Copperlily Music and Musings

Copperlily is a band made up of Tim & Stephanie Skipper. This blog is all of the following: Informative, Dumb, Interesting, Boring, Awesome, Scary, Inspiring. ENJOY!!!

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New song! New... Episode?!?!

It took us a year and a half to find (and agree) on a house! In many ways that might be symbolic of our relationship, Tim & I see the world very differently. After looking at over 50 homes in the Nashville area, in April of 2015 we closed on our first home! Of course to make the milestone more adventurous, I applied to House Hunters and we had the privilege of documenting part of our house buying journey. We wanted to release a song that coincided with the episode airing and we decided on this one: I Do Right Now. It's not a literal documentation of our home buying process, but it highlights the question: what do you do when you want different things than your spouse?! I thought I'd share a little evolution of the song and we hope you enjoy! Also: make sure to tune in to HGTV tomorrow at 10/9c pm to see us on House Hunters!

Tim had been chewing on the chorus melody of this song for a while when I asked him to make a voice memo of it for me. It didn't have a verse melody or concept yet, and the only lyric we had for the chorus was "I don't think that I could love you mooooore than I do right now, right now, right now- yeah!" I didn't know what story wanted to be told, but I felt like there was something there to uncover.  

One night we were having a really heavy conversation over dinner about our future and the different things we wanted for Copperlily and ourselves. I started to feel crushed by the intimidation I felt from our differences. We are both passionate people and it sincerely felt like there wasn't enough time or space to fit all of our desires into one life, let alone this band. I could feel us spinning out and we were on the cusp of one of our cycles. Unfortunately, its a cycle we've known well, typically we both walk away feeling bloody, angry and confused about what happened. But for some reason, this night in particular we responded to the invitation that suggested the story could play out differently.

As we sat, silent in the heaviness that clouded the room, neither of us knowing where to go from there, I hung my head over my plate as my food scraps starred back at me.

"Do you wanna get out of here and get some ice cream?" Tim asked.

"Yes please!" I felt a glimmer of hope. For the first time that night, I had the thought: Maybe we aren't supposed to figure out our entire future in this one evening." (I realize: it so obviously true now)

I got up and started to clear the table but Tim stopped me and said "That can wait". He opened Spotify, set his phone on the table and reached out his hand, inviting me to dance. All-4-One's "I Swear" played through his iPhone speakers with all of its 90's saxophone glory and I teared up. Partially out of relief that the looming cloud of "what are we doing with our lives?" was dissipating and partially because I'm a sucker for 90's R&B. Tim knows that. He did it half joking and half out of desperation to clear the fog we were both under, but regardless it worked. Suddenly, although we were no closer to understanding each others opinions about our future, we were reminded about our present. The reality was that we could deeply love each other and hold the tension of wanting different things.

A few days later as I was feeling inspired to write some music, I opened the voice memo of this song. With that one and only lyric: "I don't think that I could love you more…" I had assumed this would be a mushy love song. But as I closed my eyes and tried to relive a moment where I was overwhelmed with love, I was immediately back in the clumsy tension of that night. I saw the dirty dinner table that we had danced around in tears with no resolve excpt to love each other through anything. I knew what story I wanted to tell with this song. It's not about building a perfect future, it's about savoring the beautiful moments amidst the discord. Love is not always mushy, but it's almost always messy.

Be well!

Stephanie & Tim

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Ugh, Goals & Other New Year Stuff...

Goals are not something I've ever been terribly excited about. I think in part because I am afraid to fail, so if I set a goal, there is the potential of not reaching it and then having to sit in that reality. But on second thought, isn't that the idea? Even when we don't reach a goal, isn't it an invitation to look at the "why" we didn't reach it? It can be quite informative if we allow it to be. That's where I think a lot of people (myself included) miss the point of goals. We get scared of the label "failure" and we reject anything other than, at the very least, a participation award. We make up reasons why we couldn't achieve it or reach it, and we let ourselves off the hook without investigating the truth. For example, if we pause to take a look, we might find that maybe we cut too many corners, or lost interest, or gave up hope, or became paralyzed by fear. If we won't look at the "why", we forfeit the opportunity to grow and learn something about ourselves.

