What a year this has been! I’ve been taking this poetry thing seriously for the past year and now I’m taking it to the next level. I’m a recording artist! That’s right, I’m heading for the big time. CD is done (thanks Ra the Pyramid) and I’m just waiting for the official copies to land on my doorstep in shrink wrap. I’m super duper ridiculously excited. Even if no one ever buys it, I did it, and that can never be taken away from me. I made an album! Like, and actual full length album with a generous 16 tracks. Cross that one off the bucket list! And my mama promised to sell it at her job like she sold those school fundraisers when I was little. So, that’s a start. (I love my mama.)
The album is called ‘That’s What Shelly Said’ and it consists of pretty much what you’d expect if you speak to me or read this blog. A healthy serving of attiude, a few scoops of sexy, a dash of sincerity, a pinch of vulnerability, and a pound of social commentary all wrapped in a girl-power bravado. There are some “adult” situations and my father couldn’t make it through 2 minutes before getting extremely upset, so I’d say I done good! He told me he got halfway through the first track, started feeling queasy, turned it off, took some Pepto-Bismol and went to sleep. That was a week ago and he has yet to make another attempt at listening. Which is good. Because he doesn’t need to know that side of me anyway lol.
Taking this step was a process. First, I had to really build my confidence and believe that people would want to buy my work. The only reason I believe it now is because people started asked me if I had a CD for them to buy. So, I hope they still want it! Then, I had to get comfortable with the sound of my own voice and come to terms with my Baltimore accent. (I sound like that?!?!/). Next, I had to also get way more comfortable with being on stage and memorizing my material so I could actually rock a feature and sell the darn thing. Still working on that. But really the hardest part was choosing which of my poems to exclude because I feel like I had so much to say. And I couldn’t stop writing while I was doing it so it felt like I had 50 kids and I could only send 12 to college. Everything I write is a little piece of me and they all feel equally important. But, I think I picked a mix that’s a good representation of who I am and how I feel at this moment. And no two pieces are alike so I feel like all 16 deserve to be there.
In the next couple weeks I will be setting up an online store where physical or digital copies can be ordered. But at any rate, you should all plan to come to my official CD release at June 29th at the Eubie Blake Center in Baltimore (details in the banner above). You can meet me and my mama, get a copy of the CD, and watch me perform my little heart out. Shelly Says So is on her way 🙂
See you soon!
