so on and so forth (phew!).  Easier said than done indeed.

2)  It is UNNATURAL.  In “real life”, when you sing or play the guitar, we don’t stand in an isolation tank with padded walls with headphones on our head.  Usually, you have somebody to look at and interact with while your singing or  it is you, sitting at the beach, with the wind in your face, strumming your guitar.  Not so in “the booth” (mine is a makeshift one that doubles as my closet).  So, yeah, feels weird.  But, eventually, you do get used to it and sometimes to the point where  it gets weird to sing in front of people again :).

3.) It stands between me and my FINISHED album!!!!  Yes, this one is the one.  This is the main reason why recording sucks.  It is the necessary evil.  You cannot have an album to share with folks unless you do it.  And, damn, don’t we love our immediate gratification?!  To have conceived a project, to have poured out your soul in the writing of lyrics, to have found the melody that you were looking for on your guitar, etc., but have to WAIT to share it until all the recording mumbo jumbo is done?!  That sucks.  I don’t like to wait.

BUT….this I know….

It will certainly be worth the wait.  When it is all packaged up and sent out and I can finally share it with you lovely peeps, I will have made my peace with recording and will have a huge smile on my face :).  Can’t WAIT to share these soul songs with you!  Let me end with a quick rundown on the stats for the overall recording progress.

• All guitar tracking for the 21 songs is finished and most of the additional instrumentation/percussion is complete!! (well, I hope)
• 5 songs are completely finished  and I love them!
• Cover art has been chosen……to be revealed soon :0 …dun dun dun
• Title?  TBD  (it’s between two finalists)
• I have one of my special friends/guest artists that will be joining me –  Ben Z –  (there will be others as well), who just sent me his contribution to one of the songs on the album and I am so happy with it!!  It is the perfect finishing touch.  But – honestly, he never disappoints….don’t take my word for it, though, you can check out his talents here at his page
• Date of Release?  To be announced soon (depending on a few things)

Ok, that is all for now.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for checking in with me as I continue on this new journey!

Vacant Spaces – A song for Trayvon Martin (video tribute)

Hello. After my last post and the continuing protests and discussions about the case, I have been continuing  my reflections on Trayvon’s death.  I was compelled to write a song (as I usually am when I’m feeling something so strongly).  A friend of mine, a poet from Rockford, IL, named Christopher D. Sims, wrote a spoken word piece about it as well and we decided to combine them into one.  I also enlisted the help of my son, whom I mentioned in that last post as well, in the making of a video for the song.  The lyrics are included in the description on Youtube….here it is:

Trayvon Martin & my son

My heart hurts. In the back of my mind, I somehow always knew George Zimmerman would get off without any punishment, but I had a faint hope that I was wrong. A faint hope that justice just might possibly have a chance. But, sadly, no. And so, I am sad and angry.

But, I am sober. Sober to the fact that I have to prepare my son (who is half-black) to live in a world where, because he has dark skin, someone could want him to be gone –so much so that they would pursue him and kill him. Then, that person could walk away without being arrested and go through a trial where he is declared not guilty. Not guilty.

That is the world I have to prepare my 5 yr. old son to live in. And I ask myself, how do I prepare him for that when I am not prepared myself? I must prepare myself and rethink just what lessons I need to teach him in order to survive. And I must find a way to live with the fact that I brought my son to this place. I’m responsible for having brought him into a world where this stuff happens to people who look like him.

Therefore, it is my duty and my penance to do everything in my power to educate him on the disparity between what is said to be true and what is really true. What is said to be true is that there is justice and equality for all. What is true, as evidenced by court case after court case and the disproportionate distribution of health and wealth, is that we are not there at all… and have never been. My heart hurts because I wish my son could live as carefree as possible, free to walk around in ANY neighborhood without having to watch his back. But, I can’t let him be carefree like that…because his life depends on it. I am sad.

Album Song Preview – Youtube Video for “Birthday”

Helloooo!  So, I have been wanting to share a little more about the album I’m working on, so I decided to do a video preview of one of the last ones that I wrote.  I chose to share this one first because it is one of the more playful, lighter ones and I thought it would be fitting for a summer weekend release:).  Hope you like it!  If you do, leave a little comment to let me know….feedback is always much appreciated.  Thanks!  Have a wonderful weekend!! …and a few more videos to come in the future, so keep checking in!

—Monica