EMILY HURD: BLOG

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the block party last night and for your patience in dealing with the rushed set-up.  Special thanks to Chris at Kryptonite for taking a big chance on the block party, Kelly Steward and friends, all the vendors, Mayor Morrissey, the super fans who drove in from the Quad Cities for the show, Bruce and Dave for all the hard work despite circumstances, and the Klarens...I love you long time!

We had an amazing time play for you on Thursday!  Thanks so much, and we hope to see you again!  Check out the pics below taken by the amazing Nate Laffan. Note: the first pic is from before the show, where Jordan is teaching us the very effective de-stressing technique of pretending to be a giant balloon about to deflate.  

Well, this has definitely been a summer of intense writing for me.  I just got back from having spent the entire summer away from computers, televisions, and media in general in the interest of writing in a clear space.  Best decision I've made in a while.  Now I'm in Illinois practicing with the band for some upcoming shows.  Here are a few pictures of my Top 10 memories of the summer of 2010 thus far:
 
10) Maryland Crabs, which I got in exchange for a CD

9) The Montauk Lighthouse in NY; I cried my eyes out at the Shipwreck Museum inside

8) Provincetown, MA, just in general, is an amazing place where strange ideas that could never work anywhere else in the world just seem to make sense.

7) Finding osprey nests...EVERYWHERE

6) Writing on the ocean

5) Walking the breakers of Cape Cod

4) Learning how to clam, then making chowders, steamers, etc.

3) Catching up with old friends; this is Sarah, who took me on my big kayak adventure.

2) Sunrise.

1) Sunset.

Several friends have asked me in the past how I write songs.  I've never been great at explaining it.  I sit down with an instrument and play until a song falls out.  Specific, no?  
 
Having spent so much time writing this summer, I'm starting to understand the process a bit better.  Here's the thing: to write a good song, you have to get a kick out of what you're doing.  If you sit down with the intention of writing a song, that's all well and good.  But don't commit to writing a tune until you've found a motif or phrase that you really really love.  I mean really love.  Like, you should chortle aloud to yourself at how much you enjoy that piece.  Then use that piece to write the rest.  Writing a song is like entering into a relationship: you have to find great joy in being with the tune initially before you'll naturally commit more of yourself to it.  Nobody likes to spend hours with things they don't like, right?  So. [...]

I'm staying at this motel in Buzzard's Bay.  The guy who runs the place has a nephew who's a musician, and he and I got to talking about the music industry.  He basically said that it's almost impossible to "make it" in music anymore.  I left the lobby, a little crest fallen.
 
When I got back to my room, I read a blog from one of my favorite writers and businessmen, Derek Sivers, reminding all of his readers the importance of artists.  I felt good.
 
Two minutes later I got a phone call from one of the labels I've been pursuing, telling me they weren't interested in buying "Daytime Fireflies;" it's just not the music they like.  Feeling low.
 
I went to drown my sorrows in a bowl of hot soup from the Asian joint on the main drag.  I got a fortune cookie.  The paper inside said, "Stay determined, and you will get through this."  I was on top of the world.
 
The moral of this story is: ignore what everybody says.  Nothing will [...]