Vicki Vann In The Spotlight: Wow! I'm screaming here......!

Vicki Vann In The Spotlight: Wow! I'm screaming here......!: I wrote a brand new song last night, and I can't wait to share it with you!!!! I just needed to go there....songwriting.....right here, rig...

Wow! I'm screaming here......!

I wrote a brand new song last night, and I can't wait to share it with you!!!!  I just needed to go there....songwriting.....right here, right now.  I'm in between albums, currently promoting my most recent release "Reckless Heart".  But I am also in the process of releasing my first two albums officially, "Vicki Vann", which was my self-titled debut album recorded in 2002 independently and has no official release date yet, and "Dream Catcher", my sophomore album from 2005 also having no official release date, until now....hahaha!  I'm soooooooooo excited!  I added 7 brand new, never heard before, tracks to my "Dream Catcher" album, one of which is an original song I wrote while I was still in college!!  My debut album "Vicki Vann" includes a Patsy Cline cover which was one of my very first recordings ever, along with an acoustic track of only guitar and vocals recorded back when I was 17!!  Yikes!  We're talking high school here folks! LOL!  So you have to be SURE and hear some if not all of these songs coming soon, from me to you......why.......?  BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, That's why! ♥ 

Eventually I'll have enough songs that I've written for a complete album or EP, but for now I'm quite content because I have some amazing songs that I have the honor of recording that were written by some of the heaviest of the heaviest hitters in the industry.  Gosh....!! They're just so good, so well written, so much so that I believe we're a match made in heaven.  Everything and every song happens for a reason, and I'm doing my very best to "live" these songs for you so I can deliver them to you, along with my heart and soul, on a silver platter:))  Whew! Oh, I do hope you like!!:)) 

Promotion and Production Mode

It's all about promoting the record right now.  The album is doing well, although it could be doing better but I'm happy with it and how the fans are responding to it so far.  The love affair is still greater in Europe and in Ireland particularly.  This came as a bit of a surprise to me but I welcome it with open arms, and although it's not the land where I was born...I'll take it! Thank you all!!  Most of the promotion includes a mere introduction of my music and the intent to get booked for shows in the coming year.  Fortunately I have my little team of soldiers helping me with that and they all know who they are, but I'm very grateful to all of them.  It does in fact...."Take a village".....and my little village is always hard at work on my behalf!  In addition to getting booked we're hooking up the band with introductions, auditions, and rehearsals.  It's always awkward at first but that all quickly goes away once "the jam" starts.  It's exciting to be able to hand pick the players you want to stand on stage beside you.  So far, that process is going well.  All this at the same time as making "The Video" too.  This will be my first official music video and all I can say is, "Wow!"  I had no idea how much went into the production of a real music video!  I'm in one accord with the entire process from start to finish....How cool is that!  It's incredible to see your idea, your art, your gift, your Baby take on a life of it's own!  It's incredibly empowering and liberating.  I just have a feeling that once I get started, making music videos that is, there will be absolutely no stopping me after that!  I must admit however, I'm a little tired physically and mentally from the day to day process and I haven't even left for the tour yet! Whew!  I know I can do it though....you see, my help and my strength both come from up above.  Amen.
In closing, I'll share with you these chosen words of my inspiration....'Father, thank You for all You have given me, for all You have taught me, and for all the good times still to come.  Amen.'
~ta ta.....until next time,

V V

Thankful and grateful for today! ♥

I grew up with two very strict parents.  I received from my Baptist preacher father strict guide lines such as never allowing me to wear pants or date until I was eighteen (although I talked him into letting me go to the prom with a friend when I was only 15 and my friend was 18.  This is where I learned my persuasive skills.  I also learned how to be a very good actress too, haha! My daddy knew I loved him.  I idolized him.  I just had to do what I had to do, to get what I wanted to get, LOL).  At any rate, I still have issues wearing jeans to this day because I feel it somehow dishonors my dad!  Also daddy said it was imperative that I sing in the church choir and study piano, and from my fashion model, gorgeous mother I received all the class and etiquette training of walking, talking, standing, and sitting properly, along with Beauty 101 on all fronts, but on both their efforts the universal gift that they gave me was the gift of gratitude..... and the mere expression of it.  It was something in my household that went along with brushing your teeth or having a sandwich.  It was just a daily occurrence that was practiced right along with prayer before meals, and prayers before bedtime.  However, this gift of gratitude stuck.  It stuck with me as a core part of my life.  It has remained with me and I must practice it daily right along with prayer and meditation in order for me to feel my life is purposeful and in existence.  In other words, it makes me feel alive to be appreciative.  So at this time, right here and now, I wish to enthusiastically and wholeheartedly extend a very, very special thank you:

