Willow Tree Records: Blog

At the beginning of 2008 I had a crazy idea. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool to do THREE CDs this year instead of just one." "No way!" said my inner critic. "It's too expensive and just plain crazy." Well, thanks for your input, Mr. Critic, but I think I can do this!

I am 99% finished recording my second CD, which will be entitled "Beautiful". As soon as everything is mixed and mastered, I intend to set up my website so that I can make downloads available to you. I will then use the sales from those downloads to help fund the duplication and packaging of "Beautiful" as will as fund two more CDs. I will be doing a CD of hymns as well as a CD of Christmas music.

So help me out here, what hymns and Christmas songs would YOU like to hear on my CDs. I'm doing this for all of my listeners, not just myself. So it is important to me that I include songs that you love.

Bring on the suggestions. I'm ready to take notes!

Blessings,
Kristie

P.S. I also wanted to let you know that I've posted lots of garden pictures on my freewebs blog. Just visit www.freewebs.com/kristiewithsong and click "Gallery". You can even watch them as a slideshow. Also check out the album called "Nature Photography". I think you will like that one a lot. Enjoy!

I haven't written a new blog in quite some time, so I wanted to briefly update you on a few GREAT things that have been happening in my life.

First, The Business:
My new CD, "Beautiful" is about 75% recorded. Thank you, Jerry Kimbrough! I cannot wait to share it with you. Please check
www.kristieagee.com often for new music and updates!

Now, on to the "real life experiences" as my mom calls them!

New Church:
Roy and I have finally found a wonderful church home at Eastwood Christian Church right here in East Nashville. We've only been
attending about 6 weeks or so, but it already feels like the old squishy couch in our sun room. Thank you, God! I've joined the
awesomely talented church choir and I feel so blessed to be singing with them them each week.

New Holiday Ensemble:
I've also joined a wonderful all-female Holiday ensemble. We are led by the amazing Christina Watson. Plug alert: There is a dual CD
release party for Christina and her hubby Oscar May 18th at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. See www.christinawatson.com for more details. :)

Anyhoo, this ensemble is chock full of beautiful female voices singing the best music on Earth, holiday music. Our plans are to sing at hospitals, senior centers and any other "gig" we can land throught the holiday season this year and every year thereafter!

New Life:
Finally, I have begun a new journey in my life. Many of you know that I have struggled with compulsive/binge eating for many years. I feel that I am finally ready to do the work that it takes to heal this
disorder. My recovery plan is based on the 12-step model made famous by Alcoholics Anonymous. If you are interested in reading more about
this journey of mine, please visit my recovery website at
www.freewebs.com/kristiewithsong. I think it will help me to know that there might be eyes out there watching my progress!

Thank you for reading and HAVE A BEAUTIFUL SPRING. I love you all SO MUCH!

Dear Friends,

Disclaimer: This blog might be a long one, so I’m going to give you a quick summary. You might even call this the thesis. As my mom the English teacher would say, “Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em, then tell ‘em, and finally tell ‘em what you told ‘em.” She wouldn’t use “‘em” as some sort of bastardized version of “them” though. Here some teaser’s to entice you into reading the entire blog. If numbers one and three don’t hook you though, you’ll probably have more fun watching CSI while eating something red and fleshy.

But first, the business. I have a new song up on my website and my MySpace page. It will be the title track of my upcoming CD. It’s called Beautiful. You can listen to it here: www.kristieagee.com. Or here: www.myspace.com/kristieagee. Enjoy! I do this for you.

Now the outline:

1. Kristie’s Dumpster Diving, Freegan Optometrist Seen On Oprah!
2. Kristie rants about Stuffitis, Affluenza And The Shopocalypse (Would that be a good book title?)
3. Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir YouTube link
4. Why listening to David Wilcox will change your life
5. Three books that will ROCK YOUR WORLD (OK, so I stole one from Oprah. Whatever.)
6. Kristie’s recipe for the world’s best tofu salad (Don’t knock it ‘til you try it, brother. I mean that literally. My brother Mark thinks hummus is gross.)

