Heroes & Heartaches A Tale of Love, Loss, Yearning & Learning. Hi and thank you for being here. I want to talk a bit about this project and why it's so special to me. My god-father, Francisco Gallegos passed away in 2010 and the songs on this album are dedicated to and inspired by him. The Story Francisco was a father figure to me, a mentor, a music teacher, a life coach and a friend. He took my family in and gave us a home when I was very young, when we had nowhere to go. He continued to be there throughout his life. He loved me like a daughter and taught me many things. He was an amazing musician. He was a disciplinarian. He loved to laugh. He was very much a DIY guy and he was old school. He believed in hard work, dedication and he was constantly pushing boundaries until the day he died. At the end of his life, in his 70's he was still playing golf, recording songs, studying Spanish and learning to play the accordion. We were even collaborating on music together. I treasure that time we had. He was an inspiration and helped many people in his life. The Songs You'll notice a couple of songs with a distinctly 50's/60's vibe to them, that is a tribute to Francisco and his era. 'Guiding Light' is very much about our relationship on a personal level. I also included 'Should've Known Better' on this CD a single I released which has been getting a lot of attention lately spending many weeks in top indie folk charts as well as just winning a 2016 Akademia Music Award beating out hundreds of other songs. The album 'Heroes & Heartaches' is a tale of love, loss, yearning & learning diving into different layers and chapters of my life. It was a very emotional experience recording this CD as I started while grieving the death of my godfather and finished while pregnant with my first child. Major life changes. I know Francisco would've been proud of these songs and of me and that feels good. This project is dear to my heart and without him, it could've never happened. The Studio This marks my 7th CD release and my 2nd one working at Gawain Matthews' Studio, which is just an amazing process. I mean he's so talented, he can play just about any instrument you can think of. He works quick and gets the best out of you. You get top quality sound coming out of there and it's a gorgeous, pristine environment. He's in San Pablo overlooking the water there. He was a guitarist for Mickey Heart on tour and plays a bit here and there but mainly he is a studio guy and is amazing at it. One of his songs was featured on American Idol. He recorded The Amber Snider Band CD back in 2012 but this time I gave the band a break and it was just him and I on the tracks. Just incredible. I'm really excited about these songs. The Cover After recently having my baby, Autumn. It has become challenging to find a balance between being a mother, a wife, an artist, working to pay the bills and being healthy. You know when you stick a picture of yourself that you like on your fridge for inspiration? Well this is that picture for me. It's pre-baby and it's bringing sexy back, right? That's all I'm gonna say. It's a cool picture but it's also an inspiration for me to strive to be the best that I can be. Final Word I guess that's it. I hope you enjoy the CD. I'm really looking forward to you hearing these tracks, and if you pre-order the CD Deluxe Bundle which officially comes out August 4th, you can get a CD, a physical copy signed and delivered to your house as well as a digital download the day of the release and you get 3 exclusive tracks that have not been released anywhere else as a BONUS. Finally, you will get to watch a live stream of CD release show from Bilco's in Napa, CA which is gonna be a lot of fun. All that you can get for $29. It is really important for an indie artist such as myself who is doing all this myself, to have a good first week of sales, that is very important. If I sell a bunch, I might possibly get noticed by people who can really help my career. Anyway, I am going to keep doing this regardless but every little bit helps. I really appreciate your guys' support and am excited about Heroes & Heartaches. Thank you and see you soon, bye. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ranging from ho-down-happy to storytelling- sad, Amber and her band mates deliver a slice of their own lyrically catchy, hook driven proverbial country-pop pie." - CMT