I wanted to write a little recap of The Life EP Release Show that happened on my Birthday October 27th!
The day of the show was a WHIRLWIND.
I prepped like crazy ahead of time to make sure everything was ready. From the order of the Show, to Set Lists (I played 3 mini sets!), to the photo booth props, to making sure the video stuff ran well (projector, screen, videos from directors and more), to merch set up, to marketing on social media, to printing flyers, printing business cards and the cute little coloring pages for the kids! And SO much more.
It was QUITE the undertaking, on top of doing mom life and just LIFE in general! The day of the show I felt that sick, tingling feeling in my nose and I was like "REALLY?! TODAY OF ALL DAYS?!" I persisted and took cold meds, nose spray, tea and tried to take it easy on my voice. Me and Jesse ran through our set lists that afternoon and I felt like, "hey I can do this!" I got my makeup on, dressed up in my Lularoe dress from The Good Life music video and Brett packed up 2 cars full of sound equipment, merchandise and decorations.
I felt that nervous feeling building in my stomach like "Can I pull this off to the extent that I planned?! Will people even come?!?!" I REALLY wanted it to go how I envisioned it, but it's never guaranteed with an event like this, so I just kept moving, and pushed the thought away.
I tell you all of this to REALLY show the behind the scenes of something like this! The show is just the tip of the iceberg. It takes a ton of prep and planning to make a show like this run "Successfully"!
Here was my order for the Show. My Mom hosted which was really fun to bring someone else in (instead of just me) to guide the show. My mom also ran the merch table, Brett did the video stuff, Marco ran sound and my sister Amy watched my kiddos! It was a team effort for sure.
***Order of Show***
*Heather Introduce Kevin*
-Kevin Schlereth
-VIDEO (Story about The Life EP)
-Heather plays 3 songs
-MOM LIFE MUSIC VIDEO
-Q&A VIDEO with Pete
-BAND plays The Life EP
-THE GOOD LIFE MUSIC VIDEO
***ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF RAFFLE***
-Introduce Heather and Jesse
-Heather and Jesse Play
(LOOP VIDEO’S at the end or Photos..)
We Set up The Fig Tree for the show. We hung vintage lights behind us, set up a photo booth area, set up a really fun merch area, rearranged chairs and even set up a coloring area for the kids! I did all I could do to make the show awesome and I prayed people would come. I felt like the night wasn't going to just be about me (I kind of hate things being about me anyways!), but for someone else who had dreams in their heart that they didn't know how they were going to do it and I'd be able to speak into that dream and help it grow through my story. I was really expectant of what was going to happen!
As it got closer to show time, the Cafe started filling up with all of the faces of people who had spoken into my dream and the people I'd met along the way! My fear turned quickly to JOY and Gratefulness seeing their faces!
My Touring Friend Kevin Schlereth along with his back up singer Jay and Kevin's family were also in town and opened the show! It was THE BEST having him there. He has been really encouraging to me over the years with my music journey and is also an incredible performer!
Then I played Awaken Me, a song that literally WOKE me up from the season of Depression I was in after losing our first baby. I added a part at the end that says "It's time to live, it's time to dream, it's time to lift up your weary head, time to lift up your weary head.." and as I sang it, I felt like there were people sitting in the room who had dreams in their heart that this song was for! Like God was waking them up! I sort of spoke out to those people I felt like it was for in the moment and felt VERY moved emotionally as I flowed into the song Ordinary that says "She thinks she's ordinary but I think she could change the world, change the world." Not only did that line move me again, I saw it moving others as well! I looked out and met eyes with specific people I felt like the song was for and KNEW it wasn't just a song for me, but a call for others too!
THIS is why I LOVE doing music. I get so insecure preparing for something, but at the end of the day, it's NOT ABOUT ME. It's really about making those heart connections with people through the music. When I just SING and let go of all my control, fear and doubt, that's when the breakthrough comes!
Next, we did the Premiere of the Mom Life Music Video and it was a blast to see everyones reactions! From laughing, to nodding in agreement with the video, to happy crying at the ending! I'm so glad I was able to share it with my close friends and family first! Pete King my buddy who directed it even sent a little Q and A video we showed after the music video too. Here's the Mom Life music video if you haven't seen it yet:
Next I played with a mini band the songs on The Life EP! Aaron was on Bass, Jesse was on the Drums, Hayane was on the Violin and of course I sang and played Acoustic Guitar. IT WAS SOOOOO FUN playing with a band! It definitely gave the songs a fuller sound and we had a lot of fun practicing for the show as well. Grateful they agreed to play with me! My favorite part of the band set was when everyone sang along at the end of The Good Life!! "This is our life, this is our life, we're living the good life.."
