I came across some of these pics on my computer of where I recorded my EP. They’re mostly of the grounds surrounding the studio which were tranquil and beautiful. I have some pictures of the actual recordings on my other camera which I will sort through this week and share them with you.

The studio is situated in the woods on the border of Belgium and is home to Emiel Van Egdom, who has produced my EP. The photos below are just to show you how great the environment was to record in. I love being in the country, so recording here was really special. I enjoyed going for a little walk around the grounds to air the cobwebs after hours of work. I was really lucky to have the super talented Charlie Green to play trumpet on my song ‘Ballerina and the Clown’…there’s a couple of pics of him throen in there too.

Hope you enjoy them..and I’ll be uploading more soon  xx

After weeks of having a creative block and self critisism, I have finally completed the artwork for my EP. If you’re an artist or are in any creative field, you’ll know what I mean when I say sometimes ‘we’re our own worst enemy.’ I’ve wanted this EP for years and thought inspiration would come with it like a welcoming breeze…but I guess good things come to those who wait. Alas I am happy with the final cut and I am sending them away this week for print …Yay!

I thought you’d might like to see some pics I took during the design process.

And so this is the front cover for my EP…
Once I got all the artwork done, I used photoshop to render and combine it all together. Although I do know what I’m like and there maybe some last minute changes…we’ll see!

To help promote my first EP, Im giving away an MP3 version of ‘Ballerina and The Clown’. All you have to do to get your song is sign up to my mailing list and you will be able to download the  song from your email.

Not only will you get a free song, by joining the mailing list you will be kept up to date with current and forthcoming events, news and gigs.

Thank you for taking the time to join and hope you enjoy the song!!

I was born in a small welsh town called Mountain Ash in south Wales. That’s where the seed of my interest in music was planted from nights of listening to Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Neil Young and many more fantastic artists with my folks and little sis. My parents had great taste in music and always took us to see concerts and festivals, so I’m not surprised that I would sing all the time. I joined the school choir and the local town choir to try and understand the art of singing a little better. .

My parents bought me a guitar for my 18th birthday. I taught myself four chords and wrote my first song called “Seventh Colour of the Rainbow”. I thought about starting off practising with a cover but it seemed only natural to just start writing my own songs. After a few weeks of writing songs I started playing at some open mic nights around Cardiff. I remember feeling so nervous. I played three songs with my legs shaking so much that the guitar kept slipping away from me. It was a terrible performance but I love every minute of it.

I moved to Swansea to start my degree in Illustration, but music was always coinciding with my degree. I would try to incorporate the words from my songs into some of my illustrations and projects .

I entered a Singer/Songwriter competition in Swansea with Stewart Cable as one of the judges. I entered with my song ‘Under the Weeping Tree’ and won a home recording system. I was starting to develop a large catalogue of songs and gigging on a more regular basis, but needed to get some professional recordings of my songs. I have been wanting to record this EP for a couple of years, but it kept getting delayed for various reasons.

I moved to the Netherlands at the beginning of last year and managed to get enough money together to record my first EP. I got in touch with Emiel van Egdom and was invited to record at his beautiful woodland studio in Belgium. He managed to capture the essence of the songs and the flow of the melody, and I have Charlie Green playing trumpet on one of my tracks, fantastic!
I’m really happy with my first EP and I’ll now be working on some new songs for the album.

And so its finally here my EP ‘Pocket Full Of Dreams’. The date of release will be coming soon!

The full EP {Pocket Full Of Dreams} will be ready to download soon or order by mail very soon. The designs and artwork are finally done! I will sending out a message to my mailing list very soon with details on how you can buy my EP…. if you haven’t done so yet… join my mailing list and I’ll send you an mp3 version of one my EP songs – “Ballerina And The Clown”.

I will let you know about the release date soon!

The weekend after it was Cowes week, where thousands of yachts all shapes, sizes and colours raced each other around the Island. My sisters into her sailing so we decided to visit the Needles and watch the yachts from this beautiful spot. What an amazing sight. We parked the car up a country lane and walked about 2 miles to avoid the parking fee of £4. But it was certainly worth the trek, It was breathtaking.

