Posters, CDs, and the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival

“My jeans, is it purple?”

“No, no, it’s blue”

My printer was really efficient. I decided that I should have posters of my new CD to bring along with me to the festival 2 days before I leave. There would be a CD booth and signing sessions for artists; I imagine everyone else had already sent their CDs and promotional materials over.

I’ll be bringing them along because my CDs have just been printed, and photos for the CD/poster taken days before that. For some reason the blues looked purple in the first print sample. I dropped some of the posters off at the stores where my CDs will be; friends at Dragonfly with outlets around Klang valley have graciously agreed to stock some of my CDs from the 28th Aug. I will work at getting them available at record stores when I get back from the states.

I was already working on my CD when I got news that I made it to the festival line-up this year. Despite the u-turns and problems in producing it, I made sure they were ready in time for the festival; it’s a seven track CD of my songs including my previously released single ‘Feels like falling’ in it’s naked-no arrangements-form, and tracks written for the award winning Freedom Film Fest documentary films ‘Alice lives here’ and ‘Twelve 11’.

I sent the demo versions of these songs last year as part of the audition materials to play at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MWMF), and I was really excited that they liked the songs enough for me to play at their singer songwriter spotlight this year.

I’ve always wanted to go to the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival; to experience how it’s really like to be at this legendary festival where Tracy Chapman, Ani Difranco, and Sarah Mclachlan have played. One of the longest running (over 30 yrs) women’s music festival in the world where 4-7000 women and children gather annually for a week of music, workshops, films etc. in an environment of equality and inclusiveness.

Above all, I’m looking forward to experience that which is so rare and precious. I came across a writer who summed it up well:

“At the end of the night, I was walking to the shuttle that would take me to the front gate. I realized suddenly that it was pitch dark outside (this is Michigan, in the middle of nowhere at 11:00pm), I was alone in the woods, with nothing on hand to protect me, and I was seized by a moment of fear that every woman has at a time like this. I took a deep breath, looked up, saw an indescribably beautiful night sky full of stars, and realized this was the safest I had ever been in my entire life.

This was a life-changing moment, for two reasons. One, I may never experience such a moment again, and that saddened me. Two, how lucky I was to experience it, even briefly. Many women never will. For this alone, every woman should attend the festival at least once.”

It’ll be my first time playing at a music festival, and I’m grateful that it is for MWMF. Fingers crossed, I will be in Michigan this August with my guitar and songs.


---
Note: I will write about the festival when I return, and updates about my songs, and CD. If you’d like to be on my mailing list, please send an email to info.meichern @ gmail.com Thank you.