30 days and counting

Today begins the one month count down to our CD release party, June 13. Woohoo! We'll have a 7 piece band plus some special guests and we're really looking forward to it. Our music is our passion, so we've been
busy. Jim Markel who founded and runs the wonderful cultural web resource swampland.com generously summed it up:

"For artists like McKee, music is not a piece of fashion or stage in life. It is life. It is a vocation, a calling. She gives meaning to the term "working musician" as someone who lives by and on the power of the music she creates. With her musical journey through wonderful towns like Austin and New Orleans staying close in her rear view mirror, McKee chose a perfect way to truly launch herself as a solo artist."

Yes, I have lived in some very musical places and believe it or not, Central Florida is one of those too. Because of the abundance of good gigs resulting from tourism, there is a community of extremely talented players here, representing many genres of music. Add to that
the plethora of groups that have emerged from Central Florida over the decades, from the Allman Brothers to NSync, and it's pretty undeniable that this area has contributed significantly to the collective music consciousness.

My goal, like any artist's I suspect, is to meld my experiences into something cohesive that reflects where I have been and who I am. My drummer
husband, Juan Perez, feels the same way. If our performance can reflect our different influences -- from my Austin days to NOLA, my Mississippi blues
past to here in Orlando with this amazing circle of musicians; and Juan's past from Cuba to the rodeo circuit with the Bellamys and his history with Kingsnake artists like Rootboy Slim, The Midnight Creepers and Sonny Rhodes-- then we will feel like we have been successful.

Sunday, May 10 and the one month countdown begins

We're gearing up for the CD release party on June 13, practicing the tunes we recorded over the last year. Of course those ten songs won't make for a full evening of entertainment and I am anxious to add new songs to our set anyway. As a result, we are learning some favorite soul standards (Band of Gold & What a Man), re-working some older originals that never seemed to cut it and a few new compositions are squeaking out of us too. Juan & I penned one this a.m. that was very descriptive of our relationship both personal & working. It's a blues song and the title is "Tug of War." I'm sure you get the picture.

Bobby Charles keeps checking in with words of support, saying something has just GOT to happen with the CD. "It's just too good!" he says. Well Bobby, my fingers are crossed. Recording his songs was like taking a graduate level course in southern songwriting. His lyrics are so natural and unpretentious. They sound just like what you would say in a conversation. His melodies are simple and catchy, very easy to learn. Bobby knows that people like to sing along to his songs and he makes that easy to do.