In 2014 I bought a big old ugly framed picture from Goodwill for $7. I painted over the picture with chalkboard paint and wrote in my best cool-kid handwriting "Skipper Goals" at the top. Together, Tim and I came up with 6 things we wanted to work towards and we hung it in our kitchen where we'd see it everyday. The list read: Buy a House, Buy a Car, Pay Off Guitar, Get an Apollo Twin, Get a Nord, Go on a Missions Trip and Get a Dog. I am excited to share that 5 out of 6 of those things came true for us in 2015. Believe me, I am still celebrating! Right after I made the list, some generous friends gave us a Nord Keyboard. It was a great kickstart to see one out of six things crossed off our list. We gained momentum when in Feb 2015 we bought a car. I was afraid the money we shelled out for a car would prevent us from buying a house that popped up shortly after, but in April we bought a house! Sometime in the spring we payed off the guitar, and then in October we bought an Apollo twin for our home studio. Barely squeaking into 2015, on New Years Eve we found our "fur-ever" friend (I had to): Riggins the dog.

Now, I am not diminishing the accomplishment of those 5 goals that were met, but I also don't want to miss an opportunity to get curious about the one goal that wasn't met: Go On A Missions Trip. We've talked about going to Cape Town, South Africa where Tim's Aunt and Uncle moved to be missionaries, but nothing is on the books yet. We've talked about going to Haiti where some friends from our small group moved to work at an orphanage, but nothing is on the books yet. My impulse is to say: "we couldn't afford it this year" and maybe you're thinking: "So you found the money to buy a car and a house, but couldn't muster up some change for plane tickets to go serve the less fortunate?" The truth is: yes. But it's also true on the other side of the coin: We bought a car and a house this year and money has been really tight as we re-save after those goals were met. I don't feel a sense of shame that we didn't go on a missions trip this year, we're still planning on meeting that goal, but I do want to take my own advice and look at some possible reasons why it was the one that got left out.

If I'm honest, I think there was an element of fear that played a part in it. Although a car and a house and an Apollo Twin were expensive purchases, they all on some level allow us to be self-employed, in other words: they are income generators for us. We tour in our car, and we both just signed up for Uber. We AirBnB our attic in the house, and we create music that allows us to continue to tour with the Apollo twin. On paper, its a little daunting to buy two plane tickets to South Africa or Haiti, and it's hard to take time off of work, however I know first-hand that although there is a personal and financial investment when traveling to the third world, there is certainly no lack of payoff. As I sit and take a moment to get honest, I can see how the way we chose to spend our money this year was mostly self-serving. There is a time and place for that, but it is important to both Tim and I to be generous with our time and finances, so instead of feeling shame over this realization, I'm grateful. Buying a house or car isn't bad, broken or wrong, but in moving forward I'm more aware of how fear can influence my decisions. It is a new year and it will bring new opportunities. Giving of our time and resources is something we believe to be imperative. It's also special to experience together, so a Missions Trip remains a goal.

May 2016 be filled with less fear and more love. May we set goals and celebrate when we meet them, and get curious about "why" when we don't. There doesn't have to be shame when you don't meet a goal, not if you allow it to teach you something. Don't lie to yourself, you won't reach your goal that way. If you need to change the goal, change it, but don't lower the bar out of fear or just because it is difficult. Press on and enjoy the process.

Happy New Year!!!!

