CD ANNOUNCEMENT

The sun has been shining, and it seems to be sending endless energy my way! I’ve been keeping busy the past couple months, and am super excited to have had some radio play from UBC’s 101.9 FM CiTR and The Tri Cities 98.7 CKPM. If you want to hear my tunes on your local station, please let them know about my music by sending an email, tweet or by phoning in!

With talks for recording a song in the near future, it’s going to keep getting busier!

I’d also like to thank everyone who has purchased a CD, or downloaded the music from iTunes etc. I am truly humbled by the response it has received. It warms my heart to hear that someone has connected to my music, and I hope to have more songs to share with you in the future. A special thanks to my mom (who is quite possibly my biggest groupie, and should be receiving royalties by now from all the CD’s she cells)

I have 499 CD’s left. They sit, waiting, dreaming of the day their new owner will play them. As soon as I can find them all homes I will be able to start planning the next record! So if you have been enjoying the music, please tell a friend, share the link or tweet about it!

Much love and gratitude,

Haley

“Ready or Not” is available for purchase right here off of Haley’s website as well as on Bandcamp, CD Baby and iTunes.

If you’d prefer to have an official CD or a personally addressed and signed copy, please send an email to info@haleykturner.com and we will ship it directly to you. We also offer gift wrapped Cd’s for that special someone.

Haley is already brainstorming ideas for her next record so if you are eager to hear more tunes you can help make it possible by ordering a CD or downloading “Ready Or Not” directly off her website. We’ve set up an option to “pay what you want” so you name the price!

For the most up to date information and a complete list of shows become a Fan on Facebook.

PRESS

FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Haley recently flew to Kelowna to perform for the first annual Heart and Stroke Foundations Red Dress Event in Kelowna BC. “I’m so thrilled to have been a part of such a great event, and to have been able to contribute to the successful evening by donating CD’s.” They raised over $22,000! Here’s a brief excerpt about the event. And YES! there definitely were firemen there.

“Entertainment for the night comes in the form of singer Haley Turner, “and we also have a female DJ for the night, so it’s pretty female-geared,” said King.
It is not, however, an exclusively female event and there are some brave (or smart!) men who have purchased tickets to the event as well.

Everyone who comes will get treated to a swag bag that will include one of Turner’s newly released CDs, and there will be a silent auction table with such great items up for for bid as girl’s weekend retreats, yoga passes, clothing, accessories, personal cooking classes, and even tickets to the Heart concert coming up at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
And, did we mention, there will be firemen walking around carrying trays?”

by Glenna Turnbull at The daily Courier

April 6, 2012

LOCAL MUSICIAN HAS NEW CD

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

Coming to Vancouver with the intention of becoming an actress, Haley K. Turner “dreamt of pretty dresses / And glasses of champagne / The smell of fresh red roses / And the life with all the fame,” as the lyrics to “Sunset Mountain” reveal. However, although she still may well achieve fame and all its trappings, she has chosen to follow a different artistic path – that of a singer-songwriter.

Turner grew up in Kelowna. “Prior to moving,” she told the Independent in an e-mail interview, “I had written about 13 songs or so with the help of my dad, but I didn’t play an instrument yet, so I focused on acting rather than a career in music.

“My reasons for becoming an actor were very different than my reasons for writing music. The promise of fame and fortune that had initially interested me in acting eventually lost its appeal when I discovered that, unlike with acting, music allowed me to have creative control over the message and image I was putting out there. The first song on the album, ‘Sunset Mountain,’ is about just that. Shortly after moving to Vancouver, I purchased a guitar and I have been focusing entirely on music for the last couple years.”

One tangible result of all that work is Turner’s debut CD, Ready or Not, which was released last fall. Featuring five songs, all of which were written by Turner, it has a cheerful, optimistic, pop-folk sound – a very promising first recording.

On her website and on the CD’s inside cover, Turner shares, “I write about what I see and feel and what I think people need to hear. I write about stories I have heard, people who have inspired me, and random moments I experience.” As but one example, the second song on the CD, “Hope,” was inspired by a trip to Israel. In it, Turner encourages people to take on the task of tikkun olam, though she doesn’t use that language. She writes, “All the people say, that it’s someone else’s job to do / But I am telling you that it’s just as much yours too / We have it pretty great in this corner of our world / But just because it’s out of sight doesn’t mean it’s not our fight.”

“I first visited Israel on a CIE [Canada Israel Experience] Birthright trip in 2009,” Turner told the Independent. “For me, part of being an artist is the desire to encourage and inspire others, which has always led to an interest in being part of a volunteer project.

“In May 2011, I chose to integrate my love for Israel and my desire to volunteer, and participated on a Volunteer Social Action Mission with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. We volunteered at Shechafim, a multi-language, multicultural school located in the northern area of Israel, situated not too far from the Syrian and Lebanese borders. Muslim, Druze and Jewish children from age six to 21 with severe disabilities learn side by side. Seeing firsthand the sense of equality this school brings in such a conflicted region was inspiring to say the least.”

