Leesha Harvey: Blog

Things have been busy and a bit crazy for me these last several months, which has kept me from posting YouTube videos, new songs, updating my website, etc.  Rest assured, though, that I'm still writing and working on music and am still planning on a second CD.  I've been practicing with some new band mates and making plans to record in the next few months, if all goes as planned (I should mention that very things have gone as planned so far, though!).  :-)  I can't wait to get these new songs out there for you to listen to!  

Keep on rockin'~

Leesha

If you go to the homepage, you will find a free Christmas song to download called "Now That You Are Here."  I hope you enjoy it, and have a Merry Christmas!

I have a whole batch of new songs that I am looking forward to recording, and I was hoping to get into the studio starting in January 2010. But we'll see. Several unexpected things have come up that have made the logistics of that venture a little sketchy. Rest assured that I still plan on recording a second CD and will do so as soon as humanly possible. I'll try to keep you posted on the progress (or lack thereof) of that endeavor.

Meanwhile, I've had a rotten case of laryngitis that has prevented me from sharing any new songs on YouTube. I think a visit to the ENT doc is soon in order. Eek.

I hope you all (in the U.S.) had a nice Thanksgiving! :-)

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I promise!  

I'm sure you've all had those times where life seems to be kicking your tail on a daily basis, and I'm no exception.  I have lots of new songs simmering on the back burner, and I'm hoping to share some of them with you soon.  Thanks for your patience.

In other news, I just saw U2 in concert for the first time!  What an amazing show.  

I had the privilege of being a guest on NTV's Good Life this morning.  You can check out the footage at the link below (there are 4 segments).  A big thank you to Peggy, Leslie, and everyone at NTV!

http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/category.asp?C=106636&nav=menu605_6

In honor of my two year anniversary (is that what you'd call it?) of joining YouTube on July 9, I'm giving away my latest song, "Let's Play Pretend" as a free download:

Let's Play Pretend (mp3)

I've met so many wonderful people through YouTube, and it has been a great way to find new music and share my own.  Plus, it has motivated me to get better at guitar.  :-)  Here's to many more videos!

You can see the video for "Let's Play Pretend" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qie1u4H-6RY

I just joined Twitter (for better or for worse).  Feel free to come follow me!  I don't know how often I'll "tweet," but I'll send out a little something from time to time.  (Isn't technology grand?)

http://twitter.com/LeeshaHarvey

Hi everyone, OK, I'll admit up front, I'm a Facebook junkie. I use it to keep in contact with my friends and family... and I use it to waste valuable time that I could be using for something more productive. :-) But it's great, and I love it. However, I've kept my personal Facebook page private so that I could keep using it just for friends and family... until I found out that there is another Leesha Harvey on Facebook who has been getting spammed by my wonderful fans who want to add me as a friend! So... I now have a Leesha Harvey Fan Page on Facebook if you want to add me... but please be sure it is the fan page and not the regular profile page. You can follow this link to get there: http://www.facebook.com/LeeshaHarvey 

Thanks!

Congrats to the winner of the T-shirt giveaway contest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33c3a0tY7dA
Thanks to everyone for playing!

E-mail me the correct answers to these four questions, and your name will be entered into a drawing to win a T-shirt and signed poster!

1. What language is the word "Runyararo"?
2. I'm a big fan of what fair trade coffee company?
3. Of all my cover songs on YouTube, what artist do I cover twice?
4. What color is the play-doh I use in one of my videos?

E-mail the answers to:

leesha@leeshaharvey.com

with "T-shirt giveaway" (or something along those lines) in the subject line by:

Wednesday, February 18 (11:59 pm central time!)

for a chance to win!

Good luck and have fun! :-)

For more info, see the video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ0xqSN9kMo

Wow, leeshaharvey.com is a year old!

