andrea ball

high five

2012-01-26T13:19:00.006-07:00

Yesterday while I was running there was another runner going the opposite direction and they high fived me. I went around the park 3 times and each time they high fived me. It was hilarious and kind of made my day. ha ha! I love it when people have a great sense of humor.

Anyway thought I'd pop in here and say hello before I went out for the evening.... and also let you know about my strange obsession with horse heads (ceramic ones that is). ha. So one of my friends knowing this weird obsession got me one for my birthday! I could not believe it! I also cannot wait to hang it up!!! here's what it looks like:

yes!

here's a song for the day, while I do not think this video is very good, the song is awesome! ok enjoy! bye!

This song....

2012-01-26T09:41:00.003-07:00

i'm working from home and I thought I'd share this song... lovin it today

Yesterday I was swimming just like this, only in a pool, all around me people were swimming laps. Was so much in my own world that it didn't really occur to me until someone started swimming in my lap....

here's another track that is great, picks up toward the end.

yes WES!

2012-01-24T17:25:00.004-07:00

love this, can't wait! not only do I love wes anderson but I also love edward norton, raccoon hats and french music. Also I love when kids are the main characters in movies.... makes my day.

Christmas & 17ft trees

2011-12-16T09:17:00.001-07:00

Christmas time is here!!!

i'm over the moon!

2011-12-15T09:30:00.006-07:00

I love christmas.... I mean, it is the most wonderful time of the year, ha! I also love presents, giving them getting them... i'm over the moon for these shoes!

I have a new obsession with the Moon. I think it may be that this year I saw a lot of movies/documentaries about the moon or about space. Another Earth was one of my favorite movies this year, which may play a huge roll in my moon obsession.
On the subject of movies, I wanted to post some of my favorite movies from the year. I liked some of them more than others!

I meant to see Project Nim.... and other movies I liked were Drive, Jane Eyre, The Skin I live in (do not see unless you've seen the trailer and know what you are getting into!) and Tree of life. I really want to go to sundance! Ok well I think I will post some of my favorite music from this year as well... go watch some of these movies and let me know what your favorites are!

yep more good times...

2011-09-05T21:00:00.004-06:00

I've been trying to capture a few more images lately. trying anyway.... there will be some video coming up for you eventually! We just captured a bunch of thoughts on tape for all the readers out there. ha ha.

ok this is eleanor getting ready to get married.... wish I would have taken more photos...

fun times...

2011-08-21T19:33:00.000-06:00

Lykke li

2011-08-14T19:40:00.003-06:00

If you know me at all then you know I love lykke li. She is one of my all time favorites... I have looked into seeing her shows in different cities and they've always been sold out. Now she is coming to Denver and I'm sooooo happy. I need to get over and get myself a ticket immediately!

Anyway here is a video, I love this song!

Anyway her latest cd is called Wounded Rhymes if you don't own it then you should!

alright peace out!

inspiring things!

2011-07-19T22:08:00.000-06:00

hello world!!! you keep asking, "Where have you been?" well I've been in real life contemplating real things, you know things that I don't write on blogs and internet web sites! Without any major conclusions I am really looking for new inspiration and I thought I'd share some of what I've come across lately...

First of all I stumbled upon this magazine today, and it blew me away!

It's called Kinfolk CHECK IT HERE
It's all about creating community around meals, so specific and so inspiring!

Also I've been contemplating baking/cooking more and I feel like this video did the trick:

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

Also, I walked past these shoes, I'm not a big shopper, but I can't help but want them! Someone quick buy them for me! so cute!!

Well, what have I been up to, when am I playing another show and why the hell haven't I called you back???? These are all great questions!! If I haven't called you back, you don't have my new phone number, so that's all I can really come up with for now. If you want to know when I'll be playing next you can add your name to the email list on the side bar of this blog and you'll get the update! I promise.

Saturday's show!

2011-05-26T23:34:00.002-06:00

Hey friends! I have a show coming up on Saturday at the Walnut Room on 3131 Walnut st. in Denver. I'll have my 3 guys Carl, Joe and Casey with me! You can buy tix HERE. We are doing some shows this summer while we write new music, which is going to be really fun! But I'm not going to be doing too many performances because I want to spend more time writing new stuff. So basically come to this show! ha. See you there!!!

Snow Photoshoot! Eleanor Perry-Smith

2011-02-06T16:19:00.003-07:00

This is my roommate and one of my good friends. I thought I'd share some of our fun shots in the snow today. I texted Eleanor randomly and took photo's and I think they turned out beautiful. Eleanor is a writer and creative, if you'd like to see some of her writing you can buy Mental Floss Magazine and check out her article! Do it people, she's a fantastic writer.

I'm going to post songs for sunday in a couple of hours! ya, I know I've been MIA, well what can I say???

Ya for snow days!!!!
xoxoxoxoxo,
Andrea

Hello everybody...

2011-01-21T12:15:00.008-07:00

today, some older man saw me and said "you look like you came from church!" First of all it's Thursday. Wearing a dress in Colorado means that you are dressed up, this is a sad but very real fashion dilemma we have in this state, ha ha!

So People I'm back on this blog, because I'm jumping back into creativity. I was very burnt out for a while. So I'm here and I wanted to share these articles that were published in the last month my music is included, thank you Westword and Reverb.

Click the pictures to read the full article.

xoxoxo,
have a lovely afteroon!

Dear Sufjan you made me wait for 5 years.

2010-09-16T21:46:00.005-06:00

hello. I've been gone for a long long time. Let me tell you I needed a moment to breathe. The last two months have been great... I've needed to refresh and get new inspiration in my life. I feel so happy and I've re-evaluated a lot of different things, which has in part brought me back to this blog. I love sharing my creative thoughts, so ya....

I have a huge crush on Sufjan Stevens, does anyone else? or should I say who doesn't?
ok buy his album or get the full length coming out Oct 12th I believe. His last real full length album came out 5 years ago! wow.

Sufjan Stevens "I Walked"

random inspiration...

2010-07-01T20:00:00.002-06:00

hey all... sorry i've not been blogging, guess i felt like I needed a blogging break! but i'm back and I'll be blogging from here on out.... so i thought I'd post some random cute things for inspiration on your thursday eve. talk to you soon!

the break-up

2010-06-18T23:59:00.021-06:00

alright I listen to this american life too much! (and when i say that I mean all day most days). I wanted to share with you guys my favorite episode, it kind of goes along with the rest of this blog post. It's called "the break up" It is hilarious!!!!! listen by clicking here

so the other day I was cleaning out my stuff, trying to rid myself of boxes I knew didn't want. It took an entire day to clean out every closet/box/journal. I threw away most of it and kept the essentials. But I came to a dilemma. i started reading old journals and looking at old pictures because I had 2 huge containers of this stuff. So I guess what I need to know is do you people keep this stuff??? or do you throw it away? I was thinking of updating old journals so that I could still remember who I was but maybe not be able to read some of it- because I have completely changed since this time. I may have done a complete 180. OK maybe a 160. so ya i need help with this decision. But I know that every ex-boyfriend section is going to get a make-over kind of like this-

As I've been reading my past and re-living some emotions I simultaneously have been stressing out about my future. I found myself saying, "what am I going to do??" I decided that that is completely the wrong question. The question that I officially started asking myself now is, "what am I going to create?" This made me feel so much more excited and calm about what I'm doing next. Woo sigh of relief.

stressing out about life made me want to do this (isn't that amazing, i didn't know it came it such large quantities) ha ha...

OK well I'm going back to dreaming and keeping secrets (about these plans) goodnight!!

'So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!'
Peter Pan

bicycle crush.

2010-06-18T08:52:00.006-06:00

this weekend, I'm getting a bike, i think. well because there is an amazing vintage sale that I'm going to... we'll see. but I have a crush on these bikes...

and maybe one day i'll get one of these:

must have

2010-06-16T20:33:00.002-06:00

tattoos....

2010-06-15T08:22:00.001-06:00

I'm not the biggest fan of tattoos, I don't have one myself, but I like these. Would I get one, I don't know but aren't they fantastic?!

road trip

2010-06-03T08:49:00.007-06:00

hello everybody, sorry I've been gone, but I needed a mini break from blogging.... but I'll be blogging regularly again.

lately I've been obsessed with driving from LA to Vancouver. I'm not sure why or what has sparked this ridiculous adventure, but I'm ready to take it on! not sure when though.

so it takes 22 hours to get from Los Angeles to Vancouver! I'm thinking I get in my car or airstream and find amazing destinations immediately!!