On our travels getting there my dad shouts ” I’ve just seen Jimi”.  MmMm, Has he finally gone mad? So he reverses the car and he gets out and I follow him. My sister and my mother stay in the car, not realising that there was this wicked, life sized statue of Jimi Hendrix outside the hotel he apparently stayed in when he played the Isle of Wight Festival.

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On Sunday the 18th October you can see me play @ Cafe Jenze on Alexander Battalaan in Maastricht.

One & Only

This song is about insecurities and how they can mask over who you really are. I wrote this song when I was feeling inlike myself and was struggling to figure out what I wanted to do. Its about being true to yourself and knowing who you are and what you want.

Lyrics

Could you help me, remember who I am,
Coz I feel, a stranger, a stranger to myself,
Now I’m locked inside me, finding my feet,
Can you see my eyes,through this Masquerade.
And how, how do you do it, be the One and only you,
You’re the One and Only you
And how, how can can I be it, Be the one and only me,
I’ve been a one and only fool

Chorus

Well I’m not quite myself lately,

I’ve been fooling with my head and thinking I’m better,
Im changing my disguise so you can’t see the real me,
I’m tired of fooling no-one, no- one but me.

Could you help me, forget myself so I can be anything,
That I, I wanna be, Coz I’ve been holding myself like an echoe
Now watch the unfolding smile in my eyes,
As the smoke starts to rise, as I burn that mask of mine.

Chorus

Well I’m not quite myself lately,
I’ve been fooling with my head and thinking I’m better,
Im changing my disguise so you can’t see the real me,
I’m tired of fooling no-one, no- one but me.
And how, how do you do it, be the One and only you,
you’re the One and Only you
And how, how can can I be it, Be the one and only me,
coz I’ve been a one and only fool

Itchy Feet

I wrote this song before my big trip to Peru and it it captures that feeling of moving on and searching for new adventures. Its about having to see the world to get a better understanding of who you are. Its also about having to leave your friends and family behind and wanting them to understand why your’e leaving. This is a song about wanting to see the world and experience as much as you can. Its about trying to find out who you are and overcoming obstacles along the way.

Lyrics

I hold my head up like I’ve always thought, that misteries lay in store for me,
I  wonder where my heart will lay, I know that truth will help me find,
A place that holds the key to life, to my dreams to shed some light on a,
Darkened situation, but I will return,
Coz I still don’t know who I am and I’m not willing to accept just anything,
There’s changing rearranging happening inside of me, But oh where do I begin

Chorus

My soul is on fire and it burns to be free,
I;m not tredding water out of spite, I’ve just got itchy feet.

verse 2

And now the timetable turns, I want to be there looking over the world,
Sitting up, sitting up high up there, laughing in the face of hurt,
Well you can strick me down you can bully me around but this is the day I proclaim my power,
Standing up, standing up against my innocense, that is my defence,

Chorus

My Soul is on fire and it burns to be free,
I’m not tredding water outta sight, I’ve just got itchy feet,
And my soul is on fire and it burns to be free,
From this prison where I try to make everybody happy,
Thats where I forget about me

]]> http://rachelbowenmusic.com/itchy-feet/feed 1 http://rachelbowenmusic.com/write-myself http://rachelbowenmusic.com/write-myself#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:34:25 +0000 rachel http://rachelbowenmusic.com/?p=225

Write Myself

I had this melody stuck in my head for ages and could only come up with lyrics for the first verse. I thought about how much I enjoyed receiving letters from my parents and my grandparents. So I wrote this song about when you’re away from someone you love and you wish you could be with them, wish you could write yourself to them in the words written in a letter.

Lyrics

Take my heart out of your hands, If I am weighing you down
Give me words that I can hold onto, I could use them right now,
Coz theres empty pages, I’ve been needing to write,
Words unspoken, turns my ink to black.

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Pen to paper I write this letter, on a paper aeroplane,
Through the air it makes it there, Into your arms again,

badadadadada

Chorus

Well if I could write myself to you,
I would seal me with a kiss,
I’d step out of these words to be, the best thing that you could ever read

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Every chapter follows after, and leads us some place else,
I paint the picture, I’ve closed her eyes so she can dream of him,
Well I can see you in my head, you’re the ink on the page,
Well I can feel you in my words, you tell me what to say,

badadadadada

Chorus