I spent all summer socially distant, researching, writing, growing flowers and filming nature in my backyard. For GROUNDED, I researched the healing effects of sound and mindfulness and listened to dozens of audiobooks through the Library. To create some of the songs (Here Now, Awaken the Peace Within, Binaural Bees) I’d meditate in the garden, film flowers, capture nature sounds, and then go into my studio to record. Every song was sung in a positive mindset with loving and healing intentions. Every flower filmed was captured in the hope of making you smile. At the very least, I hope sharing these pretty sights and sounds will help you zone out for 20 minutes and share ways to show love to yourself and the people you care about.
The album is made up of mindfulness exercises, mantras, and meditations. For it, I wrote minute long mantras of positive affirmations to balance out the experience of negative thoughts—and I feel like it has worked. Some mornings I wake up with a song called “Good Vibes” or “Four-Square Breathing Box” as my first morning thought rather than a.m. dread.
LaToya Kent is a musician and meditation teacher. She radiates love and is so cool and calm. I asked her to record meditations, gave her creative freedom, trusted her expertise and then wrote music around her words (Breathe, You Are Love).
Free time to focus on art is what I craved most, pre-pandemic. I decided to make something good come of a tragic situation. When life is full of worry, it’s important to balance perspective. Even when chaos is overwhelming, there are beautiful occurrences still happening. I recognizemy privilege. I can stay home. I have a home. I have a garden. How can I share these privileges while social distancing?
My music has a hypnotic meditative quality. Over the years people have requested I make more meditations. The first one I composed, 5 Minute Meditation (Amateur Hour, 2014) poked fun at my fleeting attention span. I didn’t realize it was relatable. For years, I have meditated and assumed that I was bad at it. I thought my overactive thinking was a unique curse. However, I misunderstood the mechanics of the brain. Now I know that we are all constantly thinking—organic machines are made for it. It is the judgement we tie to these thoughts that cause our suffering. Fighting and suppressing these throughs is pointless and only increases distress.
I am not a doctor, but I am a self-proclaimed expert at experiencing worry and anxiety. I share my vulnerability and path to peace through my art in hopes it helps you too. Making this album has helped me articulate and find a path to self-acceptance. It has allowed me to acknowledge my overthinking brain and offer it kindness and love. Since making this album, I have experienced moments of mental silence for the first time.
In the past, I wrongly assumed I was too antsy to meditate. I sought out learning different forms and it tried running, sitting, and standing. Chanting is what made me realize that I have been meditating my whole life. And I’m good at it. Singing is my meditation. It is deep breathing. Vocalization sends healing vibrations into the various parts of my body. Singing and songwriting is where I find flow and can be in the present moment. I think back at times when I was unable to sing, and remember feeling miserable, in pain, and experiencing mental distress. Songs are my soul singing. My breath is my spirit. Music is my medicine.
I hope this film helps you explore meditation in whatever form works for you. Please sing or hum along if you so desire. If it brings you joy, please do it. We can all use more moments of happiness right now.
This film is only a fraction of the record. The digital album will release early January through Bandcamp. There will be more meditation videos released then too.
GROUNDED is supported by the SPACES Urgent Art Fund and by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
Uno Lady presents GROUNDED: an ambient, experimental film based on meditation
Film premiere: Monday, December 14, 2020, 7pm – on YouTube
Self-trained musician Christa Ebert (who performs as Uno Lady) has created a short experimental film about mindfulness that includes mantras, soothing songs, and guided meditations for busy minds. Filmed mostly in her backyard in Cleveland, Ohio during the pandemic, Ebert created stop-motion animations with homegrown flowers, sweet potatoes, drawings, and paintings, spliced with calming footage of nature, all set to a soundtrack composed specifically for the project.
The music features vocal harmonies, field recordings of nature sounds, bells, and synths sprinkled throughout. Background music was created from environmental elements such as crickets chirping and babbling streams, percussive beats were made with bird songs, and Ebert even created a guiro effect by grating ears of corn she grew together.
Multi-media artist Sequoia Bostick contributed hypnotic animations to several of the songs, and in addition to Ebert’s voice, one of the meditations in the film “Breathe” is guided by LaToya Kent a meditation teacher and musician who performs solo and as a part of Mourning [A] BLKstar.