As I sit here and blog while listening to songs that I plan to record for my next record, and yes, I'm beginning to plan the next record even though my last record was just released 8 weeks ago yesterday, I have to stop and reflect upon the events of the past few days.  I am so thankful and grateful to The Senior Vice President of The Grace Bardin Collection, USA Division, Robin Richey, and to the owner of The Grace Bardin Fashion Ensemble based in London, UK, the very lovely and talented Grace Bardin for choosing me to be the spokesmodel and representative for the clothing line here in The United States!  I am so very honored and I eagerly look forward to all our future endeavors together.  I thank our Heavenly Father for sending you to me.  I feel He has already Blessed our project(s), and anything beyond this point is just more of His abundant favor that He has waiting for us.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart! ♥ 
Now, let's get to work!  Haha!  I have a million ideas for the clothing line, and working it into my photo shoots, stage performances around the world, and the upcoming videos that we're working on!  Wow!!  Can you say....umm....'Elated!'...but only for lack of a better word.  However still, 'thankful, and grateful'.
I can't wait to share with you the first official piece that we unveil from this partnership to show the world....'We're comin' atcha!  Look out!!
Oh please do stay tuned...and check back.  I wouldn't want you to dare miss it!!

~ta ta.....until next time,

V V

Viva My Beloved July!

I've always loved the month of July!  It's my birthday month, yay, yay yeah, and it's the birthday of my beloved country, and I do love my country!  I fly the USA flag proudly outside my front door throughout the year at different times, but I continuously fly the flag from the end of May for Memorial Day throughout June for flag day and throughout my beloved July of course for Independence Day on the 4th, and my birthday on the 14th.  Two weeks into July I also like to fly the French flag for France because my birthday which is the 14th of July, is Independence Day in France, or as it is known, Bastille Day, or The Day of The Bastille, le 14 Juillet.  Fireworks go off in Paris and the beautiful Eiffel Tower lights up in a spectacular red white and blue display.  It's breathtaking!  Also, the French flag is symbolic of tracing my family tree back to France, circa 1600, at which time my paternal family originated by my family name Turnbach, which eventually came to be spelled Turnbough, and also at which time began the emigration here to North America. Thanks Ancestry.com!  LOL.  You see, once a teacher, always a teacher...yep, that's me!  Haha!  At any rate, I do enjoy celebrating it all and I like to go about the house singing all my favorite French songs like "La Vie En Rose", and "C'est Si Bon" along with Céline Dion's "Vole".

As for my birthday plans, well I'm so crazy busy right now, but I know I'll probably go to one of my favorite restaurants here locally, Roy's Restaurant which is Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine, 'Aloha and Mahalo to you'.  I'm looking forward to eating there, and I'm really looking forward to my birthday celebration with friends and family!  I'm going to make a point of it this week, my birthday week, to practice being "STRONG, LOVING, AND POWERFUL; and my subconscious will expand to include these things in my attitudinal repertoire  - Marianne Williamson.
More about my birthday celebration later.....:)) Joyeux anniversaire à moi!

~ta ta....until next time,

V V

CD Release: Done!! Happy girl!