Onward:

1. Every day I get a little email that tells me what is going to be on the Oprah show. This way I don’t have to turn the TV on at 4pm only to be sucked in by a senseless movie promotional show featuring Jim Carrey and Chris Rock. I know in advance whether today’s Oprah show is one of her “meaningful” shows, one of her “see-how-fun-I-am” shows, one of her “educational” shows or one of her “fat is bad” shows. Don’t argue with me on this one, people. Oprah has body issues just like the rest of us. I digress. So last week I get an email that Oprah will be doing a show on “people who live on the edge”. Hello! I’m hooked. I’m an “edge” junkie. In fact, I think I might have been an extreme sports star in another life. I decided that this show was worth one hour of my life. Roy and I settle in on the futon with our menagerie of cats and begin to learn all about “freeganism”. According to Wikipedia, “Freeganism is an anti-consumerism lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity and greed.”

Is this really edgy, folks? Isn’t this how Americans lived two hundred years ago? Isn’t this how most of the third world lives today? I guess the edgy part is that lots of freegans go dumpster diving for their food. Did you know that America throws out $30 BILLION worth of perfectly good food every year just because it’s one day past its expiration date. Come on, does shredded wheat really go bad? Does jarred pasta sauce? What the freegans do is retrieve this food, consume it themselves and distribute it to people in need of food. Rock on. So we’re watching and I’m trying to convince Roy to jump into a dumpster that night when Oprah says, “Coming up next, a couple from Nashville takes us dumpster diving!” Yahoo! See honey, they DO dumpster dive in Nashville. We wait on the edge of our seats through the commercial and who is the couple from Nashville but our optometrist and his engineer wife! I almost peed in my pants. For real. Daniel Burt, my optometrist, and his lovely wife Amanda show us all of the wonderful, clean and fresh food that they have procured from “after hours grocery shopping” and I am thrilled! I immediately emailed them and they were happy to hear how supportive we were. I fully intend on dumpster diving with them in the near future. Sorry, Mom! Don’t worry, it’s totally legal.

2. It seems like every day that goes by I get less and less attached to “stuff” and “wanting”. This is a miracle considering the fact that every day we are bombarded by messages that tell us we’re not good enough, we don’t have enough and if we’d just buy product X everything would be better. On the contrary, I am becoming more and more of who I really am every day with LESS stuff. We are all a human beings with plenty of love and gifts to give. That, my friends, is enough. I worry less about what people think of me and begin to care more about the state of the world and what I can do to make it better.

I’m tired of taking man-made chemicals into my body. I stopped coloring my hair. I’m happy to report that it is a lovely shade of brown with just a hint of, dare I say it, GRAY! I’ve also given up make up and creams and potions and lotions, though when I perform I’m sure I’ll still put on a little mascara and lip gloss. Traci, my Mary Kay buddy, might be shocked to hear this one! I also have a very simple wardrobe, though I’ve been this way about my clothes for years. I got “convicted” a few years ago when I read The Simplicity Reader by Elaine St. James. Stacy and Clinton from “What Not To Wear” would have a really, REALLY tough time with me. I guess my point in saying all of this is that I feel free. It feels so nice to wake up every morning and like what I see in the mirror WITHOUT enhancements. I love my physical being just as it is. I love my spirit just as it is. I love living a simple life. Simple. Simple. Simple. The word alone makes my spirit sing.

3. At this point in the blog, I want to take a break and link you up to something great. This past holiday season Roy and I saw a movie produced by Morgan Spurlock called “What Would Jesus Buy”. This movie is a documentary that follows a comedic protest group called “Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir” who want to save the world from the shopocalypse (the end of humankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt). Here is a link to the trailer. I think you’ll like it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGi21YQFjMM

4. While I’m in a sharing place, why don’t I go ahead and tell you about some wonderful music I’ve been listening to and books I’ve been reading. My favorite singer/songwriter is David Wilcox. He is an inspiration to any singer/songwriter that wants a “small” career. He started is career with a big time record deal that ended shortly after it started. 14 albums later and with a small indie label, David travels the country with his wife and son in an Airstream trailer singing and playing at venues seating up to 1000 people. All of his music is meaningful, spiritual, meditative and entertaining. His new CD, Airstream, is guitar/vocal bliss. You can learn more about David and his music at www.davidwilcox.com.

