I'm drowning in the quiet...

Obsessive compulsive disorder at its best. Cleaning the dust out of the keyboard:





This is among the many reasons I should get a mac. :)

I will not be moved 'cause I know who I am...

If you know me at ALL, you'll know that the new release of ANYTHING by Bethany Joy Galeotti makes my heart sing!

She has collaborated with the oh-so-talented Amber Sweeney (who is, if I'm not mistaken, signed with Hilasterion, the same record label as Enation, Joy's husband's band), to form 'Everly'. The rich and sweet perfection of Joy's voice matches well with Amber's gorgeous tones and they are such a good team.

I could talk all day and night about how much I love Joy's music. Her voice is beyond soulful; it is beyond sweet; she is beyond talented. She writes and sings music that I would argue surpasses anyone in her league. The amount of times I have said "nobody in the WORLD sings like that!" when I've been listening to her music, whether it be alone in my little bedroom, driving in the car with other people, or the handful of times her music has featured on One Tree Hill. She has some amazing sixth sense for composition and somehow, knows exactly what to do and when to do it. One of the things I love most? She sounds exactly the same live as she does recorded. (Oh, how I wish I'd actually seen her live.. I have seen videos and heard tracks of live recordings). Her voice is as rich live as it is in tracks that she spends hours and hours recording.

Epic Records signed Bethany Joy to write and record an album and it was set to be released in 2006. Epic changed hands and they dropped her and will not release her songs to her. That is the biggest shame of all. I have heard (and have on my computer) some of the songs that would have been on that album and they are truly, truly amazing. Joy said openly that she was disappointed, but understood that this is just one of the loops she is to be thrown through; that God has a plan for everyone, and their work, and she would be patient and submissive to God's plan for her. I would be the one to go home and throw pity parties for myself that my hard work was being tied up in red tape, but she just gets up and writes even better music. The woman is not just a spectacular actress and musician. She's a graceful and talented woman of God who has shown herself to be able to withstand disappointment and adversity.

So, to the Everly collabo.



First of all, love the name. Don't know what it means, but it's gotta mean something good.

Their first EP, 'Mission Bell', is a 3 track production, and let me tell you: it is spectacular. It is phenomenal. It is not just exciting to listen to this. It is a blessing. It is a privilege.

Each song has such strength in the backdrop of what I have no doubt to be beautiful acoustic Gibson guitars (oh, could I want a single thing any more than I want one of those?), and I'm sure both girls would agree that their guitars have just as big a place in their songs as their voices do. That doesn't mean that they can't sing without their guitars, though. Joy is a great piano player also.

Song by song, this is what I think:

Home is me- you are mine: Recently, there has been a One Tree Hill collaboration with the US Marine Corps as part of a big story line on the show. Several musicians, Bethany Joy and Amber included, performed at a USO (United Service Organizations) show, both as themselves, and with Joy as her character Haley, and that episode airs this coming week. ANYWAY, Joy and Amber sang this song after making comments about supporting the troops (not necessarily supporting the war, just, the troops, because if anyone needs support, it's them, huh!?) and the lyrics of this song seem to be from the perspective of a wife at home while the husband is at war. It is a call-repeat type song, wherein Joy sings a line, and Amber follows with the same, or part of. It's gorgeous. It's honest. It reminds me of something much older than they are and it bares absolutely no resemblance to half the *stuff* that makes its way into the music world these days. It reminds me of something like "Down to the river to pray".. Very Alison Krauss-ish. It keeps a simple time and beat, but has a beating bass and guitar part, and a beautiful melodic line from a violin. Everything about this song screams (but oh-so-gracefully and melodically) "I miss the man I love, come home!!!!", and it's perfect.

Little Children: I really love 'Home is me, you are mine', but this one would probably have to be my favorite. Joy is the main voice. It starts of quietly and sort of 'western-esque'.. a little eerie, and makes one think it might be a slow and quiet ballad. You're waiting for someone to say 'this town ain't big enough for the two of us!' when Joy is singing about her battle with the devil, and then, all of a sudden, about a minute in, there's this massive "heck yeah!" moment, upbeat and jubilant, where the two girls join together and sing "I'm not going to my grave, I've got a lot to live for! I won't be rockin' in my faith, I've got a lot to hope for!". I'm entirely inspired by how perfect that sentiment is in contrast with the feeling before it. These two brilliant musicians are doing seemingly everything they can, musically, to demonstrate this honest, open, creative and graceful relationship they have with God. It's so admirable. It's not over the top or awkward in the same way that a lot of 'Praise and Worship' music can be. It 'sends a powerful message of hope, strength and triumph' (review by 'Samantha, CDbaby.com).

