Author: Wendy Kheiry

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Podcast Stats

Here’s some of the stats for this year. I know I haven’t posted a new episode in a while, as I am pursing other avenues of sharing and earning, but for those of you who listened and shared the episodes I did put out there into the world, thank you.

I earned less than two dollars doing this: 9 hours of talking about things I think matter, and trying to put something out there to help the world. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I have zero regrets about having spent my time this way.

I’m not sure whether or not I will try to keep this going next year. What I do know is that I won’t be able to if I don’t secure some funding for my life. That I need to pay my bills, and earn a living are at the forefront of my concern these days.

Keep me in your thoughts as I navigate this tricky curve in the path of life.

If you’d like to listen to past episodes, you can find them here.

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The Bird and the Trumpet

Flowing water swept away the expression

Smooth tranquil ice chilled in the winter cold

An exodus a trampling a song

Ideas exchanged and never meeting

Meeting and never changed

The end is near

They cried and ran and flailed

But they peeked over shoulders

Hidden under covers in the dark

The earth trembling from the stampede

A sound hailing a shake-up

The trumpeting noise

Disrupting the flock into flight

Some land on the pachyderm

Others in disharmony

a cacophony of opinions

Some run counter to the rest

Never getting off the ground

And this is how

Great changes come about

A shake up and a resettling

A restructuring building something new

With tools honed over the unfolding

That went before

The trumpet blew

The birds flew

Where we land is a place

We never knew

three black handset toys
Photo by Alex Andrews on Pexels.com
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Mixtures Poetica Addition: At The Water Met

January 23, 2021, I wrote the poem: At the Water Met

The poem is a story about awakening, and the longing to rest easy in a disconnect from the world and the events in it. It is a cry for peace, as well as an answering to the call that is life and responsibility. There are dragons and aliens – symbols of power and otherness indicating a universal connection to energies we don’t fully understand which support humanity’s growth (we hope!).

For a while now, I have been playing with this -trying to get the music just right, and testing this kind of vocals or that kind of vocals, and I just couldn’t get it the way it needed to be until recently.

Here’s the spoken word with soundscape version of At The Water Met which will be on the someday forthcoming collection of pieces called Mixtures Poetica which is the follow up to the EP Poetic Mixtures, available on streaming platforms globally.

Here be dragons!
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Previews of Upcoming Music Releases

I’ve been working in the studio this week, and brought a couple of tracks to completion.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, and I’m grateful to have such fulfilling work.

Fancy Car is a song about keeping at it (the music) even with self-doubt, and with some discouragement. What’s also true is that I’ve had a great deal of encouragement and it’s good to remember the sources.

I’ve played out and had good responses and bad responses. I practice more.

I love the encouragement. When someone tells me my song has touched them, there’s no feeling better.

If I don’t know you, I may not let your opinion derail me.

Streaming release December 2, 2022

Updated vocals, edited, and mastered A Truth And A Lie for distribution. It really took me a while to figure out what needed to change, and how to change it, but I’m pretty happy with where it is now.

I tend to write love songs, and break-up songs, but A Truth And A Lie is about political disillusionment with our entrenched systems. I’m tired of people taking office and becoming politicians who don’t follow through with the ideals that get them elected. I wanted to express my sadness, and anger, and the hopelessness I sometimes feel with the process. I believe the only way we can address the things that are wrong with us – our society, our culture, our world – is to try to see what is happening as truly as possible. And in a world of spin, it is increasingly more difficult to wade through information which is usually presented through the filter of someone else’s agenda.

Also, wait until you see the full cover! 🙂

Tentative release date: December 21, 2022
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Updates

Some exciting things have been unfolding, which is why I haven’t been posting much.

My friend and collaborator, Rosalie Robison, came for a week’s visit and we worked on updating some songs off of the Patchwork Blue album, and on three new songs for an upcoming EP! I have been working hard to build upon the basic structure of these three songs.

I found a blank art wall at a local library branch and hung 10 art pieces there where they will hang in public view through the first of January!

I ordered some business cards, and post cards for a book signing I started to organize which has turned into a sort of poetry reading thing called The Word Garden, and I’m not sure what that’s going to end up being like, but I’m really hoping it’s not just me sitting in a room reading poetry aloud to myself while sadly strumming a guitar.

I just sold another book on Amazon today, so that’s very encouraging!!