5. Here are some wonderful books that have greatly enhanced my life. I think you will like them as well. They are:
a. The Simplicity Reader by Elaine St. James
b. Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robin
c. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (That’s the one I stole from Oprah!)

6. Finally, here is a recipe for you. My buddy Liz and I have been making this glorious Curried Tofu Salad for months now and everyone who has ever eaten it has loved it. Even my meat-eating buddies like it. In fact a very good non-veg friend of mine had two scoops today when I took some on a picnic. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a picnic.

Curried Tofu Salad (modified from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Freedman and Barnouin)
½ cup vegan (or not) mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (http://www.bulkfoods.com/health.asp?referrer=goonutyea)
½ tablespoon agave nectar or honey
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon curry powder
1 block firm tofu, drained and crumbled (To drain, cut your tofu into chunks, place between two clean kitchen towels, put a cookie sheet on top of the towel and then put something nice and heavy on it. Let it sit like this for at least 30 minutes then crumble it up. Yum.)
¼ cup quartered red grapes
1 celery stalk, finely diced
¼ small red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

In a small bowl, combine the mayo, lemon juice, yeast, agave nectar, salt, curry powder and pepper. In a large bowl, combine the tofu, grapes, celery, onion and parsley. Add the mayo mixture to the tofu mixture, tossing gently. Now spread it one some home made bread and eat it up! The note at the end of this recipe actually said, “If you’re one of those lunatics who doesn’t eat bread, you can also serve this salad on a bed of lettuce.” Hilarious!

Well, this blog was definitely lengthy enough to be considered a newsletter and not just a blog. So congrats to you for reading this far and thank you for your time and attention.

Much love,
Kristie

P.S. Please ignore any spelling and/or grammatical errors that you may find in this newsletter. I’ve been writing a long time and I’m too tired and hungry to edit!

Roy and I went for a walk in the woods today. The weather forcast said there was a 30% chance for showers and we decided to roll the dice. We lost! Halfway through our walk, it started to pour. Not drizzle. POUR! We got as wet as we have ever been outside of a bathtub. I was really nice, though. When we were within shouting distance of the van, it came to me that this walk through the woods was like a baptism. I feel that we are on the verge of a major shift in how we live and work. I feel that this shift will be completely positive and fulfilling. On the drive over to the park, we had been talking about our goals, plans and hopes for the future. For both of us, those plans include sharing more and more of our creative efforts in music with people. I am not out to impress other musicians or music business executives. I simply want to give regular people that need encouragement a little bit of this gift that I have been blessed with.

What are your dreams? Please share them with me and I will pray that they will come to fruition. I'm always looking for inspiration for songs. Maybe one of your dreams will inspire me...

My husband, Roy Agee, appears in Marc Broussard's latest video for "Must Be The Water". Marc Broussard is my favorite male singer out there, so I'm especially proud. The video for this song is being used as the commercial for the NBA All Star game this season, so watch for it on TV. But you can also see the video RIGHT NOW on my myspace site. Go there and be blown away by
this great song! Don't blink though, or you might miss Roy's big moment. :)

Go! Go! Go!
www.myspace.com/kristieagee

Something funny is happening to me this holiday season. It seems that I have lost my Christmas Spirit. Let's call him C.S. for short. Usually by this time every year I'm ready to trim the tree, deck the halls, listen to Bing Crosby until my ears bleed, watch "It's A Wonderful Life" on repeat and have multiple baking orgies involving unusually large amounts of canned pumpkin. But not this year. I feel nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Zipo. Everytime I see a Christmas tree in a window or twinkle light on a house I think to myself, "What is wrong with those people putting up Christmas lights and trees so early!" I feel like it's July in my world and everyone around me is in some sort of parallel universe where it is Christmastime. You may be thinking that Nashville is having some sort of heat wave and that that is why I'm having delusions of Christmas in July. But that is definitely not it. I wish it were and then my feelings would make more sense. It has been quite cold for a Nashville November. It is currently 42 degrees at the Nashville International Airport. I realize this is not a Massachusettes/Wisconsin/Vermont/North Dakota kind of cold, but definitely a cold that warrants hot chocolate, long johns and Christmas-y feelings. But I just don't got 'em. I feel a melancholy that settles in my bones after the sun gone down and the chores have been done. I wonder what to do with my evening when dear Roy is out playing, ironically, "White Christmas" at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. I could write songs, but I don't feel inspired. I could watch more television, but it often frustrates me more than it entertains me. So here I am listening to Loreena McKennitt and blogging. And you know what? It feels good. It feels good to communicate with other humans. Maybe putting our feelings "out there" is all we really need to do to feel better. Don't eat them. Or drink them. Just feeeeeeeel them.

