The Highs & The Lows.

These last few months have been a rollercoaster, full of high highs and low lows.

I released my 3 song EP called "The Life EP" on October 27th and it took sooo much to get everything in order to make it happen! This is the 4th project I've released on my own and I really went for it this time (and still going after it for that matter!)

Here's some of the High's:

- With the help of my friends Sara Castro, My husband Brett and my friend Elizabeth Hosford, I've been able to make custom merchandise pieces that I LOVE like coffee mugs, Coloring Pages, T-shirts and Water color Hand Lettered Lyric Art!

-I've played many awesome paying gigs and have made some really great connections and friends through them! The paying gigs have paid for things like my Coffee + Jesus Owl Mugs and T-shirts and a recording of a new song that has a LOT of promise!

-At those shows I sold out of physical Copies of Out of the Woods and Songs for Healing! I'm hoping to get more printed of those 2 CD's soon! The songs on those CD's are some of the "musical meat" that I usually play in my live shows.

-I signed with an awesome Music Licensing company that finds music for TV and Film with a possible Commercial spot in Europe for Mom Life in the works!!

-I released 2 Music Videos: Mom Life, which went semi-viral with 340 shares and over 38.4k views and a bunch of comments about how people are resonating with the song! Let me tell you, THAT MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME to know people are resonating with something I have written! Especially something as honest as Mom Life.

I also released The Good Life on Thanksgiving day and it turned out SO beautiful. The scenery and imagery captured the song really well and I felt super happy to be able to release it on Thanksgiving.

-I wrote an amazing follow up song to Mom Life, Called "Thrive" recorded it & made a "day in the life" video of it. Still finishing that one up and it should be released in January! I think this is one of my favorite songs that I've ever written and it's really raw and captures an emotional snapshot of where I am in my mom life right now. I'm really trying to find the balance between Surviving and THRIVING. It's not easy most days, but I'm figuring out it's just a season and I can make it!

-I emailed at least 1000+ music contacts and mom bloggers and got a few emails back! I heard back instantly from a few bigger Mom Bloggers and some smaller ones that Featured the Mom Life Music Video. I heard back from 2-3 music bloggers. It's hard to break in to the music blogging scene because they hear from so many people in a day, so to hear anything back is a miracle!

-I won the opportunity to play Mom Life for a professional songwriter and Music Publisher in Nashville and they loved it! The feedback from that session, REALLY got me thinking about the way I write and how I want to move forward in this business.

-I've bumped into people literally in the grocery store, on Instagram, at church or just friends who have told me how my music has resonated with them and it reminds me why I'm doing this.

-I recently met a guy working at Guitar Center that is a Recording Student and offered to give me a 4 hour session in the studio FOR FREE! It happens to be near San Fransisco and I scheduled it for a time when we are going to be in San Fransisco for a family trip anyways! Such a Devine moment because I've been wanting to record a specific song and get a more professional vocal on Thrive, the new song I'm working on!

The Lows seem dumb compared to all the good happening, but I think they are worth sharing.

As a creative it's SO EASY to be a perfectionist and get upset when things don't happen just the way we planned them. SO many things did not go as planned with this project, but in a strange way I think it was good for me! I had to Trust God in a way I never would have if things just worked perfectly.

I had little to no budget to work with on this EP and the fact that it was fully funded along the way is a MIRACLE. I couldn't have made that happen, in fact I tried to make it happen on my own so many times and FAILED MISERABLY. Yet these seemingly random opportunities would present themselves RIGHT at the moment I had need of them. I KNOW that isn't an accident! Just because all that breakthrough happened, doesn't mean it was easy to walk through though. I cried A LOT. I prayed A LOT. I questioned A LOT.

I currently find myself in the place of "What's next?". I released everything, now what? I don't want the buzz from this project to die off. I still want to make a music video for 20 Years From Now. I feel like there are more opportunities, but I don't know what door to knock on...

I just heard Eric Johnson say this quote at my church that I thought was perfect for where I find myself..

"When God closes one door He opens another, but it can be Hell in the hallway."

I am in the hallway, knocking on doors. I'm not where I'm supposed to be yet and it gets discouraging knocking on doors with no answer, but I've gotta keep trying.

