I'm just a girl on a journey to become a rockstar

2011 Recap

2012-01-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

Looking back on 2011, it was a great year! Here's a breakdown of it's greatness on the home front:

April 21st - I turned 30

April 24th - Gave birth to Eliza on Easter Sunday

May 10th - Roark turned 2

July 18th - My song "Silver Plate of Fear" was featured on The Radio Cafe'

July 23rd - Performed at the Indie Music Festival

July 25th - "Silver Plate of Fear" hit #10 on The Radio Cafe' Reverbnation Indie Music Countdown

October 13th - I was showcased at The Fine Line Music Cafe' as a RAW Artist

October 17th - I was nominated RAW Musician of the Year

October 18th - Music aired on 89.9 KRPR (Thanks Brian!)

October 19th - Catchgroove.com featured me in a great album review (Read it here http://catchgroove.com/2011/10/17/amanda-rundquist-long-long-week/)

November 18th - Performed at The RAW Awards with an old friend who I go way back with, Scott Olhoff. I didn't take home the Musician of the Year award but I got a LOT of votes for being the outsider beating out the other two Singer/Songwriters. The band "Postina" won the award (they also won the Cities 97 Basilica Block Party Battle of the Bands... there was really no competition and they deserved it).

December 1st - Celebrated my 4 year Wedding Anniversary to David

December 15th - David turned 31

December 17th - Hosted my first recital for my 3 students at WideSpot Performing Art Center

December 18th - Graduated from Berklee Music with a 3.9 GPA and a Master Certificate in Artist Management.

December 29th - Realized that I'd lost all of the baby weight plus additional 4 lbs (I wasn't even trying so ROCK ON!)

Artist Showcase at The Fine Line Music Cafe' in October

David and I at the RAW Awards in November

Scott and I performing at the RAW Awards at The Fine Line

My Nomination

Master Certificate from Berklee College of Music

Other things I accomplished throughout the year include becoming a master at Crochet (I'd never crocheted before in my life till I was 5 months pregnant with Eliza). I also taught myself how to knit but I'm still a beginner in that department. I got over my fear of the kitchen and cooked my first whole chicken as well as hosted my first Thanksgiving which I prepared a Pomegranate Molasses glazed turkey that was absolutely epic and a butternut squash soup. We got our new family pictures taken with Eliza, David put in the windows in the basement to start the remodel for the kids new bedrooms and toyroom (a project for 2012), and lastly, I wrote an entire album which will be in production during 2012 once I settle on a producer (If you've been to my shows, you've likely heard the new songs).

On to 2012 Resolutions:

-Attend Church a LOT more.

-Work on body toning now that I've lost all of the baby weight

-Do my first regional tour

-Finish basement remodel

I look forward to our family vacation in Feb to Florida, my first concert where I will be opening for the phenominal Vicky Emerson (www.vickyemerson.com) which is also in Feb at WideSpot (get tickets here http://www.widespotperformingarts.org/index.php?nav=ticket&month=2), my sisters wedding in May, going to Vegas for the first time ever for my brothers 21st birthday in October, and putting all of my schooling into action with my next CD release throughout the year for 2013 release!

I have truly been blessed. Hope you all have a Happy New Year and remember to count your blessings as well!

-Amanda

Indie Music Festival

2011-07-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hello and Welcome to my Blog!

I'd like to start by saying a few things about the exciting event I was so blessed to be a part of this past weekend!! This event was of course the Indie Music Festival put on by the Indie Music Channel, Reverbnation, and The Radio Cafe'.

I met some AMAZING artists, (Tivoli Skye, Zoe Ann, Alice Evans, ByItsRightName, The Wall Clocks, Michael Korus & J. Metz, Matt Walker, Adam Whittington, Victoria Celestine, Aaron G from the band Omni-, Audio Insight) to name a few. Here's a pic of all of us

The event kicked off Friday July 22nd at The Ramada Inn Mall of America where we had a meet and greet, cash bar, and a workshop type conference for the independent musicians. I keep getting the question "what is Indie Music?"... well here LET ME GOOGLE THAT FOR YOU. Anyway, founder Christopher Ewing went over some really cool stuff, most of which I already learned from school, but it was a nice refresher and all really helpful information. After the conference we all headed over to Sky Deck Sports Grille & Lanes for some great food and to socialize. Some of us also performed, including myself, and I was amazed with the sounds I heard!

