Back to ‘Painting’…

Hey Folks…

Well these past months feel like a blur…some of them I question whether or not they actually happened and some of them are blurry like a bad drunken night…by that I mean they were blurry with excitement and endorphins that caused me to relate them to an experience or two I may have had with a bad drunken night…just to clarify lol.

From Halifax’s In The Dead of Winter Festival (IDOW) to Wakefield Quebec’s IDOW to Toronto, Ontario’s Winterfolk to a Valentine’s Day show in Antigonish, Nova Scotia to the Atlantic Canada House for the Olympics in Vancouver British Columbia to Sydney, Cape Breton for the ECMA’s… I needed a good break lol. So that is what I did…I spent a week in a wooded area with a wood stove and a house that kind of looks like a ski lodge (also my soon to be home in June lol).  Although I was supposed to do nothing…I filled up my time by constructing to-do lists in my sleep for fear of sitting still and going crazy.  We fixed and painted and bought and drank and walked and drove and visited and when the week was over I realized I had done nothing close to relax or take a break.  My body is naturally set on go mode due to my Mother’s upbringing (If you met her, you would understand…and here is where all my friends laugh)  (Oh  yeah..and if you met my sister’s…and my Dad…so yes my whole family is like this).  To sit still is to be tortured.  Don’t get me wrong, I think I’m abnormal and crave to be able to one day sit down in the woods and have nothing float through my mind but “what shall I drink…a beer or a spiced rum?” but highly doubt I will see the day.  lol (bahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahha…that one’s for Adam)

So here I am back in Halifax and back to ‘Painting’ my album.  It feels like months since I’ve been in the studio and “Painting With Tides” is one of those things where I question if it really happened.  The good thing about this is I can listen to the recording and know for sure that yes it did. lol.

Yesterday I had Phil Sedore play some guitar…nicest guy ever and sure knows how to make a guitar seep into a song instead of sit on it..I like that a lot lol.  And I also just found out I get another special guest on my album…Geoff Hilhorst from The Deep Dark Woods playing that amazing organ he does!! I’ve been listening to these guys non-stop for these past two months of craziness and they have kept me sane.  LOVE their music…so to have him play that sweet sweet organ means a lot..and they are from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  Love it.

As we all know, things don’t always turn out like you plan.  It’s looking like the album will not make the May release date we would have liked. Some great opportunities came up these past two months (like spending two weeks at The Olympics) and set the process back a bit.  We are also thinking about staying away from summer, as most do, as there are festivals and hopefully I’ll be playing a few.  So I’m sure you can guess that you may have to wait a little longer that you may have liked, but….I can guarantee it will be worth it! And to all of you who have pre-ordered the album and showed your support and helped fund the recording, I will be forever in debt to you…literally. lol Just jokin..seriously, I hope you feel good like you should knowing that just by pre-ordering the album, you’ve helped directly in the making of it..and that’s pretty special…so special that your name will be in the credits.  And for those of you who haven’t pre-ordered the album but want to and want your name in the credits, because we still need help, you can do it right here or click the right hand side of the page on “Help Kim Make Music”….literally. lol

Til next time…I must get back to ‘Painting’…thank you for all your support…without you, none of this would happen.

Much Love…

Kim

Oh Heart on “Crash & Burn”, January 28th – 10pm ET on Showcase

Kim Wempe – Oh Heart (Alternate Take) by kimwempe

Hey folks!

I just got some really exciting news and wanted to share it with you.

One of my favorite songs, “Oh Heart” is going to be on TV! After being placed on the ECMA/Atlantic Film Festival’s Music & Image compilation in November, the director of the show Cra$h & Burn (Thursdays on Showcase, 10pm ET or online at showcase.ca/video) asked if he could use it in a scene!

We just worked out the details and it will be on this Thursday night. Crash & Burn is a new Canadian TV show about our favourite people in the world…insurance adjusters lol. That’s all I’ll say… tune in to check out the show on Thursday night! (11pm for us on the East Coast!)

Oh Heart comes from my Where I Need to Be EP which is up for a couple of nominations (Female Artist & Rising Star Recording of the Year) at the 2010 East Coast Music Awards. It also won Folk Recording of the Year at the 2009 Music Nova Scotia Awards. It should be playing in the box at the top of this page as you read this, or you can check out Oh Heart on the listen page or download it from iTunes (it’s part of my Digital EP). You can also get a signed CD copy of the whole Where I Need to Be EP right here.

I also performed Oh Heart in one of my sets at the In The Dead of Winter Festival last year (see it on the videos page or scroll down to the bottom of this post). It just so happens that I’ll be playing a show at the 2010 IDOW Festival THE SAME NIGHT the song is on TV! I’ve also got shows coming up at the IDOW Wakefield Festival (Feb 6th/7th) at the Blacksheep Inn and the Winterfolk Festival (Feb 12th, 13th) in Toronto on The Danforth. Then I fly right back to Nova Scotia to play a special Valentines Show in Antigonish at StFX University (more on this soon…). Then it’s off to Sydney, NS March 4th – 7th for two shows at the ECMA’s! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone I met the last time I played these towns and meet some new people too so pick up your tickets soon and tell your friends!

See you soon…

Much love,

Kim
xo

Morning Beautiful! (…and the Guess Who’s Driving Tour)

Well hello there folks!