So, I know I'm not supposed to brag, but I just can't help feeling so proud, so happy, and so good about my latest project!  My brand new CD was released earlier this week!  It was released right smack in the middle of the CMA Fest (will always be Fan Fair to me, LOL).  The annual Country Music Association Festival (CMA) is the busiest time in Nashville, Music City, USA all year bar none!!!   How about these two events kicking off at the very same time:  CMA Fest 2011 underway, Tuesday, June 7, 2011....and the VICKI VANN BRAND NEW CD RELEASE "RECKLESS HEART" out on iTunes also on Tuesday, June 7, 2011.  Not bad huh? LOL.  I have to say I am still so very pleased at such an opportunity as this.  This is my dream come true! It's so very fulfilling!!  It's like I'm walking on air or something.  The day my record came out it was sort of like it could have easily been like having a wedding day, or having a baby, my college graduation day, walking along the beautiful Seine River in Paris, walking the Red Carpet, or singing on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time to a packed house, but the funny thing is, I thought I had much to do while recording, singing, writing, producing, etc. but I had no idea how much work was intended for me now that we are in full swing of an international, worldwide marketing/promotional campaign!  Sheeeezzzz!  I barely have time to run the vacuum, empty the dishwasher, water my plants, and feed my "always so, so very hungry" cats! LOL!  It seems as though I'm going at 95 miles an hour from the time I open my eyes in the morning until I lay my head on my pillow at night, or actually in the morning because I usually get to sleep at around 3:00 a.m. HOWEVER, it's all good! I couldn't be happier, or busier, and I think that this is only the beginning.  I do find time to eat a morsel or two of food here and there and I usually only drink water which fuels me...except for my occasional glass of Merlot which is a divine treat with dinner oftentimes.  Awww:))  But the one thing that I always, always make time for, always find time for, always squeeze in no matter how rushed and flushed I am....is PRAYER!  Yes, prayer and meditation.  To put it simply, these (and I'll now refer to them as one) are my saving grace.  It is my meditation that gets me through the morning or while I'm stepping out of the shower to hurry off to get to a meeting or an event.  It is the conversation in my head during yoga class or during a photo shoot.  It's the very first thing my brain focuses on in the morning and it's the very last as I drift off to slumber sweet land!  Oh how could I ever function without it!?  It's my rock!  It's my everything!  It's the one thing that I know will never betray me or leave me lonely.  I'll always carry it with me no matter how fast or how far I may travel, and I don't need a carry on because it's only as heavy as my heart, LOL.  Haha!  You see, I told you I was feeling proud, happy, and good!!  Why not head on over to iTunes, or go to my website www.vickivann.com and listen to my music.  Share in my special joy with me.  Download it if you like and please let me know your comments.  Send them to me:))
I wish you happy times too....mostly I wish you joy and some of what I have.  Try carrying it around with you. It will envelope you and keep you warm like no other blanket can.
Hugs!!
~ta  ta.....until next time,

V V

Record, Done (CHECK!)

Just last night I finished all the vocals for my new record!  Finally!!  I can't believe it actually happened!  This record has been a real beast, or I'm just impatient!  I love it, don't get me wrong please, but there were several road blocks that came up with this one that I just wasn't expecting.  I had hoped, planned, posted, and tweeted that my record was going to be ready last summer in 2010, which here we are right now at what is soon to be approximately one year later now that we're in May, 2011.  Well last summer came and went, and so did fall and winter!  Boom!  I blinked and it was a brand new year, or so it seemed:))  I do believe that this may all have been a lesson learned for me, and the lesson was, and still is: that WE SHOULDN'T MAKE PLANS!  Haha!  Hehe!!  I think I figured it out.....what God may have been trying to teach me.  I found that whenever we do make our plans, we're setting ourselves up for a 'Plan B diversion' every time! LOL!   

I am very proud and quite pleased with the record right now at this point.  However I didn't arrive here at this place without much thought process and contemplation on my part.  I chose songs, and I changed my mind about songs.  I wrote songs and I learned and re learned songs along with the process of practicing several songs from a standpoint of performing them "live".  Even after working with my band leader I had figured some of the keys wrong but I am a total believer of what one of my vocal instructors taught me that I've never forgotten...."a singer can sing any song, as long as it's in the right key."  Recording in the studio is quite a different performance altogether from singing "live" with respect to key and tempo among other things.  I did go back into the studio after everything was all complete or so I thought, but I went into my own home studio that I built where I can always be in complete control of my surroundings (which is the way I like it) and I started all over and re recorded my vocals again!  My producer thinks I'm completely nuts most of the time...LOL!   It was all a roller coaster ride and a labor of love, and now my baby, my record, is finally about to be revealed.  She's ready to be born!  I think the process of making a record, for me anyway, is full of excitement, stress, passion, creativity, cognitive overload, many late nights with bad food followed by upset stomaches, falling asleep in the salon while I get my hair blown dry or on my yoga mat during extended child's pose because I'm just so damn tired, and ultimately it's all an expression of love with a simplicity component attached that is difficult to articulate to say the least.  I'll just say.....'I do it because it's what I am SUPPOSED to be doing for my contribution to the planet'.  That 'my Dears', is a fact.
♥
Will definitely keep you posted, haha, literally as to the release date!!
~ta ta....until next time,
V V    

May Day!