Destinations that must be sought out:
1. this grill/bar!2. this Californian Safari3. Soda pop stop (to buy this soda)

2. Bolinas Annual Tug of war

3. this drive through Doughnut shop!

4. Defenestration house

5.tree house camping www.treehouses.com
6.airstream hotel... or rent an airstream, or convert a trailer. check this one out!
7. salvation mountain

8. a pez museum

there are many many more plans...! but what can I do, other than collect information. basically I'm going to do every quirky weird thing you can do, for instance "moon Amtrak" sounds interesting! ha. google that. Also I think I have to go to the Seed Bank, because the guy who owns that is obsessed with his collection of seeds.

ok bye for now!

i need a bow tie.

2010-06-02T07:51:00.009-06:00

I need a bow tie, a suit and a cupcake, with some rain, all of that together is what I feel like walking around in right now!

hi! sorry i've been gone so long... I've had a brutal couple of weeks, but it looks like everything is looking up now!
so here is a session from daytrotter, by josh ritter! he has a beautiful live performance of his songs, which is actually pretty hard to find on that website.

josh ritter "another world"

songs for sunday...i love this.

2010-05-23T09:32:00.006-06:00

ok, well i love soul music, it's my guilty pleasure. I own an entire Marvin Gaye box set for goodness sakes. so I love that soul music is making a huge come back, this chick is happening. Check out her awesome band! I love them! also they look the same live as they do in the music video's which is fantastic!!!! Here name is Janelle Monae, so watch it.

guess what i did tonight?

2010-05-20T23:57:00.002-06:00

yep. I played the trumpet.... Mr. Ferrone is teaching me and is lending me a trumpet!!!! I am beyond excited.

this is joe, if you want a trumpet lesson email him on facebook HERE

GOODNIGHT! XOxo,
andrea

iceland here we come

2010-05-20T10:04:00.002-06:00

we are going to iceland! ya! my friend sue found this and I thought it was so beautiful I had to share... ya. I'm excited!

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

ice cream = cavities

2010-05-18T20:10:00.005-06:00

today was exciting. I found out my last dentist screwed up the fillings he put in my mouth and I had to have them fixed. watch out, you don't want to have to do what I just did!!! especially because to get me numb it takes 5 shots, which didn't even work I was still in pain!!!! the dentist was like "it's in your head" but honestly it was not, it still wasn't numb after 5 shots and they normally do 2!

then we thrifted for hours because I was in too much numbness to do anything else.... I got this outfit... then we went to sweet action, because my brother is in town and I couldn't eat anything other than ice cream today, well I had sushi later too....

my dad is so cute! he went back for a second serving of ice cream because he liked it so much! ha ha ha! I've never seen him do that in all of my life. ok goodbye see you tomorrow

groats

2010-05-17T08:10:00.003-06:00

recently, I've become obsessed with going to work on an organic farm for a week. I found this blueberry farm in British Columbia and I think I have to go there. So I've been researching farms and Pick your own farms all along the west coast for one grand road trip up to Vancouver. It will be amazing!
but this morning a made groats and let me tell you I may never buy another box of cereal again they were so good!!!! yum, all you do is roast some buckwheat groats for 20 minutes and then add honey and fruit and it's the best breakfast!

alright well I can't wait to hit up the farmer's markets. See you soon.....

you don't look fat in that video, part 3

2010-05-15T20:23:00.008-06:00

hello dear blog readers. Today I am very grumpy. Everyone who has bothered me I told them that they were bothering me. ok so in reality that was only one person. HA. That reminds me I'm going to start doing Saturday In Quotes. Every Saturday I'm going to post the quote of the week. I'd like to share with you one that is on our official quote wall.

"I look fat in that video!" - GUY

"you don't look fat in the video" - GIRL

HA HA. on that note, glass wall! episode 3.

also I've been having some fashion annoyances lately so I packed up half of my clothes and tried to sell them at buffalo exchange. Then I'm dumping the rest at the thrift store... and now i'm going to bring in the new fashion with these little tid bits of fashion inspiration...

alright have a good saturday night! i'm going to go out too... bye!

obsessed

2010-05-11T13:48:00.001-06:00

I have to tell you, I love people who are obsessed with specific things. I'm not sure why. But I love when someone is so obsessed that they are kind of crazy, just a bit. LOVE IT. and these are a couple of those people.

2010-05-09T22:11:00.002-06:00

this is cute... i want some of these clothes. Plus I love the France I want to live in the south of france one day.

Vanessa Bruno Spring/Summer 2010 from viacomit on Vimeo.

songs for sunday!

2010-05-09T08:46:00.004-06:00

HELLO sunday! so I started this mix high energy for you. I kind of can't help but love this first song, ha. Also I can't get enough of Warpaint. Can we talk about how much I like them. On another note the National has a new album, I don't have the whole thing yet, but I do enjoy their music... Alright, there you go! I'll be back later today.

Sleigh Bells "TELL 'EM"

The National "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

Morning Benders "Sleeping in"

The National "Afraid of Everyone"

Warpaint "Billie Holiday"

ok I'm not really digging this song but this video made me laugh. HA.

my random thoughts...

2010-05-08T10:27:00.006-06:00

hello people!

can you see the hello in the picture? I guess there is some sort of art project trying to unite artists today. I'm not sure I understand what it is or what will be there or anything, the article was not informative. But I love the sign!

So I have to say yesterday I saw this really happy couple walking down the street and they were laughing and enjoying each other. Their friend who was walking right next to them was so pissed off. It was hilarious to see this. She was visibly angry. HA. I laughed to myself after.

and cheers! this is what I'm having for breakfast. ya it looks gross doesn't it?

I on the 6th day of my annual cleanse. This is a spinach shake, I've been eating only veggies and I am bored! I don't know if I can do this for another 2 weeks! ah. what i really need is a good cup of coffee!

Also just so you all know today i'm going to look for a jumpsuit. I've tried a few on with no luck. maybe today's the day... right? and maybe I'll get this dog too? that would be great!

OK well I'll leave you with this... all my Czech relatives played the accordion... they had accordion bands, it makes me laugh to think that this was how they entertained themselves. I'm hoping to inherit one of their accordions, I'm not sure one still exists but that would be amazing.

2010-05-03T01:24:00.002-06:00

It's 1:25 am. i'm still awake for who knows what reason. I can't sleep. I watched a movie, even read half a book. I only got to the part in the book where the British were taking everyone as their prisoners. I probably should keep reading because I'm really hoping it ends up good, I don't think I can handle a bad ending.

it's hilarious because I wrote a song the other day about this book, kind of unknowingly, but I went back to reading it tonight and realized that the song was the plot of the book. ops. HA. I've never done that before. thank you henry longfellow.

here is a beautiful part of the poetry that i'd like to share with you...

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness: So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

thank you henry this has been worth reading

songs for sunday!

2010-05-01T21:20:00.007-06:00

hello everybody. I'm sorry i was slacking on this before. i added a couple of extra songs for you this week, to make up the difference. I have so much music that I LOVE! So here's some songs for you to listen to, enjoy!

RADIO DEPT. "HEAVEN'S ON FIRE"

HOLLY MIRANDA "WAVES"

BLACK KEYS "TIGHTEN UP"

BEACH HOUSE "PLAY THE GAME"

THE SHOUT OUT LOUDS "FALL"

DEPARTMENT OF EAGLES "IN EAR PARK"

WILD BIRDS AND PEACEDRUMS"FIGHT"

As a side note here I sold my volkswagon. I forgot to mention that here, ya it was destroyed once I got it from the man who was holding it hostage for 5 years. BUMMER! I was hoping to drive it around and do something crazy with it... oh well.

Also I wanted to give a shout out to Jeremy larson from this blog, he is the engineer/mixer/mastering guy for Beat Beat Pound. He was in Colorado playing a show on friday. So we went out to hear his lovely music. We also happened to pick up a pair of american apparel men's underwear that say "salvation club" on them. HA. that's the name of his current album... if you really want to see the briefs you can go HERE. OK well check out Jeremy's music on I-tunes or myspace or his blog. HOPE YOU DO. especially if you liked Beat Beat Pound.

goodnight everybody...

webisode 2. sleeping

2010-04-29T22:47:00.001-06:00

this is the full band! also, look out for cribs episode 1 in the next month! ya. we'll be featuring my band first and then other local celebs in the next episodes!

this is what my life is like.

2010-04-29T21:25:00.004-06:00

ok let me tell you this day was comical. First, I was at a training session earlier and well the "trainer" told everybody that he eats taco bell everyday for lunch and has been doing that for 18 years. since 1992!!!!!! OH wow. I cannot believe that this happens. I think there should be a petition against places like these, they should be illegal. I mean is that real food? or is it just the left over carcass of the cow all crushed up and put through a strainer- I pretty much think option B.