I get choked up every. single. time. I sing a line in my new song Thrive that says:

"These dreams in my head, they seem too big, but I cannot give up on them yet.."

I can't give up. I want to give up. The discouragement swallows me up sometimes.. But I know these songs aren't just for me to sing to myself, but that they were given to me to give out, to encourage others where they are at.

So I combat the voices that tell me to quit. It's not easy, but it's so good. My faith is growing everyday and songs swell up in my heart in these moments and I know all the pain and wrestling isn't the end of the story.

The thing I'm realizing right now is how much God is working behind the scenes on my behalf. I wasn't aware of it for a long time and I think it sort of made me stressed out and made me think I had to make it all happen on my own. I'm realizing I don't have to be SO STRESSED OUT because I'm working hard, praying harder and HE'S working it all out behind the scenes. I can't even tell you how many times I've been on the other side of an impossible situation and thinking, "WOW. HOW DID I GET HERE AND HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!?!" 

SO I'll TRUST even when I can't see. I won't let fear lead me, but FAITH. I'll Trust Him in the Highs and the Lows.

The Life EP Release Show 10/27/17

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 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..."

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.."

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!!

The Good Life - Behind the Scenes and Wrapping up The Life EP

We had so much fun shooting The Good Life music video with our friend Sergio Perez and his family! They have 3 girls that our kids love. They showed us their cute little chickens and we shared marshmallow's with them after we were done shooting the video. :)

Sergio took us to a REALLY gorgeous secret spot on his property that ended up being part of the scenery for the video. There is a big pond & I played my guitar out on the water on a really pretty white paddle boat. I was a little nervous that I would fall in the water with my guitar, but I did it gracefully without any typical "Heather moments". Haha!

We also made a little campfire and got some shots of Me and my husband and the kids eating marshmallows and snuggling in a quilt my great grandmother made.

A few days later we went to a creek and I made little origami boats that we raced and of course we got into a splash fight! We played for a while in the creek with Sergio's family and on a nearby playground! I love that they have become some of our good friends through this.

Me and my amazing husband also went back to the magical spot where we shot The Good Life music video to get some promo photos and also some Story Behind the Songs video. I'll be releasing those one at a time to hopefully keep some interest up!

Here's some sneak peeks of some of those photos:

I also got all the MASTER TRACKS for The Life EP from Jeremy Edwardson at Sound House Studios!!! It's been such a crazy, fun, hard, exciting journey!! I can't believe that it's almost done!!!


The next steps for The Life EP is:

-wrap up artwork for the EP (I've been sort of indecisive about it, but I think I've finally landed on my idea!)

-order physical copies of The Life EP

-Get it distributed online to iTunes, Spotify, Amazon & more

-Plan the EP Release show on October 27th (My Birthday!) at Fig Tree Coffee in Roseville, CA

-Get merchandise that is really unique and cool (I'm so excited about this!!)

-sending The Life EP out to all the media

-create a buzz (with the help of my amazing friends & fam!)

-create a timeline on how to release the videos, lyric posts, story behind the songs videos and more!

-Enjoy the process, because it's finally HERE!


I know there are SO many more things but these are the main things to do for now.

You should see me smiling right now. I'M LIVING THE DREAM I NEVER THOUGHT I'D GET TO DO.

I'm not saying it's been easy, but it feels so good to be on the other side of all of the doubt. I'm sure I'll doubt some more along the way, but I'm more sure now than when I first started! :)

Not to go too deep here but what is holding you back from your dream? No time? Kids? Fear? Doubt? Lack of self-confidence? Not feeling good enough? --- Can I just reassure you, you can do it DESPITE all of those things, I know this because I did. It might mean early mornings, late nights, LOTS of coffee, frustration, plans that don't go the way YOU plan, interruptions, doubting yourself 500 times, crying (lots of crying in my case), smiling in videos where you feel like everything is going wrong because your kids don't want to be in your video (OH that's just me haha), BUT it's worth the blood, sweat, broken plans, fake smiles & tears. You'll be stronger because of that grueling process and by the time you're supposed to do something bigger, you'll already be prepared for it. So don't let anything hold you back. Don't let your fears stop you because actually, they'll only make you better when you face them head on.

