I’m really doing this…

June 7, 2023January 13, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

Well it’s been a while, three months I think. Once again the time is flying by and there never seems to be enough of it. Of course I do have my lazy days where I lose the momentum to get the laptop open and get writing although the laptop is open most days as this is where all my music is stored. My musical journey is the subject of today’s narrative and what I’ve been up to.

It’s been an exciting time, I really pushed the comfort zone and started to do some open mic nights. It’s one thing to sing into the phone and post it online but quite another to stand in front of an audience with actual musicians, not backing tracks, and sing. Nerves? I was wrecked with them but I did it and I loved it. A totally different experience to singing to the backing tracks and even just doing the singing with some quite honestly amazing musicians, I’ve learned a lot already. I lost my way in one song (as usual) and they completely covered this up and I was able to re-join the song quickly. On another night I had a total brain fog moment and forget the lyrics of a song I’ve more or less been singing all my life and once again, those amazing musicians were able to seamlessly guide me back to the chorus and end.

The last time I did open mic I was a little less nervous and more forthcoming, I sang The Carpenters classic song ‘Superstar’ https://youtu.be/ddZ8Pa9I1Ko I have posted all my open mic videos on my socials, good and bad. It’s all a journey and I want to share the up’s and the not so up’s.

It’s been very exciting with my single releases also. My second release is a traditional Irish song, ‘The Old Bog Road’ and it has done very well being played on various online radio stations. I’m learning a lot about the power of social media in promoting the music. Facebook has been instrumental in sharing the posts and music whereas I am more of an Instagram woman where I do get a lot more engagement but without the facility to share links, most of the music, be it online radio, DJ’s and open mic groups, all appear to be on FB. My first single release, my self penned song ‘Fade to Grey’ is still doing very well and only last weekend did I discover it is number 7 in the Strabane Radio charts. Delighted was an understatement.

To hear myself being played on the radio was just incredible. Hearing my song being introduced and then played was an out of body experience. I couldn’t help but think back to 2019 when I sat on my sofa, strumming my guitar and started to write Fade to Grey and here I was, sitting on the same sofa in 2023 listening to it being played on the radio. It’s unreal. To be included on a Nashville Country Music radio station, well, I’m sure you can imagine the sparkle levels – off the scale!

A few things I have learnt over these past months is that this is a full on occupation. From the social media side of things to practising the songs, strumming the guitar, putting myself out there, pushing myself and my comfort zone, planning ahead and keeping the momentum up until I am established. I’m totally unknown at the moment and I’m so happy and pleased with how things are going so far, better than I had ever dreamed possible. Thankfully I am meeting lovely, trustworthy and knowledgeable people and most importantly I am gaining the confidence to be myself and not follow anyone else’s path. I’m doing things my way and although it’s hard work, lots of learning, lots of keeping up with things and lots of planning ahead, I’m loving the process and loving this journey. Dare I say it that after four difficult years, I’m happy and at peace.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

Pairc Festival

November 24, 2022November 20, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

Way back in August, the late bank holiday weekend, I attended the very first Pairc Festival in Birmingham. Our Birmingham Irish Centre moved from the city centre to South Birmingham just before the pandemic started. The Digbeth area of Birmingham, historically the Irish area of the city, is being hugely redeveloped. It’s like a maze trying to get around that area at the moment with all the building and road works, you really feel like you are going around the block numerous times to reach your destination.

People were not happy at the move. The city centre is easily accessible for people who live around the city and the suburbs and for people coming from other parts of the country to events. However, the new club has a huge open sports ground and park area and this is where this first ever Birmingham Pairc Festival was held over the August bank holiday weekend. I bought tickets for Sunday, the closing day, because one of my favourite Irish music stars was performing, Nathan Carter. Thankfully the weather held and even in the evening it was a warm, late Summer evening. The atmosphere was incredible all around the festival area. There were families, couples, singletons and groups of friends rambling around visiting the various stalls and attractions. There were picnic’s taking place, dancing, singing, music, food and of course drink but not all alcoholic. It looked like every county in Ireland was represented with the people attending the festival. I could see T-shirts and flags from all over Ireland and it was just such a wonderful atmosphere. Inclusive, happy, positive and friendly vibes were the order of the day.