Then! I was at a restaurant, where this guy comes up to me right after I sat down and says "you dropped this, I think" and hands me a wad of cash. So I'm totally embarrassed because I happened to have a ton of cash on me. But I can't determine whether this was my cash or if it was someone elses. So I proceed to go to the bathroom where I fail to lock the door. At this point I sit down and start counting the wad of twenty's. At this point someone walks in on me! so i'm sitting on the toilet counting twenty's. geez. that must have looked weird. All that to say I still don't know if that cash was mine. Whatever, I have no idea, basically I have no idea how many twenty's were in my purse to begin with.

Then I sit down and the bar tender gives me a free glass of wine.

All of this after a heated confrontation with a stranger who eventually proceeded to slam her door in my face. this has been quite the day! so comical.

woo. taking a deep breath while scratching my eyes. they hurt.

ok can I just say that this fashion photographer is amazing.

and also can i please have my very own lion? maybe a miniture, about the size of a dog. if only....

my attempt to paint something today...

2010-04-20T10:20:00.007-06:00

today I made my first attempt to paint. let me just say I'm not any sort of painter. that's really my brother's forte. But sometimes I'd like to be a painter, for some strange reason I have no idea. But I just love this idea of drawing and painting over it. So I made an attempt to copy someones piece of art...

maybe in a year or so I'll be amazing. ha ha... I mean the equipment I used to paint all of this cost me a total of 3 dollars. This is the kind of hobby I think I'd like to stick to, so cheeeeeeaaap.

On other news I'm so tempted to buy a new car right now. I've been debating do I sell my car and start over or do I continue to drive it forever until it dies? it probably won't die for another 5 or 6 years.

I have to say this whole "hula hooping" craze is amazing me. after one of my gigs we actually hula hooped for a few hours! it was so entertaining. Goal today: buy a hula hoop. HA!
goodbye... I'll leave you with a few things I have to get for summertime because I'm gearing up for the best summer yet!

2010-04-19T08:27:00.002-06:00

hello everybody, it's been a little while. I'm jumping back on the blogging wagon. I think after my cd release party I felt wiped out! so much so that last night I even took myself to a movie and bought myself a soda just to be by myself. ha! I saw the runaways, has anyone seen it? it was pretty good. but it was also kind of a "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll" kind of movie....

well here are some things inspiring me today... I'm loving these bows, so far I haven't actually seen someone wearing one on their head in real life. I might have to be the first to do so...

the runaways...

also, i have this unhealthy desire to have an overwhelming amount of pencils at all times... people have made fun of me for it, but hey it's true...

ya! i'm back

2010-04-13T21:06:00.004-06:00

hey kids! i'm sorry i've been gone I had a very very busy this weekend! I want you to know that today as I was running a large fox jumped out at me from the "bush" it was hilarious and quite frightening. I think he was scared when he saw me too... so maybe he wasn't jumping at me. HA.

so I'm back and I wanted to share this video from my cd release... We'll be releasing more where the trumpets and violins come in too, look out for more in another couple of weeks but for now check this.

Andrea Ball at the Hi-Dive: Dial Tone from andrea ball on Vimeo.

random inspiration....

2010-04-06T21:15:00.003-06:00

I feel like taking a rode trip on a bike on the coast... ah... doesn't that sound nice?

I think i'm going to buy all of these lipsticks. thank you mac.

if i could aquire a talent I don't have it'd be painting... if any of you know who painted this please inform me!!

Alright well
can i just say, I love these guys...

ok... well hmmm.

THE HOSTAGE SITUATION.

2010-04-04T21:58:00.003-06:00

OK. I wanted to let you all know the full story about my "stolen" or should I say "hostage" car situation. some of you have been interested and I really didn't want to get into it, but I'm going to, only because you requested it.

OK. So 5 years ago I was given a family "heirloom" as my brother would like to say, ha ha. It's a Volkswagen Beetle. I wanted to use it on the side and fix it up for fun. My mom was a bit worried about me owning it because it's kind of dangerous. One time when she was driving the steering wheel came off!!!! I was screaming and told her I was going to jump out of the car! ha ha ha. We were going 50 miles an hour at that point.

So needless to say she was nervous. She was not completely able to give up control of the car, she still needed to be in the middle because of her fear for my life. ha! Anyway so I wanted to get the car painted. She decided on this guy who said he could do it for 1600 bucks. I went to meet this guy and I thought he was SKETCHY. I told my mom that I did not want this guy doing work on it. She did not listen to me. Instead she gave it to this man, along with 1100 dollars.

HE REFUSED TO GIVE IT BACK! so my mom fought with him for a while and I was pissed off. But my mom refused to give me his information, phone number/address etc... So eventually I let it go, because there wasn't anything I could do since I had no idea how to contact him and my mom, once again, was afraid I would get myself in a dodgy situation since he IS CRAZY.

So anyway he proceeded to call us about 2 weeks ago, telling us to come get the car. I WAS SHOCKED AND PISSED. he is clearly out of his mind!!!! So I called him, after my mom gave me all the information, FINALLY. He then decided he wasn't going to give it back to me! He hung up the phone on me several times!!!!!! I'm like what the h--- you called me to get this car and now you won't give it back to me????

So I called the cops/lawyers etc... I now have the car back. It was never painted and it looks like crap, because he messed with it. But at the very least I have the car. GEEZ.

I will eventually have to file a suite if I want to get the money back. but at least i have the *&#$! car! GEEZ.

Alright now you know!!!!!!!!!!

songs for sunday!!!

2010-04-04T14:15:00.003-06:00

lion face boy by seabear

to travels and trunks by hey marseilles

curs in the weeds by horse feathers

by she & him

simon says by lahel

hey all. I got my car back. it's a miracle! I have to say some funny things have been happening to me in the last few days... Some great things have happened too. I recently was contacted by mtv, so look out for my songs playing in the background of some reality tv show soon. ha!

Anyway we had our first rooftop dinner party... ha. we sat around and ate sushi until the wind picked up my plate and splashed it on someone. Then we went inside. But hey we tried! hopefully summer gets here soon.

well i'll be back later tonight to post something, but for now I have to run. HAPPY EASTER.

hello friday i like you

2010-04-02T23:27:00.007-06:00

editing the cd release footage...

stolen cars and other news.

2010-04-02T08:47:00.005-06:00

well everybody, we get to open for horse feathers at the hi dive. I'm excited, it's exciting and I think you should be excited too. They are great! That's May 14th everybody. Oh and if you are in denver you can get a physical copy of dial tone at: Water Course, city o city, twist and shout, fashion denver and everyone anywhere can get it on CDbaby.

Alright I want you all to know, that I own a second car, it's a Volkswagon. It was ganked by a crazy man who has been refusing to give it back, simply because he stole the money I gave him to paint it. Yes he had a shop, it's now closing, and he was supposed to make my car look amazing. Scammed. I'm hoping to get it back tomorrow but all i can do is hope!

it was supposed to be painted pink, but i think it's probably still silver.

well it's almost summer I can't wait to do rooftop parties!!!!
ok bye for now.

dial tone reviews

2010-03-30T20:26:00.003-06:00

Hey everybody!!! I wanted to update you guys with some reviews that my album got! Also before you go to those sites, I want you to know that if you didn't make it to the cd release we'll be editing some of the video tomorrow for you to see, so look out for that in the next few weeks!

check out this Q&A that made it in the Denver Post! It tells some of the story behind dial tone!

CLICK HERE

Here's what the Westword had to say:
READ HERE

here's the post from the AV club
CLICK HERE

There are more, but I won't inundate you with more information for now.... I'll be posting a press page here on this blog so if you'd like to read it you will be able to.

also I'd like you to know that my car is being held hostage by a crazy man. I have been trying to retrieve it for the last few days. Involving lawyers and officers of the law, and I do not have my car back yet. BUT I INTEND TO GET IT BACK!!!!!! WATCH OUT! I know some of you have heard this story and other's of you wonder what the heck this is about, so I'll update you soon..

ARG. geez.

Songs for Sunday brought to you by Nathan Johnson

2010-03-28T07:44:00.007-06:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to the CD Release! It was a blast, the show sold out! and I loved the horn section. yes thank you Joe and Jason!!!!! I'll be putting up some footage from that eventually as well as pictures. But today I asked Nathan Johnson to put together a playlist for us.... so here you go!

