Laura Bruno Lilly

The road ends, but the journey continues...

Tag: me&gracie

purple patch butterfly 1

Weekend Notes 8/17-18/2024

August 18, 2024 /

FYI: A few days ago, I received my “Happy Anniversary – you registered on WordPress 11 years ago” notification. It may be my last.

Let me explain.

Surrounded by my notes, I just now sat down, opened my computer and logged onto my WP account to begin this newest Weekend Notes post. What I originally hand in mind to write involved copying a paragraph from a previous post, so I hit the “All Posts” button on my dashboard. Instead of the usual listing of previously published posts, I was presented with a chaotic array of vertical post titles and empty space. An ominous sign that more such chaos lurked elsewhere throughout my website/blog.

That’s when I knew the script changed.

Please consider this my ‘message in a bottle’ that hopefully gets out there for all to view. Given the above intro – this bottle may or may not reach anyone.

Dear blogger buds, followers, friends, and readers of all sorts,

Most of you know the ups & downs, joys & travails of using WordPress. Many of you know I personally have experienced a huge increase in the downs & travails of it beginning March 2024.

This newest set of freaky developments are not quite the final push for me to chuck this platform.

However.

In order for this website/blog to continue I know I am in for multiple rounds of trying to decipher, redo, fix, wait for/give up on tech support answers, etc. I know I’m in for a huge dive back into the technical aspects in going forward with this platform. This all takes an enormous amount of time & effort to enable this website/blog to simply go on doing what it is meant to do.

Will I be successful?

Why should I be? I’m no computer programmer or WordPress technician expert. Nevertheless, I have learned numerous tricks, HTML bits, plugin compatibilities, go arounds and more of the technical side of WP functionality/maintenance than I ever thought possible.

Don’t get me wrong, I love learning and a challenge. But given the fact that WordPress solicits itself as a user friendly, no technical knowledge needed platform with abundant tech support, I feel I’ve gone way over and beyond the call of duty.

And now, more than ever, as I am entering into a long awaited focused ‘Purple Patch’, with my 2024 projects & goals, I resent this intrusion into my valuable time. After all, this website/blog serves my (he)art, not the other way around.

So, just in case the blog goes silent again, know I am trying my best to maintain my website/blog presence. You can always email me and/or use the contact form to get in touch, if you like. 🙂

peace

LAURA

Memo to self: Regardless of the project focus – It’s All About The Music

Laura Bruno Lilly, circa 2002
Laura Bruno Lilly, circa 2002

The Meaning We Make with Our Hands (Poem)

June 3, 2024 /

In reading about the stories we as creatives tell through our (he)art, I came across this phrase from a Quiltfolk blog article.

It resonated. I ruminated. I wrote a poem. 

The Meaning We Make with Our Hands
Laura Bruno Lilly © 2024
I tell stories
I paint pictures
I touch hearts
		with sound.
Found sound
Composed sound
and sometimes spoken.

Phrases shaped
Rhythms formed
and all the silent in-betweens.
Peppered throughout with tone colors
                both nuanced and bold.

Listen
My music speaks
		its own truth.

Announcing an unexpected Re-Release!

November 4, 2022 /
unexpected cover image
Cover artwork by Michelle Marie Bruno Lilly (+ Solorio – she’s since married!) on the John Lennon Peace Wall, Prague. c2007

My 2007 cd, unexpected, is now available for purchase on Bandcamp as a limited quantity item.

Long available via the now defunct cdbaby store (back in the Derek Sivers days!) and downloadable/streamable via iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, etc. I have re-released both the physical cds & digital downloads of unexpected for additional distribution on my Bandcamp site.

***Please take a listen***

Hop over to my Bandcamp page for details on how to order digital tracks and/or physical cds.

Due in large part to the fact of its prior release taking place during the early days of digital distribution (think: My Space Music, yes I had an account!) – my mixed and mastered wav files were on a special type of cd that I then sent directly to the cd replication studio. I essentially gave them up not knowing I’d need them somewhere down the line.

I won’t get too technical but having to reverse-engineer one of my own cds on hand in order to obtain wav files to upload was a huge obstacle for me.

Oh, not the actual doing of it, but wondering if the quality of said files would be the same as if they’d come directly from the recording studio files. Lordy, I am such a sound snob an audiophile.

Add to that the amount of time required for uploading & entering each track individually, complete with a myriad of other digital data paraphernalia. No wonder I put it off for so long. (BTW: the digital files sound just fine!)

But then DIY ain’t nothin’ new.

However, as I’ve been working on current projects – improving skills on my less dominate instruments, recording ideas, composing like crazy, collaborating with Banjo Guy and laying out pdf scores for future publishing & distribution – I could no longer drag my feet in getting this pesky task completed.

And now it is.

Done.

Ready for a new set of ears to hear and hopefully enjoy for hours of listening pleasure.

TWL 4.15.22

One breezy afternoon in April

May 5, 2022 /

One breezy afternoon in April – in the days before it gets too hot and humid…

…hubby and I trekked to the new soccer fields/trails on the outskirts of town to play in the great spacey outdoors…

…we each took turns taking sneaky photos of each other…

…then packed it all up and called it a day!

easy flight
me&gracie
TWL tending to kite
TWL 4.15.22
Packing up

Wishing us all times like these to refresh our souls and replenish our spirits.

Gracie Thanks

Mama (Gracie) Needs a New Pair of (Set of) Shoes (Strings)

April 6, 2022 /

Like a baby being born into an expectant family – the world revolves around that anticipated event while simultaneously continuing to turn daily on its axis.

Such is the life of a working musician – the ins and outs of projects going public and in various stages of completion with the on-going daily-ness of keeping up one’s chops, learning new repertoire, caring for one’s instruments, exploring the wide world of sound adventures while simultaneously creating a fresh crop of compositions/recordings and forging relationships with possible new performance partners. 

So yeah, Gracie Needed A New Set of Strings…In Spades.
She was neglected in that way. But truly in no other.

  • Gracie needs a new set of strings
    Yep, she does!
  • Gracie Thanks
    You’re welcome!

I recently unearthed a song sketch I recorded on my new-at-the-time ZOOM H4n handheld recorder after my literal Swimming with Swans* experience.

It definitely sounded way better than I remembered. Usually it goes the other way around – remembering something way better than it actually was.

Ah yes, after all these years – I hit the jackpot. Hidden in plain sight, I unwittingly discovered the namesake piece for the entire Swimming with Swans: The Music project!

All that to say, Gracie and I have been deeply ensconced in the nuances of deciphering what was recorded and translating it back under my fingers to play upon her lovely neck. Teasing to attention several other12-string pieces queued up for the next recording session (yet to be determined).

Now, if I keep the original recorded intro with those birds chirping in the background…tack it onto the future studio recording when the time comes…
😎

  • Me&CG at IN CoffeeshopConcert 2010
  • Laura Bruno Lilly at IN CoffeeshopConcert 2010
  • Me&Gracie at IN CoffeeshopConcert 2010
Me, the Prisloe and Gracie, Indiana Coffee Shop Concert Series, Summer 2010**

*This poignant experience occurred during the
**Indiana sojourn part of our between homes time (from 3/2010 – 10/2010).

© 2024 Laura Bruno Lilly

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