BEAUTIFUL ALCHEMY (debut spoken word album) by KATHRYN HEGARTY

*Disclaimer- The picture in this post was taken from Kathryn's personal site @ http://kathrynhegarty.wordpress.com/*

Title: BEAUTIFUL ALCHEMY

Author/Artist: KATHRYN HEGARTY

Official Release Date: SEPTEMBER 03,2013

Where to buy: BANDCAMP

Description: Spoken Word Album

The track listing for Beautiful Alchemy

1. Invisible Empires  2. Tip of my Tongue 3. Wicked 4. From the Ashes

5. Gift From the Sea  6. Mirror Image  7. Elizabethtown  8. Red Balloon

9. The Beauty of Tattoo  10. Gutterflower  11. Sugar Tits  12. White Rabbit

13. The Duel  14. Beautiful Alchemy  15. La Luna  16. Evening

17. Blood is Thicker Than Water  18. Rosé 19. The Ballerina  20. I Dreamed of Africa

21. Safe & Sound  22. Pressing Flowers  23. The Open Eyes  24. Linger

The Beautiful Alchemy cover was designed by: Kathryn Hegarty + Ginnifer Bursett of Pixels & Co. (http://pixelsandcompany.com/designer_info/gennifer-bursett/) 

About the Author

There is something about the simplicity of sound that has intrigued generations. The Irish have done it best, keeping oral storytelling alive with vibrancy and verve. Kathryn wants to bring that alive again. With a simplistic sound and emotional themes, Kathryn explores what it is to be human and a woman in this extraordinary world.

“I grew up listening to singer-songwriters like Carly Simon, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and my father reading stories to me and my younger sister from our vintage copy of The Grimms fairytales. I love the juxtaposition of the dark and the light. I don’t think we’re always happy, nor do I think we are all depressed. We follow ebbs and flows of emotions. I try to explore that when I write, and with this album.”

Kathryn is very keen on wanting to find active listeners, those that can see beyond the words and pictures she verbally paints, by stretching the boundaries of spoken word art; and in doing so inspire others to search out answers for themselves in their own lives. Coming from a plethora of musicians, cousins: Bill Kreutzmann, drummer of The Grateful Dead; Willie Karpf of Satchel Grande; and poets: her great uncle Geoffrey Chaucer of The Canterbury Tales, and cousins: Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, to name a few, creativity is in Kathryn’s blood. She feels compelled to do it, yearns for it, and hope that it brings comfort, solace, curiosity, and thoughtfulness to those that listen.

“The immediate choice of simple vocals is to create an intimate sound, as if you’re there listening to the story, in the back row of a dimly lit theater. I have always been attracted to simplified, yet complex sounds. I would like to think that with this album I am paying homage to my American folk roots as well as Celtic storytelling.”

Where to find her:

Website| Facebook | Twitter

REVIEW:

I was asked by Kathryn herself to review her spoken words album and I have got to say I was kind of skeptical at first, I thought spoken poetry really? But after listening to her album I take it back. Her words are beautiful and put in a way that they tell a story. I would have to say my absolute favorites from BEAUTIFUL ALCHEMY  album are Gift from the sea, Tip of the tongue, and Elizabeth Town. Those word spoke to me and it was nice to be able to connect with Kathryn's poems. If you would like to hear some of her poems from her spoken words album please check out SoundCloud. Listen to my favorites and you will see they are Beautiful Words that are spoken. There were a few poems that I didn't speak to me as loudly as others but they are still beautiful to words to some. I hope you will all take the time to listen and see which one is your favorite!

I was lucky to be able to ask the wonderful KATHRYN HEGARTY a few questions and hear are her answers

When & why did you decide to be a writer?

I think I was a writer before I decided TO BECOME a writer. When I was little, my younger sister and I would make up nonsense songs on our tape recorder and then play back what we recorded. Those songs made absolutely no sense, but it was fun being creative. I think that is what has kept me writing all these years, that I still find it an enjoyable, fun thing to do.

Are you currently working on any new projects?

Yes! I am definitely working on new projects! I have a sophomore album called The Birds & the Bees set to release Spring of 2014. I am putting out a mini spoken word Holiday album in November of 2013. I am also working on a picture book series called LITTLE MISS DOT about a little 5-year old girl who travels around and has adventures with her Auntie and her pet dachshund. 

Do you mainly focus your writing on poems or do you write everything (i.e. novels, short stories, etc)?

I focus not just on poems, but on all types of writing. I started out writing poetry when I was younger and then moved up into short stories, with one of my stories, THE LOST KINGDOM, that I'll be sending to Francis Ford Coppola's All-Story annual magazine writing contest this year. In 2010, I indie published a YA fantasy called Mieradome about faeries trying to dispose of the evil in their world, which just so happens to be the main character. I'm also working on a picture book series for very young readers called LITTLE MISS DOT, which is currently being looked at by a publisher.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you? What has been the best compliment?

I think the toughest criticism that I have been given is "we like/love it, but it doesn't quite fit". It's great to know people enjoy my work, but it is disheartening knowing people won't publish or promote it sometimes because it doesn't fit into a specific box that they have created. I'm not one to follow trends, I generally am that person leading the pack. Hopefully, one day, people catch up with my ideas :)

The best compliment for me is that someone took time from their busy lives to read, listen and/or review my creative projects. The icing on the cake is that they really enjoyed reading/listening to what I created.

What inspired the idea for your debut spoken word album, Beautiful Alchemy?

The inspiration for Beautiful Alchemy was about hope and life. I think so many times we get stuck in the past or stuck in the emotional pain and forget that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that things WILL work out in the end if you're brave enough to see it.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading:  A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

Who is your favorite character crush?

My favorite fictional character crush would have to be Sherlock Holmes. I'm a very European gal (only a 2nd generation American - my paternal grandfather was born in the Irish Republic), so I tend to go for the well-dressed, well-educated extremely intelligent types when reading, and when dating! I love Sherlock's sense of adventure.

Tweet Alert! If you only had 140 characters to tell us about your album Beautiful Alchemy, how would you write your tweet?       

60's Rockstar’s 2nd cousin composes debut album Beautiful Alchemy full of brilliant emotional depth that shows life’s rollercoaster feeling.

Do you have anything specific you want to say to your readers/listeners?

I just hope that people take a listen to it and try spoken word poetry if they haven't already. It is the origins of all stories; verbal, oral storytelling. I just hope people give it a chance. To keep in touch with me visit my Twitter: @missohegarty or my website at http://kathrynhegarty.wordpress.com