I want to share with you the lyrics to a song that I wrote with my dear friend Liz Johnson. It's called "Beautiful Sadness". I wrote this song for my husband, Roy, when his mother was dying of cancer. He did a lot of grieving before she passed away and I wanted to write a song for him to help ease his pain. The song began with many dark, sad images. But as it grew over the next two years, it morphed into a song of hope. It is in the dark times of our lives that we find can find faith in something greater than ourselves. Crying is never a sign of weakness and always a release of something we need to let go of to grow. To think that we can always be happy, perky, positive people is to deny the beauty of our human-ness. Crying, especially ugly crying, can be one of the most therapeutic and cleansing things you can do for yourself. I hope you enjoy these lyrics about crying. I cannot wait to share the finished song with you.

Beautiful Sadness (version 2)
(Agee/Johnson)


Verse One
Let it rain let it pour
Let my heart break open wide and ask for more
For in this sea of no tranquility
Is where I learn to trust and let it be
Let it be

Verse Two
Looked for faith looked for love
Looked the world over but never looked above
And now through sad eyes I gaze at the sky
I surrender all the tears I can't deny
Can't deny

Chorus

The beautiful sadness rolls in like the sea
A tide of surrender washes over me
I've given up on trying to hold it all in
I loosen my grip and I let the water win
I found myself here
Here in this tidal wave
I found myself here
Here in this beautiful sadness God gave

Verse Three
There is joy I can't miss
I have learned so much inside this dark abyss
When I lose my way, I'll stop and I'll stay
I will let go of my doubt and I will pray
I will pray

Chorus

Verse Four
I found strength through release
I found deep within an everlasting peace
While I ride this wave instead of hoping to be saved
I can look inside and know that I am brave
I am brave

Chorus (2X)

Roy and I have officially hired a trainer. His name is Brent Brinkmeier (www.myspace.com/brentbrinkmeier) and this guy is serious. He comes to our house twice a week and makes us work, really work. He is not an I'll-watch-you-walk-on-the-treadmill-for-30-minutes-and-then-we'll-do-some-stretching kind of trainer. This is an I'm-going-to-get-you-in-top-shape-and-make-you-really-freakin'-strong kind of trainer. Our workout last Thursday consisted of a variety of painful exercises, the most evil of which utilized our innocent looking hearth. Our hearth, is about 12 inches tall and we are using it as a step to build our leg muscles. Well, let me tell you that it is working. In the last two days, my quads have been sorer than they have ever been. Ever. OUCH! It hurts to sit down and it really hurts to stand up after I've managed to flop myself down on the couch using as little of my leg muscles as I possibly can. Thank the Lord he's not coming again until Tuesday. I had every intention of going to the Y to do my hour of elliptical "running" yesterday and today, but the pain was just too intense. There's always tomorrow!

So after two days of sitting around not doing much, Roy and I decided that we needed an outing. Nashville is home to a brand spankin' new Whole Foods Market and we just had to see what all the fuss was about. After battling the crowd, eating lunch and picking up a few nifty items, I've come to the conclusion that Whole Foods must be what heaven is like. They have every food you can think of and then some. I'm serious. They had FOUR different colors of cauliflower. And that's just the regular-sized cauliflower. They had two different colors of "baby" cauliflower and even a type of cauliflower that looked like a tiny castle. It was called Romanesco cauliflower.

