Dear Diary and More Awesome Autumn Memories – October 2021 Wrap

October was one of the most incredible months of the year. I have the biggest smile on my face, thinking about everything that happened. I released my debut album, Dear Diary, got signed as the newest Heart of Indie Radio featured artist, had so many fabulous interviews, made my radio host debut, and so much more. I can’t wait to dive into all the details!

The Release of Dear Diary

On October 15, I released my debut album, Dear Diary. I truly can’t believe it’s finally out into the world. I worked on this project for two years, and I’m so happy I get to share it with others.

Dear Diary is the album I had to write for myself. It explores many of my thoughts, feelings, and insecurities in an open and vulnerable way. I think of each of the songs as musical diary entries because of how personal they are to me. 

I hope you love Dear Diary as much as I do. You can download and stream it here.

The Launch of my Shop

I launched my online shop in October to celebrate the release of Dear Diary. I’ve always dreamed of having my own shop, and now, I do.

First, I’m selling signed Dear Diary CDs. It’s so surreal having physical CDs of my album. The day I got the box in the mail was one of the most special days of my musical journey so far. 

Also, I’m selling Dear Diary inspired merch. I have both T-shirts and hoodies with the same design, which has my name with butterflies and a quote I wrote that reads, “Spread your wings and dream.” The T-shirts come in vintage heather blue and vintage heather maroon, and the hoodies come in heather sport royal.

My shop is available internationally, and everything is free shipping. Check out my shop here.

Getting Signed as a Featured Artist with Heart of Indie Radio

One of my biggest dreams of the year came true in October. Ever since I discovered Heart of Indie Radio, I’ve wanted to be one of their signed featured artists. I’ve worked so hard to make this dream a reality, and it finally did.

On October 8, I officially became the newest signed featured artist. It was so special getting signed a week before Dear Diary was released.

I’m so blessed to be part of the beautiful Heart of Indie family. Everyone is so kind and loving, and they all have my heart.

You can read all about my journey to getting signed in this blog post.

My Interview on Heart of Indie Radio’s European Show

I got to celebrate the release of Dear Diary by doing an interview on the European Show. This was such a special interview. It’s always a blast chatting with Captain Eddie.

In the interview, I talk about the inspiration behind Dear Diary, my favorite song from the album, my overall learning experience from releasing an album, what inspired me to start Write on Track, and some of my favorite episodes of the show. Then, Eddie officially invited me to be a signed featured artist on the show. He actually made me cry. Watch my full interview below.

I’ll never forget this interview. I’m so lucky to be part of the Heart of Indie family, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Guest-Hosting Voice of A Woman

One of my favorite experiences so far has been guest-hosting Voice of A Woman to celebrate the release of Dear Diary and spotlight some of my favorite women in music. When Linda reached out and asked me if I’d like to guest-host the show, I was so beyond honored. She was the first one to ever give me airplay on a show when she played “All I Want This Christmas” during the Voice of A Woman Christmas Special last year, so getting to make my radio host debut by guest-hosting the show was truly a full-circle moment. 

Guest-hosting Voice of A Woman was so much fun. I really enjoyed choosing all of the music and talking in between each song. I put a lot of thought into the show because I wanted to make it meaningful. I didn’t only choose my favorite songs by my favorite artists. I chose songs by artists that impacted me in some way or have an important message or story behind their music. I’ll never forget this experience, and I’m so grateful for Linda. She’s supported me from the beginning, and guest-hosting the show was a dream come true. You can listen to my Voice of A Woman takeover here.

My Dear Diary Special on Unsigned with Paul Miles

Paul has supported my music so much since I released “LA Will Wait for Me” back in March. I was so beyond excited when he asked me if I’d like to come on Unsigned for a special to celebrate Dear Diary. I had a blast on the show, and it was awesome getting to do a track-by-track interview for the album. I really enjoyed taking Paul and the listeners of Unsigned on a journey through Dear Diary. 

I’m so grateful for all of Paul’s support over the past eight months. It’s always a fun time getting to catch up with him and be on the show. You can listen to my Dear Diary special on Unsigned here.

The Other October Interviews and Press 

October was full of interviews and other press opportunities. I’m so grateful for everyone who took time to interview me and share my music this month.

First, I did an interview for Heart of Indie Radio’s Tumblr. I share the inspiration behind “Find Love,” my favorite lyric from the song, advice to indie artists, the inspiration for Write on Track, what listeners can expect from Dear Diary, and more. You can read my interview here.