I am just finishing up my morning coffee after watching Canada AM and eating my usual peanut butter toast (yes, I have routine lol…I am such a morning routine person). Anyway…found out that Canadian pork is safe. Turns out even if the pig is infected, the meat is still fine. The strain stays in the lungs. Get that! So…I love how this swine flu is on the news so much that it actually starts install irrational fear in you. You have 100% more likely chance of dieing in a car crash but yup…I’m kinda still scared to get swine flu! lol bhahahahaa. Anywaysssss…

So the weekend in Antigonish was amazing! I sold out my first show at the Justamere Cafe and it was wicked! Thanks to everyone who came out to that show and for those of you who couldn’t get tickets, I’m back with Carmel Mikol on May.22nd at the StFX Art Gallery as part of the “Guess Who’s Driving Tour?”

So…what is the “Guess Who’s Driving Tour?” you ask yourself?! A frickin’ fun time! That’s what it is! Carmel Mikol and I are hittin’ the road together and eventually making our way back to Newfoundland where we had our first trip together and first experience with NFLD together for the ECMA’s! Carmel was driving…and let me tell you! It takes some patience people! I do not know how many times we got lost and she said she knew where she was going! lol bahahahahah. Carmel also likes to think it’s safe to drive 7 hours on 2 hours of sleep! I’m gonna go ahead and say that is unsafe! lol…I love Carmel though! She is sooooo wicked and we had so much fun together travelling around the ECMA’s so we agreed to do it again closer to summer. So! Here we are. She dropped me off outside my house the day we got back, after ferry delays, crazy storms that almost blew the vehicle off the road, duct taping Carmel’s eyelids because she refused to stop driving, finally convincing her to sleep a couple hours because it wasn’t safe to drive and we both had to work early the next day, and finding out that both of our bosses had let us off the hook just outside Halifax! I said, “Well good to know we can tour together, but next time, I’M DRIVING!” lol bahahahahah. “And now I’m going to sleep!” What a time…

Here’s a list of our shows folks! Nova Scotia and NFLD watch out! And thank you Ian Foster for all your help with NFLD! Check him out peeps! www.ianfoster.ca!

“Guess Who’s Driving Tour?”

Halifax – Company House, May 21, 8pm $10
(w/ Norma MacDonald)

Antigonish – St. FX Art Gallery, May 22, 8pm $10

Sydney – May 23, The Upstairs Club, 8pm $5

Truro – May 24, Fair Trade Community Café, 7pm

St. John’s, NL – June 2, The Grapevine, 10:30pm

June 3, Distortion, 10pm

June 4, The Bull & Barrell, 12am

June 6, Rose & Thistle, 10pm

Corner Brook – June 8, The Bar Room, 8pm $5

Stephenville – June 9, Clancy’s, 11pm $5

So…for those of you looking to do something this weekend..check this. I’m playing for my supper, like alot of musicians do lol, at the Carleton on Saturday afternoon! Starts at 2pm and what a time it will be! It’s hosted by Kev Corbett and the others playing are Ashley Condon and Bob Ardern.

Secondly…some wicked gals are on tour, a big boots and lipstick tour that is, and you should check them out! I’m playing with Lynn Jackson and Ambre McLean at Gus’s Pub on Sunday night and Just Us Cafe on Spring Garden on Monday Night! Gus’s Pub is a 10:00 show and Just Us is a 7:00-9:00 show. Hope to see ya out folks! These girls need to be heard “livvveee”!

So…folks…it was nice talking with ya and I hope the rest of your week and weekend is lovely! Don’t forget about Mother’s Day either! I know my Momma is one of the most influential, beautiful, supportive and amazing people in my life and she deserves ALOT back from putting up with me! (Especially in high school…ugggghhh lol) She is the thread that runs through my veins (and don’t you dare steal this line for your card! and if you do you gotta do one of these..-Kim Wempe- ahahahahah) …so make sure you take a moment to tell your Momma you love her and if you’ve lost her, take time to be grateful for the time you had with her and if you tell her you miss her, she’ll hear you…I swear…

“Keep your feet on the ground and eyes on the stars…”

Love…
Kim

I feel summer coming…

Well folks…I think summer is on it’s way, well unless you’re in Alberta and just got a couple centimeters of snow, but I’m sure it will melt people! No worries!

Anyway…yesterday it was 27 in Halifax! We went down to the Seahorse for Music Nova Scotia open mic night and everyone was out…the patios on Argyle Street are out, kickin’, and busy! I walked home in a tank top and enjoyed the summer breeze, humidity, and views of Halifax…Man I love this city!

I woke up this morning all bright and early, thinking if I would have had one more drink at the Seahorse, I might not be feelin’ so hot this morning! Went on to Canadian tire and for the second day in a row they said “We’re all booked up, not today.” I guess I’m driving with winter tires on for a bit because everyone is in this same mad rush to get those puppies off! But I do tend to jinx things so since I made a little fun at the Alberta snowfall, I could be laughing if we get some type of crazy winter storm that blows in. Then again…nope…I don’t think I would be laughing so much as cursing…loudly. lol….

So…the gig at the Company House on Saturday was amazing! Such a great time and I can’t stop listening to Ana Egge’s new disc “Road to My Love”! We got this gig on video so maybe some clips to upload to the dropcard in the next few months if ya got one ;P If you don’t, you should probably pick one up from one of my shows coming up. Just sayin lol!

I’m off to Antigonish today to rehearse for the show at the Justamere Cafe tomorrow night! The show is just over half sold so make sure you buy tickets and reserve ahead of time! I have special guest musicians Donald MacLennan on violin, mandolin, and harmonies, and Greg Hann on drums. It’s our little trio and it’s going to be a great night! The show is going to start at 6:00 and go over a dinner time setting, and I think the Justamere may have a new little menu? If not yet, they will soon and they’re menu is awesome either way! If you’re around Antigonish, come on out and join me and the boys! If you’re not, enjoy your weekend and the sun and the summer breeze….and the fact that you can walk around without a coat on in flip flops. I’m stoked!

“Keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars!”

Peace from the East…
Kim