I thought we could all do with a little light pick me up given the rollercoaster of a year that 2020 has been, so this is my gift out to all my beautiful friends and clients and the world this year to help bring a smile to your dial.
If you are feeling like you need a bit of a pick me up as we start to navigate towards Xmas, or you would really like to hear something a bit more upbeat and fun rather than the traditional Christmas carol, then you might enjoy my attempts at a couple of Xmas songs that I have written & recorded to lighten up your festive season.
A big shout out to my friend amazing musician and producer, Nathan Seiler, who helped me put this together in time for Xmas.
These two songs have a particularly Australian flavour and I wrote them when my daughter Lily, was little – one of them, Go Rudolph, she helped me write as well. Lily and I have performed these two songs for kids at high brow venues including Lady Gowrie Child Care Centre and Wilston State School and now we are going global! LOL.
If you have little children, these songs might appeal to them or if you are a big kid at heart.
Go Rudolph is about embracing your uniqueness. “Stay Cool Santa” is about Santa being in Australia where there is no white Christmas being had & he really needs to ditch that heavy red suit.
So, I invite you to hop onto Spotify or Apple music (or your music platform of choice) using the link below & like “Cool Kids Christmas” & follow me so we can spread the joyful, Aussie Xmas word!
Well, I don’t like to rush things. I say it’s bet to pace yourself, so I have finally, after 10 years, decided to go back into the recording studio!
This time I have pulled out a couple of tunes first penned some time ago. The first song I wrote in 2008 and the other one I have just recorded, I wrote in 2011 with my then 7 year old daughter, Lily.
So, these songs are a couple of novelty songs aimed at kids. I am teaming up with the amazing talents of Nathan Seiler again who is producing it all for me. It was a hoot to record.
So, watch this space…we are putting the finishing touches on things and hope to share them with you in time for Christmas!
Very excited to share a bit of happiness during the Christmas season.
There is a bit of a story to how I got to writing “Resilient Soul”, so if you are interested…..read on!
In 2007, I started my own coaching business assisting people connect with their best so they can be inspired and inspiring in their personal and professional life. In February 2008, I started exploring why I was put on this planet – in other words – what my purpose is. After much belly button gazing and pontificating I came up with something that was somewhat a surprise. My passion was for coaching and transforming people’s lives …. It turned out that what came up for me as my purpose in life was to “sing a song in my heart”. Now, this was a trifle confusing. The only song I remember writing if full was a song for a children’s play I put together for a drama class I used to run. So, I thought about what this purpose meant for where I was in my life now. I decided that “singing a song in my heart” was a metaphor for being authentic and I extended my purpose to include my clients. I wanted to help others sing a song in their heart by following their true purposes. That’s where I left it….
Moving onto 18 April 2008. It was a Friday and I was attending a personal development seminar – coaches tend to do a lot of that sort of thing. During this time I was developing some goals for the year. Among the other goals that just seemed to pop out of my head, I wrote down that I wanted to write, record and publically broadcast a song. I didn’t give this much thought after I had written it – it just seemed a goal amongst the many and wasn’t front of mind for me.
On Saturday morning, I received a phone call from a friend’s mother. My friend’s name was Candy. Her mother, Joan phoned me & told me that Candy had died the night before. I phoned a friend who also knew Candy and we arranged for me to go over her place the next day to put together a slide show for Candy’s memorial service. During the day, I tried to think about what we could do to make the slide show special. I used to like writing poetry, so I thought maybe something along those lines would be appropriate.
On Sunday morning, I got up early and started to think of words that described Candy and my association with her. I was thinking about putting the words into some type of verse. For some reason, I got up and grabbed my guitar, which I had only used spasmodically over the last five years. I had taught myself some chords when I was 15 and I use to play guitar for the kids at school when I was a teacher, and to myself at home, but that was about it.
So, this song – “Assistant to the Lost Souls”, or “Candy” as most people called it was written. I took it over to my friend’s house to finish it off. I then rang long time friend and professional singer, Daryl Murphy and asked him how I could get it recorded. Daryl helped me get it recorded and even played guitar on the track (I just couldn’t get it right under the pressure of a recording studio).
We presented our slide show of photos with my song as a sound track. It was just as well that I had recorded it – you could barely hear the song over my blubbering at the service!
I continued to write songs on and off. I had been focussing on a joint business venture in 2009 which ended in December. At the beginning of 2010, I made another call to my friend Daryl, and asked if he would be interested in helping me complete some songs I had been working on. He again said yes (isn’t he gorgeous?) ,…. and the result – “Resilient Soul”.
After watching Queensland Premier Anna Bligh’s emotional speech yesterday, I sat down late last night and wrote this song. I have called it “Resilient Queensland”.
Please share it with anyone you think would appreciate the thought and who may need their spirit lifted during this challenging time (you can click on the facebook, twitter etc icons below). Here are the lyrics if you want to sing along: Resilient_Queensland_Lyrics_Stephanie_Gill
Click here to watch the video “Resilient Queensland”:
Here in usually sunny Queensland, Australia, you may have already heard that the flood waters have hit with a vengeance. To give those overseas, particularly in the USA, an idea of the enormity of the size of the devastation, the state of Texas would fit inside Queensland 3 times and ¾ of the state has been declared a disaster zone.
Thanks to all those who have enquired about me and my family. We are high and dry on our hill here in Brisbane’s north side. My love and best wishes go out to all those who have been affected, particularly those who have lost family members as a result of this crisis.
Through my business, I run a Resilience Workshop. One of the keys to resilience is having strong, supportive relationships. There has certainly been much evidence of relationships being deepened and new ones being formed as the Queensland community and beyond reach out a hand to help each other. I know Queensland will bounce back stronger than ever in the years to come.
Another way to build resilience, is to express what is happening for us emotionally. When it became clear a couple of days ago that Brisbane was going to be hit with the flood waters, my 6 year old daughter became concerned. She made up a song off the top of her head to the tune of “Santa Clause is Coming to Town” which I recorded on a hand held digital recorder. I thought I’d share it with you to give you an idea of how the younger community members are finding ways to express their emotions during this time. She calls the song “Flood Town”. Click the link below to have a listen.
The hard work is ahead and I know together, and with the support of the Australian and Global communities, Queenslanders will be up to the task. Thanks for all the support so far. (:
Thanks to all those wonderful people who have purchased “Resilient Soul”. Thanks also to those people giving me their feedback – particularly the song you like the most.
If you have a copy of “Resilient Soul” , let me know what your favourite song is off the EP and why. This is really useful feedback as a songwriter and also gives me a warm fuzzy…… So, please enter your favourite song in the comment section below and let me know why you liked that the best. Thanks!
(PS: Please click on the title of this post “Your Favourite Song from “Resilient Song” and scroll down to the bottom of the page to comment.)