The day of the show was a WHIRLWIND.
I prepped like crazy ahead of time to make sure everything was ready. From the order of the Show, to Set Lists (I played 3 mini sets!), to the photo booth props, to making sure the video stuff ran well (projector, screen, videos from directors and more), to merch set up, to marketing on social media, to printing flyers, printing business cards and the cute little coloring pages for the kids! And SO much more.
It was QUITE the undertaking, on top of doing mom life and just LIFE in general! The day of the show I felt that sick, tingling feeling in my nose and I was like "REALLY?! TODAY OF ALL DAYS?!" I persisted and took cold meds, nose spray, tea and tried to take it easy on my voice. Me and Jesse ran through our set lists that afternoon and I felt like, "hey I can do this!" I got my makeup on, dressed up in my Lularoe dress from The Good Life music video and Brett packed up 2 cars full of sound equipment, merchandise and decorations.
I felt that nervous feeling building in my stomach like "Can I pull this off to the extent that I planned?! Will people even come?!?!" I REALLY wanted it to go how I envisioned it, but it's never guaranteed with an event like this, so I just kept moving, and pushed the thought away.
I tell you all of this to REALLY show the behind the scenes of something like this! The show is just the tip of the iceberg. It takes a ton of prep and planning to make a show like this run "Successfully"!
Here was my order for the Show. My Mom hosted which was really fun to bring someone else in (instead of just me) to guide the show. My mom also ran the merch table, Brett did the video stuff, Marco ran sound and my sister Amy watched my kiddos! It was a team effort for sure.
***Order of Show***
*Heather Introduce Kevin*
-Kevin Schlereth
-VIDEO (Story about The Life EP)
-Heather plays 3 songs
-MOM LIFE MUSIC VIDEO
-Q&A VIDEO with Pete
-BAND plays The Life EP
-THE GOOD LIFE MUSIC VIDEO
***ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF RAFFLE***
-Introduce Heather and Jesse
-Heather and Jesse Play
(LOOP VIDEO’S at the end or Photos..)
We Set up The Fig Tree for the show. We hung vintage lights behind us, set up a photo booth area, set up a really fun merch area, rearranged chairs and even set up a coloring area for the kids! I did all I could do to make the show awesome and I prayed people would come. I felt like the night wasn't going to just be about me (I kind of hate things being about me anyways!), but for someone else who had dreams in their heart that they didn't know how they were going to do it and I'd be able to speak into that dream and help it grow through my story. I was really expectant of what was going to happen!
As it got closer to show time, the Cafe started filling up with all of the faces of people who had spoken into my dream and the people I'd met along the way! My fear turned quickly to JOY and Gratefulness seeing their faces!
Then Me and Jesse played 3 songs, that sort of took me off guard on how emotional I felt singing those old songs! I think because they were songs that LED to where I am today. I wrote them coming "out of the woods" of depression during a really rough season after losing our 1st baby, then also after having a nightmare pregnancy, delivery and recovery with Trust. I felt like I'd never be well enough to play music again and these songs came out of that time.
I played the Wall 1st with Jesse on Drums and Hayane on Violin, and it says "You come tell me 'have faith in what you can't see', when I'm too focused on the things that try to break me, and you come sweetly, and I'm so humbled, oh God you love me, you bring life back to these Eyes..."
Next, we did the Premiere of the Mom Life Music Video and it was a blast to see everyones reactions! From laughing, to nodding in agreement with the video, to happy crying at the ending! I'm so glad I was able to share it with my close friends and family first! Pete King my buddy who directed it even sent a little Q and A video we showed after the music video too. Here's the Mom Life music video if you haven't seen it yet:
Next I played with a mini band the songs on The Life EP! Aaron was on Bass, Jesse was on the Drums, Hayane was on the Violin and of course I sang and played Acoustic Guitar. IT WAS SOOOOO FUN playing with a band! It definitely gave the songs a fuller sound and we had a lot of fun practicing for the show as well. Grateful they agreed to play with me! My favorite part of the band set was when everyone sang along at the end of The Good Life!! "This is our life, this is our life, we're living the good life.."
After the band section of the night, we Premiered The Good Life music video! It'll Officially be released in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout for it!
My Mom did a great job hosting the night and we had a fun raffle for some merch! She also ran my Merch Table and made it pretty :)
Me and Jesse Finished out the night with some songs that were a blast from the past like "The Driving Song", "Over You" and some new songs about turning 30, "This is my Time" and "Be Patient with Me"
I felt so LOVED that night! I'm so grateful for each person that came and all the people that encouraged me along this journey! I know that this release is only the beginning and I can't wait to see what happens next!!
Be sure to follow along on all my social media to see what I'm up to and check out The Life EP on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and more!!