He produced three of these songs and the other two musicians (by son lux, jonny rodgers) are friends of his.

all their peculiar ways by new volunteer

Break by Son Lux

Jonny Cash is dead by The New Time

easy days by Katie Chastain

little foxes by Jonny Rodgers

If you'd like to find out more about him you can go HERE

Recently nathan has been working on Katie Chastain's new album, check here out HERE. he also composed the music for this short film, brought to you by Hit Record. It's called Morgan & Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo. If You'd like to check out Hit Record, it's a site where you can collaborate your film/music/art with people around the world. It's free to join and it's pretty fantastic, go HERE

here's a little video of what hitrecord is all about...

Also... I had shirts made... I'm going to get some real pictures of them later, but here's a preview- they come in white, grey, mint green and pink.

if you'd like to buy one, send me an email at Andreaballmusic@gmail.com. I'm going to set up a store for them later today, thanks!

2010-03-25T21:21:00.001-06:00

someone made me these shirts and mailed them to me! ha love it! just got 'em

buy your tix in advance

2010-03-25T20:14:00.001-06:00

buy your tickets for the show in advance if you'd like. CLICK HERE. you can also click there to view the HI DIVE'S website if you need directions or anything....

ok see you guys tomorrow!!!

friday night, cd release

2010-03-24T18:34:00.001-06:00

this show starts at 9pm!!!!

ya we are the new anchors for channel two, ya pretty much

2010-03-23T22:27:00.002-06:00

check this out we just did this tonight!!!

we are news worthy!!!!!!!!!! lol. ya we pretty much went to every part of the news room and took pictures before we played. yep pretty much complete dorks.

woooooo hoooo!

2010-03-23T16:01:00.002-06:00

woooo hooo Dial tone is available today!!!! you can buy it on I-Tunes and many other stores. buy it on itunes by clicking HERE

I'll be posting many more press links but for now here's what the Westword had to say about it:

Andrea Ball
Dial Tone
Self-released
By Dave Herrera Thursday,

Building on some of the ideas presented on her last album, 2008's Beat Beat Pound, Andrea Ball once again sidesteps the well-worn singer-songwriter template on Dial Tone, her latest effort, in favor of more plodding, piano-heavy arrangements. Fleshed out by an array of interesting sounds, the dynamic range here swings fluidly from sparser numbers — with sighing strings, gently moaning saws and murmuring horns creating a spectral backdrop for Ball's hushed vocals — to more forceful and deliberate tunes driven by clacking rhythms, staccato piano lines and snare hits. Resembling Fiona Apple as played by Maria Taylor, Ball brings a distinct cinematic flair to Dial Tone. (The record was produced by Cinematic Underground mastermind Nathan Johnson, whose past work includes film scores for both Brick and the Brothers Bloom — so this isn't entirely coincidental.) Most sequels disappoint; this one does not.

watch us on the news tomorrow.

2010-03-22T20:56:00.002-06:00

HELLO!!!! so sorry I didn't update you constantly with sxsw stuff, it was quite busy out there. And I'm still recovering, but i made you this short video of our "history making moment" please watch...

Also we'll be on the news tomorrow night so look out for that- channel 2 7pm evening news! be there watching! ha ha.

SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST day 1

2010-03-18T21:47:00.003-06:00

hey all! I'm at sxsw! we're playing tomorrow morning. We drove 16 hours to get here, but it was worth it. This video is from today... we saw a bunch of bands, of which I loved most of them, but this one features zola jesus.

I'm loving south by!!!

other bands we saw today that I liked:
Holly Miranda, real estate, the xx, horse feathers and well everyone else wasn't as good. Plus we left by 9pm since we were so tired. I'm sure there was amazing stuff that we missed.

I'll post more tomorrow, hopefully we'll get a less compress video of a few of our songs at our set tomorrow!

SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST

2010-03-16T16:37:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow I'm leaving for South by South West. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's a large music festival in Austin, Texas. Woot. love that city. So I'm going to be documenting my trip by pics, blogs and by video...

first you all have to know when and where I'm playing in case you are going and you need to check out our party. I will be at Habana Calle 6
709 E 6th St on friday at 1pm. COME OUT!!!

If you'd like to check out all the details for the show you can see them on FACEBOOK

here are a couple of my favorite shots from previous SXSW showcases.

alright I'll catch you tomorrow with some pics from our trip.
bye!

songs for sunday

2010-03-14T14:30:00.001-06:00

high road by broken bells

my life by jj

I want a house by twin sister

this song might be too crazy for many of you, but give it a chance.... and you tube her because she's interesting to watch...
Spiracal by soap & skin

sometimes music can just sound like NOISE. we are clouded by too many choices. So many options that we decide we'd rather not weed through the mess. I feel that way with a lot of different things this year. I'm about to go to South By South West in austin this week. If you are going to be there stop by the Westword stage- HERE's the info. But I feel overwhelmed by the idea of even going, considering there will be thousands of bands, thousands of options, thousands of people whoa. this is why I only post a few songs on sunday... why give you so much that you won't even listen to it!

yikes.

can i just say that I can't stop dreaming about moving to france. It's all I really want to do right now. I've decided that I'm going to go for a month in late fall and just rome around the country for a while, maybe rent an apartment and pretend I live there for a short time. AH. just felt like staying in bed and dreaming about that today. I guess it's the weather...

I'm having shirts printed today! and I'm having bags made. Plus I'm making more "one of a kind" shirts for the cd release. i'm thinking I should make dresses like this, with a different saying and some tights, I wonder if I can make tights like this... hmm...

let's talk about how much i love music.

2010-03-11T21:46:00.011-07:00

GO HERE to read the review about dial tone in the Westword.

Here are some musical things that are inspiring me today!

Let's talk about how I need one of these, and how I'm going on a solo tour with just this instrument... ha ha

betty davis, you're hair is amazing. I wish I were as rockstar as you....

alright can I just say that I love these wallets. you can buy it HERE I WANT ONE!

a little while back, someone emailed me from another state and asked if they could make a shirt with my face on it! so here it is!

this is why I love the internet... Somebody, anybody can contact you if they feel like it and make a shirt for you. It is amazing how you can connect with anyone around the world. LOVE IT! Plus I just love presents in general, get me a present and I'll be your best friend... ha ha, partly true.

songs for sunday!

2010-03-07T11:56:00.001-07:00

Next week I'll be putting up a guest playlist from Nathan Johnson, so look out for that!

So a couple of things before I share music.
1. We just practiced with the entire band for my cd release yesterday. Violins and trumpets and everything was amazing! I hope you guys can come because it's going to be a fantastic show! it's March 26th at the Hi Dive... ya!

2. Mark Linkous from sparklehorse committed suicide this week. Really sad news because their music was great. It's sad how some of the most talented people are disturbed. May he rest in peace...

3. Me and Brandi Shigley from Fashion Denver are going to be making a very special you tube special for you all! ha ha. Watch out for that!

here's my playlist for you this week! These bands are fantastic. If you like these links please go and PURCHASE THE ALBUMS! Let's support our fantastically talented peers so that we can continue to experience beautiful music... also you can see all of these bands at SXSW if you are going!

Airplanes by Local Natives

Swim by Surfer Blood

Achille's Heel by Brooklyn Rider

Hannah by Freelance Whales

Cleo's Song by JBM

JBM and Local Natives...

surfer blood...

fantastic!

2010-03-03T20:19:00.014-07:00

today i bring you things i think are fantastic!
1. these fantastic songs!

I Sing I Swim - Seabear

Siamese - Wye Oak

Modern Drift - Efterklang

2. and this beautiful song!

Dig In - Tara Jane O'Neil

3. New Shoes!

4. The right to wear whatever I want to work. like this headdress... or flower...

5.This present I bought for someone and never gave it to them! It's a gift card for a years worth of free chocolate and candy! all you do is call and order it, you can have up to 500 bags of candy over the course of a year. wow. I suppose I'll have to give it to someone who will really appreciate it and use it all the time!

6. These mugs.

7. people who don't care what you think of them.

8. Beatrice and Woodsley's happy hour

9. bob dylan... always singing the words you're thinking... I love how sarcastic this song sounds and the line "you just kinda wasted my precious time, but don't think twice it's alright" ha ha, so sarcastic I love it.

Don't Think Twice, It's All Ri...

10. and finally... magic...

cd release!!!

2010-03-02T23:30:00.004-07:00

YA IT'S FINALLY HERE! so I just wanted to tell you that we have a full band with trumpets and strings and I really hope that you can come! it's March 26th at the hi dive at 8pm! We'll be having a 3rd act that is TBA.

see you there!!!! I'll be back tomorrow for more blogging.....
oh btw, I just went to google anylitics and it said that someone found this blog with the search words "go to applebee's and buy someone chicken wings"

ha ha ha! love it! that movie was fantastic btw(paper heart). ok bye again.

sunday!

