Dear friends,
I created The Weaver’s Aurora both with the intention of providing career-related updates and of writing essays on topics that fascinate me. After more than a month of recalibration and reflection, I realized I needed to trim the fat from my ambitions. For now, my Substack will follow a more standard newsletter format (or my standard), although I hope to do more topic-focused writing in the future. A season for everything!
Beginning to publicize one’s creative work can feel harrowing. When I first joined Substack, submitted Orderville to Distrokid, and took to Instagram to share my work, I had my finger on the frenetic pulse of social media music marketers who advertised exponential follower-fan growth for creators who promised to post reels every day, email playlist curators and radio hosts relentlessly, and cross their fingers that virality would ensue. In pursuing the so-called “pragmatic” approach (a term I find misplaced in a technological music market that is constantly in flux), I hoped to bypass the requisite mess and vulnerability of starting out with very little attention, to gather enough public strength around my music to vanquish any doubt that it—and in turn I, had value. In the frenzy, I failed to look after the central kernel of my work: finishing it.
“Red Rock, Seal Skin” is my firstborn child. Would I like it to serve a lasting artistic career? Of course. But before I feel ready to affix the full array of bells and whistles to my project, I need to focus on completing it. I also need a steady income. From today, September 24th, 2024, no steps will be skipped. I am taking this as slowly as I need to. The campaigner’s voice can lower a little, then crescendo when the next project comes along. Or in a few months. Who knows?
That being said, my next single does drop this Friday. The song is called Horsey. It is different than Orderville—more abrasive, more metal, a sonic metaphorical lovechild of Fiona Apple and Blake Mills. I’m proud of this one. You can find snippets of the track on my instagram (@camillawort), and if you like it, you may pre-save it at this link.
To celebrate, I will go live on Instagram this Friday, and I have put together an invitation with details:
Stop by, invite your friends, and stay for a bit! I will be doing a low-tech performance of the song, discussing its origins, and facilitating a conversation on resentment, compliance, sovereignty, and…horses.
Finally, I am on a nonviolent but fervent crusade to find remote work!
Services include:
Tutoring in Music Theory, Composition, Ear Training, and Sight Singing
I just created a profile on Wyzant, and I get to keep 100% of my rate with students I gather independently—this means that folks I find through the grapevine can work with me at a discount. It’ll be fun. Come visit my profile.
Podcast editing and scoring
Music arranging, copy work, engraving, etc.
If you or someone you know would benefit from any of these, please contact me at camillamqw@gmail.com for more details. It will only take one or two clients to get the ball rolling, and I am ready to pay off my student loans!
Crowdfunding shoutout:
My friend, mentor, and collaborator, Amelia Hogan, has launched a kickstarter for her upcoming album, Unsafe Passage, which brings to life songs and stories of movement, immigration, and change. Amelia is a phenomenal singer in the Irish Sean-nós tradition and a phenomenal human being overall. I was lucky to accompany her on keys for her performance at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle this May, and the level of care she put both into crafting the performances and looking after the needs of her ensemble were truly unmatched. If you like folk music and want to support a master of the craft, I strongly suggest you buy into this project. I hear there are enticing rewards for contributors…
You can listen to her critically acclaimed album, Taking Flight, here, and pledge for the new one here. We’ve got 15 days!
See you on Friday,
Camilla
P.S. I did not proofread this before publishing. Grammatically unwise? Yes. Efficient? Also yes. Please excuse any typos.