I Also Just Spent 2 Hours With Stevie!
 

I’m still shaking so forgive me if I seem like I’m rambling but I’m going to tell you guys as much as I can about what happened. Please keep in mind I don’t have the best memory so I can’t share every detail but here it goes. I just saw that someone else was in attendance as well so hopefully they can give you guys a more detailed account but here's my summary:

So first of all thanks to Viv for posting about the meet and greet in San Diego. Of course the second I read the post I had to find out how to go and sure enough I pulled some strings and managed to get a pass. I left at around noon and drove down from L.A. to the resort where it was being held. I got there fairly early for the 3 p.m. start time and reserved myself a front row seat. It was a very intimate venue, maybe 60 seats with a lot of people standing in the back so maybe 100 people total. After I got my seat they asked us to wait outside so they could set up. Moments later Stevie walked past us with her entourage in tow (including her manager Sheryl Lewis, Sharon, and Lori) in a long black fur coat and of course those sun glasses she seems to always be wearing now a days which she didn’t take off the entire time. There were 2 comfy seats set up on the stage for Stevie and this lady (I think she was from a radio station). I really wish I could give you a blow by blow account but like I said I’m a little overwhelmed right now and can’t remember everything. Well the lady asked her a few questions about the new album and she talked about the recording process and a few songs in particular and then Stevie stood up and introduced the “sizzle reel” for the documentary. It was like a 2 minute clip from the film with some highlights and scenes from the recording session at her house in L.A. which apparently she owns but doesn’t live in (she stays in her condo by the beach). She talked a lot about her collaboration with Dave and even joked that she’d never make another album (solo or with FM) unless he was involved. We actually watched the sizzle reel twice because she insisted (it was so cute). We also saw clips from the Secret Love video! She talked a lot about Walter Reed and her work with the soldiers. It was very inspiring. Then they played the first 8 tracks of In Your Dreams (Lady from the Mountain/Vampire Song, For What it’s Worth, In Your Dreams, The Ghosts are Gone, Secret Love, Soldier’s Angel (with Lindsey singing and playing), Annabelle Lee, and Italian Summer). The last track on the album is the Twilight song which was inspired by Edward and Bella, not about them. She introduced a few songs but not all. By the way I heard parts of the Twilight song in the sizzle reel and it was the stand-out song for me. I actually liked Annabelle Lee and Lady from the Mountains was amazing. Also heard Cheaper than Free in the reel which I’m not a huge fan of. Following the album preview there was a Q and A and of course I had to ask a question (which turned out to be 3). I asked her how she felt about her demos being circulated and she basically said of course she knows about it (btw the vault is in Phoenix) and that she’s not upset that we have them. She’s also for sure touring with In Your Dreams right after the Rod Stewart dates. Aaah there is so much more to tell but I’m exhausted and this could go on forever so I will be back tomorrow and fill in some more details. I did however bring her a gift and handed it to her while she was answering one of my questions! How excited am I!!! Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture because only certain people were aloud to at the end but overall the fact that I was sitting merely feet away from Stevie for 2 hours today is more than I could have ever dreamed. I literally had a conversation with her! I should have taken notes so I could share more but I could not take my eyes off her. I’m going to go dream about Stevie now. Nighty night from cloud 9.

*Edit: I'm remembering a lot more details so read through the thread to see them!

*Big edit: Apparantly I'm wrong about Lady From the Mountains. It was actually LFTM morphed into the Twilight song. My sincerest appoligies. I'm going to go hide under my covers now for about 2 days.

*Final edit: I only hid for a couple of hours. I love Stevie and you guys so much and so glad I could share my experience with you all and you are going to love the new album!

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod. Lady From The Mountains is on the album? Seriously? Does it sound good?

I'd comment on the rest of your post, since I'm so thrilled for you that you got to do all that, but, I totally zeroed in on those four words! :laugh:

I'm so happy you got to meet her!! And Lady From The Mountain is on IYD?! I just KNEW IT!! :blob1: I can SO hear how amazing that song would be with proper modern production! :thumbsup:

My thoughts EXACTLY.
Wow, I am really excited.

So exciting! Thanks for sharing!!

Yes, it sounds better than I could have ever imagined! It was so funny too, I was totally singing along the words to it and I swear Stevie saw me and was probably wondering how I knew them which was part of the reason I decided to talk to her about the demos circulating. I prefaced the question with "Please don't be mad at me Stevie" lol.

OMG! WHEN I READ LADY FROM THE MOUNTAINS. I gasped out loud and actually got a little teary. THAT IS AMAZING NEWS

Cool...
 

thanks for the info, sounded like you had a great time.

You have to tell what you thought of the first 8 tracks. Your honest opinion. Don't hold back. I'm thrilled Lady from the Mountain is on the album. I'm really interested in the songs For What's Worth, In Your Dreams and Italian Summer. Tell us.

I will keep adding things as they come to me...she seems so genuinely happy you guys! And honestly, she is so sweet. When she first sat down I sensed there was a little angst but I was completely wrong. I think my favorite part aside from talking to her was watching her dancing and mouthing the words along to her own songs as she was standing in the corner. The woman was rocking out and playing air guitar and doing her little swaying motions, so effin cute.

*Louie - she looks NOTHING like a grandma close up :wavey:!!