Saturday July 23rd was the actual festival at the Mall of America. There were a few stages set up around the mall including an acoustic stage in the Macy's Courtyard, a main stage in the rotunda, a stage in the Nickelodeon park (that I never did get to check out), and ...I'm not sure if there were other stages, I think there was 1 more. Anyway I performed at Macy's at 1:30pm and on the main stage at 4:30. Talk about nerves...omg. I did fine on the Macy's stage but when I got to the main stage I thought I was going to throw up I was so nervous! There's a first time for everything and that was my first time on a stage like that with so many people. So, yeah, I wasn't too comfortable and didn't do my best on that stage but it was still an amazing experience and I really got a taste of what's to come in my career. It also made me realize how much I really DO need a band! So I will be looking into that soon as I catch up on things like homework and updating my sites this week.

After the performances Saturday, there was an after party at the Sky Deck again which I wasn't able to make it to and on Sunday Christopher was holding one-on-one artist development meets with artists that wanted one. I didn't sign up for one because of two reasons: First of all I'm going to school for Artist Management so I'm pretty much learning it all there or at least I better be for the $10,000 in tuition I'll owe very soon... and Secondly, I had a show at the Pepin County Fair from 11am-2pm so I wasn't available to have one either way.

Christopher Ewing introducing me on the Main Stage @ The Indie Music Festival July 23rd 2011

Me performing on the main stage

So that's about all I have to say about that deal. There are some more pictures on my Facebook page. I'm in the process of creating an album for the website but it'll be a few days because they all have to be gone through, sized, blah blah blah... So on to the NEWS:

♪ My song "Silver Plate of Fear" was featured on The Radio Cafe' radio show #33 July 18th which was very cool!

♫ I'm returning to Rochester, MN and Zumbrota, MN for shows this fall (check my schedule for more details)

♪ Hoping to engage my street team really soon on their first mission. If you are interested in being a part of my street team and spreading the word about me and my music, please send me an email at amanda@amandarundquist.com.

♫ A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who came to the Mall of America to hear me! I was SHOCKED at how many people I recognized! I really appreciate all the support!

♪ There's been talk of me recording soon with Mark Healey (bassist from Badfinger) ... could be a rumor ... we'll see ;-)

That's about all I got for now.

-Amanda

First Show ...First Song!!!

2011-06-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

So... this coming Saturday will be my first live performance after having an almost 4 month break (had a baby for those who are new)!! I'm really excited to get back to performing however having two very small children now doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to practice. So today my fantastical husband took them with him so I could get some quality practice time in and I of course used it to make videos because that is even harder to do with two small children around ...how am I supposed to plaster myself and my songs all over the internet if I can't make videos right!?!! So the featured video for today is the very first song I ever wrote. I was 12 years old, a boy I shall not name broke my heart... I was not going to live lol. Anyway, it's still a great song and could relate to a lot of people of all ages. It is also the very first piano video YAY!!! I did make a few more, they'll be shared later on but for now enjoy this song.

NEWS:

♪ Only two classes left for my Artist Management Masters Certificate from Berklee, so excited!!!

♫ Really excited to be coming back to my home town for a show at the Covered Bridge Lounge!!!

♪ I have a lot of irons in the fire so keep a watch on my schedule, it's actually pretty busy and I haven't even called a lot of places that I want to perform at so that's a blessing!

That's about all I have for you this time! Thanks for stopping by!

-Amanda

New Year, New Blog, ...New Song!

2011-01-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

I don't have much to report at this time but here's the news I do have:

♪ I'm coming to Rochester, MN!!! First show in Rochester at Canadian Honker on the 21st from 7:30-10:30pm.

♫ I'll be doing an acoustic only set at Coffee by the Bay in Bay City WI at 1pm on the 23rd

THESE WILL LIKELY BE MY LAST TWO LIVE SHOWS BEFORE BABY COMES!

♪ Legal Aspects of the Music Industry class starts Monday!!! I'm actually quite scared of this class... wish me luck!

♫ Baby Status: 25 Weeks, still don't know if it's a boy or girl but that's a good thing

♪ Lastly... NEW SONG! It's really dark, I apologize but the sound quality is good so just sit back, listen, and enjoy :)

Born in Bethlehem

2010-12-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas is approaching... whooo hooo! I've selected the song "Born in Bethlehem" to learn this holiday season by a band called THIRD DAY. The song is absolutely beautiful. My brother John was SUPPOSED to learn the lead riff and perform it with me at a few churches but he didn't get around to it and I doubt that he will so I tried to learn the lead riff myself, I'm not very good at switching from the strumming to the riff but I hope you enjoy the song anyway.