Prosecco and Chips, we are such classy girls! The ice cream was eaten at 11.30 pm after a night of singing and dancing because we just wanted to and isn’t that what life is all about?

One of the main acts was Finbar Furey, an absolute legend in Irish folk music. He gave a beautiful rendition of ‘Sweet Sixteen’ which was a favourite song of my parents and the tears fell, silently, but they fell. I wasn’t alone and found myself holding hands with strangers who were also moved to tears by the music and song.

As you can see from the photo above, there was a fantastic crowd in place for Nathan Carter’s show stopping closure to the festival. The whole area was alive with happiness, music and song. It was truly a special event and I am so glad that I attended. My friend and I had the most wonderful day catching up with each other, listening to and dancing to local bands and big name bands, talking to strangers, dancing like no-one was watching (because they weren’t) and we are already looking forward to the acts being released for next year and planning another day of Irishness.

I didn’t take many photo’s or any video footage. I decided to leave my phone in my pocket and just be in the moment, all day and all evening long. It was freedom!

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

The excitement is unreal

October 10, 2022October 4, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

I did it!! I actually did it!!! After all the months and months of preparation, studying, applying and generally sorting out what I needed to do, my debut single went live on Friday 30th September. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be available on that date. I was a little late submitting my files to the music distributor as I had encountered an issue in the size of the single artwork. Every platform seems to want things in different formats and sizes, another learning curve.

I was hyper the evening before when I just happened to check iTunes and I seen that my single was available for pre-order. It was unbelievable to be looking at my song and my artwork on iTunes. Soon after midnight it was available on Spotify and it was then that my DM’s became incredibly busy. The weekend was a whirlwind of emotions. I was so happy that I had achieved this huge goal but I was also sad that my parents and my sister were not here to see it. I know they would have been so proud of me and my Dad would have been asking me every five minutes how many people had streamed or downloaded the song.

The tears flowed on Sunday evening when I heard my song played on Phoenix Country Radio to an audience of 42K people. The DJ gave a beautiful introduction to my song, the story behind it and a taste of my background as a carer and now grabbing the opportunity to follow my dream.

So, what now? Well, I’m currently in the process of licensing the video to accompany the song and I’m also claiming my artist pages on the various streaming/downloading platforms. I also really need to start singing again as I’ve not had much opportunity to actually sing during the past few months whilst I sort all of this out.

Looking further ahead, 2023, the year I start to gig? I may as well push the comfort zone a little further now that I have come this far.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

I have branding…

October 5, 2022October 4, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.8 Comments

With a touch of Sparkle

I know it’s been a little while since I updated my blog. There has been a lot going on the past few months and I have been working hard on the music although not getting much of an opportunity to actually sing. The preparation for releasing my music has been a lot to deal with. Having no experience in this particular industry it’s been quite the learning curve and at times I have found it difficult to get my head around things, but I’m getting there.

I have learned about copywrite, music licensing and music distribution. I have read so many blogs, terms and conditions, do’s and don’ts’s and also watched YouTube videos on those subjects and then I just had to take the plunge and sign up for things. I worked with a lovely lady on the social media branding. Her brief was to look at my Instagram account so she can get a feel for who I am and the colours I tend to post with and also we had a chat about my love of country music, sparkle and the look I was going for. I’m thrilled with the finished product and I look forward to using it in the future. The photo shoot was great fun, very different to just doing a quick selfie on the phone. It took me quite a while to get used to posing and I admit, I was a lot more comfortable when I was wearing my jeans and t-shirts than the floaty dresses.

So, we are well and truly on the way now on my musical journey, it’s all coming to fruition. It’s taken quite a while but I’m almost there.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

The Photo Shoot

August 29, 2022August 24, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

Well this was a very, very exciting day for me. A photo shoot. Imagine me, me, having a photo shoot?! I had been trying on my outfits for weeks at home. Of course the additional weight gained over lockdown and holidays meant that a lot of clothes were tight and some were just too tight to wear. I had also spent months sourcing the jewellery I wanted. That Turquoise look, you know, it’s very ‘in’ in country music. I found some in very unlikely shops, thankfully, as the majority of what I wanted was only on sale in America and the cost of shipping was sometimes three times the amount of the item I wanted to buy. Thank you to Esty, Next and Amazon.