2010-02-28T22:04:00.006-07:00

Let me say I promised a guest play list this week- which is still coming, I just can't get this media player to work on my blog. so by next week I'll have it up for you to listen to!

But for right now, this song stood out to me this week. I went to this show, but wasn't really expecting much, but it made me cry. So for this week I wanted to write the lyrics to this song, instead of playing it for you.

She was a girl living in the city cleaning the old religion
Praying for electricity to keep her warm for a little while
Nobody made her wise to the things a girl might find
In a belly of a hungry man who don't care nothing about his bloodline
She got lost in his bloodline
Heavy cost of a bloodline
She goes on she cries at night and keeps alive his bloodline
So much riding on a bloodline
Why is he hiding from the bloodline?
It aint right she cries at night and keeps alive his bloodline

She heard heaven is invite only preserved for Christian soldiers
Not on wet girls living in the city asking for change from strangers
But father said Jesus loves her even though she never married
God loves her more than the Christians did she's part of his holy bloodline
She got saved in her bloodline
The price he paid for the bloodline
Chased alive she cries at night and keeps alive his bloodline
She believes in his bloodline
Lives and breathes by the bloodline
With all her might she cries at night and keeps alive his bloodline

I know I should have never left her a shoulder of a burnt eye
She probably won't forgive me god might not even
I made a cross and laid it on her back
But I never broke her spirit and she owes that to her bloodline
She stood strong for the bloodline I did wrong by the bloodline
But she went on she cried at night and kept alive her bloodline
Sacrifice for the bloodline paid the price for the bloodline
For all her life she cried at night and kept alive her bloodline

Ohhhhhhhhhh she cried at night and kept alive her bloodline

sometimes life feels heavy, and now is one of those times. Everything is going well as far as new house/new job. But this is outside of those things, I'm thinking a lot about what to do with the short amount of time I have in life. I'm scared that I'll never figure out what I should do with it.

today feels out of the ordinary with all of this. But this song really did make me think about this topic more. also i made this short video for you of one of my songs. It's nothing professional, just a random clip of my song glass wall.

"glass wall you're lovely, and i would love you if you only wanted me too,
glass wall you're lonely, and I would love you if you gave me a reason to stay"

I'll be back a few times this week... and maybe more musical thoughts. If you'd like to listen to the song it's matt morris, bloodline.

2010-02-24T17:52:00.005-07:00

I'd just like to mention that to solve all my problems I've been running lots of miles, then I've been learning a bunch of hip hop/rap songs for The Pirate signal. That's also taking all my angst away, ha ha. I'm going to be the "hot chick" vocal on his recording.

plus i am loving this artist. i want to buy everything... o man if only they were for sale... but alas she only has a couple of things up that you can buy HERE

so beautiful!!!

today is the kind of day where I just want some pink soda and a little lion. doesn't that sound awesome!

find me on facebook.com/listentoandreaball

look out for songs for sunday this week, i have a special guest... ok bye!!!

my musical thoughts for the week...

2010-02-22T21:21:00.007-07:00

I just added more lyrics from Beat Beat Pound under the lyric link, if you are interested in reading them.

well sorry I've been so late, but here's my musical thoughts for the week...
I've been listening to a lot of nico and the velvet underground, these days... you can't help but love her. Plus she's influenced so many of my influences.

Sunday Morning - The Velvet Un...

These Days - Nico

Listening to her music reminded me of this clip, which I love this movie... so I had to add it...

well I want to move to the south of france and sit on this beach, live in this house, own these shoes and drink coffee all day. That's what I'm dreaming about...

here's another song to start the morning.

Wide Eyes - Local Natives

goodbye!!!!!

2010-02-21T22:49:00.003-07:00

quote of the evening, "Just because you are having a bad day does not mean that you have breast cancer"-me I love that you can get a laugh out of any terrible day. I'm collecting quotes lately, here's another:

"I look fat in that video"-guy
"you do not look fat in the video!" -me

ha ha ha. I'm sorry i didn't do songs for sunday today! i'll have to do it tomorrow. Instead I've been thinking about these four things...

I want these tights!!!!!

also, this week was bad. But simultaneously it was amazing. I had a moment today as I was moving a couple more boxes into my house that was so crazy. I can't believe the things you find in old boxes. Such a cool moment for me!!! I may remember that for years and years and years.

alright well I'll be back tomorrow and many more times this week!

2010-02-18T07:15:00.001-07:00

I just uploaded one of my new songs to myspace so you can preview the new album.

go listen to it! HERE

songs for sunday part 2 (kind of)

2010-02-14T14:23:00.001-07:00

oh ya and I forgot- happy valentines day!!!

My Funny Valentine - Chet Bake...

"I had a lover I don't think there is another these days these days. And if I seem to be afraid to live the life that I have made in song. Its just that I've been losing so long

I stopped my dreaming I won't do too much schemeing these days these days
These days I sit on corner stones and count the time in quarter tones to ten

Please don't confront me with my failures I have not forgotten them."

thank you Mr. Jackson Browne.

songs for sunday. amazing.

2010-02-14T11:19:00.002-07:00

WOW. the show last night was fantastic. I knew it'd be good but I had no idea how great it would be. I was completely entranced with both acts. This first act is called wildbirds and Peacedrums. They are a married couple from sweden, who basically only play drums. She used a metal drum that sounded amazing! I wish I would have captured that for you, but I needed to watch more than record. They were so good that at the end of their set I tried to get an encore going.
here they are:

then came St. Vincent. I have to tell you Annie Clark is perfect. Everything was wildly polished and amazing. I captured the first two songs of her set. Let me tell you though, she built her set where towards the end you were just floored by her. I really wish I had captured a few of her later songs but like I said I needed to watch!

her second song:

this is my music post for sunday.... I hope that if you are in another state that you do go to her show, it was worth the 10 bucks. If I would have had more cash I would have bought everything at the merch table. That's how great it was.

2010-02-14T08:31:00.002-07:00

Last night was amazing! I'm uploading video's from the evening to share with you. I was really blown away so definitely check this post again for an update.

But first I wanted to say you can now "become a fan" and listen to my music on facebook
click HERE to do that

If we aren't twitter friends then find me too- HERE

I will be back!

I am so excited!

2010-02-13T16:12:00.002-07:00

I thought I missed it, but st. vincent is coming to denver tonight. I'm so excited for this she blows me away with this video.... I know I posted it a while back but maybe you didn't watch it and maybe you did, but if you did watch it again!!!!!

yes!!!!!!!!!!!!! see you there!!!!!

one year ago today

2010-02-13T08:32:00.003-07:00

one year ago I wrote this in my journal. thought it'd be funny to share a page. random. but exactly a year.

As I was leaving my house earlier today I saw this cassette tape on the counter in the hallway of my building. It said "what hell is really like" I was kind of thrown off by this strange thing and grabbed it so I could listen to it in my car and have a good laugh. I really wanted to know the truth about hell unfortunately, the tape was blank.
Then, I was supposed to go get this piano from this woman on craig's list. I talked to her and she sounded normal, then she called twice while I was running and left threatening messages about me coming to get the piano. I was kind of scared of her by the time I listened to the second message. wow, I didn't call her back or go get it... um I'm thinking she might chop me in pieces if I entered her home.
After all this went down, I saw a girl stealing rocks. she had pulled her car over to the side of colfax and speer and was taking rocks from an area that was clearly landscaped by the city. Some people have serious balls. When she saw me walking by she got scared and gave me a frightened look. I just wanted to yell at her-come on woman! you are stealing on the corner of speer and colfax- at least 500 people have already seen what you are doing, don't give me that dumb look!

I'm seriously thrown off by today. I woke up singing this meiko song "what are you going to do, what are you going to say, when it's all said and done" and then I ran into this guy on the street who has caused me to have a panic attack once before. So I tried to blow it off, but things only got stranger from there. So now I'm sitting on my couch at 8:44, thinking about how life down here is fragile, and everyone has an opinion about how you should handle it. As if anyone knows how we should handle it.
Time is flying by, yet there are people stealing rocks, leaving cassette tapes about hell in my hallway and threatening me about useless garbage. We are all handling this poorly.

that was probably the most random day of 2009. bye!

Magical moment # 1

2010-02-10T22:58:00.003-07:00

sometimes i just need a little more magical moments in my life. I want to capture them and keep all to myself and when there are no magical moments, i can get them and remind myself that there will be more.