I have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season:

-my amazing husband, we just celebrated our third wedding anniversary Dec 1st. I don't know what I'd do without him.

-my amazing toddler, sure... it's hard to make a good video with him around but I wouldn't change it for anything :)

-I'm half way done with my pregnancy YAY!!! R2 (the official nickname of the unknown gender) looks good and healthy

-I've got a lot of neat music opportunities coming up after R2 comes that are very exciting

-only three classes left and I'll be done with school WHOOO HOOO

-we are seriously going to be here all next year if I keep going...

Enjoy the song and Merry Christmas!

"I've walked these streets in a carnival... of sites to see" - Natalie Merchant

2010-10-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

The other day I asked for a challenge on Facebook... I had an urge to learn a new song and wanted my fans to pick it. I had a couple suggestions and chose to do this one (first. I still am going to check out that "U Smile" song for piano). I've never known the lyrics to this song or have really paid much attention to it even though I've always liked the song. Last night I finally got a chance to take a good look at it and wow it's a great song! She has a very unique voice so I hope I didn't completely butcher it and yes I'm aware that I hit 1 wrong chord where the guitar solo goes... haha oops, hey give me a break I was still reading the lyrics and chords off a sheet!! Anyway, have a listen

NEWS:

Hmmm... I have a bunch of new shows coming up (check the show dates on the side bar). ALSO I entered "Wrap Me Up" in a contest so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE FOR ME at the link on the top right sidebar or go to my page direct HERE! Another new addition to the site is the mailing list widget toward the bottom right side bar. I am going to start... someday... emailing people who wish to be emailed. It's more for fan club and street team building though so don't expect a ton of emails.

I'm VERY excited that I've started working with graphic design artist Melissa Baus at Mellan Solutions to put together the artwork and other branding stuff for my next album (title to be announced later... much later). Estimated release date is sometime in early 2012 so don't get too excited yet. Those who came to my last show at Coffee by the Bay heard 5 new songs that will be on the album and as far as I could tell... the crowd like them 5 best so I'm really excited to get working on it next fall. THANK YOU to everyone who did come out to the Coffee by the Bay show, it was my smallest show I've done yet however it was by far the most tips I've made so I really appreciate those that did come and listen, hope to see you at future shows.

Shari's Chippewa Club in Durand, WI keeps CONSISTENTLY inviting me out to their open mic nights... I usually don't play these because I've gotten paid for music since I was about 15ish... BUT they're persistent so I will be making an appearance there on the 24th of October if anyone would like to come out and join me, hang out, I'd say drink but I'm 3 months preggo so you can drink for me hehe. Ok well that's way too much info for one post, even I don't like reading that much. Maybe I shouldn't wait so long in between blog posts... hmmm there's an idea! Till next time!

-Amanda

Demand me in your city!

2010-08-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

I found this cool widget online and although I probably don't have even close to the fan base YET to use such a widget, I'd still like to know if possible where I should start venturing too with my music so please, fans that I do have, let me know if you'd like me to come to your city.

View all Amanda Rundquist tour dates

As for other news, I had a meeting with record producer Matt Patrick at The Library Recording Studio last Friday and we talked about production of my next album which will begin Fall of 2011 so I'm really excited about that. For those of you not familiar with his work, check out Danielle Thrush and/or Vicky Emerson he did an amazing job on both of their most recent albums.

Another bit of news... I'm pregnant! Due on my 30th birthday (April 21st 2011)! Very excited about that as my husband and I have been trying for several months. AND this time around I AM finding out the gender. It was so hard to not find out with my son Roark. We are hopeful for a girl this time but either way would be alright as I'd really like a boy named Reiden... So if its a boy it'll be Reiden John and if it's a girl then it'll be a toss up between Eliza Dawn and Kaylin Jane. I know, I know... I'm not supposed to give away my names but this records that they were my names first! So my husband David and I went looking at vans... (I was NOT thrilled to be needing a van) because we grew out of the VW Jetta Sportwagon that we'd purchased when we discovered I was pregnant with Roark. We didn't intend to buy one yet but found a really awesome... I mean this van does everything except wipe your ass (...direct quote from my dad), VW Routan AND it's a Wolfsburg edition so it looks much cooler than your standard "van" so I am excited now that we have it to be driving a van and Roark is really enjoying watching movies while being in his car seat. What's even cooler is that David said I can plaster a giant "amandarundquist.com" on the side!!! We'll see. It would be totally cool though.