It was a dry day which was great as it had been raining most of the week before. We headed off to country park and we started the photo shoot. It was such fun once I got into it all. The photographer, Sean from Essay Photography https://essayphotography.co.uk/ was so good as putting me at ease and talking me through the various shots and directed me as to what to do, where to look etc. I had five outfits and had to run back to my car which was parked in the lane, to quickly get changed and update the jewellery I was wearing for the next batch of photos to be taken.

Once we had finished in the country park we headed into Digbeth in Birmingham to Norton’s Irish Bar. What a fabulous venue. I can’t believe I haven’t been there on a night out!!! The staff were amazing, so accommodating and eager to help with the photo shoot. Again, very exciting for me and at least this time I had the ladies bathroom to change my clothes in.

Standing and sitting up on the stage was amazing, I’ve not been up on a stage before. It filled me with such excitement and nerves. Once again, Sean was great at directing me and we have some absolutely fabulous shots from within Norton’s.

By the end of the day I felt like a real singer songwriter, almost like it’s not a dream anymore, I’m really making this happen and the right people are crossing my path to help me along in my dreams. We liked it so much at Norton’s we are going back there at the start of next month to film the video. There’ll be no talking to me I’ll be that hyper after filming a video.

Norton’s Bar https://nortons.bar/ If you are in Birmingham, drop in for a Guinness or a Jameson’s.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

Caffeine and Confidence

July 11, 2022July 9, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

I do love my cup of coffee in the mornings, in fact I have two cups in the morning. Not huge cups of coffee and not strong coffee but I do love my caffeine fix. If you follow me on social media you probably know that I absolutely adore a skinny cappuccino and that’s a real treat to have one of those.

Confidence, well, that’s something I’m not so good at having on a daily basis. Some days I get up and I feel like I can take on the world and other days I wonder what on earth am I doing following a dream. Shouldn’t I just stop messing about and get a ‘proper’ job? The inner dialogue is incredible at times. Isn’t it amazing how we can talk ourselves in and out of doing things? Things become harder than we thought they would be so we say ‘oh well, this is too much work and for what, I’ll probably fail’ but what if we succeed and we have given up with the finishing line in the distance but just out of sight?

I have waivered over the past few months with the music career. I found researching the music licensing quite difficult. There was so much to read, so many takes on what should or shouldn’t be done. Thankfully I had decided to join the Musicians Union https://musiciansunion.org.uk/ some months ago and it was one of the best things I have done so far in my musical journey. The information is clear and precise and there is a lot of helpful information. I have also availed of some of their free webinars which have been invaluable to me as someone who has never been in the music industry before. I discovered which organisations I needed to join and why. I decided that rather than trying to do a little bit of everything at the same time, I should tackle one task at a time, in order. I was getting overwhelmed with everything, losing focus and getting downright confused. Taking things a step at a time worked for me.

I joined PPL https://www.ppluk.com/ which is the UK music licensing organisation and started to make my way through the membership process. The website is easy to navigate and again, lots of useful information. It is free to join (which is a bonus) and I know a lot of people would just tick ‘I agree’ to the various agreements you need to complete and sign but I have to read each one, every single term and condition and if I didn’t understand one I would research it. In my head I kept saying that with 130,000 members everything must be sound, I still had to check. Must be down to my prior roles in international law firms and my accountancy training. I just had to check. However, this became a long drawn out process for me. So much to read and research. Then when it came to completing the forms it was decision time. Did I want UK and Ireland or Worldwide? If I wanted to include Europe, France have a different music licensing system and I needed to select which one I wanted to collect royalties on my behalf. More research. I got that far and left the process for a while…

When I returned, my membership process had now split into three parts; performer, audio and video. More terms and conditions. At one stage I thought I had made a total balls up of the process and rang the membership enquires line. The lady I spoke to was fabulous. Very helpful, very friendly and she was interested in my story. I continued with the process, submitted everything and 24 hours later I received the emails to confirm that I was now a full member and licensed to play my music and videos containing my music. Oh my goodness, the excitement is unreal. It was so worth digging down into the research and learning about what I was doing. I also received my ISRC tag which is the unique identifier for each of my songs so that PPL can collect any royalites due on my behalf. And this is where I return to confidence. All through this process, which took me quite a while on and off, I wondered what I was doing and why was I doing it. When the memberships came through it gave me a huge confidence boost. I was a step closer to getting my music out there, to launching myself as a musician, a singer, a songwriter, on the world. It gave me the boost to start believing in myself more.