Stars: this track, equally moving, honest and heartfelt, is wonderful. I am a little partial to the others as Joy has the main voice, but, sheesh, that Amber Sweeney sure has a voice on her too. 'I will not be moved, 'cause I know who I am....I will listen for your voice, which calls me home'. It's honest. It's not much short of perfect and I love it; three short minutes of something that is so easy to listen to, so moving, so.... so.. ugh. It's like... if I had no idea what to say in an earnest prayer of 'help me, God!', this is where I'd start.

So, could I possibly say more? Yes. I could go on forever. You know on Australian Idol (which I can't stand anymore, but, anyway) when Mark Holden does the touch downs? There are several touchdown moments in each song and I am honestly overwhelmed and blown away.

Please, do yourself a favor and get this EP. If you use iTunes, search for Everly. It's there, it's around 5 dollars Australian and 3 dollars US. It is worth every cent and I would have paid 100 dollars to hear these songs just once. We (a collective we, my blogging friends) may have very different tastes in music, so, maybe you mightn't enjoy it, but, please, I would not have spent the past however long I've been writing this if I only had to convince myself.

CDbaby.com also has it. It's a top seller! The One Tree Hill fan base do a lot for BJG, there's no denying it. But, we love her! She's nothing short of spectacular.

And if you don't want to download it (what is wrong with you?), and would rather just listen, www.myspace.com/everlysong

That's my 5 dollars worth.

And it still blows me away...

(Please note that this is written after my wonderful Americans have left Launceston, and I'm feeling pretty crap about it. So, yay.)

(Later note: this was written about a week ago and I'm still bummed, if not more so. But, I'm okay. I just miss them heaps.)

So, on Tuesday (two weeks ago now), Missy, Casey and I went to Wineglass Bay. Of course, we took the REALLY REALLY long way (taking the first turn off going down the Midland Highway, going through Avoka, Fingal, St. Mary's, Bicheno, Coles Bay, and FINALLY Freycinet National Park. Goodness me.

Anyway, it was a beautiful drive down. When we arrived, it started to rain and it was SO windy. But, we'd driven so far and for so long that there was no way we weren't gonna do the hike.





We set off and hiked up the trail to Wineglass Bay Lookout. The walk was so gorgeous. It was a little difficult at times (so many stairs), but being the heightened pillar of extreme fitness that I am (hahaha), I powered on and made it up! :)



The view was spectacular at the top (the photos (courtesy of Missy, by the way), beautiful as they are, do not do justice to the real view), even if it was a little bit overcast. We stayed for a while and talked to some other tourists. We had a bit of an adventure around the rocks and trees and what not, took some photos, and then powered back down.





The walk up is pretty intense, because you need so much energy and leg strength to tackle the stairs. But going down, you're using a whole different set of muscles, trying to stop yourself from practically running down the hill! (Which could be an option if there weren't so many things to trip over) (Oh, I wish I could just delete this paragraph.. How I hate 'you' as a hypothetical pronoun. Anyway.)



So, there we are. I'm not corny very often, but, I really do miss those two. I am counting my blessings when I think about how lucky I am to have had them come into my boring little life in Launceston. They've definitely made this semester enjoyable. It was so lovely to have a little bit of the US in Tassie. I miss it. It really does ^blow me away^ (lyric courtesy of my absolute favourite musician Bethany Joy) how cool they are and how much fun we had together. Yay.

I'm going to Sydney on the 19th to see Casey before she heads home. I'll be up there for two and a half days. I'm really looking forward to going, but I'm definitely not looking forward to saying goodbye. She's the best. I am glad that I didn't have to say goodbye to Casey and Missy (the big goodbye, that is. I did take Casey to the airport a few weeks ago and was sorta sad but knew I'd see her again really soon) at the same time, because, that would have sucked, big time.

I hope no one is distraught that I've hardly blogged for the past few weeks. I was really on a roll there, but, my most recent exciting thing to blog about was going to Wineglass, and that was a little depressing once they left, even though we had a great day. Going to the Canton was also fantastic. Zoe and Mum were there about 25 minutes before us (we were late getting back from WGB) and were already into the wine, but that was probably a good thing, since Mum ended up being generous enough to pay for ALL OF IT (I have such a good mum). I had such a wonderful evening with my mum, my best friend, and my two favourite Americans. Life really can be very, very, very good.

Anyway. That's about it for tonight. I've gotta throw the recycling out the door and get to bed! :) Goodnight, and thanks for being patient!

xx.