We have known Rose Schwarz and her family for about 3 years – we met them shortly after we moved up here to B.C.’s Sunshine Coast.  They are good, decent, hardworking, kind, generous people, and they have been through so much in the last few years.  We care very much about them, and that is why I am writing this post.

     Rose suffers from a very rare disease called gastroparesis, and as a result, is unable to eat. ( she survives via a feeding tube )  She is constantly in pain, and suffers a variety of symptoms – none of which are pleasant.  Because she is so tiny, people wrongly make assumptions that she has an eating disorder. If they only knew the truth, perhaps they would be more compassionate.

     Rose has endured many procedures and surgeries in the quest to find a way to make her life less difficult, but so far, nothing has really helped.  It has all come down to a surgery that is booked for April 25th in Calgary – a gastroectomy, which will mean removal of her stomach. Her esophagus will be attached to her small intestine, and eventually, she’ll be able to actually eat small amounts of food for the first time in ages.

     The bottom line is: the family needs help with funds to get to Calgary, meals, accommodations etc.  They don’t like to ask for help, but this is their daughter’s life at stake, quite literally.

     Next Saturday, there will be a Fundraiser for Rose at Robert’s Creek Hall, from 7:30-11:00 p.m.  Tickets are $20 each, and include entertainment by some wonderful local musicians, as well as a Silent Auction.    Tickets can only be purchased in advance at: Gaia’s Fair Trade in Gibsons, MELOmania in Roberts Creek, or Strait Music in Sechelt.  It will be a fun night out, for a very worthy cause.

     If you are unable to attend but would like to help, cheques can be made out to “The Rose Fund” at the Sunshine Coast Credit Union, P.O. Box 375 Sechelt, B.C. V0N3A0.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

     Here are a couple of more in-depth articles recently written about Rose: in the Coast Reporter , and in The Province.

     As I’ve mentioned, we know Rose personally, and think the world of her. She is beautiful, intelligent, creative, funny, and has so much to give to this world.  I hope that some of you out there are able to help out – it would mean so much to them, and to us.

     Thankyou for taking the time to read this, and for your kindness and compassion.

     We love you, Rose !!!

     As you may recall, I was really excited last year when the show “The Voice” debuted.  I felt it was about time that there was a show that gave artists of varying ages and appearances a fair shot at being “heard” as a singer. Since the judges’ chairs are turned away from the contestants during the “Blind Audition” rounds, they must decide only by what really counts: the voice.  People can not be discounted simply because they may be perceived as “too old”, or because they may not “look the part” for whatever reason.  ( yes, it’s sad to say that even in 2012, some people still judge others based on first impression/looks – hard to believe some are still that shallow/superficial ) This show caught our attention because it was different, and focused on the singing.

     Season 2 began a few weeks back, and I have been so busy recently that I’ve had to play “catch up”, watching taped episodes.  A couple nights ago, we finally watched the first of the Battle Rounds, which was interesting.  The teams are led by Christina, Adam, Blake and Cee-Lo again, and they each have 12 singers.  Now that we’re into the Battle Rounds, each team will go from 12 down to 6 via weekly duet battles. ( over 4 weeks ) Once again, the artists work with both their coaches, and celebrity advisors to prepare.  This year, they are: Lionel Richie, Jewel, Alanis Morissette, Robin Thicke, Miranda Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Babyface, and Ne-Yo.

     Each coach hand picks 2 members of their team to “battle” by singing a song together, then they must decide who goes home at the end of the round.  Last week, Christina’s team saw Chris Mann vs. Monique Benabou singing “The Power Of Love” ( Celine Dion ), and Christina felt that Chris did a better job.  We felt that Monique showed more emotion, but it’s not up to us. The best battle of the night, by far, was when Anthony Evans  and Jesse Campbell sang “If I Ain’t Got You” ( Alicia Keys ). Christina chose Jesse as the winner of that round, which we also disagreed with.  That one was pretty close, but we felt that Anthony did a better job. Either way, it was definitely the most interesting part of the whole show that night – both guys really “brought it”, with power and emotion, and connected with the audience – beautiful stuff.