Magical moment # 1- yesterday I walked into the cafeteria at the school where I sometimes teach 2nd graders. I was mobbed by 10 little girls who all gave me a giant hug- a full force running toward me kinda hug- the kinda hug that knocks you up against the "got milk" poster on the stark white cement block wall. it was completely magical.

yea! this is coming soon. I love creepy movies that are done well.

Alice in Wonderland - Trailer / Bande-annonce #2 HD [VO]
by Sawyer17

mmmm good.

2010-02-09T23:16:00.012-07:00

I made an amazing discovery tonight. Some of you know that I love Popsicles. Well I randomly drank peppermint tea and ate a lime pop simultaneously and it was magical. I'm definitely going to have to do that again. ha ha ha ha ha.

I also made another amazing discovery from daytrotter because they recently recorded the wheel, beautiful! while I was there I went ahead and got AA Bondy and twin sister from their site- o so fabulous. check out these sessions:

lissie + daytrotter made my day.

go listen to Nate & the wheel on daytrotter...

well i'll see ya soon... enjoy the music.

songs for sunday!

2010-02-06T20:42:00.004-07:00

this week has been interesting! I have so much to say! well first let me start with the dance music I promised from last week. I had my whole bit about crying and now I'm taking it to the other end of the spectrum. so this is it: La roux. Totally over the top but can't help liking it kinda music. Throwing us back to the 80's in such an amazing way. HA.

Tap Tap Song of the Week 1-7-10 from Taptap Songs on Vimeo.

this video inspires me to get some zebra print in my life. I have been wanting that fake zebra head from anthropology.
zebras!

I moved last week and it was more random and unexpected than I would have ever imagined. I had been living in a condo downtown for 4 years and not looking to move. Well randomly it all came together in a week and I was out of there into a new space with 2 friends that I completely love! It's crazy, but great!

We had our first dinner party to thank all the boys who helped me out- thank you guys--

we have been "partying" ever since, breakfast with the ladies (bethany, jess & eleanor) yesterday was fabulous, just talking about new creative ventures we are creating over lemon poppy seed pancakes. they are awesome!
Also my friend Justin fixed my record player! omy!!!! I am so excited he took this old school tape reel that I bought at the thrift store, because I thought it was so cool, and made it into an amp for my record player! I was so excited jumping around and amazed. He also fixed my ultra cool 1960's lamp. THANK YOU!!!!

cheers to new beginnings and lots of laughs!

also...I've been meaning to share this song for a while, but haven't been able to find it on lala... so there you go more music to listen to....

Little Lion Man - Mumford & So...

i'm falling. maybe i'm floating, let's hope

2010-02-06T16:41:00.002-07:00

sometimes I feel misunderstood. do you know that feeling? when I get like that I have the need to write music because it's the only way to express things that are weighing on me. Right now I wish I could be floating and/or flying. feels like it would make my life lighter.

I'm writing this blog while listening to:

Some Velvet Morning - Lee Hazl...

"everybody needs you and you need a way out, out, out, put on your parachute, chute chute"

well ladies and gents. we're all moved into my house, that's why I haven't blogged much this week! but I'll be right back at it here. I'll have to post a video of our new house and our new adventure, primarily george!

xo,
andrea

ya this happened, and we're embarrassed

2010-02-01T03:32:00.002-07:00

do you remember how, back in the day, people would walk down the street with boom boxes on their shoulders playing the loudest music they could? It seems so archaic that I almost don't believe it ever happened! I can remember seeing this when I was a kid and thinking back on it makes me want to cry from laughter. I mean, really, think about it, this is what the hippest people did in 1985. wow, look how far we've come. I mean we'll be telling our kids this one day, and they won't believe us. Tonight since I can't sleep and it's 3:32 Am. I've decided that I need to buy a boom box, some high tops and recreate this magic. so which one should I buy?

should I get a sweat suit too? ha just kidding

I'm going to get this white one, what do you think?

and before you know it I'll look just like this. ha

OK well good night, or should I say good morning, it's almost 4 am now, still can't fall asleep. yikes. well happy Monday!!!!!!!

songs for sunday

2010-01-31T07:55:00.010-07:00

can't stop listening to these songs this week...

oh beautiful just wait till the chorus... OMG. i'm in love with this song! WOW!

Everywhere I Go - Lissie

oh and this just came out, wow i'm really impressed.

I Could Be With Anyone - Manch...

Spirited - Laura Gibson

have i ever talked about how I want fur to come back into style? fur and teddy bears. i want the 60's back, no one dresses like we could...

Well have a fabulous day!!! i'm moving some more stuff and getting breakfast, I'll have to make a video for you of my new place...BYE!

I'm moving here!

2010-01-27T08:45:00.002-07:00

i'm moving randomly. I love where i live now, but I couldn't pass up this amazing opportunity. yea!!! we have a roof top!!! we can see the entire city and the mountains!
yea and yea! I'll share more when we move in! plus I get to share it with my beautiful friends eleanor and beathany!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

2010-01-25T08:52:00.003-07:00

I stole this from this BLOG. that I love.

songs! for sunday!

2010-01-24T23:07:00.002-07:00

I'm going to start this post by saying I had a really truly crazy week. So many amazingly positive things have happened and I'm blown away by how many beautiful things are happening in my life right now. I'm extremely grateful!!!!

in contradiction to those statements I thought I'd post songs that unexpectedly made me cry. Not just cry, ball my eyes out! Of course I'm talking about the first time I heard these songs. Music is such an amazing way of connecting with other people. I'm shocked when I find myself with such a strong reaction to something seemingly so small. I love that it can do that!

This first song I heard on the radio. I never listen to the radio so I never know what's "popular" these days. But I was driving to Boulder when this song came on and I couldn't stop crying... I was so shocked, I wasn't expecting to have this reaction to a song on the radio!

I Will - Brandi Carlile

this is jeremy larson. I worked for the label He was signed to. When I first started working there I had to listen to all the artists, and well they were all terrible (except jeremy of course). So I had just finished listening to the worst music of my life for at least and hour, when this song came on... cried.

Today - Jeremy Larson

well maybe those two songs didn't make you cry, but this one might do the trick. I think I listened to this 5 or 6 times the first time I heard this.

Sad Eyes - Bat For Lashes

the end! I hope you could enjoy this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! next week I'll put up dance songs of something a little less deep! HA ha ha.

hello there

2010-01-23T17:30:00.010-07:00

It's almost my birthday. woo.

This is a preview from the photo shoot we did last week. I'll share more with you in the next few days...and send you to my lovely friend Jenn's website so you can check it out.

This week has been incredibly strange, but I'm really excited because tomorrow is my birthday and my CD's are being shipped to me! yes. woot woot.

Also I would like you all to know that I just started another musical project yesterday. It's called....

it's me and three of my friends... Bethany Johnson, Jessica Sonner, and Elanor Perry-Smith, more introductions to come!!!!

Also! I'm still dreaming of my cupcake store- how bout this (tour bus/part time cupcake shop????) yes!

Well I just thought i'd stop in this morning.... I'll be back with songs for sunday sooooooon.

PRE ORDER DIAL TONE

2010-01-20T20:39:00.006-07:00

This is the story of how the album {dial tone} all began, it strange but you need to know how very funny/true it is...
I spent a lot of time writing these songs. Initially I wanted this to be an album of love letters, something I wrote about other people's experiences. I would gather letters and try to understand how exactly other people were seeing the world and then write a song about it. I started by reading letter after letter and asking people to see their letters. I then began reading handwritten letters I had found online until one day a funny thing happened... I was on an airplane going to California and this odd man wrote me a love letter while we were flying and gave it to me when we got the the airport. I found it coincidental that the very thing I was looking for was handed to me by a stranger and wrapped in toilet paper (NOT KIDDING)! I saved the letter because I thought this was such and hilarious experience. I mean this very strange guy sat behind me on a two hour flight writing this, then he proceeded to follow me. He followed me from the plane to the bathroom to the baggage claim, to the customer service line, then outside to the bus stop. This is where he walked up to me- didn't say a word- and handed me this-

Obviously he was little off- people don't really go around doing this sort of thing. But I had to admit there was something I couldn't help but love! and that's the fact that someone was strange enough to do this! So I began to re-think the album. Why was I reading love letters from other people when I had been given plenty of my own. So I began writing songs, personal songs about love. One of my favorite songs on the album is called plane crash, and it's partly born out of this experience on the plane. Yet, obviously not about this strange airport man. But it's about how sometimes Love is better from the ground. "Dial Tone" is tied into this idea with the line "put on your parachute" foreshadowing the theme of the rest of the album, as it ends with "Plane Crash" and a song called "Blind"

Every song is personal, and every story is hard to tell, unless of course it's sung. I hope you buy the album and that you enjoy it!

