Bloggedy Bloggedy

Mrs Welsh also has another couple of blogs (just in case you were interested)

There's:

Days of Peace and Music, a blog for anyone who is interested in the general goings on of me and Mr Welsh. http://daysofpeaceandmusic.blogspot.com/

Beliefspace Studio, Mr Welshies blog, detailing the progress of our underground lair/Recording Studio http://beliefspacestudio.blogspot.com/

and finally, a brand new blog that I literally just created that I will use specifically for my 'Lena Smith' happenings. http://theoneandonlylenasmith.blogspot.com/

Ten on Tue...oh wait, crap! Wednesday.

So, as predicted last Tuesday, this Ten on Tuesday malarkey is blatantly not going to happen every Tuesday and so this week I bring you 'Ten on Wednesday' instead.

My 'Ten things' are going to be Ten things that I have enjoyed this week.


1. Welshy

I love my Welshy, and I enjoy him very much :)  This week as we start our Christmas holiday, has been lovely. We've been able to spend lots of time together doing things that we don't always have time for during term time. He's also working very hard finishing off the floor in the studio today so that we can get carpet down in the new year and start doing lots more recording and fun musical based stuff. He's also putting together a website for The Lena Smith Band because he's clever and can write in website language. He works very hard all the time and I really do appreciate and love him very much :)

Anyway, soppy stuff out of the way.....

2. LSB Christmas Dinner

On Sunday we cooked up a big lovely roast dinner for almost all of the band which was quite a feat with our 'not quite big enough' oven. We had lots of wine, Christmas crackers, Christmas music, even a wee bit of singing round the piano and generally a lovely time. I love my band!

3. Trip to Somerton

On Saturday we went up to Somerton in Somerset for the annual Welshy Christmas meet up. We had yummy food, played some pool and the quiz machine, had some drinks and a generally lovely time.

4. My bed

I really do love my bed, a lot! If it was up to me I would have 10-12 hours of sleep every night but I usually only get about 7 during term time, so one thing I absolutely love about the holidays is that I get to catch up with my sleep and I really really do. For the last 3 nights I have had 12 hours sleep, it's been wonderful.


5. LOTR Trilogy

We started watching The LOTR Trilogy extended version on our big screen. Obviously I have seen it all quite a few times before now but it never gets old, lovely little hobbits :) It also makes me feel all Christmassy because when they originally came out at the cinema 10ish years ago they were always released in December.

6. Cleaning

On Friday I gave the bathroom a proper good clean, not just your usual Toilet, Floor, Sink, Bath type thing but absolutely everything. Completely emptied the room, cleaning everything I was removing as I went as well including all the bottoms of the bottles. I gave all the tiles a good scrubbing too and pretty much cleaned every tiny little inch of it. I don't get to do it that often and when I do I find it really satisfying.
 
7. Baking

Because I am clearly a domestic goddess, I can't not mention baking. I very rarely bake. I think I did it last about two years ago. I do enjoy it but just never get round to it and when I do want to, I never have all the ingredients. Yesterday I decided I wanted to bake, then realised I didn't have the ingredients and couldn't be bothered to go to the shop to get them. Today I had to go to the shop anyway so I got the ingredients and made up a nice batch of chocolate buns, one batch with pink smarties in and one with cut up chomps :) mmmmm..... sticky chewy chocolatey goodness!

8. Spotify

I downloaded Spotify ages ago and never used it. I decided that I needed to make a Christmas playlist the other day so I went on Spotify to see if it worked and if I could have songs for free and since then I have used it loads to just listen to random things while I'm at my laptop.

9. McVities Baked Cheddars with Philadelphia

These are very bad for my waistline but it's Christmas so I don't care. Take two Cheddars, slather one with lots (and I mean lots) of Philadelphia, add the other one, squish them together till the Philadelphia comes out of the holes and the sides then munch, one after another until you feel sick. I had these a while ago when we were watching Stephen King's Creepshow, The one where they find a monster in a trunk under a cupboard and then the main guy tricks his annoying wife into going there so it can eat her. Ever since then, every time I eat them I have a desire to watch Creepshow.

10. The Cinema

We went to the Cinema last night to watch the new Sherlock Holmes film with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. There was nothing else on and we really wanted to go to see something so we chose that.  It was actually very good and Jude Law, who I normally don't like was very good. We went to the awesome old ABC or 'Reel' Cinema instead of Vue because it's a really cool old fashioned cinema that hasn't changed, hasn't even been painted since the 80's. It used to be an old Theatre so has lovely architecture and features. Anyway, it's nice to support it and contribute towards keeping it running. I had pick n' mix which I'm still eating now.

Christmas is Here

So, I was meant to be doing something important on Wednesday. I can't remember what it was but it was work related and I was at home sitting on the sofa listening to Christmas songs and wrapping presents instead.

