Why I donated all of the 2016 proceeds from Treasure to Girls Rock NC:

My first album, Treasure, took five years to manifest. In 2011, my marriage dissolved and my life changed unalterably. I very quickly realized I had not been using my voice. No singing in the shower, no writing, no honest vulnerability, no listening to my gut. I was saying a lot of No. I'm quoting Brene Brown when I say "unused creativity is not benign." My throat was literally clogged and my creativity covered with wounds. Others told me to remain quiet and my own brain told me my dreams were ridiculous.

My divorce activated a period of saying Yes. Of following the path, not the plan. I said yes to growing my community, which grew exponentially. I learned how to show up for them and let them show up for me. I took an Eat, Pray, Love trip around the world and cried and healed. I read The Alchemist over and over and over and decided I was an adventurer looking for treasure. I met my gorgeous partner and began identifying as bisexual/pan. I reclaimed my voice, sang in the shower, wrote all night and eventually sang backup for tUnE-yArDs.

My journaling became poetry became songs I loved, and songs that embarrassed the shit out of me. It was clear that the backup singing work I was doing was energizing, and I channeled that into strengthening my voice and laying open my story. My producer and friend, Bobby Funk, showed up and with a last name like Funk, it was clinched. The Birdhorse became a music project about courage, vulnerability, collaboration, patience and fun, and, most of all, about allowing my inner voice to guide me on my path. Recording my first album was not about self-indulgence, rather, it was about radical self-care. It was about going with the flow and following my joy.

I donated all 2016 proceeds from the sale of Treasure to the non-profit organization Girls Rock NC because I believe in empowering little girls and gender nonconforming kids to be loud, to feel like queens, and to find their voices, their joy, and their communities in safe and supportive spaces. I also wanted to continue to build music community and I think the kind of people who bought this album to donate to GRNC are my kind of people.

You can download the album here paying what you want or for $9 at www.thebirdhorse.com. Funds from here on out will go towards recording album #2. Enjoy the album. I've heard it's "fun." Spread this page around if it feels right.

Xo,
Toni