#of eden

[chlorophylll]

a new day - san antonio melodic metalcore

underrated, stinky room, chongo broke srry4smallclipgolistentothemtho

[jgnico]

Of Eden by Checkerboardom 

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In1826, Andres Ramon de Cartagena hid a Piece of Eden after being betrayed by the love of his life and kept the secret of its location until his death. Centuries later, Eobard rescues Cisco Ramon from a car crash that takes the lives of his family and gets closer to ending the war between the Templars and Assassins than he ever dreamed possible.

[self-conscious-author]

“Is there any color in your wardrobe?”

Eden’s mouth purses before opening, only for Lydia to raise her finger without even looking at her. “The blue of your jeans does not count.”

Her mouth snaps back shut.

[cnmdcomics-blog]

Intro - Page 3 

Our Tapastic

[cnmdcomics-blog]

Intro - Page 1 

Our Tapastic 

[prattleave]

OF EDEN'S FIRST TOUR

So I've finally settled back in (two weeks later) after our first tour! I've got to admit, it was a nice test run for what it's like to hit the road, even if it was only a couple of shows in a couple of cities. To Graham, it's nothing out of the ordinary. He's on the road 90% of the time, but I'm a newbie (and a really geeky, excited one!). It really was an amazing few weeks.

We started out in Salt Lake which is essentially our home turf. We recorded the album there and it's pretty much where Of Eden got its start. The first show we did was at The Metro Bar for AFLA (Artists For Local Agriculture). We had close friends and a few new faces in the crowd. For our first show, it was quite a night to remember.

The next night we performed at an amazing event for the BBBS (Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah) at their Chef & Child Gala. We performed to a small crowd at the VIP reception before the main event. The vibe was really awesome since it was such an intimate setting. We literally walked into the room and started playing with people surrounding us. It's amazing that we are finding ourselves in this situation over and over because it's exactly what G and I have talked about doing since day one. That has been our goal the past two years and without forcing it, we're doing it. From the beginning, all the things that have "stuck" for us have been those that have just organically happened. It's a welcomed, unexpected blessing.

After an amazing start in Utah, the next week we headed to Chicago! Talk about a whirlwind of a night. We landed an hour before soundcheck and with traffic, it was going to take us that long to get to the venue. Luckily (Ladies, you'll understand this!), I had done my hair and makeup on the plane and I'm pretty sure I scarred the boy next to me for life. He didn't speak any English and I was the crazy American girl going from bed head to glam in the midst of awful turbulence. Really, the captain actually talked to us and told us it was the worst it had been in weeks. I've gotten ready for shows in LA traffic, in a parking garage, bathrooms at amusement parks, and pretty much any other random place you can think of, but attempting to put on fake eyelashes at 40,000 feet during turbulence was an entirely different experience. Anyway! We got to the venue, Mayne Stage, just in time, did a speed round of sound check, and freshened up for the show. Twenty minutes later we were on stage performing for yet another wonderful crowd. We each had some good friends in the audience so it was a special night. My old college roommate, Aaron, drove all the way from Kentucky to see us. After the show, we got to spend the rest of the night catching up with our friends. :) Air Supply had a show the next night so Aaron and I spent the day exploring the little town we were in and then of course had a blast at the AS show that night. They played at the Arcada Theater which has an insane history! >>Creepy Alert!!<< Al Capone hung several victims there and there is a door that is protected by the Historical Society because there is still traces of blood from his victims on it!

I had a quick turn around from Chicago. I was home for about 24 hours (just enough time to hug my Cash cat) and then I was off to New York. I spent five days playing in the city with one of my best friends, Alex, although I got a terrible virus in the form of food poisoning on our second day there. I ignored it the best I could and we had a great time. That weekend we started rehearsing for the Theatre East event where we would be presenting a few songs from Treasure Island for the first time, as well as playing a few of our songs. For those of you who don't know, G and I have been writing the music for a new musical based on the beloved story of Treasure Island. It's been such an amazing experience for us both and for me, personally, it feels like things have come full circle. Musical Theatre is where it all began for me so to be a part of such a wonderful team creating a new project is a dream come true. Our close and amazingly talented friend, Ralph Farris, joined us for Fiddlestix and, as always, it was incredible to have him there. The event was a huge success and our creative team was completely inspired by the response of the night. The next day we spent at the studio recording with our wonderful ensemble. The demos sound pretty amazing if I do say so myself. That night, the creative team met for dinner and spent the entire meal brainstorming for the future of the show. It's such an incredible experience to be a part of a team where everyone is so passionate about what we're doing. It's a rarity.

The next day, G and I parted ways and I headed back to LA. He wasn't far behind, however. We had our debut show in LA just a day later at the famed Hotel Cafe. It was so great being in my home city and having my family and so many friends at the show, not to mention our entire team came out to show their support. They had heard the music, but after two years of work, it felt amazing to finally share it with them live. Our good friend, Martin Tillman, who's one of the finest cello players in the world, joined us for a few songs, including Fiddlestix which he had never heard before that night. We played it for him once backstage before we went on and then winged it on stage! It was seriously a magical moment. The night was the perfect end to an incredible couple of weeks.

We are so thankful to everyone who came out to support us and for all of the kind words of encouragement we received along the way. 

So there you have it. The Of Eden Debut (mini) Tour was quite a success and we can't wait for the next adventure ahead of us.

[prattleave]

Introducing 'Of Eden'

Let me set the scene for you: It’s 1990…something…and little Katie McGhie is at the Greek Theatre for her first concert ever. Sitting beside her mom and mom’s 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 beginning…

In January 2012, my mom and I were invited to go to the “G’Day USA Gala" which honors some of Australia’s 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 “Air Supply sound". He said, “I 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!? Let’s 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 didn’t hesitate for a second saying yes.

Exactly one month later to the day, I was in Salt Lake City, near Graham’s 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 didn’t know me at all. Yet he had complete faith in me, as he does with everyone. I’ve 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 weren’t 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 “Fiddlestix". 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 hadn’t 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. I’ve learned so much from him, it’s 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 album’s 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 “image", 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 “Broken". 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 “Bring 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, “What about the name “Of Eden…or something like that? Something that is of the newest beginning, something that feels pure." His response: “Wait….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. God’s 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 we’ve created with everyone. It’s 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.

I’m SO happy to finally share this with you guys! It’s 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.

x

Kate