Connie Works With Award-Winning Producer, Kipper Eldridge

From Connie's manager, Rod Paul:

Hi, everyone,

Have you all seen Connie's wonderful new You Tube video where she sings IMAGINE with accompaniment by the legendary songwriter/producer Kipper Eldridge on guitar? It's one you won't want to miss. http://youtu.be/4sXPkLfCzUQ

Connie is hard at work these days with Kipper to record an album for the Asian market. She has carefully selected the songs with Ashley Whitfield at EvoSound Records in Hong Kong that will be best received by her audience in that region.

Kipper is a Grammy and Emmy winning producer and musican, best known for producing and performing on Sting's biggest selling solo album "Brand New Day", as well as the platinum albums "All This Time" and "Sacred Love".

The plan is for Connie to visit Hong Kong in December to promote the album and perform live at various venues. This will be her second trip to Hong Kong this year.

Connie is expected to be back in the studio in Los Angeles, early in 2013, working on her album with Toby Gad - another huge name in the music business.  Toby has produced for Demi Lovato, The Wanted, One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen, Beyonce and many other major artists.

Another big event, coming up soon (November 20th) for Connie, is her 12th birthday!

"SAIL AWAY" Preview - Connie in California video passes 500,000 view mark!

When Connie came to Los Angeles in April, we thought it would be interesting for her to record an original "Pop" song.  Noted songwriter/producer Robbie Nevil, came up with SAIL AWAY for us and on a Sunday morning, at Robbie's studio in Santa Monica, Connie stepped up to the microphone.

We all loved what we heard.  What started out as an "experiment" turned into a fun and popular song for Connie.  The little video we put together just passed 500,000 views on YouTube!

Produced and released independently, the song is doing well on iTunes and the other digital download sites.  We are starting to get radio airplay worldwide and we've made a distribution deal for the song in Japan, where Connie has many fans.  The popular teen music website TweenPopRadio has a Top 40 list and Connie has been at #1 for five straight weeks... ahead of One Direction, Demi Lovato, Maroon5, Carly Rae Jepsen, even Justin Bieber.

As most of you know, Connie has recorded 4 new songs with multi-platinum songwriter/producer Toby Gad.  Two of the songs, Connie co-wrote!  Hopefully, she will be back in the studio with Toby soon, to produce more tracks with the goal of an album in mind.

Plans are in the works for Connie to record an album for the Asian market and a trip to Hong Kong in December to promote it.

Going back to SAIL AWAY for a moment... it is really important that folks support the single by purchasing it.  Unfortunately, today, only about half of the digital downloads for songs are legal ones.  Piracy has really hurt the music industry, the artists and all of the supporting people who make music for us to listen to possible.  So, just remember how hard artists like Connie work to entertain us all and share with us their special talent.  Isn't a dollar worth it to keep the music coming from people like Connie?  If you haven't done it yet, please visit iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon or your favorite legitimate download site and do your part to support your favorite artists.

If you haven't seen the SAIL AWAY preview video yet, have a look... it's pure Connie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPVrrCQDzd4

Posted by Connie's manager, Rod Paul.

Connie Talbot is on Viddy

This is just to let you know that Connie is now on Viddy.

The way we found out about Viddy was rather curious. Connie’s manager, Rod Paul, happened to be reading the newspapers one day (as you do) and he came across an article in the Los Angeles Times about a mobile app/website known as Viddy which has been attracting followers very fast recently. 

Viddy has been called "the Twitter for videos" - you follow people, they follow you, and everyone uploads videos, but they must be 15 seconds or less. The mobile app is only available on the iPhone right now, but an Android version will be ready soon, they tell us. Of course, you can always watch Viddy from a PC or a Mac, if you prefer that.

So, Rod showed the article to Connie and her sister Mollie, and they checked out the Viddy app. They thought it was a really good idea, and Connie was eager to get started with it. 

Later that day, Connie showed me her list of ideas for possible viddys. At first glance, all I could see was a page full of amazing pictures and words and colors and swirly bits everywhere. I said, “Wow, Connie, that’s a great piece of artwork! Maybe you should put it on exhibition at the National Gallery in London?” 

It took Connie a while to convince me it was actually a list. I’m sure everyone will forgive me for being a bit slow on the uptake. When I make lists, they look kind of... list-like and, well, a bit dull really. It takes some time for me to adjust to the idea of working with someone like Connie, who makes lists that look like works of art.

If you follow Connie on Viddy, you can expect to see some of the ideas on that list turned into viddys very soon. Click here to go to Viddy.com and watch some viddys from Connie!

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, that the LA Times article tells us that Justin Bieber has a keen interest in Viddy, and that he is giving it his full support. So, Justin, if you happen to be reading this, just to let you know that Connie Talbot is also now on Viddy, and that she supports it too!

Posted by Simon.

Connie works with Toby Gad

In June, Connie made her second visit of this year to Los Angeles, and stayed for just over a week. She spent much of the time in the recording studio, where she was working with the legendary multi-Grammy award winning song writer/producer Toby Gad.

This picture shows Toby and Connie during a break in recording sessions.

Connie also found time while she was in L.A. to visit Disneyland and other interesting places. At the end of her visit, when Connie was on her way to the airport to catch her flight home to England, we asked her what she thought was the most amazing thing that happened during her stay in America. Without any hesitation, she replied, "Definitely the most amazing thing was working with Toby Gad in the recording studio!"

Connie To The Rescue

I thought I'd share a little story about Connie with you.

Recently, Connie was in Los Angeles to record with songwriter/producer Toby Gad.  After a week of long days and hard work in the studio, I thought Connie deserved a little treat.  So, on the last day she was here, I packed up the car with Connie and Sharon and our friends Jordan and Lee-anne Jansen, and we headed to Disneyland.  Everyone had a great time, but there was one little incident that sticks in my mind.  As we were walking through the park, Connie spotted a little boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old, standing in the middle of the crowd of people walking every which direction.  He was just standing there, crying, and no one seemed to pay much attention... well, except Connie.  She quickly crossed over to the little guy, squatted down next to him and asked him what was wrong.  He told her he was lost.  Connie took his hand and brought him over to where the rest of us were standing, then she ran over to a park employee with a walkie-talkie and told him about the lost boy.  Within a couple of minutes, frightened boy and worried family were reunited.  It is just a simple story, but it showed what a kind, caring and compassionate young person Connie Talbot is.

Having gotten to know Connie's parents, Gavin and Sharon, and having already witnessed several random acts of kindness involving strangers, I know where Connie gets those wonderful qualities from.

It is a special treat to be working with Connie.  She has my admiration and respect.