Let me set the scene for you: Itās 1990ā¦somethingā¦and little Katie McGhie is at the Greek Theatre for her first concert ever. Sitting beside her mom and momās best friend, she eagerly waited for the show to start. The lights came down and the anthemic sound of a live, rock band filled the night. As the lights flashed and lit up the room, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock of the famed Air Supply, graced the stage. This was just the beginningā¦
In January 2012, my mom and I were invited to go to the āGāDay USA Gala" which honors some of Australiaās finest talent each year. That year, Air Supply was being honored. After the show, I was introduced to Graham Russell and we immediately started talking about music. Little did I know where that conversation would lead.
About a week later, I received an email from Graham. He said that he had an idea for a new project he wanted to work on and it would be just a few voices and guitar, very different from the āAir Supply sound". He said, āI watched your videos, etc, and you have an exceptional voice." UM, what! Needless to say, I was floored. One of the most incredible songwriters and performers of our time was emailing ME and telling ME I had an exceptional voice!? Letās just say I was incredibly honored. He went on to ask me if I would be interested in working with him on the project and lending my voice. Obviously, I replied as quickly as my little fingers could type and didnāt hesitate for a second saying yes.
Exactly one month later to the day, I was in Salt Lake City, near Grahamās home in Utah, walking into the Counterpoint recording studio. He had sent me a few songs to learn and said I would just be adding harmonies to each. Easy. Harmonies are my thing and I was ready to go. We got through every track within a few hours. I felt so at home with Graham and Dave Evanoff, the owner of Counterpoint. The vibe of the whole day was just perfect and unexpected. We had only ever met in person the one time and Graham didnāt know me at all. Yet he had complete faith in me, as he does with everyone. Iāve never met someone with a bigger, more loving heart. I was able to just let go and sing, something that is beyond important to be able to do in the studio. He had written the few songs from that day; they werenāt my words, but when I sang them, it felt as if they were my own. I connected to them instantly, as he and I did. We were two artists who found a common passion for what we love to do.
The next day was even more incredible. We got into the studio and G asked me to sing the main vocal on this awesome and funky song called āFiddlestix". It had been my favorite of the few he had sent me originally so I was incredibly excited to sing on it. I definitely felt that song and we finished it in one take. Later that day, he got a phone call from a friend asking him to come and do a quick set at a local pub that night. Again, with his trusting heart, G asked if I would want to go perform with him that night. Let me remind you at this point he had only ever heard me sing in the studio for a day and a half, we had never sung together, and here he was asking me to get up on stage with him. I have no idea what he was thinking, but I am incredibly thankful for whatever he saw in me. So that night, we hit the local pub, performed the songs we had recorded the last day and a half that we had only now sung together about once or twice at a quick rehearsal at the studio about three hours prior, and we also threw in some Air Supply tunes, while I filled in for Russell. TALK ABOUT LIFE COMING FULL CIRCLE! Here I was, still feeling like that little girl anxiously awaiting her first concert, and I was standing beside that very same man singing those very songs WITH him. As if the last 48 hours hadnāt been enough, that night was one of the best of my life. I had never felt more honored or humbled in my life than in that moment.
I woke up the next morning in awe of how blessed I felt to be where I was. G picked me up and took me to the airport and I walked to the gate to head home and back to reality. What an amazing and quick two days. As I sat down to wait to board the plane, I got a call from G. I NEVER expected to hear what I did on the other end of that phone. He asked me what I thought about creating something new, a new duo and sound that had never been done before. It had started with the idea of me just simply lending my voice to a couple of songs, but he said that he thought we could really do something incredible together. Done. I was in.
Over the next few months, I would go out to Utah several times and we began writing and recording as much as we could. We had an instant connection and the songs just came. G is one of the most incredible songwriters of all time and sitting beside him, writing a song is magical. Iāve learned so much from him, itās unreal. We continued to write and record through the end of the year and began brainstorming about everything we wanted to do. We share so many similar passions including working with young performers, philanthropic work, right down to a good bottle of wine. :) Our ideas were endless.
We were quickly approaching the albumās completion and knew that we still needed a name. We had thrown out what seemed like hundreds of ideas, but none stuck. Nothing quite fit. We had done a photoshoot early on hoping it would spark some ideas about our āimage", but nothing came to us except some great photos. Another month went by and we were now back in the studio recording the final song that would go on our album called āBroken". Halfway through the day we realized that it was February 20th, exactly one year to the day from the first day we were in the studio. The stars were definitely aligning for us and we embraced it. Everything was falling into place at the RIGHT time and we just opened ourselves up to every possibility.
That night, we sat down to dinner and a bottle of wine at our favorite, little Indian restaurant in Salt Lake. Still nameless, we sat and reminisced about the incredible journey we had taken in just a year. It seemed almost impossible that we had accomplished so much within that short amount of time. Our conversation naturally drifted to the topic of life and the world around us, as it does more often than not. We began talking about how the year 2013 felt fresh. We both observed it to be a new start for so many of those around us, as well as for ourselves. We had recorded a song the previous day called āBring A Little Rain" that touches on that subject exactly. It was a time for rebirth; purification of the soul. Mid-sentence, I stopped G and said, āWhat about the name āOf Edenā¦or something like that? Something that is of the newest beginning, something that feels pure." His response: āWaitā¦.what did you just say? Where did that come from?". I said that I had no idea, it just popped out. At that moment, Of Eden was born.
And here we are today. Graham and I will be releasing our first album together as Of Eden in the next few months. After all this time, the time is right. From the first Air Supply concert I saw to now, never would I have guessed that this album would be coming to life. Godās amazing plan and timing for this chapter of life has begun and how incredibly exciting it is to be a part of it. To be working with an incredible talent and be able to call him my friend is like a dream. We are both so excited and anxious to release the album and share the music weāve created with everyone. Itās our two voices, a guitar, and occasionally a full band combining to create a unique album that will surely make an impact.
We will be launching a website, along with other social media platforms, very soon and we hope that you will all follow along with us on this exciting journey ahead.
Iām SO happy to finally share this with you guys! Itās been a rollercoaster of a year and I am beyond thankful for all of the support my family and friends have given me through it all. All I can hope for is that the music I create in my life will touch the hearts of all of those that have touched mine.