I was feeling festive and decided that it would be fun to try and write a Christmas Song as I had never written one before.

All the fabulous, wonderful, and heartwarming Christmas Songs in the world I could think of as a reference and the first thing that popped into my head was East17's 'Stay Another Day'.

Anyway....... so I started with some classic bell type descending thirds and my Christmas Song took shape.

There are a hundred Jesus based Christmas Carols, thousands of Christmas based Woe songs and a million Christmas songs about random things like Reindeers, Santa and Snowmen. If anyone has heard Tim Minchin's christmas song 'White wine in the sun' which is a lovely sentimental and heartwarming song about spending time with his family and loved ones at christmas, this is the kind of thing I was thinking instead. My song is all about being with the person that you love at Christmas.

These are the lyrics.

Christmas is here



V1
There’s frost on the pavement outside
There’s good friends all around me tonight
I’m feeling kinda tingly
and I
don’t think it’s just the mulled wine

Bridge
cause I’m sitting here beside you
at Christmas time

V2
We’re singing Christmas carols tonight
The words are lit by candlelight
I’m feeling warm and cosy
even
though my fingers feel like they’re not mine

Bridge
cause I’m singing here beside you
at Christmas time

Chorus
Christmas is here, it’s a time for good cheer
to appreciate all of your lot
Christmas is here, and I’m full of good cheer
cause I’m thankful it’s you that I’ve got

V3
The tinsel from the tree got everywhere,
it’s on the floor, the cats, my clothes, my hair
I’m feeling full of magic, the christmas tree lights just started to shine

Bridge
and you’re tinseling beside me
at Christmas time

Chorus
Christmas is here, it’s a time for good cheer
to appreciate all of your lot
Christmas is here, and I’m full of good cheer
cause I’m thankful it’s you that I’ve got

Verse 4
Our loved ones are all gathered today
to give our gifts, eat food, and sing and play
I’m feeling really special,
like a child I feel like everything is mine

Bridge
cause you’re gathered here beside me

at Christmas time


I also used the gerund of a new verb that I made up - To Tinsel :)

Here's my Christmas Song - Merry Christmas everybody xxxxxxx



http://soundcloud.com/lena-smith/christmas-is-here-demo

Feel the fear and do it anyway!

Just a really quick post tonight.

I'm just off out in a bit, about to play my first ever completely solo gig. I'm excited about it but also a little nervous. Surprisingly not as nervous as I thought I would be though about a month ago before I did my first gig with the band.

Anyway, what I'm getting at, is that I'm not as nervous about it because just lately I have been making a habit of doing things that scare the f**k out of me. I have this mental checklist in my mind and every time I feel afraid or nervous, I remind myself that after I've done it, I will be able to put a big tick on my mental checklist because I will have done it and then, the next time I do it, it won't be so scary :)

So instead of having negative feelings associated with new and 'scary' things, I can look forward to the rewarding and more positive feelings instead.

I have done lots of these things very recently and I have found that the more I 'feel the fear and do it anyway' the less scary things get and this makes me happy so I thought I should share.

Ten on Tuesday

My cousin who inspired me to start a blog always does Ten on Tuesday,  an idea I think that she too stole from someone else so I didn't think she'd mind me pinching it :)

I think I'm going to do a different 'Ten' every week (or every Tuesday that I remember to do this)

So this week is going to be 10 things that I love about the Winter. I always try to find the positive in things so rather than moaning about the weather I'm going to name 10 things that make Winter absolutely awesome!


1. My husband - My husband makes everything absolutely awesome all the time, not just Winter but in the Winter I love staying indoors with him, getting all snuggled up and watching Sci-fi and Christmas films.

2. Rain - What I love about rain is that when you're on your way home and it starts to hammer down, you know that there is no way you are going to stay dry so you might as well get completely wet and enjoy it. I can sometimes be found running along in the rain, grinning from ear to ear getting completely soaked and feeling rather invigorated for it. (As long as there is a towel and a cup of tea at the other end)

3. Heating - I love the heating, it makes me warm.

4. Christmas - Obviously, what's not to like about Christmas, there's Carols, lots of singing, children smiling, lots of chocolate, tinsel, lots of presents, buying presents, receiving presents, wrapping presents, seeing all the family. Christmas,  It's all good!

5. Not going to work for a few weeks - I really enjoy my job I do but I enjoy holidays more :)

6. Seeing my friends - I don't know whether it's because it's near the end of the year and therefore this makes me more reflective about the year that has been and the start of a new year etc... but I always appreciate seeing my friends more in the winter and I make more of an effort to see my friends that I don't get to see so much throughout the rest of the year

7. Films - There are always cool films out in the winter. I love Horror, Sci-Fi and Fantasy the most and there always seems to be more of this type of films out at the cinema at Christmas time.