-Copperlily

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Made a fun little lyric video for My Family's Crazy! Here's a bit of the process. Link to video is in our profile :)

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A Very Copperlily Christmas

It's that time of year! And we couldn't be more excited about it! To celebrate, Tim and I are releasing our first ever: Christmas EP! This little project actually represents a lot of firsts for us, it's our first self-recorded and produced experience, and it's our first home recording! Thats right friends, the1950's floor plan of our new house is perfectly strange enough that we rigged up a makeshift studio in a spare bedroom that connects to our huge master closet and walla: control room and iso booth :)

We were only planning on releasing two songs: I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus and O Come, O Come Emanuel, but one morning a few weeks ago it almost felt like an idea knocked on our front door and asked to be written. What is probably the quickest song we've completed to date emerged and it is titled: "My Family's Crazy". Although it's all fictional, we both felt the need to call our Mothers and prep them on the impeding throwing-under-of-the-bus that would entail with the release of this song and ask their permission to take one for the team, because let's be honest- even the most functional families have their crazy. We hope it makes you smile- and we'd love to hear some of your crazy holiday family stories!

We have some wonderful and generous friends who lent their time, talent and resources to us in the making of these 3 songs. So we can't send this out into the world without saying a huge "Thank You" to: Cara Fox (for your excellence despite playing your cello in our closet), David Leonard (for letting us borrow your out-of-our-budget vocal mic), Gavin Miller (for interrupting your afternoon to have an impromptu drum sesh in our living room), Blake Bratton (for moving your whole life here from PA for a few days and creating, learning and engineering with us) Nathan Thomas (for being patient with me when I couldn't describe exactly what I was looking for out of a mix so I used word pictures), Colin Rigsby (for your always amazing cover art design), Ethan Luck (for making us look good in photos) and Chris Graham (for your fantastic and speedy mastering skills). Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And thank you to those who are reading this for the support and encouragement you offer. To you who create music along side of us: thank you for how you inspire us to keep learning and trying new things. And to those of you who don't find your creative outlet in music/songwriting: thank you for letting us try to express something that you can invite into your life and make your own. We truly are grateful.

Merry Christmas everybody, may you know the love of Jesus as you celebrate this season.

-Tim & Stephanie Skipper

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Here are some of our upcoming Christmas tour dates :):):) We'd love to play 1 or 2 more shows! We have Dec 12, 14, 15, and 16 open. [email protected] if you wanna talk about it :)

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Coming very soon! 📷 by @ethanluck Cover art by @colinrigsby aka @_vesperteen_ :):):)

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Had a little gang vocal session to finish off this Christmas EP the other night w/ @tessaviolet and @rustyclanton Also, shout out to @jdothallinc for letting us borrow your mic!

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New Orleans Bound

Tomorrow Tim and I go on a late anniversary adventure trip. We had some Southwest miles and we looked into a few different places, but kept coming back to New Orleans. We wanted something with good food, culture and maybe somewhere that wouldn't be freezing (ok that was mostly my vote). It will be a quick two day trip, but one thing we're going to fit in for sure is a stop at Villalobos, because we love the show Pit Bulls and Parolees (I can't promise I won't fall in love with a pup and beg Tim to bring him home). We'll eat at Cafe Du Monde, walk around the French Quarter and hear some good music.

After we booked the flights a few days ago, something popped up in the back of my head. I asked Tim if he would be willing to rent a car and drive with me about 45 minutes outside of the city. I remembered that I had flown into New Orleans one November, 17 years before. It was 1998, I was a freshman in high school. My great grandmother on my dad's side had passed away and she was the only relative on that side of the family I had ever met. She was kind and warm towards my mom even after my parents had split and we had visited her several times as a family. Without much time to deliberate, my mom, brother and I made a game time decision to attend the funeral. Friends, this was pre-cell phones, so in our travels from PA to LA, my mom was using airport pay phones to try and get information on who exactly was going to be there. A plot-thickener to this story is that my brother and I had not spoken to or seen our dad in 14 years, so the question remained: would he be there?      

