a livestream capture of Heather (with ilyAIMY)

unreleased demos

Are You Lost?

First single from Heather's first solo studio CD. 3-song EP version available now. Fund the full-length at http://www.igg.me/at/messmakers


Good Heart

One of the first completed songs for my attempt at FAWM, and a Valentine. 

Wild

Track 3 on the "Mess" EP, which will join with 8 more songs this June to become the full length: "A Message in the Mess."
Featuring Joel Ackerson (mandolin/electric guitar/arrangement), Zack Teran (bass), Eric Andersen (vocals) and Justin Kruger (percussion). Also known as The Novelists of Reno, NV. 

Lyrics: 
God, please make me a stone.
I don’t want to feel anything anymore.
All my soft heart never came to any good
And I can’t find a blue-eyed boy
To love me like he should.

Is my heart keeping you awake?
You prefer my lips a dam and not a garden gate.
We could be years before the flood.
Then we’ll just ask all the disasters not to come with us.
Like that’s enough. 

Boy, please leave me alone.
You will never know what I know, what I’ve done.
Centuries, my legacy, how they curse my name.
I made you like God, but all you remember
Is my shame.

Is my heart keeping you awake?
You prefer my lips a dam and not a garden gate.
We could be years before the flood.
Then we’ll just ask all the disasters not to come with us.

A woman drove you from the garden,
That’s how a woman made you great.
What would you be if not for me,
The very woman that you hate?
And I have born my punishment.
And I have earned a better fate.
And I will face my God again.
I am unafraid. I am unafraid.


Even Now

Live rehearsal at Corvid's Cafe in St. Louis. Diners in the background. 

HUM (rehearsal w/ Justin McMahon)

A look inside my head at one of the more disquieting thoughts I have as a teacher at the start of every school year. Written in response to the prompt, "Back to School," which also required a specific education institution name, what you like/hate about returning to school, the words quiz, school, class, teacher and book, and extra points for "monkey."

Lyrics:
Hello, my name is: Third School in Three Years.
Shuffled around where there's money to spare.
New list of classes, new list of names.
So much that's different, so much the same.

When did I begin studying all the latches - Could I open them
if my hands were shaking? That one painted shut ...
Cataloging all the places a child might fit.
Five doors to the exit. Thirty feet to the ground.
One flight to the roof. Better up? Better down?
Decide in advance, if you're stuck on the staircase.
How much time could I buy them if I ran out waving?

I hate it -
The space it takes up in my mind,
when I signed up to raise
the caliber
of minds.

So much time drilling all of the calculations
I hope they never know all my preparations,
how I quiz myself daily,
that they think it's just lessons,
textbooks from Texas, Civil War, Smith and Wesson,
ancient history, irrelevant mathematics.
So ashamed to have been monkeys - so willing to be statistics.
Keep them safe while I get them the basics:
Reading, Writing, 'Rithmetic and Shelter in Place.

I hate it -
The space it takes up in my mind,
when I signed up to raise
the caliber of their minds.
Caliber:
the measurement of character
or the barrel of a gun.
Isn't language fun?
And the ones who are listening,
they think I know everything.

I'll make no hollow points here,
don't know what laws we should be passing,
don't need no degree from Princeton
for what to do about our children.
The trigger end's a person, hurt and scared and sad,
who could've been taught to talk or run or sing when they're mad.
Who needed comfort, a teacher, a parent.
a breath, a moment, before
there's no coming back...

I'd rather hold you than your bullet,
And so would everybody here.
And if they don't, I'll try to teach them
how to love instead of fear.
I'd rather hold you than your bullet.
You can take up this space in my mind.
'Cause I signed up to raise
the caliber of lives.
Caliber:
the measurement of character
or the barrel of a gun.
isn't language fun?
and the ones who are listening,
they think they know everything.

2016 demos

Caliber

Though I cover Hallelujah (like everyone else), to honor Leonard Cohen, I wanted to cover my favorite of his tunes, Story of Isaac.

Story Of Isaac (Leonard Cohen cover)

Very sneak peak of one of the songs that won the Grand Prize Bernard Ebb Songwriting Award in 2019. The finished track has some bass and tasty mandolin you have to wait to hear until its 2020 release. Being produced by Dave Mallen, Innovation Studios, Annandale, VA.

If We Come Too Late (Demo)

Responding to the prompt "Taken By the Wind" from Rob Hinkal's first Monday open mic songwriter's challenge, Feb. 1.

What The Wind Takes (demo)

More than a decade touring the U.S., Heather Aubrey Lloyd has brought her lush, passionate voice to every type of venue, from folk festivals and bars to bait shops and clothing-optional resorts. A recovering reporter, her songs drift from journalistic to deeply personal, each narrative offered up in her distinctive alto and layered over finger-picked guitar. Her sets are rounded out with a few pieces on ukulele and djembe, the instrument that has earned her primal reputation as co-front for the Baltimore-based band ilyAIMY. Solo and with the band, Heather wields her wit and warmth from the stage to build a relationship with every audience.  Heather set to work on "A Message in the Mess," the solo record that ushered in years of awards since its 2017 release: Mid-Atlantic Song Contest Director's Award for Album of the Year, Telluride Troubador Top 4, Most-Wanted Artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, National Women's Music Festival Emerging Artist, No Depression/FreshGrass Songwriter Award Finalist, and Grand Prize Winner of the 2019 Bernard Ebb Songwriting Award. New music coming in 2020!
 
"Voices this rich and emotionally hard-hitting - equal parts velvet darkness, barely contained heartbreak, and hard-won, unstoppable joy - don't come around often. Sing me the phone book, Heather Lloyd - I'll ask for an encore." 

"Lloyd's voice has a powerful emotional and technical range, using everything from a delicate whisper to a bluesy growl to breathe life into the folk narratives." - Michael Duck, The Morning Call

"A pint-sized powerhouse of a singer." - The Washington Times

heatheraubreylloyd

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