If you want two free months use or click this code: r3b67b
I’d have to say Bandzoogle is one of my favourites for musician websites. I spend more time doing other things like writing songs and playing music rather than nitpicking my website. They take good care of musicians. #lovebandzoogle
Have a beautiful day!
Filed under Uncategorized
I’m back to the blog! YAY!
With years come change… change is good, but sometimes hard. But it’s all in how you choose to look at things that create any level of difficulty. But as my beautiful friend Sherry always says,”You have two choices… love or fear.” Usually when you face things head on with fear (which is usually the first reaction) the hard things become harder and create hard feelings and with negative inner turmoil. If you approach change with love, you will discover things about yourself and others that you never knew, and usually makes you see reality clearer.
So what’s my change?? Most of you already know Sherry and I are no longer putting on the SongRise music conference that we hosted for nine years. It was an amazing ride, but we found ourselves putting more work into administration than doing what was important to further our own careers. Now that being said, “SongRise” will not disappear in the abyss. Since Sherry and I will still independently use the brand to promote showcases, small workshops, and artists we want to promote. So its still all good. More mini’s vs. one event.
“Is that all?”, you may ask. Well no. Sherry and I have also closed down No Limitz Music, and YES, we are still best friends as ever! Life changes and directions change. We found our paths going different directions. I wanted to focus more on just songwriting, and Sherry wanted to focus more on her painting. Yes… I said painting. Sherry is an amazing visual artist, and she has been busy instructing painting classes and doing commission work. It’s what’s filling her heart and making her a living. And I am glad and happy she’s doing what she loves to do.
Meanwhile, I have ramped up my songwriting schedule to pretty much full time. Skyping and going on writing tours. Its been AWESOME! Plus I have a new website. www.danablayonemusic.com. Come check out the new songs!
I hope you all follow your dreams and do what you love… make every day count.
BIG Hugs, Dana
Filed under Favourite Artist, Life, music, No Limitz Band Members, Songs
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE. This video is for you cause YOU ROCK!
This will be the 8th year Sherry & I have tackled the SongRise Music Conference. But this year we have added a whole new twist… we’re gonna have TWO SongRise Conferences. SongRise North in Peace River, AB on April 24-25, 2015 AND SongRise South in Red Deer, AB on May 2-3, 2015. Yup, those are back to back weekends! As crazy as it all sounds it going to be a marathon of music, laughter, learning, songwriting, discovery, exhaustion but most of all FUN. We have once again filled the panel with such amazing people it blows my mind!! I feel so grateful to call these panelist friends and peers, and their talents are extraordinary. The skills they possess and the star power they have worked with, and hold themselves is incredible. Duane Steele, Josh Gwilliam, Russell Broom, Wendell Ferguson, Chris Wynters, and No Limitz are the SongRise Team for the 2015. I was looking through my past blogs and came across a write up I did a few years ago on Wendell Ferguson. Check it out… having Wendell join us this year means I’m going to burn a lot of calories laughing my butt off!
Trying to keep up with everything is kind of crazy. Both SongRise Conference, songwriting, bookkeeping, marketing, blogging, practicing, and housekeeping, mommying, wifeing, (ok I may have made up those last two words but they are the most important things.) But I wouldn’t change anything for the world. I have a great life and more GREAT things are to come. I’ll fill you in as they come. Have a Great Valentines Day/ Family Day Weekend.
Thanks for reading. xo
Dana
Filed under Favourite Artist, Life, Songs
Well 2014 was the year of change and she was a doozie! So many amazing life changes for us from completing the build of our dream home to moving into town, to watching my children blossom into such amazing kids, to Bob retiring out the bit business and me expanding my love for music and developing more skill in… well…pretty much everything new I want to try. We have been blessed with amazing family and friends and found new friends in the community who some also happen to be amazing neighbors! If I could only use one word going into 2015 it would be HAPPY. So this is my wish for all of you for 2015… Happiness. Xoxo
Dana
Filed under Life
We are getting ready for the big turkey dinner this Thanksgiving here in Canada and I’ve been reflecting on he tradition of this special time of giving thanks, and being a farmers daughter I grew up knowing its about a appreciating harvest you receive. Since I no longer live on the farm, I was thinking about my own personal harvest and I get butterflies as I think of all the amazing music and people that have come into my life. All the songs written and recorded, being part of an artists development and helping them with their songwriting craft, and my own personal growth as a songwriter and how I’m creating my own success.
