Nashville Dreams & The use of my degree?

Hi guys! So for this week's post, I decided to kind of combine two topics. One thing that I am having some serious difficulties with is my career ( a fully loaded subject, I know).

Bachelor of Science in Biology - So What?

So as some of you know, I just recently graduated from the University of Victoria in Victoria, BC with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. When I was in high school, I was told by many peers and faculty members that this degree would set me up for an unreal future and open many doors of opportunity and jobs. Well, I would like to say that didn't exactly pan out.

Currently, I am living in Kelowna, BC, which needless to say is not so much a "recent graduate job opening" mecca, but it's my hometown.  In saying that, my BSc isn't totally useless, I'm just having such a hard time finding a job that pertains remotely to my area of study. What I think should happen is that they prepare high school grads for this hardship and advertise the need to get more involved in campus activities and networking. The only faculty at UVIC that has strong emphasis on this was the BComm faculty and all others advertised very little when it came to university involvement.  Because I had to work full time to put myself through school, I was unable to partake in a lot of involvement through the university and that may be why I wasn't as "engaged".

Its just funny to me that I have paid well over 25000$ for this degree that I can barely even use to get a restaurant serving job which if I had just worked there in the time that I was in school, I would be in better shape financially and without the debt.

Aside from this, I am fortunate to even have a job at all, but I just feel as if I am wasting my education. Does anyone else share my pain, or maybe am I just an exception and need to be patient?

Nashville & My Dream 

So in light of the theme of my blog, Music, I feel the need to include something that is in relation to that so I thought I would share my plans to visit my own graceland, Nashville, Tennessee. So in the last few weeks I have been trying to write something meaningful lyrically and convince my talented and amazing friend Matt to come with me! Honestly How amazing is Nashville to anyone who has gone? 

I previously have said I wanted to move there and try to pursue my music career, however I think I need to figure out my life first. I love music but I am a practical human and I do know I need to get my life sorted first!

So here would be my ideal

Get some money to pay off my school debt so I can start fresh -Acupuncture school next?
Buy a guitar (and learn to play it)
Convince Rob to move to Nashville with me in an apartment near Music Row
Find a job doing something to finance my music aspirations
Kill it at the Bluebird then take off from there!
oh and also buy a golden retriever puppy!

:D I hope hope hope!

Maybe a pipe dream, but its still a dream!

<3 love you all,
S.

Artist Profile : Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Hi guys! So for my first post I decided to do an artist profile on one of my favourite bands, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (GPN) is a female fronted rock band signed with Hollywood Records in 2005.  In 2005, they released a self-produced album called Nothing but Water, which was praised as a modern take on roots and blues.  For their next three albums, the band collaborated with many big name producers and influential songwriters such as Jim Scott, who has done phenomenal work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Other collaborations have been done with Rich Costey and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The fact that they are self produced and have collaborated with some big names tells me that they have some serious talent and that they stick to their rock roots.  I like that about a band, especially one with such a powerful female voice.  

The media perception has been more than positive. GPN has been referred to as “ a timeless, organic brand of American Rock and Roll”.  Grace Potter herself has been referred as a heart pumping rocker whose nuanced singing, organ playing and phenomenal songwriting belied her age when she debuted at 21 years old.  She is praised for having a raw sense of sexuality, being amazingly glamourous and talented. The band’s ability to transcend genres from blues and R&B with hard rock and cool psychadelics reminiscent of 1960s and 1970s rock with Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac and the Kinks. The band is musically sophisticated and innovative in that their lyrics have the nostalgia of neoclassic rock while still being modern and fresh.  

The front woman, Grace Potter is from Waitsfield, Vermont and formed the band in 2002 while attending St. Lawrence University in upstate New York with drummer, Matt Burr. In 2004, they added two more guitarists, Scott Tournet and Benny Yurco. They were part of the jam band community in Vermont and were once an up and coming modern jazz and blues band being compared to Norah Jones and Lucinda Williams.  Their amazing stage presence and ability to completely take over a show gained them some respect from this community. Their next album after their debut, This is Somewhere, took more of their neoclassic rock approach with which they’ve come to identify with and stemmed the buzz of this “sexy new female badass rock group”. Her influences include The Band, The Rolling Stones, Little Feat and Neil Young to name a few.  The newest album, The Lion The Beast The Beat is a little more commercial, but lyrically is acclaimed as their best yet. 

For marketing, GPN uses their talent for live shows to their advantage. They have played many music festivals (Bonnaroo 2009-2011, Lollapalooza, Coachella to name a few) and have made many live television appearances.  Potter’s songs have also been featured in a few TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and One Tree Hill.  They are active online, with Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Myspace and active YouTube channels with many videos available.  On their website, you can access previews to their albums and songs and even purchase their albums all in one place, which I thought was cool. Their music is downloadable, however she seems to release a couple of songs here and there on youtube to catch listeners’ ears and then offers the full albums on her website, which I think is smart. Friends of the band include Jim Scott and Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), Kenny Chesney and Time McGraw to name a few.  She met Chesney and McGraw while doing the Brothers of the Sun tour in 2012, which was a mainly country tour.  This shows that ability of transcending genres, showing that she is capable of pretty much anything.  GPN’s target demographic includes what they call “college radio and music-heads that typically scour record stores for that rare Kinks record”. However, the fact that they just finished the country tour shows that they do have a broad audience.  The image of the band is important as it is kind of their identity, being repeatedly referred to as “hard hitting badass rock with a raw sexuality and edge”. Their reputation for their amazing live performance quality is what I believe is their best marketing strategy.  Many videos of their performances and interviews are available, outweighing those that are actual studio recordings. This shows real talent I believe and takes us back to a time when the live show was the music. 

