The Usefulness of a Degree

I just went to a Swarthmore event at the Marriott Hotel in Back Bay, Boston. It's been a long, long time since I've given my life on that campus a thought. When I graduated from Swarthmore two years ago I was a 22 year-old Theater and Biology Major with new best friends from undergrad, was jobless, had written one song in my whole life, and was moving to the North woods of Wisconsin for the summer before embarking upon music school. Two years later, I'm a 24 year-old professional musician moving to NYC in less than a week, an old college friend, and a co-worker.

Collectively, here's what I've done so far:
I've grown up in Wisconsin, been through college one (and a half) times, met people who've changed the course of my life, met hundreds of others who I'll never meet again, fallen in love, had my heart broken (two and a half times), dealt with anxiety, traveled to other counties, eaten some pretty interesting foods, read some pretty incredible books, read some shit I'd like to forget, earned a repetitive sports injury, taught myself guitar, and have never lived alone. It's a lot. And actually, a lot of that was packed into the four short years I spent at Swarthmore College.

It's funny how other people experience you so differently than you experience yourself. A friend of mine on the Alumni counsel was telling me tonight about HIS experience of me at Swarthmore. He encountered me as a young girl who was afraid of nothing except her own shadow, prone to anxiety attacks and yet painfully outgoing. A girl in search of her own path-- confident, yet full of misdirection; passionate about everything and yet nothing specific. A complete character who would show up at his office with parking tickets for parking anywhere except where was designated, exasperated that the public safety would have no sense of humor about old tickets being left under the windshield wipers to avoid getting fresh ones.  I suppose it was sort of a metaphor for what happened with my degree.  Academically I tried everything from Biology to Theater in an attempt to figure out where the hell to park my energy and passion. I ended up with a lot of tickets, and kicked out of the school parking lot.

I firmly believe that had I not experienced all of that confusion and wondering and misery and energy spent, however, I would not be able to write a song worth a damn. None of that was energy lost-- it was just research. It's helped me to become self-aware; to inform me in my current life. In that sense, though my degree from Swarthmore didn't prepare me for a profession as a performer, it did ground me in another way: I got a Degree in How to Figure My Shit Out.

I make it sound like I was a lost cause in undergrad. I wasn't. It just took me a very long time to figure out what I wanted to do, and I definitely took a round about way of getting there. But I don't think that's a problem. When asked whether or not Berklee was the right choice for me, I always answer, "Yes, because the timing was right." Had I not gone to Swarthmore and figured out all of the things I was NOT supposed to do FIRST, I would have sunk like a stone at Berklee.

Everyone is different. Some people know exactly what it is they are supposed to do when they come out of the womb. Others, like me, happen upon our passions when we least expect them, sending our lives into unexpected (yet welcome) spirals. But I think what we all have to be thankful for are the choices and experiences that make us who we are in this very moment. We can't take anything back. Life happens, and in turn it becomes the fiber of who we are.

So yes, tonight was embarrassing for a heartbeat what I was reminded of all the times I cried pathetically to my dear friend in the dean's office about "this existential crisis and the other." But at the end of the day, that is what I was going through, and this is who I am now.  The only thing I CAN be is an alumn of my own life.

Yuck. Enough cheese (literally. It's all they serve at these alumni events). I'm going to bed because I have to drive to NYC in the morning for a show. I should just move there already or something ;-)

Goodnight!!

-<3- Lic

Pledge to Record/Release a New EP!

My new Pledge Project!

Since bringing in the New Year I have been working on an energy and direction with my music that better encompasses who I am fully as an artist. It’s honest, it’s raw, it’s new, and I’m really excited to share it with you

With the help of fellow writer/producers Nick Paul and Michael Sackler-Berner, and YOU, I’d like to record, package and release a brand-new 3-song EP by having you directly involved in the process from start to finish.

Here’s how we can do this:

I have teamed up with a great website called PledgeMusic, which has helped me set up a 60-day campaign for the New EP project.  On my project page, you can choose from some exclusive items and engagements that I have listed. In return for you support, I will not only give back as much as you pledge in free music, shows, and personalized merchandise, but I will also provide you with a stream of active updates keeping you inside the project itself. You can tune in to be right alongside me in rehearsal with the players, in writing sessions at Gibson, and while tracking in the studio! You will witness first hand everything it takes to make an EP in NYC with great people--via tweets, videos and updates every step of the way.

 

Let’s face it-- you’re the reason that independent music is kept alive. And projects like this one not only allow the music to be to spread—they allow you to be its voice. 

 

I want to thank you for all of your continued support and invite you to come on this musical journey with me. It’s going to be quite the exciting ride—and certainly more worth the while with great company!

Here is the URL in case the link doesn't work: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/alicialemke

My knee hurts.

Wow, booking emails are brain scramblers for sure. Just when you think you have the perfect stock email and your venue list is perfect and your calendar is wide open and your band is eager.... you realize that none of that is perfectly true and that everything shifts. Constantly.

You may be thinking, "This chick is approaching rapid burnout."
It sounds like it, right? I'm pretty sure this is the tip of the iceberg. It's funny how many hours upon hours I will pour myself into something mindless and tedious like booking emails just for one 45-minute set that flies by in a heartbeat because it takes no work at all to have that much fun. Or, it's that much fun when you get to share it with other people. Hence the booking in the first place. That should be my header: "Please enable a good time. Preferably with pay." .... hardly sounds legal.

