Posted June 6, 2013 at 2:43 am

Traveling, TED, Strep Throat etc

I am currently in Paris.

Yesterday I had crepes for breakfast.

Before that I was in Portugal, and I loved it. I would like to go back. I love the sound of the Portuguese language. It is soft, hard, romantic but unpretentious at the same time. It is cozy. French is beautiful, but it's difficult and twisty on the tongue. Italian – my first love – is open, honest and gorgeous like a sunlit cathedral. Of course there are many dialects of Italian, too. Portuguese is like cuddling under a blanket with a loved one, knowing that there are tasty things to eat in the kitchen and the day is stretching in front of you, lazy and welcoming.

I performed in London at the Elgin in Notting Hill. Unfortunately, my throat was not great, and I started coughing mid-set. I was not sure I could go on. Fortunately for me, I had my magic tea with me, the crowd was supportive and kind – and I went on to do all the songs, even the 'big' ones.

Missy Washington, aka i102fly, made me a special little something to wear for this show:

At this point, I am waiting until tomorrow to see how I feel and if I don't feel better, I'll go to a French doctor and probably end up on more antibiotics. Let's hope not. But I have rehearsing to do, and a TED performance next week – Tuesday.

Right now I am working with a French stage visual effects wizard Cyrille Brissot. He and I are going to TED together and we're preparing something special for my show there.

Posted May 15, 2013 at 12:45 pm

Heres to Life

I came upon this song recently and I loved it so much I decided to do a cover – but in a very different style than the original. However this interpretation by Shirley Horn is so incredibly touching because you can just hear her whole soul and life in the phrasing. Just listening to this song, I know I would have loved to meet her.

I just spent a few days in the snow, in the middle of nowhere, tiring myself out every day. If you have never tried cross country skiing, give it a try. It will work you to the bone but also give you a feeling of incredible peace. The cold, the effort and being in nature combine to cleanse you of everything you don't really need. It was a perfect ending to this year and an incredible jumpstart to my new athletic routine. I don't think there is one muscle in my body that has not been worked after the past week.

At some point, after a day of snowfall, we did an outing into the forest. Yes, there is a road here, in the picture, except it's not really there under all the snow. We were the first ones to make tracks.

Anyway, back to the song. Here are the lyrics below, and on this birthday I would like to say that my wish is to live my life in the spirit of this song. Life is crazy sometimes, it's unpredictable and oftentimes heartbreaking. But I will continue to persevere – and celebrate – life. What's more, I promise to be more cognizant of my own gifts, opportunities and blessings, as I go through the next year. That applies to people, as well…

And the most brilliant line of all: 'There's no yes in yesterday'. Indeed.

Here's to Life

No complaints and no regrets.
I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets.
But i have learned that all you give is all you get, so give it all you got.
I had my share, i drank my fill, and even though i’m satisfied i’m hungry still
To see what’s down another road, beyond a hill and do it all again.
So here’s to life and all the joy it brings.
Here’s to life the dreamers and their dreams.
Funny how the time just flies.
How love can turn from warm hellos to sad goodbyes
And leave you with the memories you’ve memorized
To keep your winters warm.
There’s no yes in yesterday.
And who knows what tomorrow brings or takes away.
As long as i’m still in the game i want to play
For laughs, for life, for love.
So here’s to life and all the joy it brings.
Here’s to life, the dreamers and their dreams.
May all your storms be weathered,
And all that’s good get better.
Here’s to life, here’s to love, here’s to you.
May all your storms be weathered,
And all that's good get better.
Here's to life, here's to love, here's to you.

Finally, in 2009, as I started this blog, I wrote a poem to myself, on my birthday. Here it is below. I re-read it every year to remind myself how far I have come, even when it doesn't feel that way. I also re-read it to refresh my own inner map. Our inner countries may not change greatly, but as we travel our internal landscapes we may find shortcuts, scenic routes or shelter we never knew were there when we started.

Message in a Bottle.

I write this message

to the future me.

Right now I am standing still

if only for a moment

but the dawn is breaking

and the ship shall sail soon.

Hills and valleys behind me

memories, choices and

accidental encounters;

all that has faded.

I write this poem

for you, dear strange girl.

For you are more special

and loved

than you have allowed yourself to be.

But if you are, indeed

the future me

then you already know this.

You have opened your heart

to the shimmering wall of water;

the endless sky of possibility

and forgiveness

for such as myself

who belongs to yesterday.