If I ever make it in this cruel world, I want to take a similar path as Grace, but more into the country route. Bridget Bardot meets Suzi Quatro with a little Miranda Lambert. Love it.

xx S. :)

Debut Post: Who am I?

Hi! So in the spirits of my first blogging attempt, I would like to formally introduce myself to the blogworld.
My name is Stacey Caroline Chore and I am a Kelowna, BC born and raised girl with strong country roots and a big city attitude. My life has been pretty insane so far and the things that I have seen and experienced with my wild and insane family and friends have been crazy to say the least. I started this blog to document my deepest passions, thoughts and adventures to anyone who would be so inclined to read about them. For my first post, I'll just let everyone know just a little bit about my life.

Being born and raised in a beautiful paradise such as Kelowna, I can honestly say that I feel so fortunate. After my first 12 years on this earth, my career superwoman of a mother was transferred to Ottawa, ONT where my life changed. Previous to this, I was a pretty normal child, with a pile of brothers and sister and an active lifestyle. I had early passions for soccer, dance and music. Vivid memories of being in our 1990 Ford Windstar (it was a beast) singing at the top of my lungs to god knows what (most likely the melodic sounds of No Doubt or Garbage or something else in my rebellious teenage angst-y sister's repertoire). Throughout these highly underrated vocal performances, I would stare my 7 years older sister in her eyes with her looks of 10 seconds away from her strangling me or ripping out my tongue. Either way, I loved to sing.

But back to the big move, I was at the absolute worst age to be the quintessential "new kid". My first day in a new Grade 7 class and I was mortified. 3900 km away from everything I knew, I hated Ottawa and felt alienated by these new children in my classes. What was worse was this was my first real experience with girl bullying. Luckily the cyber age was in its infancy and there was no Facebook, but we still had some forms of internet outlets for abuse. For 2 years, I endured cold and gutless hounding by teenage girls until my family decided they would try Edmonton, AB as our next stop on our cross-Canada "culturing" tour. As much as I endured this form of abuse, I did meet some great people in this city, including one of my best friends, whom I still keep in touch with.

Edmonton wasn't as bad. The girls were decently friendly and I made friends much better, as Ottawa taught me to be more open and outgoing when it came to new people. However, it was now males that were giving me a hard time. I didn't know what it was about me that seemed to spark the bullying but it was becoming a pattern. I stayed strong throughout the year and channeled my passion into soccer where I thrived and met some more amazing people. Finally in April of 2005, my family decided that they were sick of the Edmonton frost and it was time to head home. Kelowna, I had missed you.

It was a sunny June day when we drove around the bend from Vernon to Kelowna and I saw tears stream down my mother's face. We were finally back home. True Kelowna locals out there know this feeling, that wherever you are in the world, you know that in this amazing and beautiful valley we have something special, almost magical.

My experience throughout high school was amazing. I met lifelong friends that I can say I will never let go of. These people are extraordinary and beautiful people that live the most epic and amazing lives. I met people that I had amazing connections with and my love for music came back to me when we started to jam out in our friend Nelson's garage. But as contemporary society instills, I decided that once I graduated, I would go to college. I always had a knack for school, as I loved to learn and even more, loved to be right, which I often decided I was. In elementary school, my mother recieved numerous calls from my grade 1 teacher who would send me to the Principal's office for calling her out on being wrong during class.  I really was a treat of a child.

After high school, I attended the University of Victoria in Victoria, BC and my journey into my amazing 20s began. I met more lifelong friends, fell in love, was heartbroken, fell in love again and experienced a wave of challenging tests, emotionally, mentally and physically. At many points of my undergraduate career, I considered quitting and coming home, admitting failure and moving on, but I pulled through.  Five years later on my last drive to the ferry as an islander, tears were shed at the end of this chapter of my life. Presently, I have become a strong, independent woman and have found a passion in science, specifically in alternative medicine and overall health and wellness.

Now I am back in my lovely home of Kelowna, and loving every moment of it. The hot summer sun graced me with her presence last week, welcoming me back to our mini Kelownafornia paradise. With a degree under my belt, I am ready to pursue the next chapter of my life with many hopes and dreams in my head. Music is my first love and always has been, and just recently I have been trying to become more open about that passion. That is where Country Lily comes from. Since I was young, I have had a soft spot for country music and I have always felt like I have had a connection to it. Lillies are my favourite flower because they remind me of my dear Grandpa, whom I loved and cherished with all of my heart. He always believed in my greatness and I aspire for the rest of my life to always make him proud.  Now that is a bit (lot) about me that many people don't know, even some of my closest loves so there you go. I hope you enjoy my blog and I will start working on my official first countrylily post this week.

Cheers babies!

S.