That's all I got for you this go 'round. Ooh one last thing, I MAY be performing at Westside VW on Sept 18th for their 50th Anniversary party, not sure yet though. They really want me to play (they made me play for them when we bought he Routan, it was fun) but I have a wedding that evening and it's just not a final decision yet but for my cities friends/fans, I may be there Sept 18th, check back if you're interested in coming out to see if I'm playing there.

2nd Blog post EVER!!!

2010-08-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my 2nd blog post EVER... In this episode I decided to do a cover song "Black Horse & the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall. I don't own a looping machine, or a Wii that I could transform into one, so I do the best I can on my own... I should really get a band one of these days though, it would be quite helpful when doing this tune.

News:

♪ Saturday show got moved to September 25th 6-9pm at Coffee by the Bay in Bay City, WI. Hope to see you there.

♫ Today, I wrote it... ESPRESSO MORNING! It's so awesome, I can't wait to share it with you. I think I'll release it as a single with a 16oz to-go mug hee hee.

♪ I did VBS this week at a nearby church and they asked me to perform "Little Personality" (see last weeks video below to hear) during their slideshow of the kids!!! It was really cool to be able to do that and also to jam with Pastor Greg all week, it was really fun.

♫ Looking at more dates with the Generation Band since it went so well at the Central Park Band Shell in Red Wing... YAY!

Well that's about all I got for you this week!

-Amanda 9:49 PM

Blah...g

2010-08-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

So... apparently... I'm supposed to start blogging to create more "fan interaction"... the monthly news section isn't enough (says my professor). And since I have this fantastical website, I though I'd put the blog RIGHT HERE at amandarundquist.com! Don't forget to subscribe at the bottom of the page because there WILL be good stuff in here.

Anyway... Since a blog is supposed to be about new, important stuff I'd like to share my NEW SONG with you! It's called "Little Personality" and is, of course, written about my 14-month old Roark. I apologize that its pretty poor quality as I LOST my grey camera that took much better video :(

I welcome any thoughts, comments, etc. I'm hoping to get a better quality video of it soon but until then, this is what you get. Anyway, be sure to check out my show dates on the right. AND make sure you click on each one to see if they're LIVE or Karaoke/DJ because I do both.

Lastly, there is a new COUNTRY Bar in my area that I'm really excited about (CLICK HERE for more about that). Back when that location was Guppies, it was my favorite place to go on the weekends so I'm really glad somebody is stepping up and making it alive again! AND what's better is that they're making it more about upcoming artists with a niche for Country.... My kind of place!

Until next time... bye!

Welcome to the music industry...

2009-08-20T15:05:00.001-07:00

Wow I hate to say this but there are a lot of JERKS in this industry! The guy at the Indie Record Label that offered me a contract was a total dink, the guy at ASCAP when I was trying to get my CD registered was also a total dink. The guy at the previous recording studio I dealt with (I won't mention any names) before deciding to record with Studio 7220 was on a very high horse... it's been quite an adventure so far and the CD isn't even out yet. Anyway, it's August 20th today and there are only 2 songs left in the "editing" process so I'm quite confident that it will be out in September.

I have met some very nice and helpful people in this industry like Vicky Emerson, Douglas Yoder, Carl Stephenson, and the folks at Berkleemusic.com where I will be starting school Sept 28th for Artist Management. I really suck at selling myself so I hope to learn something valuable there if I want a career in music without some pompus indie jackass running my life. I'm not saying it wouldn't be totally cool to be signed... just not but someone like that guy! I'm thinking bigger like maybe Capitol Records, Sony Records, Big Machine, or to get my music published by Cherry Lane would just be a dream come true. But if I can do it all on my own, which is more than possible in this day and age.... then I will cause I'll make more money :)

So, this blog is supposed to be about my journey... and well my journey is just beginning. It started about 2 years ago when I finally had the money to buy professional equipment for live shows. I did 2 live shows with my original music which went very well, I was a bit nervous cause it was the first time anyone had heard my music but the place was pretty packed both nights. Then I started recording and got pregnant... so I haven't done any shows since. Now I've had my son Roark, the CD is just about done, then I will do shows wherever I can until I'm out of college and really know what I'm doing lol. Yes I'm a rookie, but I'll get there some day. Thanks for your support. Let the journey truly begin!

-Amanda