Home - New Album Release

EXCITING NEWS!!!!  I am beyond thrilled to announce the release of my new album, Home, coming soon on December 3rd, 2021.  Pre-Orders are available now for the CD, Songbook, and Physical Bundle.  Visit iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp for Pre-Orders of the Digital Album.  When you pre-order, you will receive an MP3 and/or PDF of the title track, Home, as a digital download to enjoy while you wait for the order to arrive. 

"Home tells the story of finding true love and then finding the perfect home to live happily ever after in. Many of the twelve tracks are lively and upbeat, expressing joy and love, and this is Michele's most buoyant album to date. I should also mention that the cover artwork is as warm and beautiful as the music itself. ... This is music sure to lift your mood and brighten your day, so don't miss it!" - Kathy Parsons at MainlyPiano.com 

"A jubilant journey to new abodes!  Most highly recommended!" - Dick Metcalf at Contemporary Fusion Reviews

 

 

ABOUT THE ALBUM:

In the spring of 2018, my boyfriend Matt moved in with me, and we quickly learned that my house was not everything we needed as a couple.  So, in early 2019 we decided to buy another home, but after going through the motions, it just didn’t feel quite right, so we backed out and decided to renovate our existing home instead.  We spent a lot of time and effort working toward the renovation, but it fell through at the last minute right as the pandemic was beginning, leaving us in a bit of a bind.  We went on the search for our perfect home and we found it!  We were able to sell our existing home quickly, and we were able to renovate the new home to make it truly ours and everything we needed together.  We moved in the summer of 2020 and we absolutely love it.  The music on this album is about our journey, and how happy we are in our new space that we feel was meant just for us.  Welcome, to our HOME.  

 

 

ABOUT THE MUSIC:

A New Dream:  Finding this home, which is truly the perfect space for us, started new dreams about our plans, our goals, and how we envision our future together.  

 

Home:  Sitting at my piano, I have a beautiful view of gorgeous mature trees in our yard.  As I wrote this song, I felt so peaceful and grounded as I looked out at the trees and an overwhelming gratitude for our space, our yard, and our home.   It screamed out at me that this should be the title track for the album. 

 

In Perfect Harmony:  Matt and I work really well together and have very similar tastes in style, things we like, and our vision for design.  When we bought the house and decided to renovate the inside to make it ours, we were very much in sync with each other on how it should look, how we should decorate, and what changes we should make.  It was a like a perfect dance working together to make it truly ours.  

 

Joyful Mornings:  Every morning we sit together, either outside on the patio, or inside by the fire, enjoying the morning and beginning of our day.  It’s our “quiet time” together, where we just enjoy each other’s company in the quiet of the morning, sharing coffees, listening to music, playing games on our phones, talking about life and just being content.  We do this almost every day, and this song reminds me of our joyful mornings together.  

 

Welcome:  We love to entertain and have people over to visit.  We chose a home that would be good for gathering and having extended-stay guests.  It brings us great joy to welcome people into our home.  

 

Taking Root:  During our search for a new home, and the process of trying to renovate our other home, and then waiting to find a different home when the renovation fell through, I felt incredibly uprooted and ungrounded and unsettled.  When we moved into this house, and finally settled in, it felt wonderful to feel rooted and grounded again.  This song reminds me of roots growing deeper and spreading out in the land below, becoming one with the space around me.  

 

Hidden Acre:  I have always named the homes I’ve had.  My first home was called “Cozy Corner” and was a little rambler in the cute small neighborhood I grew up in.  My second home was called “Valley View” because it was up on the mountainside and had a perfect, completely unobstructed view of the entire valley.  This home is in the middle of the city, in a small hidden neighborhood full of beautiful homes on large acre lots surrounded by mature trees and foliage.  Our yard is like a beautiful English Garden and I love our little “Hidden Acre”.  

If These Walls Could Talk:  The people that owned this home before us built it for their family in the early 2000’s.  They had many children and grandchildren, and entertained all the time, having great parties and gatherings.  This home has a very comfortable, welcoming feeling to it, and the people that owned it before us are such genuine wonderful souls.  We are grateful for the love and positive energy they filled this house with and we excited to continue filling it with joy and wonderful memories for years to come. 

 

Together Again:  In the spring of 2021 we had a 10 day vacation planned to Curacao with a group of friends, but I decided to stay home after just having been really sick with COVID.  This was the first time Matt and I had been apart in the three years since moving in together.  And then, in the fall of 2021, I took a trip to Iceland with my sister for 12 days.  These days away from each other led me to write a song about being apart and then coming back together again.  We always tell each other that “home is wherever we are together” and this song brings us back home to each other.   Listen for the doorbell at the end! 

Anticipation:  All of the waiting, the searching, the limbo, wondering “should we move?” or “should we renovate?” and not knowing where we were going to end up, not really finding anything we were in love with, not being able to renovate as we had planned, left us feeling a great deal of anticipation and uncertainty.  

 

Contentment:  Now that we are settled, and living joyously in our new home, we have a great feeling of contentment and comfort and peace in our lives.  

 

This Beautiful Life:  This is the ultimate celebration song about being in love, living a beautiful life together, in this wonderful space that we call home.

 

 

 

  

ABOUT THE ALBUM ARTWORK:

I would like to give a huge shout out to my designer, Matt Strieby at New Leaf Design, who not only made my vision for the album artwork come to life, but made it feel as cozy, and inviting, and lovely as I had imagined in my mind when I came up with the concept for the design.  I have worked with Matt for years, he's done all my album designs from Out of the Darkness and onward.  Every project I ask him to do for me has been stellar and he always captures my vision and creative ideas with perfection and brilliance.  I am so grateful.  Thank you Matt!