Audra Mae - "La Isla Bonita"

This song and her voice both come back to me like dreams you can’t ever seem to forget, and yet still can’t quite fully remember. Haunting and beautiful, she takes your heart and carefully wraps it so tightly in her silken voice that you’re afraid it may not be able to beat. 

Even with nothing but a bootleg copy of a performance of hers from 2008, you know that there is magic in it. It’s something that live, was unforgettable.

So I’ve actually posted on Facebook a number of times about Miss Mae. Most of them happened, however, back in 2008 or 2009 before I was actually blogging. Then, I kind of felt like I’d written about her, or her songs, to the point of saturation. So, I rather unconsciously, stepped back from fascination with her, to search out other artists, and to give her a chance to make more music, and boy has she. 

She’s come out with a number of incredible songs lately, and co-written a huge amount of jams with other performers. Seeing so much of her, and hearing about her in so much press has me nostalgic for the years when I discovered and fell in love with her, and when seeing her was as easy as popping over to Mark’s restaurant in West Hollywood to see her kill it at the Upright Cabaret. 

She’s a jewel of a woman, a star of a singer, and an inspiration of a songwriter. Her sound is unique and her words are pure wisdom. Sometimes whimsical, and often flirty, the truth behind her music comes from a life well lived and a talent backed up by hard work. 

Here’s a little of her Bio from her website: 

Audra Mae was born and raised in Oklahoma. After spending her youth in community theaters and costume closets, she moved to TN for a year of college at MTSU in 2003 and quickly decided that a place like Los Angeles might have more to offer an ambitious 19 year-old than a little country town could ever provide. In January of 2004, she packed her grandmother's used car and headed west. 

Many open mics and packages of ramen noodles later, Audra signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell and broke out as a songwriter in 2009 co-writing "Who I Was Born To Be," which was the only original song on Susan Boyle's multi-platinum I Dreamed A Dream. She signed a record deal with Side One Dummy who released Mae's debut The Happiest Lamb in 2010. 

Building on the critical success of her sophomore album, also released by Side One Dummy, 2012's Audra Mae and the Almighty Sound with producer Deana Carter, Audra mapped a new creative direction inspired by work with some of entertainment's greats. Miranda Lambert is currently climbing the country charts with the Almighty Sound's "Little Red Wagon," while Kelly Clarkson climbs the pop charts with Mae's co-written track "Heartbeat Song." 

Mae has recorded with the legendary Burt Bacharach and Celine Dion's comeback album, Loved Me Back to Life, features Mae's co-written "Somebody Loves Somebody" and "Breakaway." Avicii's True has Mae singing lead on the Mac Davis hit "Addicted to You" and her co-written hit "Shame on Me" just to name a few. 

Her music has been featured on several television shows, including Sons of Anarchy, The Good Wife and CSI. Her resume includes national tours with Cory Brannan, Chuck Ragan, Good Old War and an appearance at Miami's Ultra Music Festival with Avicii.”

So, today, with Guts and Guile, I choose Audra Mae’s impressive and nostalgic cover of Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita”, as my find your own paradise, create your own eden, let your heart be the map, song for an, with promises and premonitions, like lips parted for kissing, you may not see it now - but it’s surely on it’s way like a miracle descending to it’s destination Tuesday

Go on and shimmer. Let them see the mundane become the miraculous.

Thank You for your gift Audra, you’re a gem.