Behind the Scenes of the Mom Life Music Video & The Good Life Music Video

Behind the Scenes of the Mom Life Music Video & The Good Life Music Video

I Wrote "Mom Life" in a VERY hard mom season. Story was maybe 8 months old, not sleeping through the night, teething, very clingy, whiny and I was having a tough time with nursing and Trust was feeling like I wasn't giving him as much attention as Story and was majorly acting out. I was feeling very overwhelmed.

I felt like the only way I could get through some days was lots of Coffee and LOTS of "breath prayers" that were more like distress signals, saying "Jesus, HELP." I counted down the seconds until my husband got home so I could take a 10 minute break and decompress or just be by myself for 2 seconds, only to find a little kid in the doorway telling me about some deep theology about lego mini figures.

I snuck away one night and sat on the bed in my room with my guitar and the song "Mom Life" came out all in one moment! I honestly think it's one of the most clever songs I've ever written and it literally just flowed out of all the situations I currently found myself in.

About 2 years ago, after I had written the song, I had a dream about making "Mom Life" into a funny, heartwarming Music Video, to encourage other mom's walking through similar seasons. Something moms could relate to, find comfort from, laugh at and cry with..

SO, WE DID IT. I made that tiny dream into a reality with the help of Pete King, Joseph and Adam!

Here's a behind the scenes video of the day of shooting!


It wasn't all roses and butterflies. In proper Mom Life fashion, the kids were whiny, didn't want to do the scenes and I felt a little disheartened, wondering if it was going to work. Pete, Adam and Joseph hung in there with us and by the afternoon, things started to get better for me. I think I sort of let go at a certain point and was like "Well, it'll be an honest video about Mom Life!" haha!

I had a lot of fun getting to "act" in the video! I felt like it was something that I really enjoyed doing.

At about 4pm we shot some band shots with some friends from my church's kids worship team: Emily on bass, Paul on Electric, and my brother in law Jesse on the drums and Sister Amy on the Keys!

 I changed my look from PJ's to glam, dressed in a Lularoe outfit styled by my friend Ali Gattison! Check her out on FB: https://www.facebook.com/lularoealigattison She did such a great job finding something in my color palette!

My husband Brett did a GREAT job being extra support for the kids AND shooting behind the scenes footage on video and with his fancy camera! He's amazing! Here's some of the photos he captured:

The Life EP is being mixed and mastered as we speak! I am humbled that I got to work some music all-stars like Jeffrey Kunde, Andrew Jackson and Jeremy Edwardson at SoundHouse in Redding! I am chomping at the bit waiting to hear the final versions of the songs... Then the Mom Life Music Video can be edited by Pete, then released when the EP is officially out, HOPEFULLY at the end of October.

I am also about ready to shoot a video for "The Good Life" next week with my friend Sergio Perez! It'll be really simple and heartwarming with lots of shots of our family at sunset and around a campfire! I love that it's been my friends that have been the ones to help make these videos. It makes it much more special for sure.

I also got some REALLY COOL hand scripted lyrics from my friend Elizabeth Hosford to sell at my Merch Table! Check out her creations on Instagram at: http://www.instagram.com/choicearrowcreations

I'm working really hard to come up with some really fantastic, one of a kind Merch items and Bundles, I can't wait for you to see!!

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Standing in the Rain: The Life EP

This is an exciting follow up from my last blog post "Walking Toward the Rain"! It's a really cool story of FAITH. If you aren't into that sort of thing, just hang in there with me! You won't believe how this all plays out! 🙌

I have had a blast playing local shows & have had a really great response to my music which has been super encouraging. I've felt a stirring in my heart for a while that "Now is the time" to sort of pursue some of my dreams with my music, but it's hard & Scary to step out, you know?

To sort of set the stage I've gotta take you back a few months. 

