Beyond The Smokey Mirror

Welcome & Bright Blessings!

As in our last blog post, the last few months took notice of the Covert Dragon (Randy) and Eye recording our new album, “Beyond The Smokey Mirror”, in Finlayson, Minnesota via Rhythmpriest Studios of Atchingtan Learning Center. This colorful three and a half month journey has been filled with dedicated, hard yet pleasantly enjoyable work on both ends, from mine and Randy’s to Paul Ferrise’s, our engineer and producer.

After recording the tracks for “Beyond The Smokey Mirror”, the Covert Dragon and Eye returned to our home in Southern Indiana for a couple months to regroup and attend to personal matters. In that time, Paul would work on the mix of a track (total of 9) in Rhythympriest Studios and send it down to us for review; we would decide what we liked and didn’t in the mix, what we would like to add in if necessary, taking notes in the meantime and returning that information to him. This went on steady for all of November and December of 2018 and into early January of 2019. As of mid-January 2019, we gathered our equipment and persons and took the frigid drive North returning to Atchingtan in Minnesota to master and finish the album.

A side note, Randy and Eye really adore Atchingtan Learning Center. We’re here now as Eye write this blog; the land has been in a deep snowy freeze but the far-stretching woodlands, streams, many lakes (18+ inch thick ice that you can drive out onto where ice fishing villages are nestled), and wildlife (even bears) are vibrant and in abundance. Something I’ve enjoyed about staying here at Atchingtan is cooking diverse vegan meals every night, setting the dinner table and sharing wholesome meals and company with good people. This is truly a gorgeous, peaceful and healing place that we don’t look forward to leaving when the time comes. See links below for Atchingtan and Rhythmpriest Productions...

Back to the album, for the last two weeks Randy, myself, and Paul have been perfecting the final touches and mix. We’re blown away by the sheer power and brilliance of Paul’s work helping create this album and the album itself. To hear a sample before we release “Beyond The Smokey Mirror”, hop over to our first page and scroll down to hear our pre-release song, “Humanity’s Lullaby”. In working on this album, Eye have learned that so much goes in the production and mastery of the tracks and album itself. Behind the scenes, an outside observer would see three very dedicated persons deep in the mixes of each track tweaking the smallest details to bring the best quality for the listener. The finished product is but the tip of the iceberg compared to everything else that goes into creating a work of art like this to make it shine its brightest. The same goes for every concert we put on, dedicated long hours are spent rehearsing songs to present them best for the listener. The life of a working musician is a wonderful thing but it’s also a lot of hard work and even stressful at times for a few minutes of performing out for others compared to the many hours behind the scenes writing lyrics, composing music, rehearsing, and even at times unstable finances for equipment and travel, etc. Our love of music and performing for other's gives us strength to keep going. We find a silver lining more than naught.

We think ultimately the sacrifice we give is by far worth providing enjoyment for untold numbers of peoples and life through our music, performance, and persons. This year is looking like a lot of fun, the Covert Dragon and Eye are lined up to play festivals and other concerts, more information coming soon. We have new videos up via our video page and more on the way. We’ll also have updated pictures from studio sessions and more. Stay tuned for our release of “Beyond The Smokey Mirror”, we will release this album on CD, Digital Formats, and a first for us and our fans, Vinyl Record! When we release the album, we will also post a blog detailing the meanings of the songs and the album itself as well as other intriguing information. We'd love to hear from you, write us a note on the contact page. As always, thank you for being here and sparkle on…

Love & Well Wishes,

Mariah Dawn Shepherd & the Covert Dragon

To learn more about Atchingtan, visit here:

www.atchingtan.org

Facebook: Atchingtan Learning Center

To learn more about Rhythmpriest Productions, visit here:

www.rhythmpriest.com

Facebook: Rhythmpriest Productions