Armed with imagination,

faith, music

and a treasure map

I light a candle for you,

then put down the guilt,

fear, shame and uncertainty.

Let them stay here;

you deserve to be new

I have fought for you

and now I can rest.

Be free and weightless

be kind, joyful and true.

Believe in magic

trust yourself

love completely.

The ship has sailed

I am standing on the dock, waving.

Happy birthday.

Posted May 15, 2013 at 12:43 pm

Work, work, work, work – play, play, play, play.

I really must stop neglecting this blog. Here, I said it: this is my new resolution. I think, however, this happens because I post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, as well, so sometimes I forget. It is no excuse, however, because in writing longer passages that are not mere impressions or soundbytes, I seem to find a rhythm of a kind and make sense of things that happened over time.

March was a bit of a whirlwind. I performed my first show in Moscow on March 8th, at Oldich, which is a lovely venue. It was sold out and the audience was warm and welcoming. I can't wait to go back and also release my Russian language collection of songs, which I have also been working on. Here is a little video the venue put together:

Elizaveta @ Oldich Dress & Drink from Elizaveta on Vimeo.

At the moment I am a bit tired after a rehearsal, so I will fulfill my writing promise tomorrow. I am performing this Wednesday and really looking forward to it. Tomorrow I get to wake up early and keep on working…

But I do have something to share with you first, and below is my Newsletter I just sent out today:

greetings my darlings – this is one packed email, so please read carefully!

***

I. I have been hard at work on the new record, which will come to you in two EPs. I have been producing a lot of these songs, which is a brand new thing for me – both nerve-wrecking and incredibly fulfilling.

I need your help! One of the songs is called HERO. It is very special to me in this whole group of new songs and will definitely be a single, maybe even the first one. It also features a large choir at the end, of people who are all singing in unison. Since I can't really afford to record the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and I would love these to be REAL people, not software, here is my idea: why don't YOU sing on it – and be in my video?

Let's do this and make one giant choir!

So here are the details:

1) Email us at team@elizaveta.net with CHOIR in the subject line: we are already compling a list of people who are interested and in about a week will send out the email with all the information you may need.

2) FAQ: you don't have to be an amazing singer. You don't have to be in my area: you could be in Russia, Siberia or France. You DO have to record yourself with your computer or smartphone singing the short & simple melody (that we will provide to you) and email it to us. You can sing by yourself or with your child, aunt, friends – the more the merrier! Even better: videotape yourselves singing and upload it to YouTube, send me a link, and you will get a cameo in the HERO crowdsourced video.

3) What will happen: We will take all these recordings, mix them together and: hooray! We have a huge choir for my song:) IMPORTANT: I can't pay you for your time or effort. But I will thank you personally on camera, add your names to the album liner notes, and host a special Google + chat for the participants only + send you a handwritten card.

II. I am performing next Wednesday, April 10 here, in LA, at the Witzend.We will be filming it for my live EPK and will need your lovely faces there! I will perform HERO for the first time, have the audience join in on the song and record it, too! So in a way, if you are at my show this coming Wednesday, you are ALREADY in my choir – how amazing is that?:)

Also, I will be joined by the amazing Michael Valerio on bass, Jimmy Paxson (who featured in my Capitol Sessions) on drums/percussion and Ben Cassorla on guitar. My new Flower Alchemist guitar (made by James Trussart, in the photo above) will be making an appearance, as well.

You are advised to purchase tickets now because it will sell out, so do it HERE. It is all ages & $10 to get in. There will be some kids there, so don't hesitate to bring yours!

However: If you are elsewhere and can't attend, join us in a Google+ Hangout! Make sure you sign up/add me on Google+ HERE or show up at the link in real time. We will launch a public Google+ Hangout just before the show starts, I will say hi and then you can catch some of the music! This is the first of many Google+Hangouts to follow, so make sure you are in my Circle;)

III. Finally: I wanted to share with you that I have parted ways with my record label Universal Republic. I am utterly and forever grateful to them for making Beatrix Runs happen and the last two years were amazing. But – I believe that the future belongs to a different model, and I am already half-way there. I have many, many songs to share with you in the coming weeks and months, and being an independent artist is the right thing for me at this time.

Thank you for sharing this road with me. I love you.

PS: my new Flower Alchemist guitar, made by James Trussart

Posted May 14, 2013 at 11:41 am

new song lyrics

So what a couple of weeks! Video shoots, raging strep throat and more. All meriting another entry in a moment… Why didn't I blog while in bed? Good question. Maybe because I was so miserable all I could do was watch BBC crime series. And so this means I owe my blog lots of attention…again.