     Adam pitted Tony Lucca against Chris Cauley, and they sang U2’s “A Beautiful Day”.  Tony came out on top in that round – again, a fairly close one, but we felt Tony was slightly more “polished”, so we agreed with Adam.  We felt the song choice was kind of boring, though.  ( don’t get me wrong – I like U2 – I just feel they have a lot of much better songs )

     Blake decided that Adley Stump and RaeLynn from his team would sing “Free Falling” ( Tom Petty ) ( another song we aren’t crazy about ) and he chose RaeLynn as victor.  We felt he made the right choice: Adley definitely has a bit stronger voice, more experience, stage presence etc. but RaeLynn has this incredible quality to her voice. She is also just so young and fresh and brimming with promise. I’ll be interested to see how things go for her. Next, he paired Jordis Unga with Brian Fuente on “Ironic” ( Alanis ), and Jordis took that round. ( as an aside, I have to say that I absolutely loved the scarf that Brian was wearing !!! )

     Cee-Lo chose Cheesa ( pronounced “Chessa”, despite the spelling ) to perform with Angie Johnson, doing “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” ( Bonnie Tyler ).  Both ladies did well, but Cheesa came out on top in that one, which we felt was correct, as well.

     So, we basically agreed with all of the judges’ decisions, with the exception of Christina’s, on this particular night.  It was a good show – again, some song choices were rather – how can I put it – not very exciting, but that’s all a part of it, I guess. If you can make even a somewhat “dull” song sound interesting, then you have something special, right?

     The Battle Rounds continue for 3 more weeks, and the Live Rounds begin Apr. 2nd.  The Official NBC site for “The Voice” is here. Please check out the show, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on how things are going.

Now that 2011 is coming to an end, I’m thinking back on this year, and trying to pick out the “highlights”. I don’t want to focus on the bad things, because we all know there are plenty of those in each of our lives, and far too many people dwell on those things. I refuse to be one of those people. Life is difficult enough on its own without wasting even more time being negative. ( Life is also far too short and precious for that! ) So, I choose to mention a few of the good things that happened in 2011, in my life.

We all know that when a new year comes, we promise ourselves that “this will be the year” we start to take better care of ourselves. We simply want to be healthy, and fit. The older we get, the more we realize how important getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, and exercising are. Most years, we get back into our exercise routine, and that lasts maybe a month or two. I am happy to say that my husband and I worked out regularly for the first 6 months of 2011 – a big improvement over past years. When we got tired of the gym workout, we began getting out for more frequent walks, and did a lot more hiking this year, as well. There is room for improvement, but we absolutely did more than in past years.

I made a point this year of making more regular plans with girlfriends. We aimed for once a month – this didn’t happen, but we did get together more often than last year, which is great. We’d meet to share a few plates of appies and maybe a glass of wine, “catch up”, have a few laughs – you know, stuff that’s good for the soul. We are all very busy, but we all acknowledged the need for our “girl time”.

As always, Karaoke played a big part in my life this year. I can’t begin to tell you how many wonderful people I have met because of this night out – especially when it is at the local Legion. Where else can you go to sing and dance, be surrounded by wonderful, supportive people, and pay no cover? We have made some really good friendships from this, and have had a lot of fun!

This year, I was lucky enough to sing backup vocals with a couple close girlfriends for a friend’s band’s gig, as well as sing one of my favourite songs ( by their request ) at their Wedding. It’s always great to be given the opportunity to sing live in front of a new audience. Witnessing our friends getting married in a magical setting with the sun setting over the water was absolutely unforgettable. Everything was just perfect – especially the amazing people we got to spend the evening celebrating with – such special friends.

As many of you know, I love to dance. ( yes, that’s a HUGE understatement !!! ) I have already taken Ballroom, Swing and Jive, and Tap Lessons over the years. The one form of dance I have always longed to take is Bellydancing. I have looked long and hard, could never find lessons in the small town I live in, so decided to research instructional videos online. I found a good one, ordered it for myself, also acquired some jingling gold coin hip scarves and bracelets etc. and decided I would learn in the comfort of my own Living Room. I was tired of letting “roadblocks” keep me from my goals. I found a way around it. I will learn at my own pace, and practice on my own.

I recorded a new song in the Summer – our first non-cover. It was written by the talented Darryl Kromm of Canadian Band “Strange Advance”. I was so grateful that he let us use one of his original songs, that no one had ever heard. This was huge – no other versions to compete with on iTunes etc. It was great to see my Producer Jarome again – we met up in Vancouver to record, after he flew in from Beijing, where he now lives and works.

We had a visit from someone very special for 6 days in July. The 3 of us went on countless hikes, went out for lunches and dinners, took hundreds of photographs, talked, laughed, cried, and just thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of the time we had together. This was definitely one of the high points of the year! Talk about time well spent!