Oh, that's so funny. I'm sure you know the words to songs Stevie has forgotten she even wrote.

So glad that after what you've heard you're looking forward to the album even more. It should alleviate a lot of the fears people have had (especially about the Twilight song).

Thanks so much for the report.

Michele

Oh and interesting about her saying that she'll never do another album without Dave. We had been wondering if Dave had plans with FM or with BN, for that matter, and this comment, though brief, seems to lend credence to the idea that he does.

Michele

Ok here it goes, from what I can remember I was not too crazy about For What It's Worth because it was a little bit too country-ish. In Your Dreams was really good and Italian Summer I would have to hear again to give an accurate assessment. I want to reiterate how fabulous the Twilight song is without having heard the whole thing. Reminded me of my treasured Rooms on Fire!!

Did anything sound like a hit? By the way, vampire song and lady are what I know I will like. I'm into atmosphere.

You're so welcome :).
From what I've heard so far the album is fabulous. I can't believe I'm saying this but it may very well be comparable to TISL! It's that good!!

So were those first 8 songs, the whole songs or just clips? I think its so weird she played you the first 8, but ran out of time for the last 5.

And I guess we've proven that FM77 did not hear the album, since they denied Lady from the Mountain was on it.

Oh, you are making me salivate now. Michele

It's really hard to say at this point and also because i was staring at Stevie rocking out to the songs while they were playing so most of my attention was on her. Oh another thing - when Secret Love started playing I yelled out woo hoo and everyone heard me and looked in my direction. Whoops!

I know... I'd almost gotten depressed about In Your Dreams when that FM77 person said Lady From The Mountain was not on the album. Because to me, it NEEDS to be on this record. I am so totally on cloud 9 right now... what a fantastic end to a really wonderful day :woohoo:

Uggg please no :(

The whole songs!!

That is what I was thinking. He lied.

He didn't lie about the film being done at her house and not her condo... :shrug:

This is all just so exciting! Your so lucky to have been so close to Stevie! I think it's awesome that she's cool with her demos being shared by her fans! She seems to have mellowed out, from the internet hating Stevie less than a year ago.

Oh no she was still internet hating! During our conversation I said "You don't own a computer do you?" And she responded that she did not own a computer or a cell phone! lol She also said she's known for years about the demos and that back in the day they would be laying around her house at parties and stuff and people would just take them but she didn't think much of it at the time.

well, I'm sure they delayed the trailer or this thing.

:lol: I love this woman so much! God, I'm so envious of you!!!

If Lady From the Mountain is on this albun it lied.It was apparently a troll who seems to have disappeared likely to never return..I still cannot believe that Lady From the Mountain is on there ..that was my dream song to be on it.How could anyone have not mentioned it though?:shrug:

Also you guys, I know some of you have seen pictures of me and I constantly hear that I look like Sharon but news flash, I look nothing like her from what I saw today!

*Just remembered some other stuff she talked about. After the tracks played she mentioned how she still gets very emotional when she performs certain tracks and in the background I said "Like Beauty and the Beast?" And she responded "Yes, like Beauty and the Beast and HAEWAFY". I also told her that Storms is my favorite song and she said she was so happy they did that on the Unleashed tour.

Exactly!!!!!!!!!! Cha-ching!!!!!! and two snaps up!!!!!!!!!

I don't know either. I'm excited it's on there but there were supposed to be 14 songs and now there's only 13?

No, 14 recorded, and she has to have a bonus track. No one ever said as far as I remember that there would actually be 14 songs on the album, just that 14 songs were recorded. We all been speculating about the bonus track.

Someone asked her what her favorite and least favorite songs of hers were and she gave the usual answer that her songs were like her children and that she simply doesn't perfrom any of the songs she doesn't like. :shrug:

Excuse my language, but.....

holy f*cking sh*t.

That figures :) standard answer. I don't really care about her Q&A session, I want to hear about the songs. I wish tomorrow they would give us that trailor. Dying here for info.

She also spoke of her songwriting process and that it's done in pros form, not in poetry and than she takes the songs from her journals. She writes anytime she is inspired. She also realized through Dave that she doesn't have to be the sorrowful depressed girl playing the piano harping on her pain. She can write under happy circumstances as well and that Dave showed her this was possible. She obviously has tons of love for him and it totally came through in the sizzle reel! There is a clip of them embracing and you can clearly see the chemistry.

I wish I could tell you more about the songs but it's hard for me to describe them after only hearing them once and being very distracted by her standing in front of me. Sorry!

It's fine. I sorta hope Lady from the Mountain and the Vampire are as atmospheric and gothic as I want them to be. Did they use guitar or is Lady very synthed up?

Guitar! Not synthed up at all. It had just the perfect amount of production without being over-produced. I know you guys love it and I like it a lot but it's never been one of my favorite demos and I can tell you that I love the song on the album.

P.S. They had signs everywhere saying "NO RECORDINGS" and warned us that there would be security guards walking around to make sure no one was recording or on their cell phone.

OMG, how awesome is this? So happy that you got in and survived to tell your tale! Although I would like to smack you for not remembering the details... but, OMG... :eek:

Okay, you don't remember it, but does the rest of the album sound as slick and commercial as "Secret Love" or are there longer "epic" songs like on her earlier albums? What does the "Secret Love" video look like? Is it a performance video or are there dramatic elements to it as well? Gah!