For now, happy to say this song below will make it on the 2 EPs out in the coming few months. It feels right.

Love Song #3.

You are so bad for me

But I love you tenderly

I couldn’t bear the thought

That you may go

But you are a faceless wall

Sometimes you’re a carnival

And if you swallow me whole

I need to know

Is it addiction that feeds me

Is it affection that binds me

It takes so little to cure me

Why did you have to remind me

That you are so good to me

When I hate you bitterly

You rise above, fill me with love

Until I choke

You are the Christmas day

You laugh my rage away

You’re always right

So why do I fight

And try to provoke

Is it addiction that feeds me

Is it affection that binds me

It took so long to convince me

That you were destined to find me

(instrumental/vocal bridge)

You see the best in me

You love my honesty

You never stop

And you pick me up

When I am low

But this is a travesty

Cause you don’t mean a damn to me

I want to care

But it’s just not there

And you gotta know

It’s the addiction that feeds me

You are the habit that binds me

You’ve given all just to please me

Now you should learn to despise me

Now you should learn to despise me…

Posted May 14, 2013 at 3:16 am

So You Think You Can Dance, Strep, Dragons, Dreamer Kids and Journeys

How is that for a blog entry title?

Anyway, just a few minutes ago I got an email that my song 'Meant' will be featured on tonight's season premiere episode of So You Think You Can Dance. Wow! I will have to watch! Very excited. Over the past year I have received so many emails from people who used 'Dreamer' as their dance song – for recitals, flag routines – you name it. I do like that show a lot. Every time I have watched it I have walked away with a firm decision to take up dancing again. Er….OK, soon.

Unfortunately no celebratory glass of wine for me tonight. I have been sick with strep throat. Let me tell you: don't get it. I don't know how I picked it up, but chances are it was at the elementary school where we did our first Dreamer to Hero Art & Music Workshop a week and a half ago.

The workshop was done as a collaboration with my designer and art partner in crime Missy Washington of i102fly – she did the art portion of the event, while I did – guess? – the musical part of it, obviously. The kids were 8-9 years old and there were about 20 of them.

Halfway through the workshop I recorded the kids singing a part for my new song HERO. Yes, the one with the choir at the end. After that, Missy led them in an arts and crafts endevour.

Let me tell you: who needs high end gadgets or materials? She brought supplies from a Re-Use outlet and we made Superhero Machines from cardboard, discarded plastic, CDs, old packaging and other bits and pieces. The idea was to show them that sometimes even though you don't have the ultimate raw material/situation/resources to work with, you can still come out on top, be creative and come up with something amazing – and that applies to everything in life, in my opinion. The kids made some really incredible things and it was really inspiring to watch them.

We had a brilliant time and I can't wait to do it again. It was also filmed (by my friend Julien Lasseur), so in the next week or so we will post the video summary of the event.

Here is myself, two young Dreamers and Missy of i102fly.

A good time was had by all.

Speaking of the Choir for HERO: a huge thank you to all who submitted their recordings and videos. We had plenty recordings and the choir is sounding great! We may still ask fans for more videos, but we may be ok, too, we'll have to cut to song and see what happens. The best part about it is that for the first time I have engaged my fans in something active and something collaborative. It generated so much positive energy – I am definitely doing to do this again.

Later that week we also shot a little video for the acoustic version of a new song called Dragonslayer. The song is in the electronica genre and one of the ones I have been producing myself recently. I am pretty proud of it. The acoustic version works really well, too. Here is a still from the shoot:

So now there are all sorts of videos in the pipeline.

However it was that weekend that I got very sick. I tried my best to stay off the antibiotics, but it turned out that I had strep throat, and it was rather virulent. It was so bad that I felt a slight sore throat Sunday morning and by Sunday night I had no voice whatsoever.

I did all my natural remedies, as usual and they helped a lot – but after a week in bed I was still in pretty bad shape. As much as I try to avoid medication (due to a very negative experience in the past I may speak about here later sometime) I had to give in and take one because now it's less than two weeks before I leave for Europe – my London show is on the 30th – and then Paris – and then TED Global. There's lots to do and I can't just keep riding this infection out.

Fortunately the antibiotic seems to be doing its job and I am better, except for a nasty cough that comes and goes, so no singing for another few days.

And now back to work.

Here is also a photo from my photoshoot with Belathee Photography a couple of weeks ago. Those girls are so good! And so fun to be around! Can't wait to work with them again.