Acoustic Cover of Thirteen Beaches by Lana Del Rey

 Hello everyone!

Here is my acoustic folksy cover of Thirteen Beaches by Lana Del Rey. This is one of my favorite Lana tunes because I relate to it so much. She's one of my favorite female artists along with Stevie Nicks and Norah Jones. :) I did my best to do her justice so hopefully my hard work paid off. 

 

Original Songs - Leaves in Autumn and Wanna Get Off This Ride

 Hello everyone!

 

Here are a couple of tunes that I wrote and composed! I've been exploring guitar and singing for the past 3 years and it has been so much fun learning music. Right now, I'm working on bar chords, and finger picking and expanding my vocal range. It's all so challenging but a ton of fun as well! That's what matters the most.

"Leaves in Autumn" is a finger picking song about love, and longing, wondering and waiting. "Wanna Get Off This Ride" is just about reminiscing about the past, having a nostalgic moment and a little bit of commentary on how fast things are changing around us in the present.

 

Summer Art

 Hello everyone!

 

Well, it is August. We are in the dog days of summer, the veggies are growing, the flowers are blooming and ideas are coming to fruition! Late summer is so spectacular. The air starts getting crisp in the morning, you can see little pops of color on the trees, the garden is heading towards full bloom.

Right now, my Day Lilies and Hydrangeas are taking the spotlight, with Marigolds and Dahlias close behind. I wanted to share some of my art inspired by my flower gardens! I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do. I keep thinking that I should offer them as posters on Etsy or maybe put them on a T-shirt or tote bag. 

I'm moving at a snails pace but I am painting again so that makes me happy! Do what you love, even if you have steal those small moments of joy. :) 

Here's my favorites.

 

      

                                                        Thanks for visiting my little corner of the blogosphere!

 

                                                                                                                    All the Best,

 

 

 

                                                                                                                    Marissa 

Adult Figure Skating - Practice Makes Progress

 Although I still love dancing...I decided to go back to figure skating. I did it when my kids were little and then took a hiatus for dance. I love that I'm back into skating, it makes me happy to be on the ice and getting back into great shape. Plus, I get to create fun costumes/dresses and skirts!

 Jumping, spinning, edge work and moves in the field are challenging but I love it. Every time I get another skill that seemed so hard just weeks ago, I'm reminded that it's worth all the bruises, falls, and sore feet.

Although this isn't technically art, it's still artistry! Creating choreography, picking music, and designing costumes let's my creativity blossom. You must always do the things you're passionate about! 

 

Norah Jones Live Set Practice

 Hey everyone!

I've been busy with guitar practice! I love playing and singing and I'm working towards being able to do an hour long set of songs that I can play and sing well. It's such a great hobby and it brings me so much joy! I love that I'm able to do things that I never thought I would be able to do, I remember when just playing a G chord was a challenge. Now, I can play bar chords and switch between different chords with ease. Finger picking is coming along as well.

Norah Jones is one of my favorite artists and has been since I first heard her smash hit "Don't Know Why." It's been quite the experience learning her tunes, she has such a soulful voice and her bluesy riffs are epic! It's been a pleasure to study her music. I'm excited to see where I'll be in the coming years.

Cheers to learning!

 

 

New 80's Inspired Track - "Legwarmers"

 Hey everyone,

 

For whatever reason, YouTube wasn't letting me upload my Leg Warmer's Tutorial video until I changed the music, even though I was using non-copyright, "open use" music. So I decided to make my own track rather than fuss with it! Because I was doing legwarmers for skating, I thought it would be super fun to do background music that was reminiscent of that time period.

So here's something I whipped up. I think it's radical. 

 

Refurbished Swing Dancing Hats

Whenever I see a vintage 40's/50's hat at an antique store, estate sale or flea market, I snap it up. These are hard to find and they are usually in rough shape. However, one of my favorite things to do is refurbish vintage items. (I re-do vintage furniture as well. You won't believe what fantastic things some people throw away!)