If you want one please pay pal me 10 bucks at A_L_BALL@hotmail.com with your mailing address in an email and this CD will arrive on your doorstep by March 23rd (official release date)

about these guys: I recorded this in John Macy's studio (amazing place). Nathan Johnson produced this album find him HERE or HERE
or here... (I stole this from his facebook page, but isn't it beautiful? and this is Katie Chastain, his fiancee)

here are the lyrics to my song Dial Tone

Put on your Parachute chute chute chute

you got a busy tone
when you called emergency
I called heard you on the phone
cause that's when you started calling me

There's no escape plan B
is out of question
so stay or keep on walking
stay or keep on walking

Dial Tone you've got your doubts doubts
Dial Tone you've got your doubts doubts
Everybody needs you
and you need a way out out out.

Take a look at my eyes
take a look at me now
i've been holding you back
and you've been holding me down

I know it's harsh
but It's the truth,
everybody's packing
so put on your parachute.

Dial Tone you've got your doubts doubts
Dial Tone you've got your doubts doubts
Everybody needs you
and you need a way out out out.

songs for sunday

2010-01-17T20:49:00.003-07:00

This is extremely beautiful, I had to share... striking....

This is soap and skin.

I don't have much else to say, this is striking enough for one sunday! love it!
if you'd like to check out her music click HERE

sorry but they didn't have this on lala.... so myspace is the answer, enjoy!

TEMPTED!

2010-01-15T10:18:00.005-07:00

i can't help it i just want to get on a plane or in a car and drive! i need summer and funny carnivals, old tapes amazing beaches and Billie holiday playing in the back ground. I feel like putting on a vintage dress and driving until I don't feel like driving anymore. ha! maybe i should leave now, cancel all my weekend plans and come back next week sometime. TEMPTED!
If you don't hear from me this weekend that's what i did.

source

well i can't really do that right now, because well I made too many plans. But I am participating in a craft mailing, which I am so excited about. I should get 36 little packages in the mail if all goes right! But today I'm making something for someone I don't know and mailing it to them.... fun I'll let you know what i come up with...
bye!

love this song

2010-01-14T08:10:00.004-07:00

i'm dreaming

2010-01-13T20:40:00.001-07:00

i'm dreaming of summer! while listening to billie holiday, can't get enough...

I'll Be Seeing You - Billie Ho...

summer rain....

source

source

but alas it's winter time

source

anyway enough of what i can't have...today I was standing in the grocery store wearing this suit i bought at the thrift store when a regular guy walked by looked at me and said "I'm in love" HA. cracked me up wow, crazy people. (ya i bought this and ya I wore it! ha....here we are at the thrift store, as i was proclaiming "gem of the century, this thrift store never fails me").

next this outfit (if only people really dressed like this):

songs for sunday brought to you by Bobby Erskine

2010-01-10T20:21:00.004-07:00

this playlist is brought to you by my friend Bobby! Bobby and Missi are fabulous people and bobby has great taste in music, if you'd like to follow his musical choices on twitter you can find him HERE

bobby's list

Lightning Dust - Antonia Jane
Lightning Dust is two members of Canadian band, Black Mountain. That sounds a bit grammatically awkward, but I think it's correct. Anyway, I love the warbled female vocals combined with the sparse instrumentation. At anytime it feels like her voice might disappear all together. They have a few upbeat songs, but Antonia Jane is indicative of the funeral dirge feel that pervades this band. Beautifully haunting.

The Antlers - Bear
In this era of the single, the Antlers made an album. Not only an album, but an album with a storyline. I was a little late onto the Antlers bandwagon, but I'm glad I got on. Hospice is an incredible album and while this track doesn't do it complete justice, it should stand as a teaser to the grandeur. It left me with the same feeling I had when I first heard Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over the Sea. It's a fantastic feeling.

Volcano Choir - Seeplymouth
Like most people, last year I became enamored with Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago. The woodsy music, the back story of jaded love and isolation, Justin Vernon's lumberjack mystique. I bought the Blood Bank EP when it was released and quickly realized that he had much more potential. Which brings us to Volcano Choir, a collaboration of Mr. Vernon and Collections of Colonies of Bees (which includes former members of Pele for any math rock geeks). The result are gorgeous soundscapes and instrumentation to which Vernon's vocals can soar amongst. At first it reminded me of bands such as American Football and Unwed Sailor, but where those bands had trouble transcending their sound, Volcano Choir with the help of Vernon, have created something unique with room to grow. Hopefully this wasn't a one shot deal.

Delta Spirit - Ode To Sunshine
I would love to have Delta Spirit around for those occasions where you are hanging out with friends late into the light and everyone's a bit tired, a bit warm with drink, and perfectly relaxed. I imagine one of them wondering over to a piano, another picking up a guitar, while a few other folks grab any sort of impromptu percussion devices and just launching into a jangly group singalong. It's hard to believe these guys are from San Diego when you hear the backwoods, authentic sound they produce.

Houses - We'll See The Sun
I thought I should at least recognize one local act in this list. Houses is one of the best new Denver bands I've heard in the past few years. They aren't necessarily breaking any new sonic ground, but they do what they do really well. It's great to see a group of musicians come together, write and play quality music, and seem to enjoy it the entire time. I don't get that impression from many bands these days and it's very refreshing.

this is guthrie!

little laughter for you.

2010-01-10T20:08:00.003-07:00

I'm about to post songs for sunday, but while you're waiting, this is amazing. I laughed loudly to myself. I saw it on someone's blog and i had to share.
this is an actual ad that really played at one point in time on t.v.! ha

2010-01-09T09:25:00.001-07:00

I'm just sitting here thinking about 2010... I'm excited and I'm writing out my personal goals. While I'd love to share with you my thoughts, I'm not going to. Instead I'm going to tell you 10 random things I want to do this year, none of which are on my serious list, these are my funny goals for 2010.

1. own a Davey Crockett hat.

2. start my very own tradition.... any suggestions???? I'll have to think about this.

3. celebrate my half birthday. I say this because my birthday is January 25, and it's way too cold to do anything exciting. so this year I celebrate in July... party!

4.go on an Edward Norton film binge starting with "Freida" and ending with "the son" but not including "fight club" cause I can't stand that movie.

5. get a fake zebra head. ha!

6. drive from LA to Portland on the coast in a convertible playing old music on tapes and stopping at every beach, until I eventually end up at these tree houses:

7. buy an airline trailer and start a cupcake shop... (ok maybe this is too lofty, but I really want to do it!)

8. use these!

9. go roller skating...

10. buy a 60's swim suit.

my favorite albums of 2009-songs for sunday!

2010-01-03T22:36:00.010-07:00

today I bring you my favorite releases of 2009! (you can listen to the playlist at the bottom of this post)

BAT FOR LASHES: two suns

Lisa Hannigan: sea sew

Asobi Seksu: Hush

Fruit Bats: The Ruminant Band

Mumford and Sons: Sigh no More

The xx: xx

Necko Case: Middle Cyclone

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

St. Vincent: Actor

Fever Ray: Fever Ray

Doves: Kingdom of Rust

Favorite band to see Live: Edward Sharpe and the Magentic Zeros!

The number one song played in my itunes library this year: Joe Pug- Dodging the Wind

2009!

wow.

2010-01-02T20:46:00.003-07:00

so last night we played this gig for the city. they hired us to come and then mid way through we got kicked out. HA! i found this both annoying and hilarious and the same time.

Well I hope your new years was fantastic. I had a great time... i didn't take any pictures, but I wish i had now because there were so many hilarious moments I can't even count them. All I know is that the night ended with going to a doughnut shop, where at 4 in the morning we were in the company of the crazy! one lady was twitching and the rest of the men looked like they escaped from prison! We decided to leave- even though for me the joy of eating a doughnut is all about eating it at the doughnut shop. HA! ok well i'm going to another new years party this evening, i'm tired of partying. Tomorrow, i will list my favorite albums of 2009! o yeah see you then!

I love you endlessly.

2009-12-28T20:28:00.007-07:00

let's talk about how much i love fyfe dangerfield. I put up the only track i own of his, and I love it- I love the line that says "I can't help it if I'm happy I can't help it if I'm happy not to be sad." can't stop listening to the song, been listening for months... it may never end.

has anyone out there ever heard Feist's first album? it's call Monarch, and it's out of print. I found it kind of funny that they nixed her first album, but sometimes it's nice to hear where people have come from. so I searched high and low to bring you this funny track!!!! "it's cool to love your family" oh my so funny because it's so different, ha ha, i don't know how she changed her songwriting so much, wow.

this playlist might take a second to load....

bill withers i heart you.