The purpose of GROUNDED is to help people find peace in the present moment and offer kindness and healing through these difficult times.
The full album will be released digitally January 12, 2021 for the new moon, and more meditation videos will be released then as well. Preorders start December 4, 2020.
GROUNDED was made with support from the SPACES Urgent Art Fund and by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
Tip if you’d like: Venmo @TheUnoLady – PayPal: unoladymusic@gmail.com – cashapp $TheUnoLady
I’m ecstatic to share my new album with you. GROUNDED is 20 tracks of soothing songs, mantras, and guided meditations. On December 14, 2020, I will be releasing a short experimental film featuring 11 of the songs. Subscribe to UnoLady.com and I’ll send you news about the release and a free download of one of the meditations.
Typically, when I make a record I would schedule a release show but I’m trying something new. Maybe someday this film will live as an installation, but in the meantime, I wanted to share it virtually, so you can watch safely from the comfort of your own home.
You will be able to stream the release on all platforms and buy the digital album through Bandcamp. Preorders start December 4, 2020, and the full album will be released digitally January 12, 2021 just in time for the new moon. More meditation videos will be released then as well.
Thank you so much for your support. Creating GROUNDED has had such a healing effect on me and I hope to share some of that peace with you.
GROUNDED is supported by the SPACES Urgent Art Fund and by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
OSMOSIS assimilates ideas, sounds, and styles, from 60’s pop, folk, jazz, and soul. Vocals are the foundation. OSMOSIS is a soaring collection of 13 songs. It’s a colorful journey through a sonic dream world, and Uno Lady is your guide. Limited edition clear green vinyl released on Volar Records. The record comes with a digital download code.
OSMOSIS was written and recorded by Christa Ebert. Mixed by Christa Ebert and Mike Montgomery at Candyland Studios. “Don’t Break My Heart” and “Slow Dance with Resentment” was recorded/engineered by Jeanna Lax at Rogue Studios and features Roseanna Safros – drums, Theresa May – trumpet, and Beth Hiser – standup bass.
Cover photograph by Diana Hlywiak and cover font by John Greiner. Animated center vinyl label by Drew Tetz. Album artwork concept and layout by Christa Ebert.
FEATURING GUEST ARTISTS:
Roseanna Safros – drums (Sister Smirk, R Ring)
Erica Snowden-Rodríguez – cello (Erie Philharmonic)
Theresa May – trumpet (Mourning [A] BLKstar)
Beth Hiser – standup bass
Cross Brothers- Nick Cross – guitar + Tony Cross – percussion
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR CREATIVITY ON THIS RECORD.
CoolCleveland – “Wed 9/2 @ 8PM Christa Ebert, who performs as Uno Lady, is one of northeast Ohio’s most interesting — and most chameleon artists. Calling herself a “one woman choir,” she makes her music by processing and layering her voice with electronic effects pedals, creating a dense and hypnotically dreamy sound. Her oddball, sometimes surreal, lyrics add to the strangeness of her impact, as does her constantly changing appearance. She’s released several albums, including last year’s Osmosis LP.
Ebert will perform as part of the Maltz Performing Arts Center’s LIVE @ Silver Hall streaming series, which airs a different locally based artist every Wednesday and Sunday. It’s free to tune in. Go here.
Steel Bridge
Spans across the Sturgeon Bay
Links the land
Holds the hand of each shore
Ride on
Charge through
Share songs
Look to
Bridge the divide
Shore to shore
Steel Bridge Songfest is an annual music festival that brings together songwriters from around the country and the world. SBSF was founded in 2005 to benefit the preservation of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin’s iconic Michigan Street Bridge. The weeklong event centers around a focused writing and recording collaboration called Construction Zone, culminating in a series of concerts celebrating those new songs, the artists that created them, and the community where they were written.
For the safety of the writers and concertgoers, Steel Bridge has adapted to current risks heading into its 16th year and is moving the whole event online for 2020. A limited, “beta test” run of Construction Zone writing is currently underway thanks to technology!
The weekend concerts normally held at the Third Avenue Playhouse in Sturgeon Bay will be recreated via Facebook Live. Tune in to hear the new songs written this year, tributes to epic songs from SBSF’s 15-year discography, and special performances by Construction Zone writers past and present, all hosted live by musicians from around the country.
