Hey Everyone! I know that I've been REALLY scarce lately. We've been hard at work on the We Don't Mind ChaoS! website which we finally launched this past Saturday (9/1/2012). We see it as a "one stop shop" with links to our other online sites, a place to play the music (in high quality), watch our videos, and a couple of areas to send us a message (both public and private). And finally you can read about the bizarre way we met. And if you mention us in a Tweet, it will show up on the Twitter Feed on our News page. Lotsa cool stuff! It's a constant work in progress so there may still be a few technical glitches with it. But please drop and check us out (and sign our guestbook and/or send us a message if you like). Thanks and much love to you guys -- you've been incredibly supportive from the very beginning and we appreciate it sooooo much!! Mary Clare & Wayne We Don't Mind ChaoS!

"Tame the Fire" is going to be played on Astrid's "The Unsigned Show" (originating in the UK) this week at the following times: Mon 7/23 at 10pm EDT (9pm CDT, 8pm MDT, 7pm PDT) Thurs 7/26 at 1pm EDT (12nn CDT,11am MDT, 10am PDT) (and to repeat next week at the same times) Actual links to get to play the radio will follow...

Darn I feel like such a slacker letting so much time lapse between blog updates! Overall things are going very well...I seem to have been (for now anyway) spared that dreadful fate I had feared a couple of years ago which tells me I still have a lot of work to do. :) Musically, things are at a level that I would have never dared dream even as recently as 2-3 years ago. Sometimes the delightful twists and turns life takes are forgotten when the heavy stuff hits. But the one thing I've learned over the past couple of years is to appreciate it ALL -- the good, the bad, and even the ugly. They all work together to form this intricate weave in the fabric of life. So...what's the experiment you ask? (or even if you didn't...) For those of you that may remember my humble beginnings here...very tentative about entering the musical world as a vocalist and trying my hand (or voice as it were) at a few familiar cover songs whilst the same time learning about the recording and mixing process with a rather daunting software package. I try not to, because in my mind I know that it's all a learning experience (there's that phrase again!), but I'm finding now that I'm cringing painfully at some of my early attempts. Between then and now there have been DOZENS of voice lessons, vocal coaching sessions, and tutoring/tips on recording that have taken place. So I got to thinking (uh oh...that's often a dangerous activity for me!)...what if I re-recorded one of my earlier songs, now armed with new knowledge and (hopefully) some new skills. So I did... You'll find in my music section (under my name, rather than the WDMCS venture), the very first song and the very last song listed are both my cover version of Carole King's "It's Too Late". When I recorded it the first time, back in (gah!) November of 2010, I thought it sounded pretty darn cool. Now? Not so much...LOL. The latest version has, for starters, a better backing track that is (yay!) music only so that I don't have to use existing harmony tracks in someone else's voice. And speaking of harmonies...all mine this time!! I tried really hard to capture all of the elements of Carole's version, but in my own voice. The latest version (to quote the great Tim Minchin), is not perfect, but it's mine! :) So if you're up for experimenting with me, listen to: AFTER: And let me know what you think? ~MC~

Yikeseroonie...has it really been over a year since my last blog post? I'm such a slacker...at least as far as keeping this page updated. Sigh...it's been over a year since I lost my beloved beagle Petey and I still miss him despite the other three beags that still own us. But such is the life of animal rescue...the bitter comes with the sweet. Music-wise, there's not been a whole lot of activity overall in the last year...I took a little break from music for a while (burnout is for real...not just a myth!) But I'm back and even doing the CBC Challenges again (including FOUR entries in last month's challenge!). All good for the vocal development (and yup, I'm still taking weekly vocal lessons...on to the classical pieces now.) As far as the We Don't Mind Chaos! project goes, there has been some movement with that as of late. The second song we did together was posted on Wayne's SC page for a while, but is now also posted on the Chaos! page () -- please feel free to check it out. Comments always welcome. And now the exciting part...within the last week, an Internet radio station out of Los Angeles () has put the two ChaoS! songs into their rotation and the GM of that station has requested an interview (and wants more music). Talk about a whirlwind! But it's time that the world was made aware of Wayne's amazing musical talent. Keep your fingers crossed... :) MC

Wow, it really has been a LONG time since I made any blog updates! And many apologies to those of you who think I may have dropped off the face of the Earth. In a way I sort of have...I've been working very hard at training this instrument I've been given as a Gift from God. It wasn't long ago that I held the rather erroneous belief that singing should be just something that comes naturally and any type of "training" one would receive via voice lessons or coaching would somehow interfere with the natural flow and would end up making the singer sound too "cookie cutter" and strip away any unique qualities. Boy did I have a lot to learn! :) I now understand that any sort of training is based on using techniques to enhance and control the delivery, rather than trying to force the voice to sound a certain way. And, of course, my most recent discovery -- it helps tremendously to use the right equipment...and learn how to use it even! :) So, does this mean that you can expect to see me recording more songs? Absolutely! In fact, you may (or may not) have noticed that I have a new artist/band page associated with my member page. This new project called "e on't ind hao" is the musical collaboration between my friend/vocal coach/mentor, Wayne Dwyer, and me. The launch of this page, for me, is sort of my way of coming around full circle from the eye-opening events that happened last Fall (and briefly mentioned in a couple of my previous blogs). If you are among those who remember when I launched "Mary Clare Collabs", and with what song, the first song of the ChaoS project might sound a little familiar to you--and with good reason. It is the same song, but done "legitimately" this time--from the ground up and with the song's true owner. Please check it out and feel free to rate/comment as you like. () And please check out Wayne's own page as well -- he's an extremely talented musician/songwriter/producer/engineer/etc. etc.! () To those of you with whom I've collaborated before (as well as anyone who might be interested in doing so in the future) -- I very much look forward to being a part of any project you'd like to include me in. Just gimme a holler... I'm going to be spending the next couple of weeks catching up with the music and message boards of my SC friends -- I feel really bad that I've fallen by the wayside in keeping in contact with you and again, I humbly apologize if I've made you feel neglected in any way. My SC family is very important to me -- your kind support and wonderful encouragement have been instrumental in keeping me moving forward along this delightful musical path I stumbled upon last year. Much love and best wishes to you all...we'll write soon! :) MC