2009-12-27T12:36:00.003-07:00

merry christmas happy new year! ya! today i made you a playlist that starts and ends with the best music in the world, soul. Bill withers i heart you. In between him and sharon jones I've brought you all love songs. Why not right? All of this songs have a happy i love you feeling. it's sunday, why not spread the love....

I love these songs. happy day.

december 27

here are some of the lyrics from the inara george song. I thought they were funny at first... ha ha!!!
Fools in love, are there any creatures more pathetic?
Fools in love, never knowing when they lost the game.

Everything you do, everywhere you go now
Everything you touch, everything you feel
Everything you see, everything you know now
Everything you do, you do it for your baby love,
your baby love, your baby love, your baby love

Fools in love they think they're heroes,
cos they get to feel no pain
I say fools in love are zeroes
I should know, I should know
Because this fool's in love again

i'm not in love by the way. HA! betchya all thought i was...... going to go play my yellow guitar now... bye!

roasting chestnuts over an open fire.

2009-12-24T15:20:00.003-07:00

this photographer has inspired me today... thought I'd leave you with the same sense of love! I love this! find him HERE

MERRY CHRISTMAS, see you tomorrow!

guest dj, songs for sunday!

2009-12-20T09:12:00.004-07:00

This week I asked my friend Niki to put together a playlist. She has great taste in music so I'm proud to bring you her choices. I do have to mention that one of the songs I could not find anywhere online- Marc Bolan and T.Rex "knight" so if you find it you should let me know, it wasn't on itunes!

There was another on her list that I only found on elbo.ws it's Bosque Brown and you can listen to "So Loud" HERE It's worth it, I purchased the cd-so definitely check her out. Here are the other songs she listed!

december 20th

Niki is a stylist at Bang! the salon, check out her amazing styles for Donna Baldwin HERE and her profile on Bang's web site HERE. She first cut my hair 6 or 7 years ago!! she's excellent!

2009-12-19T09:44:00.006-07:00

Hi out there! I'm so excited about 2010, I just want all of you to know that I think it's going to be the best year so far!
here's why:
*dial tone is coming out!
*We are playing fantastic shows... yes! i updated some of them on the side bar.
*I don't work for crazy insane people anymore! ya! so thankful!!!!!!!
*and overall I just have a great feeling that good things are coming...
so I can't wait to make new goals for 2010! ya.

anyway some of you know that I love posters... I really want to own these in the new year:
(buy these here)

it's been a lovely day so far... (joe we missed you)! just eating breakfast with the guys and hanging out. carl rang my door at 7:30, hence the blankets on the couch, that's way too early....

oh and i got new hair...

10 things I would like to blame other people for....

2009-12-15T17:55:00.006-07:00

1. first and foremost, I need to blame the government for administering aids and hiv, actually I blame Kanye for making me suspect that. ha ha ha!

2. I would like to blame the fact that I occasionally buy a fountain soda drink on Angie Oatley, before I met her I never drank soda. YOU!!!!!

3. I blame you CARL for making me sing "NEW YORK!" for days! and for causing me go listen to Alicia Key's new album. YOUR FAULT! oh and Joe I blame you for the phrase "fair enough" and I blame you that carl is saying it just as much as you are now. ALL YOUR FAULT!!!! : )

4. I would like to blame Michael Jackson for the ring tone that is on my phone right now. if he was still alive it wouldn't be there, I also blame him for it being 1.99.

5. Patrick Ball, I would like to blame you for making me say "yo" all the time. Clearly that is your fault. I blame your wife too, somehow she plays a part.

6. I blame Beyonce for the word "Boo" or "my boo" yuck!!!! yuck yuck!

7. I blame chris Kuehl for my addiction to bat for lashes!! LOVE HER!!! Chris is an amazing photographer, he took this picture of me at the top of this page. see his photography HERE.

8. Susanna, i blame you for the fact that i watched a david grey video. And for (terrible terrible) "the yes men fix the world" this is her, she is to blame.

9. I blame Frederic Chopin for sometimes crying when i hear this:

Nocturne in D flat major, Op. ...

10. and finally i blame 2012 on SARAH PALIN. I don't know why but she needs to be blamed for something, and why not for this? thanks to everyone who thinks we're all going to die. Life is so much better that way.

goodbye, I'm going to go play music now. LET ME KNOW WHO YOU'D LIKE TO BLAME. i think this is a great topic.

ahhhhh!

2009-12-15T12:08:00.004-07:00

HELLO WORLD!

i just want to say that I loved this painting when I saw it at sputnik and I randomly found out who painted it by stumbling upon their website HERE.

love this:

do you see the painting behind us? I want to buy it now. if you are reading this and you bought this painting I think you should re-gift it to me!!!! : ) does anyone know who painted this? is it kinsey too? I know someone out there knows!

anyway I have to run off, but more about this artwork later.

xo,
aball

2009-12-13T15:53:00.001-07:00

december 13th

free download just for you

2009-12-09T18:53:00.004-07:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

i'm really getting into the holiday season this year. I designed these cards for my own christmas cards, but I've decided to make them a free download for all of you. Below each preview is a link where you can download a PDF file. This will be on 8x11's and you can print them. i outlined them in grey on the PDF so you know where to cut them. They are 4x6 cards so you can buy envelopes or I also added a link to envelopes you can make yourself. (these cards fold in half, obviously)...ENJOY!!!

DOWNLOAD HERE:

This is the first of my many art projects to give away/sell. I'm working on tee shirts and hoodies. And my company...

YA MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

beautiful

2009-12-08T21:28:00.002-07:00

In the last two days I had two very old old men come up to me (separate occasions) and tell me I had a beautiful face. One of the gentlemen told me my people (czech's) were the most beautiful people in the world. This week has just been lovely, people have been so nice to me. I'm not sure why but I'm liking it.

the botanical gardens are amazing this year.
me and sue went by ourselves because no one else would brave the cold with us and it was totally worth it!!!!
Go there!

i want you to be happy.

2009-12-07T23:32:00.002-07:00

baby it's cold outside.

2009-12-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

"I love your glasses"

2009-12-06T15:54:00.005-07:00

hello! Last night was fun, if you came thanks!!! Everyone was so chummy last night, I must have hugged 25 different people. Strangers would come over and say hello and then they would say "oh let me give you a hug" it was really funny! I don't think I've experienced that before! I thought it was great, really.

Today for songs this sunday I put one band on the list, basically because I LOVE THIS!
She is Russian Red. And o my goodness this is my favorite music right now. i LOVE IT. LOVE IT LOVE IT. can i tell you that I LOVE IT! ya and I only put 4 of her songs from "I love your glasses"

december 7

beautiful... i want to take pictures this fantastic...

andrea ball

high five

This song....

yes WES!

Christmas & 17ft trees

i'm over the moon!

yep more good times...

fun times...

Lykke li

inspiring things!

Saturday's show!

Snow Photoshoot! Eleanor Perry-Smith

Hello everybody...

Dear Sufjan you made me wait for 5 years.

random inspiration...

the break-up

bicycle crush.

*must have*

tattoos....

road trip

i need a bow tie.

songs for sunday...i love this.

guess what i did tonight?

iceland here we come

ice cream = cavities

groats

you don't look fat in that video, part 3

obsessed

songs for sunday!

my random thoughts...

songs for sunday!

webisode 2. sleeping

this is what my life is like.

my attempt to paint something today...

ya! i'm back

random inspiration....

THE HOSTAGE SITUATION.

songs for sunday!!!

hello friday i like you

stolen cars and other news.

dial tone reviews

Songs for Sunday brought to you by Nathan Johnson

buy your tix in advance

friday night, cd release

ya we are the new anchors for channel two, ya pretty much

woooooo hoooo!

watch us on the news tomorrow.

SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST day 1

SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST

songs for sunday

let's talk about how much i love music.

songs for sunday!

fantastic!

cd release!!!

sunday!

my musical thoughts for the week...

songs for sunday part 2 (kind of)

songs for sunday. amazing.

I am so excited!

one year ago today

Magical moment # 1

mmmm good.

songs for sunday!

i'm falling. maybe i'm floating, let's hope

ya this happened, and we're embarrassed

songs for sunday

I'm moving here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

songs! for sunday!

hello there

PRE ORDER DIAL TONE

songs for sunday

TEMPTED!

love this song

i'm dreaming

songs for sunday brought to you by Bobby Erskine

little laughter for you.

my favorite albums of 2009-songs for sunday!

wow.

I love you endlessly.

must have