A lot has changed for me in the past year moving from the country into town and it has had so many positive spin offs directly connecting to music. I’ve started combining songwriting sessions and house concerts with artists that I work with or meet at different conferences like CCMA’s, BreakOutWest or SongRise, and so far the outcome has had some amazing results. Just this week David Leask took a detour up north in between his Alberta gigs here to Peace River and brought his beautiful wife Mary Ellen with him. My co-writer Sherry Crawford and & wrote incredible songs with David and that evening he entertained the family, neighbors and friends in my living room. Not only was the house concert a hit but the songs we wrote are hits too!! This is how my Dad felt when he looked at his fields and was grateful for a good healthy crop. This is the same kind gratefulness I have for the experiences in my life. It’s all so bountiful and I love how it has spilled over and touched my family, friends and neighbors for this food for their souls. I put together a lyric video for you all of our song “Thank You” so you all know how special you are to me. Click Video 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTDoRLdJ1kg&feature=youtu.be
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
Dana xo
Bob & Dana Blayone hosted their second house concert with David Leask performing. It was a full house and and amazing night.
David gave me (Dana) a great idea for my music studio. Every time a song is written in that room we write down the song title, date, and writers on the wall. So a tradition as begun! I’m going to have to get a few folks back to write on the wall for past songs, and stay to write a few new ones. 🙂
Filed under Uncategorized
23 years ago today I was a 20 year old girl taking a leap of faith on a boy who I knew loved me more than anyone on earth. Through our marriage we’ve had challenges to face and stuck together through ups and downs as we were young and still growing up. We have been bless with such an amazing life together. Who knew we would make such a great team as co-workers, as parents, as husband and wife. The thought that our personal differences and interests made our marriage stronger and would helped us grow closer together sounds crazy, but it’s true. I never knew I’d still get butterflies with just a look…23 years later. 
I know how lucky I am to have someone who respects and listens to my ideas, cheers me on to fulfill dreams, who won’t leave me alone when he knows something’s wrong and who will open up and talk to me when something bothers him. We laugh together so many times a day, he’s the funniest guy I know. We put each other first, but both understand that we are responsible for our own happiness, and have the extreme pleasure in enjoying and sharing each other’s happiness. I guess that has been one of the keys to our amazing marriage. Being responsible for creating our own happiness, sharing our happiness with each other, and knowing it will be received and embraced like it’s our own, and that only creates more happiness.
Bob is fishing today on our 23rd anniversary and that makes him happy which is a gift for him, and knowing he is happy is a gift for me.
Filed under Life
Our beautiful farmhouse is for sale with 11+ acres equipped for horses. 1520 sq. ft farm house is a bungalow style that has 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms, laundry upstairs, a welcoming kitchen with birch cabinets that have an open concept all the way to the living room which flows out the garden doors to a large cedar deck on south side of house. With a beautiful wood stove and the 3/4″ hardword oak floors on main level it makes the house feel very cozy and the commercial grade berber carpet in the basement is of great quality and easy to keep clean. Included are all appliances and big screen TV system in basement. Main living room windows face away from the road so the view is always peaceful with the landscaped backyard that’s framed in by bushes and mature trees as well as the out stretched field. The house is on the East Peace Water Co-op (piped in water), REA natural gas, and has electricity.
The dugout has a small dock and has been stocked with fish in the past, it is also piped in to five hydrants on the property. The yard has a playground, mature tree’s, garden site, and is fully landscaped with two driveways. Out buildings include 40’x 60′ shed with a big wide overhead door, hay shed with a lean-to, 20’x 30′ insulated garage with furnace and with 2 attached lean-to’s that include an insulated decorated tack room. There is an adjustable 100’x70′ panelled outdoor riding arena attached to the large fenced in holding pen that has mature trees and clean grass and is piped in to the water coop. Plus there is more space on the property for additional pens. We have 8 acres of fenced in pasture attached to the property that possibly could be rented for more pasture.
We have loved living here the last 22 years because it’s perfectly situated in Harmon Valley, part of the Northern Sunrise County in the South East Region of the Peace Country. Its close enough to amenities but private enough that the closest neighbour is 1 km away and out of sight. It’s a 25 minute drive to Peace River, 12 minutes to Nampa with only a 1 km stretch of gravel before meeting highway. The fire hall is 1 km away, and an active community hall 3 km away that host a rodeo and country fair every year and also has a beautiful and large riding arena with camping stalls. $485,000.00 Contact Danablayone@ymail.com for more information.
For google map location click here.