The next step is uploading my music to PPL and also choosing a music aggregation company in order to make my music available for purchase and streaming on the various music platforms. I had a look yesterday at ‘uploading your repertoire’. Let’s get the coffee on and I’ll come back to that!

Never underestimate the power of caffeine and confidence.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

A Workout Gig

May 16, 2022May 13, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

After just over two years I recently attended my first music gig since the start of the pandemic. I admit I was concerned about being in a sold out venue with at least 2,500 other music lovers singing and dancing. After what we have been through and how we so quickly got used to not mixing with others, touching others and dancing with strangers, what used to be the norm had become something of pure fear. I did wear my mask into the venue and soon realised that I was very much in the minority and once the show started, I didn’t see anyone with masks apart from a few staff.

The auditorium was large and airy, I had forgotten quite how large it was in the theatre. Once we had taken our seats the excitement was building and you could feel it amongst the audience. The most words I heard spoken all night was ‘I’ve not been out for two years’, we were all feeling the same sheer delight at being out at a Nathan Carter concert once more.

Claudia Buckley was the support act and this girl has come on in leaps and bounds since I last seen her in January 2020. Claudia has the most beautiful voice and a wonderful personality, she is well able to engage with the audience and sings a fabulous mixture of Irish country songs alongside old style country songs with a mixture of the newer country songs. Claudia had the audience well warmed up and happy awaiting the main event.

Next up was Nathan Carter and wow, was he on form and the band also. You could see how much they were enjoying being back on stage singing, playing their music and interacting with the audience. It was amazing to be there, to experience the sheer joy in the theatre from everyone. The staff that they were back at work, the band that they were out playing their music again, the audience singing and dancing and smiling and even the security, who try as they might could not keep people in their seats, from early on we were up dancing. It felt like freedom.

Talking about dancing, I have no idea what kind of jumping around I was doing but my Fitbit was convinced of the following…

It was a fantastic night, I think I was on a high for days afterwards. I did manage to get a few quick videos of the evening. Rather than be behind my phone taking photos and videos I decided to just embrace the whole show as it unfolded. Just like we used to. From what I could see around me, people tended to stay within the groups that they had attended the concert with. In the past we would have all joined hands and sang and danced but we were careful. I had antigen tests everyday for the next week and they were all negative. Bring on the next gig!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-4a2trg4SU

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RzSAyod67S4

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

Confidence

March 7, 2022February 25, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.17 Comments

Last year I really pushed the comfort zone and did three Facebook live performances, two for thirty minutes and the final one for an hour. I was nervous, scared, excited, thrilled and I thoroughly enjoyed each one. I had between twenty and thirty people watching the lives and afterwards the saved videos had hundreds of views and such wonderful, encouraging comments. During the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 I regularly did a ‘Happy Monday’ chat on Instagram. I didn’t chat about anything in particular. A little like my blog, I would just chat away about whatever came to mind. Again, I would receive numerous messages telling me how I brightened up a day, or I made someone laugh or just that they enjoyed the chat as if I was just chatting away to them. All good, I was delighted and then it all stopped and I have no idea why. Was it because life started to open up again and there was less time spent at home? Why did I no longer have five minutes to chat, ten minutes to record myself singing a song and post it online? Or did I just stop believing in my ability to do these things?

I admit that the weight I gained over the last six months of last year did not help me with getting out there singing. I’m not a super confident person but I can blag it and appear confident and then I get into my stride and I’m ok. However I appear to have lost the ability to even blag it. As you may have read from previous posts I have taken my diet and fitness in hand and I’m getting there. I have so many plans in my head for the things I want to do yet I always find an excuse not to do them. My hair isn’t done or I’m not wearing make up so I won’t sing into the phone. That didn’t stop me in 2020, I just did it. I have my self penned songs recorded and I have chosen one to release as a single. I want to get some professional photos done for the single artwork and just to put out there to promote my music. I have researched photographers, video makers, music aggregators and music licencing and yet I have done nothing about these things. I’m wondering what I am afraid of? I know this isn’t any easy profession and I know I have to work hard and I’m not afraid of that. I love singing and from the feedback I get, people love me to sing. I can visualise myself up there, on a stage singing my heart out and being so happy doing it, yet I’m scared to actually do it. Is it a case that I am more comfortable with the dream than actually making it happen? The thought of actually taking the steps to make this dream come true fills me with delight, excitement and sheer sparkle and yet that little voice of fear saying ‘what makes you think people want to see/hear/listen to you’ is getting more attention in my brain than the positive thoughts.

