Brilliant artist, singer and songwriter Susan Edwards Martin never rests on her laurels. She sang live throughout the holidays and recently wrote her “Thank you Song!”
What motivated you to write this song?
These past two years have been most challenging for us all. Even though the world was slowing down, shutting down, shows being cancelled, and teaching my students now online in Zoom, I felt I couldn’t sit idle and watch life pass me by. For me, it is imperative and life-affirming, that I be creative…always. I continually have ideas that inspire me. I refused to allow this oppressive and daunting pandemic to get me down! I became very involved with my spiritual communities, which were all occurring on Zoom and found much comfort and peace going within, meditating, practicing my kundalini yoga, praying, continuing my studies to expand my consciousness and to remain faithful to the truth of who I am…who we are. I had to create! I had to write! And I found a safe place to create and record my music with music producer extraordinaire, Tony Campodonico.
Tell our readers more about him and how his association helped the song.
Tony has a swell, fully equipped recording studio in a detached garage/studio on his property and I found myself going there two times a week to record my songs. Tony is a one man band and is an accomplished musician, with keyboards as his main instrument. He is proficient with all the possibilities that the digital realm has to offer and I knew I was in the best place possible.
With my “Thank You Song” I was feeling so much gratitude for my life and my family and with my open heart ready to receive all the good life has to offer. I had an idea of the spirit of the song…a bluegrass, country vibe and I knew I wanted it to be melodic and heartfelt, inspiring, catchy, fun, and danceable! I rejoiced that Tony got to show off his considerable talent on the keyboard in this song! “Thank You” are two very powerful words that will change your life! I felt that it could help heal the current divisiveness and sadness that have been prevalent in the world and our current situation. We need to remember to be grateful for every thing in our lives and give thanks in an uplifting and joyous way through this song!!
Describe your process in songwriting.
The process is always so interesting to me. I had the melody and essence of the song in my head and “Thank You” just seemed to fit perfectly. Then once the “musical hook” was established, I was able to write more lyrics to fully express the sentiment of the song. We thought that it would enhance the song to have a “live” guitarist on the track so Tony contacted his amazingly talented friend Derol Caraco, to give us the pleasure of experiencing his superb guitar playing! Staying Covid compliant, we sent him the basic track with vocals and piano, and he was able to record his part in his own studio and send it to Tony electronically through the internet cloud!! Amazing!! The way it’s mixed together, it sounds like we’re all in the same room! I love that! Technology at its finest! I am so pleased with the final recording and I feel I am a very lucky gal to have all this talent to make music with!!! Thank you!!!
You can find the THANK YOU SONG! and many of Susan Edwards Martin’s music streaming on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music…just about everywhere!!
Get up and dance and ENJOY!!
