Hey everyone! Kristian here again:)
I'm back finally!
As you can see, I haven't posted anything else for months; no picutres or anything!
It's been a crazy busy spring so far for us!
I intended to post something a couple months ago, and actually had a document saved on my laptop, but as you can see, I never got around  to posting it. So I thought I would post it now anyway, and then give you my second post too:)

So, Here's my first post:

"This spring had been incredibly busy for us; so that explains why I haven't posted anything new, cause like I just said, things have been extremely busy....Except when it has come to getting our music out;  that has been rather slow...
That is, until recently;

About a month ago, my dad stumbled across a guy that did recordings for people by accident (go figure). They talked awhile, figured out a deal, and both decided that he (Tom) should hear us.
  So, a few days later, he gave us a surprise visit. Which, really was kinda a funny story in itself; I had worked a lot that day, sweaty, stinky and everything else I'm sure you can imagine; no makeup whatsoever.
I also was sporting a hot lime green dewrag on my head with my hair completely hidden under it:
an old gray t-shirt, dirt flipflops and cut off jean fraying work capris.
 So needless to say, I.../we, all looked terrible! I hadn't practiced in several weeks! Practically hadn't even touched an instrament in just about the same amount of time!

  My dad came in the front door, "Tom's going to be here in two minutes! Hurry practice up!"
I'm sure you can imagine our response, "What?!?!?! Dad! We don"t have any makeup on, I need a shower, I haven't practiced-" etc. lol
 I only had enough time to get my guitar out of it's case, literally, before my dad was introducing all of us.
 So, being dirty, and embarrased, We sat down and played one of my family and friends favorites; .... I thought it didn't go well at all!!
I then played a second favorite: one I sang and played on the piano.
To that one, Tom obviously liked it, felt it, and joined in on my guitar; Improvising as he did so. We had a few thrilling moments playin together as I sang; I could tell he could feel it too. He seemed very excited when he left; and I wasn't sure wether or not I should let myself get excited; So many times I get my hopes up, and nothing comes of it.

  About two weeks past when dad came in and said, "First recording is next monday: a week away."
That's when I got excited! Chills ran up my spine, as my heart squeezed......

 It's amazing how one can be so excited, and so scared all at the same time!
         
 Originally, I was the only singer for the song, (not for any other reason other than I wrote the song, and knew the words.)
 So that week, Kaeleigh, Karessa and I got to come up with some harmonies.

 I was just practicing singing at the piano, when Karessa came up behind me and began to sing the lead with me. (Karessa's best placing) Seeing my oppertunity, I jumped right into my favorite place to be; Alto.
Then Kaeleigh joined in, and with the groove already set, she soared in with, (what I call) her "wow-some soprano."

 There's just something magical to me about setting just the right groove in a song with an alto part!
 Learning to get comfortable in the lead used to be scarey for me,
 I must admit; but It's been good practice for me.

 We were all pleased with our work once recording day finally rolled around.

 We got to his recording room: it was a room in his basement. Nice set up, and set quite a nice, fun stage kind of atmosphere. I immediately fell in love with the introcate mics! They were so sophistocated, and stylish! lol I know, I'm a dork:) And the headphones right along with it, OMW! lol

Funny, I've only played the song live in front of a handful of people, so when he asked if I had played it with a consistant beat, I was a little hesitant, but after just a bit, I got used to it rather well.

After the piano part was done, we each had our own recording mike which recorded our vocals separately, at the same time.

 The first time around was really hard getting used to not being able to really hear what you were singing. LOl, when we listened to it, it was too slow, and sounded a little lifeless. Despite the fact of my undying love for the mic, like all relationships, starting off, you're still a bit shy, and scared at first! Lol I think we all were.