I really do want to sing it out with my whole heart and soul, I want my moment in the spotlight, I want to see and hear people singing and dancing along with me. I want to share my music, I want to give people happiness, a giggle and to make them feel good. So, I suppose I really do need to get out of my own way and make things happen. Ok world, get ready, I’m coming…

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

Evolving

December 6, 2021November 23, 2021 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.3 Comments

Well, a bit like my city in my last post, I’ve been evolving too. I changed my website host to WordPress, because I love using it for my blog and decided it will be easier for me to update something I am familiar using. So my website for my music is https://dawnmaxwellmusic.com/ please check it out and let me know what you think. It’s very different to how I had built the website before and I like this new look. It has just come to mind that it ties in with one of the songs I have written and recorded ‘Fade to Grey’, perhaps that was no coincidence. I admit there isn’t much content yet on the website but I have plans for 2022 and hopefully I will be very busy updating the website with what I’m up to music wise. So exciting.

I have also changed the content to my FB music page. I love positive quotes and affirmations and I was receiving messages telling me that my daily posts, non music related, were very uplifting and gave people positive vibes in the mornings. So alongside the music, I’m continuing with the quotes, affirmations and all things sparkle because that’s just who I am. For some reason I was trying to keep the music separate and then it hit me, it is who I am so I need to just embrace it and bring it all along together. It may not fit for some people but it fits for me and if just one person gets a much needed lift or positive energy from a post then I love that. https://www.facebook.com/DawnMaxwellMusic So if you are on FB, pop over and give me a follow and join in with the positive vibes and sparkle a plenty.

I will take this opportunity to say a very big thank you to everyone who has supported me on my journey. The high’s, the low’s and the rock bottom. Although I encounter some very black, sad days that are hard to bear, I also encounter some very happy, make it happen, you can do this days. It’s amazing how a random comment from someone can lift you up and raise your spirits and give you confidence to believe in yourself. I am so grateful for you all and I feel blessed to have met you along our paths, online or otherwise.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

Recording Day

November 1, 2021October 27, 2021 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

Well, recording day was supposed to have taken place last Monday but I had one of those weeks were I was not feeling 100%. Started off as a head cold which then became a bit of a fever with a sore throat. Monday morning, recording day, I could barely speak, never mind sing so I had to postpone and reschedule for today. Fingers crossed. As last week progressed, I had aches, then headaches, nauseous tummy and more headaches. Thankfully not all on the same day. I rarely get ill so I’m hoping that now it’s behind me, that’s it for a long time to come. I did my lateral flow tests every two days, always negative so definitely not Covid. I did wonder where I picked this up from as I really don’t go to many places or see many people and any people I had seen have not been ill in any way? Life is strange.

I was disappointed at first that I had had to reschedule my recording day. I have been working on the songs I was due to record for over a year and had been rehearsing singing them for weeks. Making sure the timing was spot on, checking how I wanted to sing the song, where to emphasise the drama, the hurt, the pain and the release. However, once I had made the decision that I just wasn’t able to sing and therefore would be unable to give the songs 100% the disappointment left me. Everything happens for a reason so I’m thinking that I must be due to sing better than ever when I get behind the microphone today.

I completed a few modules on the music tech course I’m doing. I also love researching law of attraction and law of abundance. There appears to be so much online to read about these spiritual laws and of course you have to be careful what you are reading and who has written it. I love people who are just glowing with energy and positive vibes when they are telling their stories. The ones who aren’t trying to sell you the impossible or sell you masterclasses. No, the ones who are speaking from the heart, telling their own story. I enjoy those a lot. I do believe that in a way I am manifesting my dream life in singing although I know that I am working very hard behind the scenes to make it happen, I am making it happen. I wonder too if somehow I manifested the strange week of various ailments but not actually fully coming down with a cold/flu/sinus infection. Did I talk myself into having a bad throat? I know the previous week I had often voiced ‘all I need is to get a cold now and I won’t be able to record’. Hmmm, I wonder.