Refurbished Hats

I am an East Coast Swing Dancer and Lindy-hopper. My hubby and I love to go dancing to live Big Band music and take lessons. Usually if there's a big dance,
I'll dress up in my 1940's garb. One of the best places to go swing dancing and see cool costumes is the St. Paul Commemorative Air Museum's Annual Hanger Dance/Fundraiser. The go all out, decorating the Airplane Hanger with old parachutes from the 40's, bring out some of the most beautiful vintage planes from the WWII era, and create such a blast from the past aesthetic. Of course, this lends itself to attendees dressing up in fun costumes for an evening of revelry.

I highly recommend it. They have food, drinks, a dance troupe performance, live band and old airplanes you can can explore! 

Commemorative Air force Museum

I'm promoting the vintage hats I fixed up so I can hopefully sell them ahead of the summer swing dance season! Below are my favorites. They can be found on my Etsy site Moon Maven Accessories and I think I'm also going to put them up on Craigslist as well. We are getting into dance season and I know that the events at the Ukrainian Center in NordEast are going to be packed! They have a fun "First Saturday Swing Dance" every month where there's a lesson and then a dance afterwards. No experience necessary!

 

Thanks for visiting my corner of creation! 

All the best,

 Marissa

                                                                                                                       

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Cover of Friday I'm in Love by Kate Rusby/The Cure

 Hello everyone!

A few months back I was nerding out on bard tunes, and I came across "Friday, I'm in Love" by Kate Rusby which is a folk version of the classic Cure tune. I have loved The Cure since the 80's so I decided to cover it. (I have a few other Cure tunes in the works, "Just Like Heaven", "Pictures of You", "Close to Me" and "Love Song".)

I thought I would share this one since a few of the songs I've been covering have been gloomy 90's alternative Brit-pop and some melancholy Stevie Nicks. Cheers to spring and learning new songs!

 

                                                                                                                                    All the Best,

 

                                                                                                                                       Marissa 

 

The Chain Demo Version - Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks Cover

 This is a soulful solo demo version of what eventually became the iconic song, "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac. The first time I heard it (several years ago now) I thought it was good enough to be a hit on its own merit. However, they decided to do some editing and make it into the fantastic version it is today. I love Stevie Nicks, I was lucky enough to see her in concert with Billie Joel and I'm so grateful to my husband for purchasing tickets to that! Once in a lifetime experience, for sure!

 

Anyway, here is my rendition of "The Chain Demo". (I hope to cover "The Chain" final version as well but since it's a band tune there has to be some tinkering with it first! 

Coffee Shop Vibes: Mazzy Star, Frente, Schuyler Fisk

 Here's a few new tunes I have been working on. I've been really into the lethargic vibe of the late 90's altfolk rock. Mazzy Star has been a favorite forever, as well as Frente. Schuyler Fisk is another lesser known altfolk maven from the 90's/early 2000's. She has done some work with Josh Radin and was part of the Indie scene. I've picked these artists because they're within my vocal range and playing skill. 

As I mentioned previously, I'm hoping to do sets with a coffee shop vibe so I'm practicing to perform live. These ones were recorded in the studio at No Strings Attached in Buffalo. (Rob & Kristin are great music instructors if you're looking for music lessons in Northwestern burbs of MN.)

Halah - Mazzy Star

Labor of Love - Frente

 

From Where I'm Standing -Schuyler Fisk

 

LIVE Guitar Practice - Two of Us (Beatles/Amie Mann Cover)

So, I have been playing guitar for about three years now. I'm still working on bar chords, finger picking, and being able to switch chords quickly. However, I've made so much progress from when I first began, I'm much more adept at singing while strumming, doing several strum patterns and covering up little mistakes. I think that's the trick to live performance is being able to move quickly out of a little mess up and keep going without getting rattled! Right now I'm focusing on practicing a line up so I can have a solid half hour of songs I can reasonably perform without much fuss. Here's me doing Two of Us which was originally a Beatles tune that was also covered by Amie Mann. I think I created a good balance between the two. 

Looking forward to getting better at performing live, so I'm going to be putting myself through practice sessions with no editing. No voice or guitar corrections, just me! Hazzah to the learning curve.