Filed under Life, Uncategorized
It has been a crazy busy couple of weeks but very rewarding. The house is coming along nicely and now that we have the railings installed on the stair wells the house can now be inspected so it’s considered livable. There is still stuff to do like baseboards and countertops and most of it will happen before Christmas but we are not going to rush it. We have so many amazing contractors working on our house that their craftsmanship speaks for itself. Our house is already blessed with such caring hands. Once the house is complete and is cleaned from top to bottom then we will move in. We picked January 15th for the move in date, that’s the goal! 🙂
Stair railing installed by the Spindle Factory from Edmonton. Its all so new we haven’t even taken the plastic protectors off the spindles. haha
My little girl turned 9 last week and the “Birthday Party” was a huge success! I rented the Mocha room at the Belle Center where it made the party so easy to host. And a big thanks to Auntie Nancy, Kimmie and Tiffany who helped curl hair and paint fingernails and made the girls look like mini super models. The girls were then served a candle light dinner which was gluten free carefully prepared by Chef Charles (who I think Taeya believes is her own personal Chef since he tends to spoil her with his gluten free meals! He even sent her a special lunch to school during Hot lunch day when all the kids got Mac and Cheese, she got a stirfry.) Once their tummies were full and presents opened the ceiling lights went off, flashing stage lights went on, music was turned on LOUD and the girls danced and danced and danced. Taeya felt like a princess leaving that evening giving hugs to the staff saying thanks. It was a pretty sweet evening.
Another sweet evening was last night at the Canadian Country Christmas Concert also at the Belle Petroleum Centre (SUCH A GREAT PLACE) with a sold out crowd of 400+. After some beautiful fiddle tunes by Nick Whalen accompanied by his grandparents, George and Lesley Brothers, who flew in from Nova Scotia to play with him, the Country Christmas Concert of Sean Hogan, Duane Steele, Samantha King, Shane Chisholm, and Craig Brooks put on a great concert of Country and Christmas tunes. Then No Limitz hit the stage! Everyone was ready to dance and rock the night away. We played for two and a half hours straight no breaks! How could we break…the dance floor was full all night and if they weren’t dancing they were singing along at the table. It was so much fun. Thanks to Ed Haunholter, Jeff McCann and Kevin Bekevich for playing with Sherry and me. We even had an extra band member for a few songs when our friend Andrea got up to play the shakers!! Total ROCK STAR she is! I feel so bless to be part of such a great community filled with friends, great facilities, and fans of live music. Peace River and Peace Country region is a wonderful place to live.
Filed under Uncategorized
Gerry Eherer –
Today with great sadness I attended the funeral of a wonderful man, musician, singer/songwriter, guitarist, leader, husband, father, brother, son, grandfather, christian, and yes Super Hero. Gerry Eherer was a super hero, for he brought goodness into this world with is talents of sharing music with everyone around him, and lets not forget his relentless sense of humour. He had the biggest heart known to god, and was always a great friend to all. We both have been lucky enough to be a part of an amazing guitar camp musical family for more years than I can remember. This is where I met Gerry, and formed a friendship around music, guitars, campfires, songwriting, and watching our children (including his grandchildren) grow at these camps. At the young age of 57, and a 2 year fight with cancer, he went to met Jesus. I know he was there today with us all though, cause I could hear his baritone laughter in the crowd, and felt his presence smiling on us. (Actually I think he was poking fun at many of us.) He found humour in every corner, it was a talent he had 🙂 Superhero’s are hard to come by, and I’ve had the pleasure of knowing this one.
Filed under Uncategorized
Wow, I really have to say thanks to our local grocery stores. They have made going gluten-free much easier for me and my daughter. Taeya has had stomach problems for over a year so after eliminating a particular item and dairy for a while with inconsistent results I finally took the leap to going gluten-free and it worked! With in a week she was sleeping through the night all week! No pain, no gas, just a happy kid. Well… not so happy… she would get very angry when anyone around her ate anything that she couldn’t, which is why I teamed up with her and went gluten free too. It was a good choice because I already lost 4 pounds! YAY! And I have a healthy kid! Double YAY! And its not so difficult not having Wheat bread because there is an alternative gluten-free bread, cookies, crackers, and pastas you can purchase at the CO-OP, IGA, Walmart, and No Frills. Now not all of them are to our liking, and it takes a “taste test” to see if that brand is to your taste buds liking, but we found the bread, beagles so far are great when toasted. The cookies that look like Oreos are delish. 🙂 Matter of fact they are hard to keep in the house cause Bob keeps eating them on us. So thanks to our local grocers for giving us an alternative. And I have to give a big thanks to Chef Charles at the Mocha Cafe in the Belle Centre. He has been making Taeya gluten free meals every time we show up… It makes Taeya feel very special and spoiled. You Rock Chef Charles!!!
Filed under Uncategorized
danablayonesongwriter 