 Tom was amazing though, after he realized the problem, and tried to loosen us up.
  The girls and I were quoting one of our favorite movies about a band of young musicians that ended up making it big. After quoting just a couple lines, Tom turns from working the machines, and asked us, " Are you quoting 'Hmhmhmhm?'. "  Kaeleigh, Karessa and I looked at eachother astonished, and all laughed heartily as Tom began to play the favorite songs from the movie as we all sang! We were amazed that Tom actually knew what we were talking about. We thought we were the only ones that knew about that movie. After that, we were all ready to go sing our hearts out like we would at home!
We got into it, and really began to enjoy it. The rest of the recordings after that, were no longer lifeless:)

 A few days later, (maybe about a week, I believe,) Tom came to us with a raw mixed version of the song.
Tom's arrangement was good, but something about the way the equilizer (the machine that makes our voices sound live) wasn't right.
So we're going to try to figure what the problem was and try again.
Even though we had fun, and was a good first experience, it's still not ready to post ANYWHERE, or send to producers.
But we'll get it there:)
Pray for us, that the Lord will give us His wisdom, and success through this, and we won't lose heart!
Love you all!
God bless,

~Kristian (for the band)



(Second post:)

Hey guys, It's me again.

We just got finished recording our second song!!!! Yeay!!!
We recorded me playing my guitar first; then we did me singing lead second, (with adjustments with my mike, and equalizer) which made it sound amazing! And I could actually hear myself this time through the head phones without the static and scratches! It was so much better the second time around, it encouraged me tremendously! So now I do believe that the quality is going to be good enough to send the copies to many producers, once all the mixing is done! Praise the Lord! Let's pray it sounds even better, once the complete mixing, and arrangements are in place!
During the recording of the second song, we decided to redo the first, since it sounded so much better the second time around.
 Funny story about how great Tom is for my nerves! lol
Normally I do really well under pressured situations, but I've never had to deal with a laughing fit, on stage, and (especially since I've not done awhole lot of recording,) in the studio as well; lol
Well, it happened this time, I think what happened was, I momentarily had a hard time hearing myself, and felt through the vibrations in my throat that I hit a note off, and well, naturally I looked at my mom and sisters for feedback if I had or not, and sure enough, when I looked their way, my mom had her hand over her mouth, and her eyes were laughing; and Karessa's shoulders were shaking behind the pillow she had hid her face behind. So that did it! lol I cracked up laughing so hard my stomach hurt! I kept laughing, and couldn't even sing!
 Tom kept rerolling the tape, and tried to record, I could only take a breath and then began to laugh again!
Tom tried to help with, "ok this is for real now," or "Ok super serious Kristian," I felt so bad, because none of that helped!  lol
Then he attempted another approach; He turned to me, looked me in the eye with such a serious expression and dead panned it, saying,
"Did you know, there are children all over the world that are going hungry, and starving? And that-" ...
 Needless to say, that didn't help! lol I know it's horrible that that is the truth, but during that situation, it made me laugh even harder! I buckled over I just couldn't hold it back...
Looking back, I don't think Tom really expected that to help either:)
 Finally, I eventually got through my laughing fit, (which, I don't think I've ever had one, in my life, before that time) and got it right. :) So, praying the second recording does really well after the mixing. I think Kaeleigh and Karessa's back up harmonies went well too, hopefully, and we'll be able to post pics, sometime soon!
  Love you all, and thanks for your support for us! We need all of your prayers!

until next time I guess,
~Kristian

The First of many!

Hello everybody! This is Kristian here with the band Shades.

Today, we started this blog to update you on what is going on with us. We are practicing to record a song (hopefully) soon! We will announce the name of the song and post info about it as soon as it is recorded. We are really excited about it and hope you all like it as well.

Also, we'll update the blog with the newest info as soon as it happens. :)

I just want to say, that I'm really excited about finally getting something online about us! This is the start to a dream coming true that I feel the Lord has given me for a long time!

Singing with my sisters, Kaeleigh and Karessa, was something we started off doing around the house  just because we are girls and humming and singing is just something girls do.

Kaeleigh, 24, Me, 20, & Karessa, 19, started taking piano when we were, 10, 6, & 5 and have taken on and off since then.

When I turned 14, my Meemaw bought me my first guitar! Which was completely unexpected, because I had never thought about playing guitar before, so naturally, I taught myself the guitar.

Now, all of us play a little.

So, right now, we are working on getting ready for our first recording, Karessa and I are working on all the guitar parts, and I'm really excited, because it's turing out to sound just as I had imagined when I originally wrote it! But, I'm not feeling the greatest, so I completely can't sing right now! And it's making us all laugh! lol

But I'm just praying, that all goes well, and quickly, and my voice get's better soon so we can start recording!!!!

Thanks for reading everybody!!

Blessing,

Kristian, (for the whole group:)