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Bloom & Grow
Today is the day! My second full length album, Bloom & Grow is unleashed upon the world. It’s been 2 years since I first sat down and chose the songs I’d include on this offering. I had in mind a series of stories about personal growth, self-acceptance, and the very human quest to do something with our lives and leave something behind. In the two years from conception to release there have been many changes in my life, but what I envisioned for the album really didn’t change. It seems like it’s been a really long time coming. There are 12 songs on this one. The album begins and ends with an entreatment to do whatever it is you need to do to fulfill yourself. In between, each song presents a bit of a vignette of a a person at a different stage of this journey. Some songs are of the point where everything falls apart. Some are about the moment where the drive is at full throttle. There are nods to the things that inspire us and keep us going. There are songs inspired by film, video games, and my reading of Herodotus one fall. Some of the songs were written in Montreal in the Before Times, the others were written in the early days of the pandemic. I played my Yairi Gakki classical guitar on all the songs. Two were co-written with my friend Cara Winsor Hehir, my husband plays drums on most of the songs, bass on one, synth and death metal growls on another, and even chipped in with some field recordings of birdsong. I play bass on most of the album, but Scott Kingsley makes an appearance with the double bass on on track. OrangeG who I met on twitter and got to know through the Hambones Open Mic drops in with harmonica and backing vocals on another. My good friend Sahara Jane and her true love Ken Shorely help out on another in the form of backing vocals and flower pot percussion. I also play more electric guitar on this album than on any of my others.
For some reason, whenever I release an album I go visit one of my older brothers and press the go button in their back yard. Here I am in my oldest brother’s backyard in 2019 pushing the button on New Shoes: 
And here I am this morning in my other brother’s backyard. 
I’m so happy with how it all came together in the end and I hope you’ll enjoy it. You can find all places to buy or stream HERE and get it on bandcamp HERE
It’s also available in the official Kyla Tilley store HERE