Dave's Music #141 Camela Widad - Today's Gurl

 Our Thursday release is from someone who I just saw at the Driftless Women in Music event, or should I call it a festival like Camela did that night.  When thinking about who to share it's always difficult to pick, but I do have those three rules set forth in this post.  This EP meets all of them, plus I thought I could use it to break a couple of myths.  While I don't walk away from events with CD's or T-Shirts, it's not that I don't support your music.  Well that's if you have it on Bandcamp, and Camela did so I bought this EP on Sunday to hear more especially Today's Gurl that she shared at the event.  Next myth, I do not only buy music on Bandcamp Friday.  Yep I'll hit up a song or two between the days especially if I want to have it in my library immediately. (Remember I'm stubborn and won't stream). Last myth, I'm all in this to get noticed; nope.  While you have to have attention and views to meet my mission, I simply want to make sure you meet music that you haven't heard before.  (Right now maybe I should pander to the Taylor Swift crowd ha.)  Today I was told a story that I'll hold for now that made my day with a connection in the blog; and it's pretty cool.

So let's now talk about Camela Widad, per her website

A mainstay Americana Folk Troubadour, Camela Widad is a little bit saintly and a little bit rock and roll delivering Americana music for The Dreamers. With vocals that climb, then dance through subtlety, delivered against a backdrop of organic and stripped back performances, her unique voice pulls you back to something remembered. Growing up in the Midwest state of Wisconsin, in the world of country and blues tinged with a hint of rock, the rich underbelly of American culture courses through her veins:  unpretentious, honest and welcoming to the sinner and the saint alike. 

I looked around for a possible band "The Dreamers" that she might have sang lead for, maybe the dreamers are us.  She said said she grew up in the midwest and has lived in all the corners of the US and now she's back in Spring Green. (note the T-Shirt on the album cover)  Spring Green is a heavenly spot that has the Shitty Barn that I wrote about in the Kelsey Waldon post.  Camela too was booked for a song swap at the 2022 Great River Folk Fest and I missed it being in another part of the fest grounds at the time.

So seeing her half hour set was great. While she followed an incredible set by Nikki and Liz; she grabbed the audience and instantly had them coming along with her through her songs.  Let's dive into her September 2022 release...

1)My Hometown 

She spoke of gratitude of having the audience in the video sit through 200 playings of the song until they got enough material... ha.. I just had to see the video.

The settlers said the spring green Took their breath away So it became the town’s namesake Frank Lloyd Wright called it home And the theaters too We were Rednecks And Trainwrecks Just dreamers through and through

Plus a great use of Amazing Grace lines in the song.

2) Run Run Run

Get ready to move and dance around, pretty sure Camela is not living a mediocre life.

They say change, it starts from within
That all we are, it’s unlimited
We’re Sacred and we’re broken, We’re fiery but we’re brave
Give us the courage to live this all fun on
Until our dying day

3) Goodbye Days

Camela shows she can slow down and write a song for a lost friend.  As her Bandcamp explains:

“Goodbye Days” is a meditative, bittersweet ballad that Widad wrote as a farewell letter to a love missed. Her friend passed away before they got the chance to come back to each other.

4) Today's Gurl

Boy this song needs a fun video behind it... I hope it's in the works and I'll add it to this blog post as a future update.  She said it was written for her daughter but might have turned out for herself.  Of course I missed the chance to meet her mother that was in the back rows on Saturday and ask her if Camela was a little devil growing up.  After reading the initial release of this blog post, she commented "I plead the 5th on #4! Mom will never tell, well maybe if you buy her a beer you get the whole story!"

She can drive a stick shift
Clean the house with a baby on her hip
She can bake a birthday cake
From scratch
She loves her black dress and her strappy heals
Cusses like a sailor

5) Blind

The description she had on the site is perfect: 

Raw, exposed demo recording that feels like you're in the room: sparse and emotional, with new subtle support tracks added, that captures a vulnerability and Joni Mitchel-esque vocals

BONUS song for the Blog:

Chasing Beauty... ok I don't own this one yet but I put the album my wishlist for Bandcamp Friday.  The song was what I was talking about living on all the corners of the US

I’ve been walking miles and miles
Chasing Beauty
In just about every city
From Austin, to L.A. the San Francisco Bay
All along you told me
Stop Looking Outside

Plus it's the song I recorded that night I finally saw her.

All my Reviews are both for you and me as I learn more about the artists when you slow down and listen.  Click here to see the past releases. You can find and follow us on Facebook  and as always Good Music has NO Expiration Date, so if you are listening to this ten years from now, it still will be awesome music.  If this is a first time visit, check out the index of themes for past Reviews and Playlist editions and for the Reviews alone, click here.  Find out why I do this here,  who I am here, and why I hate Spotify here.

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