If you've been to my site before, you've probably noticed it looks a bit different now. I've updated the layout, in honor of its first birthday. :-) I'm using a template, so there are a few bugs in it, but I did want to point out some of the new features that are pretty cool--

--Streaming audio player at the top (you can turn it off if you want)
--Lyric sheet under the music tab

I wanted a way for people to download and print the lyrics to the songs on my album, since there wasn't enough room on the CD wallet to print them. If you go to the music tab, you can click on the lyric sheet link to download the lyrics, formatted for Microsoft Word, onto one sheet (front and back). You can fold it up and slide it in to the CD wallet, if you want. Very cool! (Thanks Connie!) :-)

I just uploaded "What Child Is This?" to my website and made it available for free download--go to the Music page here on my website.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas is just around the corner, and I wanted to give you all a little something to show how thankful I am for all your support for my music this past year! I've made new demos of "Coal Train" and "What Can I Do?" and have made them available for download for free. Find them under the music tab here on my website (scroll down--they're towards the bottom of the page), or you can also download them from my Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/leeshaharvey
Merry Christmas! Thanks for listening to my music!

Hey, great news! I'm now an official YouTube Partner!

For those of you who are now going, "OK... great... I guess...?", YouTube allows some members to become partners, which means they have the option of sharing in ad revenue on their videos. They also get to add cool stuff to their channel and videos like banners and extra links. I whipped up a banner this evening and modified my channel page, so cruise over there and tell me what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/LeeshaHarvey
Also, when you click on one of my videos, you'll see my banner that goes over the description box on the right. It's pretty cool.

My hope is to start making YouTube videos more regularly through the winter months, as gigging gets a little tricky. I'm not a big fan of driving on ice in blizzards, and I do live in Nebraska after all. :-)

I just posted the "official" (read: homemade) music video for "Coffee and a Smile" on YouTube. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsEGlomj9N4
Hope you enjoy it!

Hi everyone, just a quick blog to let you know that I am on Episode 67 on the Worlds of Wayne podcast--a weekly music podcast out of Omaha, NE. The host, Wayne Brekke, played drums on my album, and he interviewed me before my first Omaha gig. I play "Coffee and a Smile" and "Penny in the Pocket" live and talk about music, family, and the joys of YouTube. :-)

http://worldsofwayne.com and click on Episode 67.

(Just FYI--there is some explicit language in the opening sequence, so if that will bother you, you can jump ahead to minute 2:30 to skip that part.)

Hey friends!

My album is now on iTunes, so for those of you who have been holding out for this moment, you are now free to purchase my music from your online distributor of choice!

I don't have a link, but you can search "Leesha Harvey" on iTunes, and you'll find it.

My music is, or will soon be, available through these other online outlets:

GreatIndieMusic, Inprodicon, GroupieTunes, PayPlay, Tradebit, Ruckus, Didiom, rVibe, Lala, and Napster.

In other news, my guitar shopping has taken on a new fervor, due to the incredibly crappy sounds emanating from my guitar at a gig last week. Eek! Now the hard part is just making up my mind... so many great guitars, how do I choose? (OK, so my checkbook does a lot of the choosing, but even still, lots of great guitars!)

The weather can't make up its mind here in Nebraska--it's cold, then hot, it's rainy, then not. That's Nebraska for you. But the seasons are definitely a-changin', as evidenced by my first full-blown cold and sore throat of the fall. Good times. (*Blows nose and pops another cough drop*)

I'm hoping to get started on a new music video for a song on my album... (Should I keep it a secret? Hmm... Nah, that's no fun!) I'm hoping to do a "Coffee and a Smile" video soon... but no ETA on that yet.

I'm off to brew some more tea... yes, tea, not coffee. Better for the throat. ;-)

Hey everyone, just thought I'd give you a quick update!

July was a crazy month with my CD coming out. I had no idea the amount of work that would come with that! It's been really exciting, though, and it thrills me when I hear that people are enjoying the album.

August was dedicated family time, as my Mom was home from Africa for a short visit, my daughter had eye surgery on both eyes (she's doing great!), and I sent both of my kids off to school for the first time. We crammed in a much-needed and long overdue vacation to the beautiful Colorado mountains. (I miss living in Colorado!)

Now that summer is over, I'm turning my attention to more gigs and musical ventures. Check out my calendar page for the list of all my upcoming gigs!

I just put up a new YouTube song and video called "What Can I Do," and I'm quite proud of it! Check it out when you get the chance (the synchronization got off when I uploaded it, just FYI):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NFpeBzSjao
Also... I've sold enough CDs that I can officially start shopping for a new guitar, so I'm open to suggestions! :)

Take care,
Leesha

Hey everyone,

It's almost 1 am, and I'm tired, but I wanted to let you know that my CD is available for sale through CDBaby! Can I get a "woot"?!

