for visiting
every7days
In January 2010 I decided to write & record a song
every week.
I intended to do it for a year (as I had done back in 2006), but I ended up doing it for three years.
Every single effort is archived here and it's always free to browse and listen.
I am still writing songs!
To hear about current projects, sign up for my email list by sending an email to
katystephan at sbcglobal dot net
or like my facebook page.
thanks!
Katy Stephan
december 14, 2012
I wrote a song this week but.......you're not allowed to hear it!
because
it's a gift - a personalized song that was comissioned by a generous person for his friend, and I don't want the friend to hear it before it's presented!
So instead I will present to you another comissioned song, from Christmas 2011.
Listen here and maybe you'll be inspired to comission a personalized song for your loved one...
for Valentines Day!
december 7, 2012
Today I was listening to the lovely Moreau Catholic High School choir singing "In The Bleak Midwinter". It's a Christmas song with two different famous settings - one by Holst and one by another 20th century composer (Darke). But for some reason, I have always liked the words more than either of those tunes.
Imagine my surprise when I looked up the text (by Christina Rossetti) and discovered there were several verses I had never seen! Sweet verses, about Mary kissing the baby and stuff.
Of course it figures the verse that includes the line "a breastful of milk" would be omitted from the traditional settings.
Boobies don't belong in church songs!
Da Vinci's Madonna Litta
or do they???
So I had to make a tune of my own, and include all the verses.
I did it rather hastily today, and before I was finished something very sad happened to my computer speakers, so the mix is wonky.
But I offer it anyway, here.
november 30, 2012
My friend Randall once told me a bit about a relative of his named Daisy.
Although I never met her, she inspired this week's song.
Let's all dust off our finest china and make a toast to Daisy (after clicking here.)
november 23, 2012
Today: a vocal setting of e.e. cumming's wonderful poem "let it go - the".
I improvised a melody and then layered a little harmony in some places, trying to be true to the line breaks by switching vocal tracks at those places.
As today marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, may I suggest a home made gift, custom designed for your loved one?
I will write a song to your specifications for a gift as unique as you!
More here.
And to listen to this week's song, click here.
november 16, 2012
I have been posting a brand new song here every week since january 2010! yay!
Of course I usually take one or two posts off each year for vacation, but have I ever taken a sick day? no! Never! Not even once!
Guess what that means?
Correct! I'm sick as a dog.
Sick as a cat?
See you next week.
november 9, 2012
Back in July I wrote a few songs for a potential musical project for kids.
This week I wrote several more, and I'm sharing two of them.
One is about elves. See, you got three kinds of elves: your shoemaking elves, your Christmas elves, and your cookie elves. And they all got their problems.
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Plus, snowflakes! Find out more by clicking here.
november 2, 2012
Halloween is over, but you're still pestered by unwelcome werewolf visits?
An eight-yer-old friend of mine named Lexi offers helpful advice on werewolf management here.
Dedicated to all those involved with the recent reading of Jennifer LeBlanc's enchanting new play, The One You Feed.
october 26, 2012
Two more character sketches:
Lucy/Lulu, conjoined twins
and Baba, mysterious crone.
These are musical themes I've created to support the reading of a new play in Portland next week.
Meet them here.
october 19, 2012
work!
here are two sketches for an upcoming project of a theatrical nature.
more details to come.
for now I will say no more than the characters names: Christophe and Angelo.
meet them here!
october 12, 2012
This week..... I made a video! For you!
Ta da!!!!
I took a live performance from last Friday's show at the Jazz School, of the song Autumn (co-written with Adam Shulman and featured on this very website!) and added autumny images from recent trips to Paso Robles and a few other places.
Hey, it's called every 7 days.
Not A SONG every 7 days. At least I made something.
It may not be a new song, but the PICTURES ARE ALL NEW!!! and some of them move!
See the music here.
october 5, 2012
Concert tonight with Adam Shulman at the Jazz School in Berkeley!
And an interactive song experience starring....YOU!
This week I purchased the viola that I've been renting for a couple of years. And I am really going to make an effort to practice it more.
The always-helpful Adam Shulman (see above)
picked up the guitar to offer accompaniment to my out-of-tune scratching, and we decided to make a folksy song like the ones you hear throughout the Ken Burns Civil War series.
But that's not all!
To make the whole experience more fulfilling, you should really read a Civil War letter aloud while the music plays. Don't you think?
I included one on the page with the song,
but if you'd like to select a different one, try this website.
Get your Southern drawl warmed up, and a then click here.
september 28, 2012
This week's song really is a little on the precious side.
I am imagining that if Enya had a song on a Twin Peaks Christmas special, it might sound somthing like this.
september 21, 2012
Another solo piano song!
Do I do these because I don't have time to write a complete song with lyrics, and record it?
Hell yes! I write a song every damn week! Geez.
Actually I did write a song with vocals this week, but I didn't feel like recording it and posting it here. Just stop yelling at me.
This piece is based on a relentlessly repeating single bass note. It's the aural equivalent of someone tapping on your shoulder for two and a half minutes straight.
seriously, why is this energy drink so goth?
So naturally I did not waste a lot of time cooking up a creative title. It's called Relentless Tapping.
You can't wait to hear it, can you?
september 14, 2012
If/when you are busted making out with your boss in the parking lot, you may need a song to adequately explain yourself.
And that is this week's song.
I am always looking out for you.
Arm yourself by listening here.
september 7, 2012
My friend Pat Johnson asked me if I would help him out with a song he was writing.
I tweaked a few lyrics, but the work is really his.
Listen to the result here.
august 31, 2012
All I can really say about this week's song is...
I made a song.
Here it is.
august 24, 2012
Huge thanks to everyone who came to my Berkeley show this week!
You are prominently featured in this week's song!
For those of you who weren't there -
during the show I asked the audience to contribute lyrics so we could make a
song together, right there on the spot.
As a prompt, I asked these questions:
what
do you like most about August
what are you planning to do soon
what would you like to say to someone but can't.
Here are the words the audience contributed:
peaches
fog
camping
painting
swimming
getting a job
doing the laundry
"listen to your mother"
"your skin is like honey"
All of these are incorporated into the song, which I improvised (while my
laptop recorded!)
Hear the results here.
thanks again to everyone who came, and always to all who listen!
solo show this week!
Wednesday August 22
in Berkeley
(click for details)
august 17, 2012
It's time for an instrumental, don't you think?
This song is a quasi-improvised piano melody, inspired by the great Ennio Morricone.
Invent your own mental movie after clicking here.
august 10, 2012
A song about fruit.
But not really.
Pick your own here.
august 3, 2012
If you hate children, and childrens songs, and daisies, do not click here.
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(april - july, 2012)