I’ve been doing odd jobs here and there to try and make ends meet while avoiding taking a real job, but I may have to try and get some seasonal work to make it through the next few months. This is frustrating when I feel so close to being able to generate some income from the projects and creative works, but it is a common obstacle when building presence and generating sales on several fronts.

I voted.

I’ve played some open mics.

I’ve written a new single I’m very excited about and trying to finish up the production of that.

November is here and it’s a historically difficult month. This is why I hung my paintings to share out there in the world. Maybe someone else who is having a rough month or two through the holidays will gain some comfort from them. I was surprised how sad I became when I went to leave the library after having hung the paintings on the wall.

Thank you for reading.

Hope your November has some moments of joy and peace.

Appreciate you!

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Music Update with Videos!

My friend, Rosalie, who collaborated with me on the Patchwork Blue album will be coming into town in October. Be on the look out for more about that! Very excited to have some time to sit down with her and work on some music!

Recently, I’ve ramped up music practice, going to open mics, and compiling the business end of Promo – which meant some minor tech upgrades, and rearranging how I use my devices. Some of this back end stuff requires quiet thinking and planning.

As amazing as it might seem, I’ve been taking some time off here and there to relax and enjoy myself, and I think my art and music is better for it, if only because I am better for it.

Here’s a little glimpse of a new-ish song. I tend to write a new song a week. The second week or sooner, I try to put some music to it. Often will release a really early video of the gist of it on Instagram or in my Facebook music group, and then will spend a few weeks refining it – trying it out at an open mic etc.

This one I played out this week, but it is still being developed, and this is something I have been appreciating about music, and that is the refining process. On YouTube, I took a Truth and a Lie and deconstructed it, analyzed it and put it back together in a way that helps me understand what’s going on in the song better, and it’s the second in a series I’ve started of Songwriting Workbooks.

This is: Will I Be Ready

And this one is a really new one – just a few times through called ‘We Return to the Sea’

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New Song Lyrics: We Return to the Sea

(Verse 1)

I gave all my words to you

The wind took them

Blew them through the leaves

The rain made them fall

Puddles became streams leading

To the ocean

We all return to the sea

(Verse 2)

I gave all my words to you

Letter by letter

Page by page

And stood quiet before the trees

As they sang them back to me

Next to the stream they babbled

I followed them to the ocean

(Chorus)

To drown there

In the love of ages

Wave after wave

We return to the sea

Wave after wave

We all return to the sea

(Verse 3)

Coming back to life

With love’s return

The clouds carrying us

To dream of blue skies

Rustling branches

In a free fall with each droplet

We follow them to the ocean

beach during sunset
Photo by Bella White on Pexels.com

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Update: Falling into Autumn

Last weekend, I had the privilege of working with a sound crew for the Southern Indiana Blues Festival in Bean Blossom, Indiana. Held at the Bill Monroe Music Park and Campground, there were two stages surrounded by beautiful wooded areas with a small lake nestled in the holler between the hills.

I camped for the first time ever – luckily there were vendors there with fair food, but I was able to make a good strong pot of coffee every morning. I got to meet musicians from all over, and I learned a lot about sound. And physics. And metaphysics, because at the junction of audio frequencies, spirit, and music there is a space, an elevation, a connection that brings people to their feet, dancing and moving in time together. What is this?

Also, some other things have clarified for me, such as where will I be living, which is a tough question to have hanging about in the air. I am staying put for now, and with that decision came a small list of home improvement projects, because where and how you live, at least in part, reflects who you are and who you want to become. I added some solar lights, and some blinds because there’s a time to see and a time to refrain from seeing.

Or something.

I have some upcoming decisions to make as well which are of no small significance, some writing to do – pulled out a big project and dusted it off – some practice to make music better and keep improving, and the regular food prep, cash hustle, and where did I put the joy activities.

And naps. Lots of naps to help process the changes within and without.

Art has taken a bit of a breather, but there are pieces available in the Magic Art Shop – see link in header/menu, and prints of some of the artwork available on RedBubble – see the link in the sidebar/bottom of screen.

Hope everyone is doing well as we fall out of summer into autumn. May we land gently on piles of leaves with no hidden branches or garden implements. Apple cider and pumpkin lattes will battle it out every crisp day, whether it be the bright sunny days chilled or the damp, grey-skied rain soaked days biting, they will contend and vie for your taste buds until winter descends and hot cocoa triumphs.

A toast to the quest of the falling leaves and baring branches.