8. Eating - In the winter I enjoy more food than I normally would and getting a little bit fat without caring as much because 'my body needs it' to keep warm ;)

9. Magic - For me, life seems more magical in the winter. Maybe because it's just more sparkly.

10. New Year - The end of one year, taking stock, saying Thank you for some things, goodbye to others and the start of a New Year, making plans, moving on and looking forward.


I love Winter.

Meet Lena Smith

So I thought I'd start off my first official (post introductory) post by talking about my music. It's not all that I am and it's not the only thing I'm doing but at the moment it's quite important and I'm putting a lot of energy into it so it seems fitting to me to explain what it's all about, why I'm doing it and what I want to get out of it.

I have always played music, I can't actually remember how old I was when I started with music. It was always in our house, both parents are musicians and I must have spent the 9 months growing in my mum's belly listening to her playing and teaching music so it is as much a part of me as breathing is.

I remember my sister, when I was about four teaching me what harmony was and how you could sing two different things together and they sounded nice.

I can remember both my sisters and I with our heads in bowls of water singing and bubbling the frog chorus for my mum and dad.

I officially started learning to play the Piano at about six or seven (reluctantly at first I might add). I didn't enjoy grades, I didn't enjoy scales, I didn't enjoy reading music but I did love playing and working things out by listening to them.

I started the Clarinet at eleven and throughout my teens I learnt different woodwind instruments and was part of a rather cliquey but very good and thriving school music department and I was greatly encouraged. I found that somehow at about the age of sixteen, the ability to read music and not solely rely on my ear kicked in and I became a well rounded musician.

After a degree in music I had quite a few years where I did absolutely nothing with my music. I had pupils, I played the piano in a restaurant and I taught music in schools but I was not doing anything with music that was just for me and I was not being particularly creative.

After a few years like this one of my friends asked me to write her a string arrangement for one of her songs that she was recording. I had not done anything like this before but thought it would be fun to try so I did that, recorded it at a really nice studio with real strings and this I think was the very beginning of my personal and creative journey as a musician which has still really only just begun.

This led to me playing the Piano and being in a music video with her which led to a little bit of performance, another music video, some more recordings and finally a little bit of writing myself.

Throughout this time I got together with my Mr Welsh who is incredibly supportive and he encouraged me and keeps encouraging me all the time with my music (and everything in general). He also happens to be a brilliant musician and sound engineer himself so we make a good team.

I got really into a local piano led band that really inspired me with my (Piano based) songwriting. Up until this point I hadn't really figured out how to write songs in my own personal style at the Piano.

I always kind of felt that songs were written using a guitar more often than not and although I can bash out a load of chords I wouldn't by any stretch of the imagination call myself a guitarist and I also struggled with lyrics.




I had written bits of songs and never finished them but for some reason one day after a few years of being involved in small ways for other people with the local music scene I decided that as singing and playing the piano are two of my most favourite things to do in the world I should really combine them, finish the songs I had, write some more songs and get out there and do it for myself.

Lena Smith was born :)

I decided that I should have a pseudonym because it sounded fun to have an alter ego to present my musical self under and I like bands that have the person as the name so I could do Lena Smith solo stuff and The Lena Smith Band. Lena because I always like the name and thought that if I was russian I'd probably be called Helena and because I really like the singer 'Lena Horne'. Smith because it is my maiden name.

So back in May this year (2011) I actually finished a song, recorded it with my clever husband, set up a facebook page and posted it.







I was really scared that people wouldn't like it but it was very well received so I did more and more and more and more :) and there is a lot more to come too!

I'm going to leave this post here now because I'm going to put up some more specific ones about first gig, songs and all sorts of other Lena Smith related things later.

Here is my favourite quote that more or less sums up how I feel about the whole thing.

'Make your own kind of music, sing your own special song, make your own kind of music even if nobody else sings along' (Mama Cass)

Welcome to my mind, it's a wonderful place.

So, I have been reading other peoples blogs now for a while, and at first I noticed that people were writing blogs specifically about things. For example my Mr Welsh has a blog specifically to detail the progress of his studio build.

Then as more and more people I know started to write blogs, I noticed that they seem to be a very good way of sharing general things that are happening in your life and the random thoughts and feelings that you often would like to share with people but never really have the outlet to do so.

I also like the idea of looking back over your blogs after a period of time, kind of like a diary that you can share with people.

So I decided to make one about the general things that I am doing in my life, I'm pretty sure there aren't that many people that will read it and it will mostly be a way for me to write down the random crap that goes through my head but in a nicely presented manner for my close friends and occasionally family members to read if they want :)