There were Barbecues and other family dinners with my husband’s family – lots of good times spent with wonderful people. I am so grateful to have them so closeby – they have accepted me and loved me unconditionally since day one. I can totally be myself with them – and they are amazing, kind, loving people – I feel so very lucky!

One of my favourite Gals at the Office is in Roller Derby – I swear the entire town went to their bout, and it was AWESOME !!!! It was so great to see the Community come together to support these phenomenal Ladies ! After the match, we all headed to the local pub to hang out, dance, and there was even Karaoke on the other side – sweet! One of the most fun nights of the year!

This was also the year I did something I have never done before – I planned a very last minute trip. ( literally 2 days in advance ) If you know me, you know this is not me at all. A couple of very special people made this decision a lot easier, and I have to admit, it was very liberating. I usually like things planned out in minute detail weeks, if not months, in advance. We didn’t even tell anyone until we returned home. ( o.k., almost anyone ) It was a fabulous holiday, much-needed, long overdue, and very close to my heart, for reasons that the special people involved know. Another promise kept to someone we loved very much. 🙂

The year started winding down, we had the most fun Office Party since I’ve lived here on The Sunshine Coast, followed a few weeks later by the Company Christmas Party, which was also loads of fun! It’s always good to see everyone out of the workplace, relaxed, letting loose a little, and getting to know each other as people, not just co-workers. I have met a lot of incredibly kind, lovely ladies this year because of work – we have a great group there! ( and yes, there are those that left that I miss terribly !!! )

2011 has been a year of changes for me, in so many ways. I have learned a lot this year, probably more than any year so far. The most important thing I have learned is that friends are the family we choose for ourselves. Sometimes, the people we think will/should be there for us, aren’t, ( or can’t be, for various reasons ) and sometimes, people we barely know can show us such kindness and compassion that it almost blows your mind. I have seen both.

My favourite people are the ones that care enough to ask how you are doing, the ones that give real, good, genuine hugs, and the ones that aren’t afraid to say “I love you” . These are the people that matter in my life, and I feel very blessed to know you. I wish you health, happiness, love, laughter, joy, prosperity, peace, and light in 2012!

I’m so excited to finally release my first original song that I’ve been working on for a few years now!
You can hear it below and download it on iTunes right now!

As I mentioned in my last blog about the process of creation, this “sassy plea to unfaithful lovers” was written by Darryl Kromm of Canadian hit 80’s synth pop band Strange Advance.
Guitar was performed by my long time friend  and amazing guitarist, Erol Sora.

With the aim of creating the perfect 80’s inspired pop song, I looked to my producer Jarome to create something that would fulfill a long time goal of an original song that would combine the inspiration of my youth. Rather than try to create a copy of the great 80’s pop songs, Jarome looked to colleague and friend Darryl Kromm who already wrote some of Canada’s best loved and known 80’s pop songs.

Reworking Darryl’s upbeat yet dramatic account of the abandoned lover, Jarome created a modern ‘future disco’ musical arrangement to the 80’s inspired lyrics to create a cool fusion of two musical worlds.

Written and recorded in Vancouver, Cool & Careless was produced in Vancouver and Beijing, and mixed in Jarome Matthew’s new Beijing studio.

It’s already on iTunes, and it will also be available on your favourite online music store very soon.

I look forward to hearing what you think!

     Since I have been working with my friend and Producer Jarome Matthew for the past 3 years or so, we have been doing covers of 80’s songs.  We both love 80’s music, and have had a lot of fun bringing some of those songs back to life. Many of my happiest memories are of dancing at nightclubs in the 80’s with my friends, and I really miss that time when songs were really well-written – both in terms of the music, and lyrics.

     Although we have enjoyed recording these covers of 80’s tunes, we have learned how difficult it can be to get these songs “out there” as an indie artist.  Jarome knows how much I love songs from that decade, and that there are many more I would love to record, but he also knows that doing a non-cover song would be really good for me.  He has been telling me for the past couple of years that we really should be doing an original song.  At first I didn’t “get” that – I was just so excited because there are so many 80’s songs I love, and would really like to do my own version of. After having done a couple, I have seen firsthand that it is not an easy thing, especially when you are not “famous”. Every time your song gets on iTunes, there are sometimes hundreds of other versions that you have to compete with, whether you view it that way, or not. Add to that the fact that your version will always be compared to someone else’s, and things get even harder.