I had the amazing privilege to attend the Jesus Culture conference in Sacramento with one of my friends in Ohio & God spoke SO MUCH through the speakers & the worship. They kept singing songs like "Fresh Outpouring" & "Let it rain" & I just opened up my hands to receive it! He gave me that picture of walking toward the rain (read last Blog) & I was ready to soak it up and stand in it!! I felt God sort of calling me out & giving me a fresh vision. Random People at the conference would come up to me and say things like "I feel like God is opening doors for your music" or "there is POWER on your music". I also felt like God was asking me "what do you want?" I sort of wrote out what I wanted to do with music & that I wanted my music to be heard, not on Christian Radio but everywhere. That He'd open doors for me to be able to encourage other artists & use my music to help people who are hurting & use my story to make an impact. I also got a verse in Isaiah 6 where God touches a coal on Isaiah's lips to anoint him to speak to the people God called him to. I felt like He was speaking that over me too! <---- This stuff seems so crazy right?! Who am I to dream this big or do this stuff?!?! Keep reading..

Fast forward a few months later, April 4th to be exact. Me and My husband went over to our friends house for a worship and prayer night & just as we were headed out the door, one of the guys there stoped the us in our tracks and says to everyone "hey everyone, this lady has an amazing gift for worship!!" Before I know it everyone is surrounding me and praying over me. Some really specific words were spoken over me that had to do with using my story to help others, restoring dreams I had when I was young pertaining to music & also that doors were opening & that people of influence would hear my music & that something big was going to happen in the next 60 days. So much more was spoken over me that was exactly what I had been hearing from the Lord & what I was about but they HAD NO CLUE. They didn't know me at all! That's how you know God is really speaking. <----- again though, I was thinking who am I that God would use me? I'm 30, I'm a stay at home mom, I don't know anyone here.. we'll see if all this really happens.. but a fire had lit in my heart. Hope was rising up!

I'm blessed to be in an amazing community of people who have encouraged me in this process! They have encouraged me to play music, invited me to lead worship at our city Group & prayed for me & championed me to not give up on my dreams! One of my good friends even took some promo photos for me to use for my music & I ended up writing a song for her project she is working on!! They called out things in me I didn't even know were in me! It gave me courage to try. 

I started dreaming again about a Project called The Life EP. It'd be all songs about my current stage of life, motherhood & marriage! I wrote out my concept, the songs I'd have on it & my dreams for it & started to get really excited, but I didn't really know any one who recorded here!

Well, I decided to just take a leap of faith & contact the ONLY recording studio that I knew of because a bunch of amazing artists at my church, Jesus Culture Sacramento record there. I got a reply back and found out it would be $50 an hour to record in the smaller studio (much more for the bigger one) & I got a little discouraged. I had maybe $150 in my music fund jar, and that would get me maybe a guitar track! Haha! BUT I remembered what God spoke to me & prayed as I was on a little walk with my family. My pastor Banning Liebscher gave a really good message one Sunday about asking God for specifics pertaining to what you need, so I asked. I laid out the amount I'd need & how I felt discouraged & didn't know what to do, but said I Trust you in the process & need your help. 

I came home & told my parents about the email & my prayer & they reminded me about some money that was coming in that was the exact amount I'd need to record the EP! I had an answered prayer that VERY NIGHT. 

I messaged the studio back & let them know I was good to go & they were so awesome working with me & with my budget! 

So, I am recording an EP. It's a miracle EP really. I can't even believe it's happening! Just as one of my friends said it's all happened within 60 days almost to the T!!

Jeffrey Kunde (amazingly talented guitarist for Jesus Culture)  is helping me with Preproduction & Jeremy Edwardson (pro producer/musician extraordinaire) is helping me record all the final vocals & instruments for a day up in Redding at Sound House Studios! & get this. I can record all the preproduction tracks in the comfort of my own home & won't have to worry about the kids!!  I was really worried about that as a stay at home mom! Every detail is just so perfect!
 
My dream for this EP is to get some of the songs licensed for TV & Film like I've done in the past with songs on MTV & Noggin! I'm also going to have it be sort of an introduction to the media & venues here in Sacramento to get to know me, since I'm new here. I'm also going to make a really fun/funny music video for my song "Mom Life" that I'm going to send to mom bloggers, mom conventions, mom YouTube folks & podcasters! Moms need so much encouragement, & I know the message will spread.

So here's to dreaming BIG & stepping out in faith! When it's God who is calling you, nothing will stop you! Seek out HIS will & don't be afraid when He calls you out! He wants you to use your specific story & gift to change the world. I want to be really vulnerable in this process, because none of us have it figured out! We need to know hey, if Heather can do it, we'll, maybe I can do it too! 😊