Yes, today is finally the day to release my newest album, A YEAR OF SUNDAYS, into the world. Why that title, you may ask? Here's the true story...

Thomas Barquee is my amazing producer and his recording studio is in Los Angeles. I am not. Since traffic is lighter for the 100-mile drive on a Sunday, I knew I'd rather spend my time in the studio instead of in traffic. With no deadline to pressure us, Thomas and I enjoyed our most unique schedule only on Sundays. I started calling the project "A Year of Sundays" without a clue about how many years or how many Sundays it would take.

The first song for the album was written on March 23, 2023. I wrote all of the other 13 songs in a matter of a few months. Eighteen trips up the freeway to the studio (with 18 stops at the same Starbucks along the way, enjoying the scenery over and over again.

Thomas finished the last of the mastering of the last of the songs on March 23, 2024. There was absolutely no way to know that in advance, but it feels so right knowing there is truth in the title...and the songs.
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For your listening pleasure, I wove all the titles into a little story. You can click on each song title to hear it on SoundCloud.
Exactly a year ago, I sat by my beloved mother’s bedside in her last hours. She had always asked me to sing to her when she was nearing her transition but I had left in such a rush that morning, I didn’t think to bring my guitar. Plus, I was stuck in rush-hour traffic, and though I was alone in the car, I said out loud, “Wow. The last mile is the longest.”
 
As if by magic, someone knocked on the door of the room in the hospice house and brought me a guitar. I played for a while and could tell that Mom’s breathing was changing, so I got up to put the guitar away. Suddenly, something propelled me to sit back down and an entire song came through me in those last moments before she died. THE LAST MILE is indeed the longest…
 
In the months that followed, I learned a lot about the nature of grief - the way it ebbs and flows, grabs and releases, settles in to stay a while and then suddenly disappears. I spent my days in silence, knowing without a doubt that grief is a great transformer and a powerful teacher. It’s a journey I knew all too well having lost my husband three years prior. From my spiritual foundation, I believe that death is not the end, but instead a beginning of something else as the body gets left behind and the spirit soars as it changes form. And of all of the emotions we have, love is THE SWEETEST FORM of all. Even with that belief, I admitted that GRIEF IS HAVING HER WAY WITH ME.
 
SO I SING. And slowly, but surely, the sun began to shine again IN BETWEEN THE CRACKS. These days, I find that I have 10,000 DREAMS, each one reminding me that THE JOURNEY IS THE DESTINATION. Every NEW MOON leads to a full moon, and the seasons keep on changing year after year. There are CYCLES WITHIN CYCLES, and we’re a part of every single ride. And even though I’m an ANALOG GIRL in a digital world, I feel hope for our shared humanity and stewardship of our beautiful planet.
 
And yes, it’s true that our world finds itself in a somewhat challenging cycle these days. Personally, to me it feels like THE STORM BEFORE THE CALM as we come face to face with long-hidden fears of our differences. But deep down, I truly believe that good is THE CURE for bad, just as birth is the “cure” for death. The birth of a new life is a reminder of the great miracle of life itself. In that light, may SIENNA'S SONG always remind her of who she is, and all of the love that surrounds her. And may we all be reminded of who we are and all of the love that surrounds us. After all, there is NOTHING BETTER than that.
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There's also a brand new website devoted to the new album complete with song lyrics and lots of other good stuff. You can find the new website here

And...I did a live version of "New Moon," one of the songs on the new album on YouTube for this special Launch Day. You can watch it here

It's the first of all the songs I'll be recording and posting over the next few weeks. If you Subscribe to my YouTube channel, you'll know when there's a new video for your viewing pleasure.  You'll also find music videos produced by my very creative and talented friend, Robbie Adkins. The first one is for the song "Cycles Within Cycles" and you can see it right here.

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"A Year of Sundays" and all of my other albums are available for download and streaming wherever you listen to music - Amazon, Apple, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube (for all the music and YouTube videos here) and all streaming platforms. And for those of you who still have a CD player in your car or in the house, yes, there are actual CDs of all of my albums available for $20 each, including shipping and handling. Paypal ([email protected]), Venmo (@Sandi-Kimmel-1) and checks accepted.

Special thanks to Lee S. Brooks for the amazing AI artwork he created for the cover and to Robbie Adkins for the wonderful design of the back of the cover and my new logo. SO grateful!

May your day be filled with the energy "A Year of Sundays" always.

Love,
Sandi