Happy May Day!!  It's the 1st of May and it's full on Spring!  It's such a gorgeous, beautiful day......(I sound exactly like my mother, sheesh!  Hahaha) but it really is fantastic today!  I really am so proud to be living in California, and to be a California native and sing country music.....well......that's just a rarity!  Well, haha, there's Merle ("The Hagg") Haggard!  'Hey Merle......How ya doin' bro?'  He's my California native, country, outlaw brother......My brother from another mother! Hehe!:))  I love Merle Haggard!
Like I said it is an awesome day, about 82 degrees, and breezy.  I'm feeling a connection to my Italian self lately. I went to the Italian market (Claro's), and nearly lost my mind in the midst of all the fresh prosciutto sliced right in front of me, the fresh warm bread, anchovies, olive oil, tomatoes, cannolis, éclairs (although French), the pastas, cheese, and the list is so, so long.  I could go on and on!  It reminded me of being back in New York City in Little Italy!!  I'll save that for another blog post, on another day.  However....I decided to make my first ever Limoncello!  Wahoo!  I got all the lemons, peeled & soaked, now I'm just waiting for the fantastic results!  In about 3 weeks I'll have ice cold Limoncello to drink for after dinner, pool side, with the sound of the waterfall, giant white candles by the fire pit, and the scent of the cool California night air.  Hmmmm.....magical!  I had some lemons left over so I whipped up a lemon pound cake made with fresh thyme and a vanilla bean light frosting that is so delicious to eat for dessert!!!  I can barely stand it!  I have this love affair with lemons and they just happen to grow so freely here in Southern California without much fuss if any on my part.  I just love throwing them in various recipes and squeezing them into my tea....Ahhhh!  I did buy a little dwarf lemon tree along with a Meyer's dwarf lemon tree that produces sweeter lemons that are much sweeter than regular lemons with such thick skins, so I can pretty much enjoy the beauty of lemons all year long!  Oh, and the blossoms from the tree smell heavenly!  They remind me of when I was a little girl growing up.  We always had lemons to pick off our lemon trees, along with oranges from the the big orange tree in the front yard, grapes from the vines, and blackberries from the gigantic blackberry tree in the back, far from the house, near the horse stables!  At any rate, I'll keep you posted on my Limoncello progress!  Yay!  All those lemons are so good for my vocal chords!!  It helps keep them clear, and in pristine condition!  Besides, I have to have something to do while I'm waiting for my record to come out!!!  Hahaha....LOL!
Ciao Loves!!
ta ta....until next time,

V V

Welcome to my Blog!

Welcome to my Blog, and thanks for sharing my story!  I appreciate you being here with me:))
Ok, so for my very first blog entry I thought I would begin with telling you a little about me in as few words as possible, LOL.....I'm a country singer....it's what I do.  It's what I love!  It's my passion, and always will be and I'd like to include you with me, on this journey I take everyday called, "my life" as so it appears to be currently seen by some including myself, "In The Spotlight"!  Therefore the title of my blog;  and you can understand why I chose to name it "In The Spotlight".  It's true I do live my life this way, "In The Spotlight", and I consider it all to be quite an interesting story....much too interesting to keep only to myself.  Haha!  I'd like to share it with you!  You'll learn more and more about me with each entry.  I love writing to express myself and I won't promise how long or short my entries will be.  I will only promise my writing will always be authentic at that given time.  I'm very emotional, traditional, and sentimental with an uncanny willingness to laugh oh so heartily at myself oftentimes!!  Haha!
So, thanks and welcome again to what I hope will be a fun, interesting ride and story that I'm willing to share.  I hope you take it all in from a place of love, and a creative inspired spirit that's always willing to claim that this is MY life, "In The Spotlight" where I am living my dream, and dreaming my life.
~ta ta...until next time,

V V