Description

“I began working on Phantasm a year ago with my good friend, Kasey, with Krackshot Music. The time had just come. I was depressed, grieving the loss of my father to stomach cancer, and I was contemplating suicide. I tried to not be a musician, and that sure as hell wasn’t working for me, so it was really a matter of “now or never”. I had finally written songs that I was very deeply connected to and very proud of and I finally had something worth sharing. The album sort of became therapy, then I began real therapy, and it’s been the most influential and important part of my life. This album has a song that I wrote when I was 16 years old… this album depicts my current mental health… and it also depicts the beginning of healing. Since I’ve recorded this album, I’ve already written a lot of new material that I never knew I had in me. I’m proud of myself, and proud to know everyone who helped me on this album, and for being with me on this journey.

My husband is an incredible human being who has helped me through the worst of times, because he knows how good I can become. He lent his sweet voice on Metaphor, a song I wrote for him, and I look forward to singing with him forever until we are ghosts. My friend & producer, Kasey Reub, did an incredible job on the album. Because we both had such passion for the project, I believe his work and mine shine through on Phantasm. I wouldn’t have wanted to be on this journey with any other producer. He really brought the best out in me. That’s what good friends do. I had many friends lend to instrumental and vocal work as well. My friend, St. Adjacent, sang on Somewhere I Fall Asleep. I finished writing that song for him, because I couldn’t do it without him. My friend Heath Johnson played guitar on Stone by a Lake, which I wrote for my father, and he did a lovely job. He’s generous and bright and sunny and a peach. Check him out. Nick Huntington played banjo, and then gave a few songs so much more depth with a wicked bowed bass. The songs wouldn’t be nearly as cool if he wasn’t on them. My friend, Bruce Wiens, played guitar on some tracks and is continuously one of my biggest cheer-leaders and best friends. Brian Hemen was kind enough to lend his fiddle skills to some tracks, and he is a mind-blowing talent. Just a skilled, brilliant & wonderful person. My friend, Kim Lathe, designed and did all of the artwork for the album. She was and is always amazing to work with. She’s patient, imaginative, and so much fun to hang out with. She’s a person you hang out with and you just bounce good feelings back and forth. I adore her.

Phantasm is about my songwriting journey. It’s about my personal journey. When I was a child, I was very interested in how the brain processed phantom pain. Phantom pain works in a way, that if a limb is severed you still feel it. And memories are a bit like that. They happened… They aren’t tangible, but you feel them. That’s what Phantasm is. It’s a collection of my ghosts and memories. And even though I can’t touch them, I can feel them. That’s where my songs come from. My songs are my ghosts. I hope you like them.”