I'm not complaining. I have it good. I spend every day thinking of ways, bigger and better, to make 'playing' a profession. My work is to hang out with my guitar. I write music and get to play it with people for other people, who in turn inspire more music. I have supportive parents who believe in me and are willing to put up with their 20-something daughter NOT becoming a doctor. I've been like, "Listen, if I was going to be a doctor, I wouldn't even get a REAL job until I was 30. It's JUST like being a musician!" And they're actually cool with it. (I guess the random Bachelors degree in Theater is paying off after all. The minor in Biology is not).

Despite the benefits of my feverish plotting and self-created haze of idealism, there must be something to counter-act all of this artistic chaos. Nothing perfect can be created without balance-- a truth I am discovering the hard way. Just like all of those hours in the Swarthmore library that guaranteed the expansion of my brain -- with the gain came extreme loss of social grace. Similarly, the life of a professional musician provides some very interesting pendulum swings that require reins. I, for instance, used to be a varity athlete. Now, after only a year and a half of living in a practice room, sprained my knee by getting onto a stool at a diner. Right before consuming a breakfast for two. Seriously?
 I need balance, people.

So here I am, writing to you from my bedroom where I am currently icing my injury and planning a future of balance. This requires ample rest, scheduled socializing (mostly so I don't lose the wonderful friends I am lucky to have. Love you guys!), REGULAR EXERCISE (oops, that was on caps lock, but I like the emphasis), being outdoors, and the occasional zone where nothing goes through my brain at all (good luck with that one). I realized very abruptly this past weekend that actually, NONE of these things were happening in my life. I had become a machine. And this was a detriment not only to myself, but also the people around me. Lets face it, machines are frustrating. Especially ones that have system meltdowns and need new parts.

Plus, at the end of the day, summer is coming. And I am not going to be this damn pale the rest of the year.

I want to be a very successful person professionally-- I plan on it. But I already am successful in many ways. I have a wonderful family, amazing friends, and an unerring passion. And those things not only fuel professional success, but also make any of that eventual success worth it in the first place. Thank you to all of you who have continued to support me, even as I get nuttier and busier with this music business. I love you, and you're the real reason I work so hard.

From the Bedside, signing out.

-<3- Lic

It's really that simple...

So I've been pretty cranky the past few weeks. It could have something to do with the fact that I was feverish and had a barking cough that prevented me from sleeping. It could have something to do with the fact that I needed Nyquil in order to sleep at all. But REGARDLESS, I have been hopelessly cranky with no answers at all as to "Why in the Hell?"

Then this week's band rehearsals happened. Not to sound utterly cliche, but honestly, playing music with people I love changes everything. The state of dormancy where I've been for the past month, playing only acoustic shows and recovering in isolation, removed me from what makes me happiest. And I am happy to report that my band members feel just as revved as I am!

So now, fresh perspective, some new arrangements and a full-night's rest later, I'm ready to rock. I have 14 gigs lined up for the next two months and we're ready to tear shit up. If you're around, it'd be nice to see you at a show. I promise to be in good spirits :-)

Moving On

You said you’d always love me

That I was something else

That no other lady had held your heart as well

A silly trusting fool

I believed that it was true until you left

And each day that wanders by recalls your warming smile

I tell myself we weren’t meant to be

But truth be told you had my soul

And I’m forever changed because you loved me

And here I am, imagining

That soon you’ll be replaced

I’ll take him in, or he’ll take me

Quickly we’ll escape

And then my heart will heal accordingly

But when that rebound’s over

The shimmer of its spell is broken…

I’ll be forced to fall into step just like before

Adjust again

I want to trust again

I want to know it’s not a lie to be adored

The blowing winds have changed your mind

And the stories that you tell

Your every season brings its lies

And some truths with it as well

My only hope is that you come to finally understand your fate

That whomever’s heart you handle next

Won’t suffer your mistakes

I know that I still love you

And that it hurts to say aloud

All the ways in which I’d adjust our love

If I could just do it over somehow

But there’s nothing I could ever do

To slow the Earth and get my way

Times are changing

And I, too, must change to keep the pace

-- every person I know I take in another person as part of me --

Feb 23rd. -<3-

Here Comes the Sun

Change is brewing. It seems like the winter months are a hibernation for more than the bears. This new year I really decided to buckle down and prioritize my life based on not only what i find to be important, but also based on what I need to survive. Bears go into hibernation after gathering and eating enough food to survive for many long cold months. It seems to me that I gathered all of the resources I needed over the past years in college to prepare me for this long winter. I have been working very hard, organizing, writing, building on what I believe to be important. The essential ingredients? An idea, a guitar, food, family, the internet (it's a mixed blessing)... and most importantly, LOVE.

There are many things we can survive without. Many many things. Believe it or not we could even do it without this internet business. But one thing I know I cannot survive without is love from my world around me. It's essential. It fuels songwriting, it encourages me to get up in the morning despite the cold temperature, and warms me up when the sun goes down at 4 pm.

I've realized that at the end of the day, love is absolutely the most important thing-- loving what I do and who I share it with.

As the days are growing a bit warmer and the sun stays out a bit later, I'm continuing to focus intently on realizing my dreams. But one thing is for certain: nothing is worth it in the end when love is not around you. Love is in an embrace, it's in the suns rays, it's in our coffee cups, the stories we tell and re-tell, and it's in the smile from a stranger you've passed before. Don't turn it away, and certainly don't ever prevent it. Love is what we need to survive this long winter.




Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right

MY EPK IS FINISHED!!

About Alicia Lemke

My EPK is finally finished, and you can check it out by clicking on the above link!

I ha a blast in LA finishing everything... I never thought I'd say this.... but I might actually be able to spend some time in LA. I think that the people. in any circumstance, make the place. I happened to be fortunate enough to fall in with such an amazing group of people.

Cindy, Al, Nick, Rimo, Carole, EVERYONE-- love you guys :-)