They had chestnuts, mangos, clementines, culantro, big potatoes, little potatoes, purple potatoes, blue potatoes, potatoes that looked like fingers. And that's just the produce section, people. The seafood section had every fish I've ever eaten and several that I hadn't. There was every kind of free-range, nitrate-free meat you can think of. We even saw ground ostrich. For real. There was a soup bar, a salad bar, a hot food bar and a bakery. The hot food bar had deep fried tofu on it. I had one little piece and it was SO good. Then there's the almond butter, but not just any almond butter. This was freshly ground (you grind it yourself) organic almond butter with chocolate chips in it. I ground exactly one tablespoon and put it in a giant plastic container. It looked like poo, but it tasted SUPER good. Best 49 cents I've ever spent! If you live in Nashville, go to Whole Foods. You will LOVE it. If you don't live in Nashville and you don't live near another Whole Foods, come visit me and I'll take you. We'll have a blast!

This brings me to my final topic, Peter Cetera. Ahhh, the voice that made us all swoon in the 80's when he said "you're the meaning in my life, you're the inspiration". I loved listening to Peter Cetera as a little girl and I still enjoy his music and envy his vocal range. He can sing higher than me. Seriously. WAY higher than me. Anyhoo, as we were exiting Heaven's Market with our booty which included free-range/nitrate-free turkey bacon and fire grilled/sulfite-free shrimp, I looked up and before me sat the man who had accompanied me on many, many road trips with my family, PETER CETERA. I stopped cold in my tracks and began to hear "The Glory of Love" playing back in my head. Roy kept waking, but I was stuck. Peter Cetera. Peter CETERA. He was sitting on a bench, cutting his finergails (weird, I know) and talking to what was probably his 8-ish year old daughter, but was young enough to be his granddaughter. They looked so cute. And they were just regular people. But I was star struck. I live in a town where we see celebrities all the time, but when you see someone that helped you to become who you are, musically-speaking, it's different. I didn't say anything to him. I was chicken. I didn't want to look like a crazy fan, even though that's what I was! I hope I get the chance to meet Peter again someday and to thank him for being an inspiration in MY life!

I'm so excited to let you know that I've revamped my website and put up some new music for your listening pleasure. Some of you may already know this, but I made the decision this year to switch genres and to start recording my own original material. I also decided to dissolve "Old King Records" and to start anew with "Willow Tree Records". My mentor, Jana Stanfield, says in one of her songs, "The lesson from the willow tree is strength in flexibility." This lyric has become a constant voice of encouragement for me this year and so was born Willow Tree Records.

My new songs are all positive and inspirational, though some of them
will tickle your funny bone as well. I can't wait to share the hilarious "F.I.D.O. (Forget It and Drive On)" with you, but it's not
finished yet. The two songs that I've posted at www.kristieagee.com
and www.myspace.com/kristieagee are both inspirational songs with a folk/pop feel. "Open to Life" was written with Liz Johnson and "The Roots Are Bound to Grow" was written with Jaclyn Brown. Both songs were produced by Jerry Kimbrough. I'm sure Jerry would appreciate me letting you know that these are not the final mixes. They are just "roughs" as we in the music business call them. But I think they sound great as is! Please give them a listen and let me know how they made you feel. You can read the lyrics and the stories behind the songs if you just go to www.kristieagee.com and click on "Music" and then the song title.

Also, you'll notice on my website that there is a new "demand" button. With this feature, you can "demand" that I come and play in your city. This way, I can know where I'll have the best turnouts at my concerts. The more demands I get from your town, the more likely I'll be to come and play there. So PLEASE utilize this feature and demand me! Just visit www.kristieagee.com and click on the yellow
"Demand it!" I'd like to spend most of 2008 playing at churches and other venues that are open to positive and inspirational music. If you know of a venue that might like to feature "Kristie Agee in
Concert" please let me know as soon as possible!

Thank you for your continual support and encouragement. Enjoy the
music!