Well he was. I met him in the funeral home sanctuary minutes before the ceremony began. Our first conversation was clumsy and unplanned. He hadn't been informed that we were there either, so words were difficult to find. During our awkward introduction, as ushers were encouraging the family to find their seats, he shook my hand and said " You must be Purcella". I politely corrected him as I shook his hand in return "No, it's Stephanie". We found our seats and I proceeded to cry through the whole ceremony. Not because my grandmother was dead, but because I felt unknown by the man I wanted to be known by the most.

Tomorrow, Tim and I are going to visit that little suburb of New Orleans. I haven't been there in 17 years, but I've told the story countless times- often times to strangers from a stage. It's funny, when you tell a story so often, you find yourself slightly detached from it. You can't possibly feel everything it brings up for you every time you condense it into a 10 minute story. So tomorrow, I want to embrace that it is my story, not just a story. I want to see if I remember the room at the funeral home correctly. I want to walk on the sidewalk in front of my great-grandmothers old house like I did as a 10, 12 and 14 year old. I want to visit her grave, and I want to invite Tim into it all. He is gracious enough to want to know and and to go with me on this little adventure into my past. Thanks Timmy.

I can't wait to tell you guys more about it, and maybe share a few pictures of the pit bulls we fall in love with :) Feel free to post any food or entertainment suggestions for the New Orleans area if you have them! 

Until then, be well!

Stephanie

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Closet vocals :) Thanks to our amazingly generous friends for lending us their time, talents and especially gear for this project.

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Next door neighbor extraordinaire @gavinmillerdesign lending his jazz chops to some #Copperlily Christmas music :)

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Just updated our online store with some goodies #LoveIsALegendEP #StephanieSmith #NotAfraid #Crossroads #Book Copperlilymusic.bigcartel.com

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Had a fun day with family in Dallas yesterday. Snapped this shot outside of the College Football Playoff muriel. #GoBucks #OH also #WeAre for the Lily half of our band ;)

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Lobo Theatre in Albuquerque tonight!!! 7PM. We're stoked to be here, and looking forward to tonight :)

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HITTING THE ROAD!!!

Hey guys.  We begin a month of touring tonight in State College, PA!  Here are the details for the dates that we have so far:

May 3 - State College, PA @ Centre Church. 6pm. FREE

May 7 - Washington, DC @ Ebenezers Coffeehouse. Doors at 7pm. We play at 7:30. $10 adv./$12 at the door.  Tix HERE

May 8 - Hollywood, MD @ The Connection Cafe. Doors at 6:30pm. $10 at the door. More Info HERE

May 9 - Center Valley, PA @ Cornerstone Presbyterian Church. 7pm. $8 at the door. More Info HERE

May 10 - Waynesboro, PA @ Five Forks Bretheren in Christ Church. Leading worship at 8am, 9:30am, & 11am. Copperlily show at 6pm. More Info HERE

May 16 - Franklin, TN @ Gray’s on Main. 9pm. $6 at the door. More Info HERE

May 30 & 31 - Albuquerque, NM @ Calvary Albuquerque. Leading worship/special music for Saturday evening and Sunday morning services.

May 31 - Albuquerque, NM @ The Lobo Theater. 7pm. $10 at Parchments book store.

June 4 - Savoy, TX @ The Bird’s Nest. Doors at 5:30, show at 7pm. $10. TIX and INFO

June 5 - San Antonio, TX @ Redeemer Westover Hills Presbyterian Church.

That’s what we have so far!  Still looking for a few dates in TX, NM, OK, AR in that first week of June.  If you’d like to chat with us about possibly doing a Copperlily show please hit us up at [email protected]

Thanks!  Hope to see you on the road.  Get our new album HERE

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It's out!!! Slowly climbing the singer/songwriter charts. Check out the link in our profile and go get yourself the brand new Copperlily record!!! Oh, and tell your friends about it too :)

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I call this one, "Pretty girl checks sounds" #Copperlily #newalbumin1week

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March 24!!! Self-titled full length album. We're so excited for you to eat this!