Next, BuzzMusic shared a Dear Diary announcement ahead of release. In the announcement, they called me a “star on the rise.” Not bad, right? Check it out here.

It’s always fun catching up with COOL TOP20 for release talks. Ahead of the release of Dear Diary, I did an interview for the album. I share the inspiration behind the album, the meaning behind the album’s title and diary metaphor, the challenges I faced during the writing and recording process, and my favorite memories from creating the project. Read my interview here.

On release day, Lauren Jayne shared the interview she invited me to do for Awayday Radio. I loved chatting with Lauren about Dear Diary. I talk about how it feels releasing the album, my favorite song from the album, my journey of self-discovery and how I hope it inspires others, and so much more. This was a special interview, and you can read it here.

Next, MJB Events PR shared a feature article about me and Dear Diary on release day. The coolest part is that it was written in Dutch! How awesome is that? You can read the English translation here.

Also, my interview for Women of HERstory dropped on release day. This is definitely one of my favorite podcast interviews yet. I loved chatting with Heather about Dear Diary, vulnerability in my music, my songwriting process, the importance of reflecting on how far I’ve come, my second favorite color, my favorite part about being a woman, and so much more. You can listen to my interview on Spotify and all other podcast platforms.

October kept the podcast interviews coming. The week after Dear Diary was released, my interview for Listen2This dropped. This was a super fun interview. I talk about “Will I Ever,” Dear Diary, my songwriting process, learning guitar, the music I grew up listening to and the music I listen to now, and so much more. Also, at the end of the interview, I was asked to pick the three artists I’d like to headline a music festival, which was a great wrap-up to the interview. You can listen to it on Spotify and all other podcast platforms.

Next, I had the absolute honor of being on Unscripted with Aaron Conrad. I discovered Aaron’s podcast a few months ago, and I’ve been so inspired by the concept of his show and all the stories his guests share. I connected with Aaron, and he invited me on the show to have a very honest conversation. I loved this interview because Aaron and I really dive into the challenges. Even though I’m in the music industry, Aaron makes many parallels to business and other industries. We all face similar struggles, and our conversation captures these realities in an honest way. I think it’s so important to be real about both the successes and the setbacks, and I’m grateful for Aaron for allowing me to do this on his show. I hope that this interview inspires others and paints a genuine picture of what it’s like being a songwriter and independent artist. You can listen to it on Spotify and all other podcast platforms.

I was so excited when my friend, Cody Murphy, invited me to come back on Weekdays with Murph. Cody has been so supportive of my music, and I loved catching up with him to talk all about Dear Diary, Write on Track, and so much more. You can listen to my interview here.

Next, BuzzMusic shared an article that features a track-by-track review of Dear Diary and my interview. I can’t put into words how incredible this review of my album is. BuzzMusic took so much time to write a very detailed and beautiful review, and I’m so grateful. Also, I loved catching up with them to chat all about the album. You can read the review and interview here.

Last but certainly not least, my friend, Jess, shared a lovely review of Dear Diary on Fierce & Fabulous Revolution. Jess has supported me from the beginning, so it’s always special receiving reviews from her. This one definitely put a smile on my face. You can read the review here.

I’m so grateful for every single opportunity October gave me to share my music with such lovely people in the music industry. Everyone who interviewed me or featured my music in some way this month truly has my heart.

Guest-Hosting Heart of Indie Radio’s Halloween Special Late Night Show

October truly ended on a spooky high note. I had the absolute honor of guest-hosting the Halloween Special Late Night Show on Heart of Indie Radio with Captain Eddie.

I seriously had the most fun ever being part of this special. Eddie and I played some fantastic Halloween music and talked about Halloween movies, scary stories, costumes, and so much more. This was the most fun way to end such a fabulous month. I’m so grateful to Eddie for giving me this opportunity. What a way to make my Heart of Indie Radio guest-host debut! Listen to the Halloween Special Late Night Show here.

October was truly something else. I’m so blessed for all that this month brought me. I really enjoyed reflecting back on everything that happened to write this blog post. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all that’s going on, especially during a release, so I loved taking time for myself to remember my October highlights and appreciate them. To be honest, these monthly wraps have helped me stay grounded and remind me that it’s important to stop and reflect on my musical journey. I can’t wait to see what November has in store for me.