There are three people from my little hometown of Kennett, Missouri (population 10,000) who have had major label record deals. There may be even more. These are just the ones that I know of. Sheryl Crow (www.sherylcrow.com), Trent Tomlinson (www.trenttomlinson.com), and new country artist Davild Nail (www.myspace.com/davidnail) all set out of our little down with big dreams. And guess what? They made them come true! The fact that they came from a tiny town didn't stop them. The fact that the odds were stacked against them didn't stop them. After all, getting a major label record deal is a little like winning the lottery, statistically speaking. What is it about these people? What is it about my little hometown? Could there really be something in the water?

I could take the success of my hometown friends one of two ways. I could a) beat myself up endlessly because I have yet to "win the lottery" here in Nashville or b) see them as the fantastic inspirational people that they are and respect their truths. David and Trent have been slugging it out on Music Row for years. They have paid their dues. Sheryl paid hers, too. Her professional road hasn't been an easy one to walk.

My own truth is that slugging it out isn't for me. In the words of my mentor, Jana Stanfield, climbing that stainless steel greased pyramid so that my music can trickle down to the masses doesn't make sense for me! I want to be married, raise a little family and tend my garden. I also want to sing for a living. Right now, I want that more than anything else in my life. I want to write songs that inspire people. These songs might not be Top 40 "hits", but they are songs that will make people want to live their lives more fully. This is the music that flows out of me naturally, much more so than trying to force myself to write commercial hits. But who knows? Maybe the inspirational songs of today are the hits of tomorrow! Who doesn't need a little inspiration?

I think my point is this. There is enough pie for us all. Some of us may get a bigger piece, from a fame and financial standpoint. But what if I don't want to be rich or even famous? Maybe I just want to be comfortable and happy. Raise your had if you've ever heard of a celebrity who killed themselves because they were suicidally depressed. They fact is that fame and fortune do not equal happiness. And if that is the case, then isn't my little piece of pie just as sweet and juicy as the super-sized piece that the upper echelon enjoys? I think so. I have to continually remind myself that my little career is valid. It is enough. I will reach the people I need to reach with my music. I will find them and they will find me. We will support each other and make each other smile. I'm smiling just thinking about it. And if fame is indeed in my future, I will welcome it with open arms. But in the meantime, I will sing for the beautiful people that I meet and I will be happy doing it.

I am thrilled to be back in the studio recording a new CD. This project is shaping up to be very different from "Use What You Got." Where my first project was a big band party, this one will be a meditative walk in the woods. For years I've had a yearning in my heart to write inspirational music. Until now I've kept that desire tucked away, because I was afraid. I would think to myself, "How could anyone possible be inspired by a song that I wrote?" Heck! How am I supposed to encourage others to take baby steps toward their dreams if I can't? Then I realized that I have been taking those baby steps for years. I just couldn't see it! Everything I've done in my life up to this moment has led me here and this is exactly where I need to be.

For months now, I've been co-writing songs with Nashville musician Liz Johnson (www.lilyrecords.com). The songs we have been creating together are truly from our hearts. I have never done anything in my life that is more "me" than to write and sing this music. I can't wait for you to hear my "babies". They are songs with a purpose. Songs that will urge you to move bravely forward in the direction of your dreams. They will lift your spirits and make you laugh when you are feeling low. So many artists have done this for me in the past. David Wilcox, Jana Stanfiled and the Indigo Girls just to name a few. I will follow in their footsteps with great courage as I embark on this new journey to fill other's lives with joy and inspiration. I hope that you will go on this journey with me. Let's live each day as if it were our last. Let's share our gifts and talents now, not later. Let us live, love and dream freely, for this world is full of great abundance for us all!

Today is a beautiful day. It's hot, but it's still beautiful. Roy and I are having a great summer, the first full summer in our first house. We've planted a garden and have seen it bear more fruit than we ever expected. We planted flowers and have been awed by their prolific beauty. Aren't our own lives similar to this? We may have a dream inside our hearts, but it will only grow if we water it. Nuture it. Fertilize it.

I am in the process of ushering my next musical dream into reality. I have written a handful of beautiful, inspiring melodies with Liz Johnson that I will soon be sharing with you. It is my hope that these songs will inspire you to plant your own garden and watch it grow. Enjoy these last fleeting moments of summer, for soon we will be welcoming the renewal of autumn into our hearts.