     Thankfully, Jarome is someone I know well and trust completely, so he was able to finally get around my stubborn side, and we did record our first original song recently.  Those of you that have kept up with my blog posts over the last few years will recall that we have done some work with Darryl Kromm of Canadian Band Strange Advance.  He most graciously agreed to do backup vocals on one of our cover songs for us. Now, he is letting us use one of his original songs that virtually no one has heard before . We are very excited to be on the verge of releasing our first song that isn’t a cover, and are totally stoked that it was written by Darryl! He is an amazing songwriter ( not just a phenomenal vocalist 🙂 and this new song he penned has an 80’s dance feel – just love it!

     It is a really cool feeling to know that once this new song is released, there won’t be any other versions for people to compare it to. There also won’t be huge roadblocks, trying to get it out there, as we won’t have someone saying they “don’t know who we are”, and therefore, won’t help us.  We are so grateful to Darryl for giving us this opportunity – without his generosity, kindness, and talent, we could not have done this.

     Jarome has sent me a couple versions of the song since we recorded it – he picked out what he felt were the best vocal takes, and played with the music a little bit, and now he’s ready to do a final mix.  It won’t be long now until he sends me a final version – maybe a couple of weeks.  I’ll let you know when it’s all finished. 🙂

     Here’s a “blast from the past” photo for all my club friends from the 80’s:

Heather Doré in the 80's

     For any of you that have been following my Blog posts for a while, you’ll already know that it’s been a little over a year since I was last talking about my next song.  If you are fairly new to this site, you can get filled in here.  Much has happened in the last year or so,  including the fact that my producer Jarome Matthew and his family moved to Beijing, China, where he has built a brand new Recording Studio.  Obviously, it was a little easier for us to get together when we both lived in Vancouver.  I’ve been up on The Sunshine Coast for 3 years now, and he lives far away, so logistically, it has been interesting.

     The moves haven’t stopped us from working on anything – it just makes it a little tricky when it comes to actually recording. Luckily, Jarome and his family had planned a visit to Vancouver recently which happened to fall during some holiday time for me.  We were fortunate to be able to arrange some Studio time this past Friday with Kevin Hamilton of Fresh Air Audio.  It was so good to see Jarome again, record a new song, and to meet Kevin, who was just wonderful.

Heather In The Booth

Heather In Booth Closeup

Heather Doré at Fresh Air Audio

Producer Jarome Matthew and Heather Doré

We had a great session in the Recording Studio, then we kept with tradition and went out for dinner to celebrate.  It seems every time Jarome and I record together, we always end up going out for a good meal afterwards.  As always, we made sure we split a couple of decadent desserts – after all, it was a special occasion, right? 😉

Producer Jarome Matthew and Heather Doré Dinner

Once Jarome gets back home, he’ll work on the song, and I will keep you posted as to what’s going on.  Thankyou all for your patience –  we’re looking forward to writing some of our own stuff together very soon, as well.  I’ll let you know how that goes …

     It’s been a couple of weeks since I last wrote about this amazing show.  Tonight, it was down to 4 finalists:

Dia Frampton  ( Team Blake )

Beverly McClellan ( Team Christina )

Vicci Martinez  ( Team Cee Lo )

Javier Colon  ( Team Adam )

     Part of the reason we keep watching this show is that it has something different pretty much every week.  Tonight was no exception.  Not only did each Artist perform a duet with their Coach, which was very cool, but they each also sang an original song written just for them. 

     Highlight of the night for us in terms of the duets:  Beverly and her coach Christina performing “Beautiful”.

     As for the original songs,  both my husband and I liked Dia Frampton’s performance the very best,  just barely edging out Beverly McClellan’s.    We absolutely think that one of these ladies will be crowned ” The Voice “.  They have very different styles and voices, but both are absolutely going to be superstars!

     The last few weeks watching this show have been so awesome – what a journey, watching the artists get better every week, and getting to know them, and their famous coaches.  It’s great to have a show that isn’t the same old format as many others – very refreshing.

     We are totally stoked to see the Winner of The Voice revealed tomorrow night on NBC !!!

     This show just keeps getting better and better !  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please read my previous posts about “The Voice“.   The second one is here.  You can visit the Official site on NBC, as well, here.  Tuesday night was the beginning of the Quarter Finals – Round 1.

