The Making of "The Joy of the Season" Christmas Album in OKC

I just got back from my 3rd trip to OKC.  I had such a wonderful time, as always, when I'm in OKC.  It's such a beautiful city, and of course, I love to be in the heartland of America!  Everyone is so friendly.  My daughter Rebecca went with me, and she is a great traveling buddy!  We enjoyed seeing Oklahoma City at night (quiet, lit with pretty lights), and taking lots of photos.  We also visited Edmond, which is a beautiful town, reminds me more of Connecticut than Oklahoma, and stopped by Pops, which is a gas station/convenience store/gift shop/restaurant that sells every possible flavor of soda you can imagine!  Even disgusting flavors like "Bloody Nose", "Toxic Slime", "Worm Ooze", "Pimple Pop", "Monster Mucous" - well, you get the picture!

We also drove through terrential downpours to see Guthrie, the oldest city in Oklahoma, and the original capitol of the state.  The buildings are brick, and have the style of the old West.  It's a really  neat place to visit.  We saw a beautiful sunset as we came to Guthrie, as the rain finally cleared.

In Houston's airport they had a gift shop with lollipops that have scorpions in them!  That was more gross than the Pimple Pop soda!

My Christmas album is called, "The Joy of the Season", and I am very excited about this album!  It has a lot of traditional Christmas carols mixed in, along with new songs I have written.  As is my style, these songs will also prove to soothe your soul and help you relax from the busy Christmas season.  It celebrates many of the fun and joyful things about Christmas and even wintertime.  Having lived in Connecticut all my life, I can identify with snow, and I love it!

One thing that just occurred to me is that I never mentioned Christmas plays or Christmas programs in my songs, but let it go on record that I think those are VERY special parts of the Christmas season!  I have even led a few Christmas concerts, programs, and cantatas at our Christian school and church, so don't ask me how on earth I forgot to mention those! Ha ha!  But I got a lot of things in there.

I recorded my vocals, and then did a photo shoot and music video for the song, "Something to Celebrate."  While I was there I also had the opportunity to see my friends at Tate Publishing.  It is always great to see everyone!

The crew at Tate Music Group is wonderful!  Don Johnson arranges and orchestrates my background tracks, and this trip I had the opportunity to meet the guitarists and drummer and the guy who records them.  What a fun job that must be!  They are incredible talents.  Guy Prier did my vocal recordings, and he was great to work with, as was Robby Doland and Sean, who did the music video and the photo shoot (Robby).

We stayed at Isola Bella, which is a beautiful place (corporate apartments) at a great cost.  I hope you enjoy all the pictures.  They were taken from two different cameras, so please forgive the mixed up order.

Keep your eyes out for my Christmas album this Christmas 2016!  Some featured songs are "Christmas Fair Vendor" (my real experience at a holiday craft fair last November 2015!), "Incomparably Unique", "God's Nativity", "That's What Christmas is All About", "Ice Skating at Christmastime", "Something to Celebrate", "Oh Star", and more!



My Music Style

I was reflecting today upon my music.  I consider myself conservative when it comes to my preferred music styles, but have realized in dealing with a variety of people that music style is very subjective.  I do believe there are guidelines in Scripture about music that we should follow (see my book, Choosing Music Wisely  Choosing Music Wisely ), but I also believe music is like a medicine, and the dosing and strength and type are highly personal.  When I listen to music, I consider it as a spiritual and often as a result, physical "treatment".  My symptoms of stress and anxiety go up and down based on the music I listen to.

To be transparent with you, I have had a difficult time selling many of my CD's.  I'm not a known or popular singer.  But I think the problem goes deeper; some conservatives think my music is too worldly, and some liberals think my music is too conservative; they can't jam to it!  So who is my niche market?  It's hard to tell; I really don't have the answer to that.  All I know is that I am dissatisfied with a lot of today's music, so I have created new music that declares spiritual truths with soothing music, something that "treats" anxieties, uplifts and inspires.  I am convinced that it would be worth all the cost I've paid for the process of publishing my books and music even if it only helped me, because it has been very therapeutic for me.  It encourages me, because these things are taken from truths from God's Word that I need reminding of all the time!  But the reward for me is when they can bless others, and help them in this dark and evil world as well.

I decided a while ago to be true to what I believe the Lord has placed on my heart, and not to waver with everyone's opinions and comments because it's impossible to please everyone.  We are commissioned to please the Lord.  Galatians 1:10: "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."  There will be others who are like me who will also benefit from it, whether tween girls with a desire to know God more, adult ladies who want respite from their crazy lives, the elderly who appreciate soft music, or anyone in between!

I want to say I am so thankful for those at Tate Music Group who don't push trendy music on me, but respect my personal style, which some have said is unique.  They follow my requests and have partnered with me to publish spiritually uplifting music that I hope you will enjoy!  Here is a sample for you to listen to.  God bless you as you, too, find music (and I know that might not be my music!) that uplifts you spiritually and draws you closer to the Lord.

Listen to "In One Accord" by Dawn Foss