Sum of One

#		Title	Length
1		Dreaming of Africa	3:00	Play
2		Sum of One	3:26	Play
3		Feather	3:38	Play
4		Words Are Windows	5:41	Play
5		Ancient Mysteries	3:37	Play
6		Fire Bird	2:55	Play
7		Balance Me	3:46	Play
8		Cry Lover, Cry	3:47	Play
9		Rapture	5:23	Play
10		Don't Bring Your Worries to Bed	3:01	Play
			38:14

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Description

"My first public appearance? I used to sing for hot fudge sundaes at the Black Angus Restaurant, I must have been six or seven. There was this nice blonde lady in the bar, that would give me and my sister sundaes if I would sing songs for her. Early on I associated singing with a reward."

Though she no longer sings for ice cream sundaes, Kat White Star, continues to connect with the rewards, only now they are a private, more personal experience. Speaking of her newly released, first solo performance, "The cd is a snap shot taken of my soul in 2002, with a fancy camera I was just beginning to use. The result of the experiment is that I am more confident than ever that I can create from the inside out and the outside in, equally. This album marks a slice of time that I devoted to learning how to let out my inner voice." Her new cd, "Sum of One", seeks the rewards to be garnered with her beautiful, powerful voice and a bundle of songs reflecting her soulful perspective of the world.

Singing since a child, Kat studied with Arden Fowler, was a young apprentice at Gloria Musicae and like any natural singer tried any and all genres before settling on original rock and soul. Longtime Sarasota music fans may remember her start with Blue Earth River. Still, others will know her from Elysian Sex-Drive, when she truly developed as a singer, performer and songwriter. She was with ESD, as the band is sometimes known, for seven years, "it was high energy, high emotions, a big soap opera and always, always really great music." Kat contributed a soulful, jazzy and technically exacting sound to a truly unique live music experience. Their album "Live at the Five-O" and their memorable live shows were nothing to be missed.

Those ESD years provided growth professionally and personally, deepening her sense of self and it was with this band that she began to further her own musical ideas and interests. "As a band we pushed a few edges with who we were and the kind of music we did, especially for Sarasota. But, that made me grow up in lots of ways, because I really was a little chick peeping her head out of the egg. Those years brought me a world of experience about music and life." The band was a modest success and most importantly generated a realization that her musical and songwriting development had to become an internal, personal, liberating experience. "The songs needed to be sourced from the inside, flowing outward, where before the inspiration was external. Typically, I was creating in response to an instrument (a guitar or piano melody.) I had to walk into my own room, kick out the instruments, shut the door and not come out for a couple of years." The result of those two years is "Sum of One," a collection of ten songs of original music and lyrics.

A lot of the time spent was focused on learning the basics, not about singing or performing, but recording the music. This cd, like so many today, is the product of the musician's technology skills, as well as their artistic ones. "My partner, Deerwomon and I devoted ourselves to learning the recording process and established the beginning of our home studio. Big Studio A." The cd was recorded there, as has several other local and national artists. But the home scene brought more than easy access; it was an environment of personal expansion. "I needed to hear the songs that were waiting to be born. I needed to learn how to care for them like any mother, how to nurture them without smothering, them, how to let them get wild and still know they are safe and how to let them go." Each of the songs on "Sum of One" reveals a certain aspect of this personal cultivation and represents a new, field of individual discovery and a greater musical understanding for Kat White Star.

The title "Sum of One" speaks to the metaphysical idea that we are divinely connected to the Universe, and thereby each other. A lullaby meant to soothe and remind us of our divine connections, the title cut "Sum of One" is a gentle reminder that the umbilical cord to the Source was never broken, only forgotten. The lyrics remind us that the push of the universe is always forward, taking us ever closer to remembering who we really are, divine and Light filled.

"Balance Me", is a song based on a Kahlil Gibran's quote, "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding." Kat explains, "When the understanding of these words really hit me, I felt like I really self-reflected for the first time during a painful situation, not after the situation was resolved. I was able to 'feel' outside the 'shell' and recognize the shell for what it was." To others these painful realizations may be growing pains, for Kat it was encouragement to get past obstacles, pain or confusion.

In "Cry Lover, Cry" she hopes to share the sense of holding on for peace in a world that is full of pain and anger. "I had to be in the grief, to learn that this was a continuous process, continuous throughout our lives." This exploration continues in our "Global Consciousness," which addresses the power in dealing with our feelings and the dangers of ignoring our truths, as the song reminds us "an eye for an eye makes the world blind and I want to see my Brother and Sister, Mother and Father." The other songs reflect these same themes and carry the optimistic spiritual messages that are at the foundation of Kat White Star's music.

As "Sum of One" is released tour plans for Kat include a return to the women's festival music circuit, a variety of annual festivals held throughout the country featuring up and coming women musicians. "The experiences I had performing at women's festivals with my previous band affirms my plans to make this portion of the tour a priority." The tours involving the college women's studies are also of interest. "I'd love to start doing the folk festivals large and small, spiritual gatherings and conferences; venues that encourage the audience to feel and think, and hopefully remember the connections we have with each other."

It is like those long ago sundaes for a song when she was seven, creating "Sum of One" was the joyful reward for doing what she loves best, making music with meaning and depth, global resonance and hopefulness.

Nona Beardsley, - Sarasota Florida, 12 8 02