After over three years, my new album arrived at my house on Friday, all packaged and ready to go. I'm so excited for my CD Release Show at The Outer Space in Hamden, CT on December 3rd, and for everyone to see and hear the new album. It's been a bit of a long road. In the last three years, I've done some things that I'm extremely proud of: I've sung the National Anthem at both Shea Stadium and Citifield, as well as at Madison Square Garden, Red Bull Arena, Nassau Coliseum, and of course for my home team, The Bridgeport Sound Tigers. I've had my music featured on MTV, and used as background music on NBC and other major networks. I've played at some amazing venues and festivals, like the Fillmore Irving Plaza in NYC and at Summerfest in Milwaukee. And in 2008, I opened for Coldplay. It's been a crazy ride, and through it all, this album slowly (very slowly!) came together.

It's a cliché, but it really has been a labor of love. Some of the music was written as little as a month after I released Between You & Me, and some much later. One song took me over a year to write, and another came together in a day. I also dealt with some topics beyond my normal relationship themes of love and break-ups; there are three songs about people I've lost, which is more personal than I feel I've ever gotten. It could be that these people were just that close to me, or that I've gotten to an age where I know how to express those emotions.

In a lot of ways, this albums is a book-end for me. Not that this is the end of my music career, but creatively it closes out a trio of albums, and a chapter in my life. I'm extremely excited to see what lies ahead, and am so thankful for the people who have stuck by me through all of the ups and downs over the years. So many people were a part of this last album; some are still a part of my life and others are not, but every one of them means so much to me that I'll never be able to fully thank them for what they've done. For some, it was musical inspiration, and for others, it was the motivation to keep going, but one thing I've learned is that everyone serves a purpose, even if you can't see it right away.

I hope those of you in and around CT will be able to make it out to the show. I promise it will be worth the ride and that I won't keep you out too late!! The album will be up on iTunes soon, and I can't wait to hear which song is everyone's favorite!

For a sneak peak of some of the tracks, check out my profile on Ourstage.com and leave some love.

See you all soon.

-Amanda