First blog post alert! I'll try to keep it brief and unpretentious. The purpose of this blog is for me to offer a slice of my unrelenting inner monologue, in the hope of striking a chord (musical or otherwise) with other people on the same planet.
This week, I've had a rare run of days 'off'. When you are self-employed, and it's raining relentlessly, this means blowing the cobwebs off the administrative To Do list and inching through it. I've updated my website with more links to my music on various platforms, added a Biog, new photos, new gig dates, new shop items and this blog. I bought a few more website URLs so people searching for Carol Hodge might have a chance of finding me. I also signed a Publishing deal (something finally ticked off my bucket list) so am chuffed about that.
Having just completed a tour (with the awesome Julia Othmer, check her out), I feel like my focus as a solo artist is shifting. I've been thinking a lot about why I do what I do, both in terms of what drives a person with social anxiety to deposit themselves in front of strangers and perform, and what I want to achieve by this, beyond the immediate. Julia and I talked a lot about this subject, and I am really inspired by her desire to create community. I think this drive is at the core of what I do too. I want to share, I want to connect, I want to learn. In particular, I want to do all those things with other women at the moment (I love men forever and ever, and this is not intended as a sleight on any gender). There is just something different about the dynamic of supporting other women. I think it's because we've been brought up to pit ourselves against each other, to judge one another on physical appearance, and to view each other as threatening. It's taken me a long time to shake off these evils, so I am enjoying revelling in the feeling of unity with other badasses.
In other news, I now have the shells of 30 new songs that I am fine tuning and fleshing out. 10-12 of these will make the cut for Album Number 2. I am booked to record this in October, and intend to release it by the end of 2019. I've had a flurry of creativity, and to be honest, it's because I have been showing up for my art and working a lot more. I no longer wait for inspiration to strike. I clock in and start working, and it inevitably pops its head round the door to see what's going on.