I'm very proud of this CD--not only the music, but the cover as well. I designed it myself in only 2 days (don't ask...), but I think it turned out pretty good. More importantly, the CD jacket is a 4 panel eco-wallet--no plastic wrap, no jewel case. Just recycled materials and a smaller carbon footprint... and I love it! I think it's time we kiss jewel cases good-bye, hmm?

You can also buy the full album download through CDBaby if you don't want to pay the little extra for shipping, or if you know you'll just be putting it on your mp3 player and have no need for the "real" CD. (But you want the real CD, don't you? Heh, heh!)

Here's the link to check out all the action!

http://cdbaby.com/cd/leeshaharvey
The audio samples are pretty low quality, just FYI, but at least you get a rough idea of the songs.

Also, I wanted to apologize to anyone that tried to buy my music through Digstation only to have their credit card rejected. Not sure what is happening there. I sent an e-mail to Digstation but have yet to hear back. If you ran into this trouble, I think CDBaby would be your best bet. Thanks for understanding!

Well, my CD release show is in 2 days, so I'll be updating you on that soon....!

Gracias, amigos! Now go get some sleep!

I had no idea the amount of time and work that went into an independently released album, but I'm learning quickly! "Penny in the Pocket" is hot off the presses, and it will be available for sale online in the next 2 weeks! Thank you for waiting so patiently!

My CD Release Show is scheduled for Friday, July 18 at 7 pm in Grand Island, NE. See the calendar page for more info.

My CD is currently for sale at Hastings Book store in Grand Island, NE; the downtown Blue Moon Coffee Co. in Grand Island, NE; and Granma's Treasures in Wray, CO.

Today I had a 4 hour session at Bassline Studio in Omaha, NE. It was my first time in a professional recording studio, and can I just say... it was amazing! I had so much fun, and I'm very pleased with how much we were able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. I'm so thrilled to have this opportunity to record my music, and I CAN'T WAIT to share it with all of you! (I'm getting giddy just as I type this!)

I'm going back in another week to spend 5 days recording... then mixing and mastering... then manufacturing... then a CD will be born! (Sometime by July if all goes well!) Stay tuned...

So, after a long day on Saturday, I decided to check my e-mail one more time before I went to sleep. And I see a message from a friend saying she saw me on the front page of YouTube! What...? Could this mean...?

YouTube featured my "Coal Train" video on the home page! Wow! I was (and am still) in shock!

So, if you are coming to this website because of seeing that video--thank you! Thank you for taking the time to stop by. If you like the music and want to know when the CD comes out, be sure to sign up on my e-mail list!

And to my faithful supporters who have been hanging with me for months (and years!)--thank you! It was your support and encouragement that got me to this point in the first place. I won't ever forget that.

**Update**--My video was featured on YouTube's global main page from Saturday, April 26 through Monday, April 28. It received over 180,000 views! Now I'm currently YouTube's "Unsigned Pick" in the music category! http://youtube.com/browse?s=rf&c=10&l=&b=0

Hello everyone,
Lately, I've been getting asked the question, "Sooo... where is this alleged CD?" I thought I better update you all on this process!

I'm going into the studio in May (the business of life prevented me from recording sooner), so if everything goes as planned, the CD should be out by July! Once I'm actually recording, I will try to give you more regular updates, letting you know how the album is progressing. As for now, I'm just practicing like crazy and trying to get my songs ready for the studio!

Thank you to everyone that has shown an interest in this crazy endeavor of mine! I wouldn't even be attempting it without your encouragement!

~Leesha

My March 1 gig at the Blue Moon was a smashing success--thanks to everyone who came out to the show! And thanks to my lovely friend Jana for opening up the evening with a few of her songs. The place was packed (and very warm!), but I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did.

In other exciting news, I have studio time scheduled in May--I will be going to Omaha to start recording my CD! I'm so excited to be undertaking this project! Until then, I have several gigs lined up and some fine tuning to do on my songs. I'll keep you posted!