So, the album, Beauty Survives has finally been released!

This is a blog post on my website, which anyone signed up to my mailing list will also get automatically.  I will be sending out another more personal thank you to my mailing list as well, so look out for that.  This is the start of what I hope to keep up to be much more true and honest blogs about me, my adventures in music as a singer and of course my original songwriting and co-writing.  Some of you may in fact already have the CD.  I did soft release it during the summer and have been selling it at gigs.  As usual, with many things if life (and this thing they call the music business!) the release didn’t go entirely to plan and I couldn’t hold off anymore so it’s out.  I had much trouble with the distributors.  If you prefer digital downloads it is available from Bandcamp and that is a direct sale for me so even better.  If you’d really prefer iTunes or other sites you may have to wait a little longer as it’s still not showing there.

So, one of the delays was that I was asked to start performing in a country theatre show called “A Country Night In Nashville” which you will have seen many posts about if you follow me on social media.  It’s been so much fun and success so far, so please come to a show near you soon.  It shouldn’t have taken me that much away from the original work, but true to form my body had other ideas, I wasn’t too well and had to cut back slightly.

More of that on my newsletter if you’re signed up.  But, as it’s what coined ‘Invisible Illness Week’ I may have shared before that I have something called Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (or what now could even have been changed to a Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder) but I was originally diagnosed with EDS (hypermoblie type as there are others).  It’s a daily slog that sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, I won’t bore you with details, but please as part of this week, perhaps take time to do a little ‘light’ reading as we hope to shine a light on many invisible illnesses.  I hate the word ‘battle’ or ‘fight’ because many of these go hand in hand with there being an end and as above – a victory or a loss, but as these are chronic illnesses it means there isn’t an end, just good days, some not so good and some very very bad!!

The reason I mention it is this album has been for me a personal reflection on my feelings towards love, life, music and health.  I feel on the whole it’s a really optimistic album, though it’s calming, reminiscent and quite laid back considering I wrote most of it in quite an anxious state!  I chose the same feel and look for the photos and artwork.  A vintage look, yes that is an old wedding dress I’m wearing on the front cover, it’s proper vintage from the 1970s.  Also inside the CD you’ll see a blue dress, which is even older; a Swedish high society ball gown from the 1930s!  I may post more on these, because vintage things are so linked with the whole mood of the album for me.  The song Beauty Survives itself was born out of my wish to write a song commenting on how we concentrate so much on the way we look in society.  But I spend a lot of time out in nature when I write, I love natural beauty and what we tend to miss all around us everyday.  And in fact it became more of a commentary on generalised power and greed when I then looked around me and saw buildings becoming dilapidated, people going hungry, others dying too soon and really wondered if our world of such natural beauty could survive.  On that cheerful note!….I still find the feel of the song really inspiring and uplifting, because actually without us knowing the answer to that question, what we still have is hope and for me that’s all you really need.

I’ll see you in the email newsletter if you’re signed up for more ramblings, until then….  Download, order on CD and enjoy my heart on my sleeve.

Shelly xoxo

BUY THE CD – http://shellyquarmby.bigcartel.com/product/beauty-survives

DOWNLOAD – https://shellyquarmby.bandcamp.com/album/beauty-survives

Credits to Rob Bridge of Redwood Photography for providing the photos and venue.  Also to Daz Collins of Garvies for the Artwork.