     Singers from Team Christina and Team Blake took the stage this time, and both my husband and I had some clear favourites.  Hands down, we agreed that the overall strongest performer of the night was Beverly McClellan, ( on Christina’s Team ) who sang “Im The Only One”.  This was the perfect song for her – she totally rocked it !  This woman has one powerful voice, and knows how to take charge of a stage, and engage the audience. Unbelievable!  She nails everything she does.

     As much as I admire Beverly’s strength and power, I must admit, I love watching quiet, shy people have the chance to shine.  I absolutely understand how difficult it is to love to sing more than anything in the world, but to genuinely be a shy person.  Forcing yourself to keep getting up and doing it because it brings you joy, is at once hard, yet empowering.  This brings me to our next 2 favourite contestants of the night. Dia Frampton sang and played piano to ” Heartless “, and you would never have known that she was the least bit shy. Her voice is unreal – so incredibly beautiful and unique, and her performance seemed effortless.  Xenia, who seems even more nervous, finally came out of her shell a little, used some movement onstage, and smiled a lot more than before, when she sang ” Price Tag “.  This girl is young, and has so much potential. Her voice is phenomenal, and I don’t think she has any idea how good she is, which, in itself, is yet another reason to like her.  The quality and tone she has is just beyond words. Wow!  Both of these girls are on Blake’s Team.

     Although we didn’t think the song choice was the best on this particular night for Team Christina’s Raquel Castro, ( she has sung songs better suited to her previously ) she is still in our Top 4 for the night.  She sang ” Blow “, and did a really  good job, worked the crowd, used the space, and kept the energy up.  At 16, Raquel is the “total package” – she has a great voice, is beautiful, can dance, and knows how to work it.  This girl is going to have one heck of a career ahead of her – no doubt about it.

     All in all, it was a night of really amazing performances, but those were the ones we enjoyed the most.  I can’t wait until next week to see what happens next …

       A few weeks ago, I mentioned a new singing competition show that we had started watching, called “The Voice”.  The thing that appealed most to us about the concept of it was that people were judged on just that – their voice – and not on anything else.  In the “Blind Audition” rounds, coaches competed to convince the contestants with the best voices to be on their team.

     The last couple of weeks, they have entered into “The Battle Rounds” , where each coach must pit 2 of their own team members against each other.  They sing a duet, and the coach decides which one stays on their team ( thus advancing to the “Live Broadcast” stage ), and which one goes home.

     So far, our favourite singer from the battle Rounds is Casey Weston.  She sang “Leather and Lace” against her teammate, and we think she did an amazing job.  If you like Stevie Nicks, you may want to watch Casey in action – her voice is incredible, especially for one so young.

     We are looking forward to watching the next Battle Rounds on Tuesday night on NBC.  If you haven’t already, you should really check it out.

     A while back, I wrote a blog post about a show called “Live To Dance”.   The main reason my husband and I liked this show so much was because for once, there was no age limit for the Contestants.  ( Many similar competition shows required that you be 30 or under. )  They also let people dance to any genre of music they wanted, and did not limit the size of the group.  We felt this was definitely a step in the right direction to make these shows more inclusive.  Obviously, not all talented people with hopes and dreams are 30 or under, and not all people fit neatly into certain categories.

     We really enjoyed Live To Dance, not only for those reasons, but because it was a very positive show. The judges were encouraging, and built people up, rather than tearing them down, and creating a lot of drama.  After watching this show, I recall thinking to myself, “Now why can’t they do a similar show for Singers ? “.  It would be awesome to see people of all ages and genres of music on a stage, with a chance to have their voices heard.

     Well, we were very happy to see the ads on T.V. a few weeks back for “The Voice”.  This show is just for singers, and has coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Cee Lo Green.  The idea behind the show is simple: it starts out with what they call “Blind Auditions”, so named because people sing, but the coaches can’t see them.  Their chairs are literally turned away from the contestants, so all they can focus on is what really matters: the voice !!! Nobody can be judged for their age, what they look like etc., which we think is a huge step forward in these often superficial shows. You can read a brief summary of the stages of the show here.

     The first round of auditions was last Tuesday night, and the second round is tomorrow night, on NBC at 9:00/8:00 Central.  If you enjoy listening to good singers, and like to see talented people given a fair chance ( and not be judged by unimportant things, such as how old they are, or what they look like ) then please check it out!

     It’s about time they had a show like this !

     Now we just need to get them to have these kinds of shows in Canada ….