THE MAKING OF MY SUMMER ISLES ALBUM #5

It is week 4 of my album process and it is also Christmas this week. At this time of year our house is always full of people so I am going to have to be disciplined to keep writing!  I am fairly certain that I will include, Stone and Struggle, A Tanera Talisman and The Pibroch but I am nervous that there is still a long way to go to have enough material for a full album. Nothing like having a deadline to get your act into gear as the first recording dates are in February!It was crucial at this stage to develop the pieces I thought I would like on the album, make a demo of each and send to my producer, Iain Hutchison. This would give us a rough idea of the shape of the album and how best to use the recording days in February.  I practiced all that I had written so far and I also made a mix tape of my favourite things to listen to.  This ended up being such a useful tool as it really helped me determine the kind of sounds I wanted for the album.  Thankfully, I did manage to send about 10 ideas to Iain and at the beginning of January we met up again to talk through each track. It was really encouraging that Iain was so positive about my writing and also so exciting to hear about his ideas for recording them.  My confidence is right back up there!  Having discussed all the ideas with Iain we were able to select the best of the demos to put on the album.  It is always worth writing more than you need so that you have options.Read my next blog to hear which tracks made the cut!