The two trips came together in her writing, she said. “The inspiration I received from staring at the desert the first time I visited Israel led me to writing the second song on the album, ‘Hope,’ and the experiences from my second visit added a whole new depth of meaning to the song.”

Her volunteering, as well as her other work, prove that Turner isn’t simply a woman of words.

“This past year,” she said, “I was privileged to work with a wonderful local nonprofit called Cassie and Friends Fund, [which is] for children with juvenile arthritis. My background is primarily in the entertainment industry and, as a past performer for a similar program, I came on board as the program coordinator for their educational touring puppet troupe.”

That her skill set encompasses both the creative and the practical is evident from the recording quality and marketing of Ready or Not – though she admits that everything didn’t come easily to her.

“I think some of the best advice I have received is to focus on the things you are good at, and find others to work with in the areas you’re not so good at,” she said. “The artistic elements of creating a CD, such as writing, come a lot more naturally to me than the business components and it’s definitely been a learning curve. As an independent artist with a limited budget, it’s not always an option to hire people to help with the business side of music.

“It’s not just about releasing the CD, but finding the right producer and musicians, planning and executing the marketing strategy and designing the CD packaging, to name a few. I really had to execute many of these tasks alone, but I was also fortunate to find some wonderful people to work with.

“I also couldn’t imagine trying to run your own business without the information made available by the Internet, and some of the other great resources available to artists, such as Music BC,” she continued. “I attended many workshops and events, attempting to immerse myself in the industry and obtain as much knowledge as I could prior to getting into the studio. I first wanted to record a CD about five years ago, and I think that it took me this long to gain enough knowledge to execute it successfully and also save up enough to fund the project myself.”

While Turner said she considers it fortunate that artists can start their careers independently, she admitted that, with digital sales and free downloads, it is difficult to recoup the money invested in a recording.

“Although it is possible to buy the songs online,” she said, “a lot of work and heart went into designing the CD packaging and I encourage local fans to purchase a hard copy of the album. The anonymity of online sales prevents me from knowing my audience and, as a songwriter whose music is directly influenced by the people around me and the events in my life, it means so much to me to know who my listeners are. Plus, the CD itself is purple and that is just fun! I’m happy to pop it in the mail or arrange to drop it off, a perfect example of a do-it-yourself task for an indie artist!”

This positive attitude has been ingrained in Turner, who one day hopes to write music for TV and film. “I think it’s safe to say that I grew up in an artistic home,” she said. “Aside from watching my dad perform in local venues around Kelowna, my mom is a committed supporter of the arts. Both of my parents have always been encouraging to my older sister, Erica, and me. Erica left home at the age of 11 to pursue a career as a professional ballet dancer. She retired a few years ago and is now heading down her second career path, attending Columbia University in NYC…. I know a lot of kids grow up with parents who don’t see the value in the arts, and I feel truly blessed to have not had them standing in my way. You encounter enough obstacles and disbelievers when seeking a career in the arts, and I couldn’t imagine not having had the support I received from my family along the way.

“My very first concert was a sold-out show at the JCC in Kelowna,” she added. “The support I received from both the Jewish and Kelowna community really encouraged me to continue. This past year, I performed in Kelowna for the first time in a very long time and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of the faces that were there for my very first show!”

Ready or Not can be purchased at haleykturner.com , Bandcamp and CD Baby. For a signed CD, e-mail info@haleykturner.com .

READY OR NOT CD REVIEW

With lots of excitement and gratitude, we’d like to share with you Haley’s first CD Review!

Street Sounds: Kelowna artist is ready and able on new album By Dean Gordon-Smith
– Vernon Morning Star Published: February 17, 2012 1:00 AM

Lately, big extravagant album releases seem to signal the condition of record company excess. Just how much attention can be given 25 song CDs with remixes and “bonus tracks”?

What’s that got to do with an album called Ready or Not, by Kelowna singer/songwriter Haley K. Turner? Mainly one thing, and that’s because Turner’s album, her first, is a five-song EP that’s to the point and brief. It’s as long as it needs to be. Turner, who recorded her album in Vancouver, shows herself as a well-rounded songwriter whose strength is in chimey and ringing pop-tinged rock songs.

Right away, the production comes off as tasteful, and the restraint shown on the recording seems natural and relaxed. This highlights Turner’s vocals, which bring on many breezy elements of mid’90’s alterna-pop and a sweet delivery that begs for acoustic guitars and strummy choruses. Turner’s sound is reminiscent of laid-back singers like Dido and Lisa Loeb – where’d they go anyway?

The collaborative spirit is strong here, and the band and Turner lean toward upbeat radio-friendly soft rock, while stepping clear of clichés (Sunset Mountain). There aren’t any shadows and rough bumps here, and the vibe is shiny and warm.

A dark-leaning dynamic that appears in These Days makes it seem to jump out in contrast to the high-spirited tenor of the preceding songs. This track is well-paced, with a simple sincerity and depth of arrangement.

Turner’s songs are unabashedly cheerful, and deceptively clever. They have pop appeal, but they don’t get concerned with the industry standard.

–– Dean Gordon-Smith is a local musician whose CD review column, Street Sounds, appears in The Morning Star every Friday.