Rumors & Legends

by Laura K. Balke

Rumors & Legends cover art
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  • Rumors & Legends Limited Edition Vinyl with 16 Page Hardbound Book

    Rumors & Legends on translucent gold vinyl. The record is packaged inside of a 12.5" x 12.5" 16 page hardbound book, featuring artwork that corresponds to each song. Each drawing uses the lyrics from the song to create an image that is illustrative to their content.

    Includes immediate download of 11-track album in your choice of MP3 320, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

    Buy Now  $30 USD

    ships within 3 days
    edition of 100

  • Rumors & Legends Limited Edition CD with 28 Page Handbound Hardcover Book

    Rumors & Legends on CD, packaged inside of a limited edition handmade hardcover book featuring drawings that correspond to each song. Each drawing uses the lyrics of the song to create an image that is illustrative to their content.

    Includes immediate download of 11-track album in your choice of MP3 320, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

    Buy Now  $20 USD

    ships within 3 days
    edition of 250

  • Digital Album

    Immediate download of 11-track album in your choice of MP3 320, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

    Buy Now  $5 USD  or more

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about

Rumors & Legends is Laura K Balke's third full-length album. It was recorded, mixed and produced by Jon Autry in non-traditional spaces across Indiana and in Brooklyn, usually during the quietest hours of the night. An art gallery, piano warehouse, and both Jon and Laura's apartments served as temporary studios. For this effort Laura enlisted the help of Zachary Jetter (Humans, Th'Empires) on percussion and Kurt Friedrich (Rodeo Ruby Love) on keys. The result is both organic and lush, and affords many avenues previously unexplored by the artist.

Each song has corresponding artwork that uses the lyrics to create an image that is illustrative to their content. These images are embedded in the digital files, and physical copies are encased in a 28 page hardbound book that features the drawings.

credits

released 18 November 2011
All songs written by Laura K Balke © 2011

Laura K Balke: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals
Zahary Walter: Drums/Percussion
Kurt Friedrich: Rheem Kee Bass, Nord, Rhodes, Piano, B3
Jon Autry: Bass guitar Electric Guitar, Moog Guitar, 12-string Acoustic, Casios and Yamahas,
Auxiliary Percussion, Electric Piano, Background Vocals
Michael Meyers: Cello
Matthew Beer: Banjo
Philip Balke: Piano Technician

Recorded at:
Mt. Comfort {a space for champions} - Indianapolis, IN
John Booker Residence - Indianapolis, IN
The Piano Shoppe - Ft. Wayne, IN
Broken Home -Brooklyn, NY

Produced, recorded and mixed by Jon Autry

Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Services

Thanks: Jon, Zachary and Kurt for making this album possible, Mumsy, Dad and the Balke clan, Elizabeth Kjeldsen, Mallery Pierce and Erika Lewis for all of the help along the way, Static Salon, NM Kjeldsen, Frank Schweikhardt, Bro. Stephen, Rodeo Ruby Love, Matthew Beer, Jascha, John Davey, Mudlove Pottery, Rick Feltes, Les Sisomboune and Carl, DeeDee, Jessica, Josh and Booe for putting up with our living room sessions, and to all of my listeners. You make my dreams come true.

Special thanks to Casey Roberts at Mt Comfort and John and Larry at the Piano Shoppe for the use of their space for recording.

Artwork by Laura K Balke. Elizabeth Kjeldsen helped with file preparation.

tags

tags: folk acoustic lyrical Indianapolis

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all rights reserved

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about

Brought up in a small town amongst the fields of Northern Indiana, Laura K. Balke has been crafting songs from her ... more surroundings and inner workings ever since she picked up her mother's guitar at the age of 13. On the heels of her third full-length record, Rumors & Legends, Balke's time is split between touring and the welcome juxtaposition of residing in Indianapolis. less

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Track Name: Achilles
When Mama dipped me in the river
I bet she didn’t think of you
I’ve been so careful to keep
My heel safely in my shoes
To the sweetest boys I’ve been the first to say goodbye
And the cruelest man I ever met, he could not make me cry
But when Mama dipped me in the river
I bet she didn’t think that I would find you

But what a weakness,
What a wonderful weakness I have found
Take me home and keep my head
Spinnin’ all around, around, around

When Daddy built me a fortress
I bet he didn’t think of you
The world, they meet a stone wall
But there is one who walks right on through
I will take on an army with my own two hands
Then you take me down with a single glance
When Daddy built me a fortress
I bet he didn’t think that you would find me

But what a weakness,
What a wonderful weakness I have now
Take me home and keep my head
Spinnin’ all around, around, around

When Mama dipped me in the river
I bet she didn’t think of you
Track Name: Turn The Key
I saw you outside of my window
I let you in though I didn’t plan to stay
I loved you the best that I knew how
We consumed the amber waves of grain
Feel your heart beat in my chest
Imagine the air of a higher altitude
I let you in when I wanted out
The chains are only as heavy as what we are tied to

I was a songbird in ink on your arm
You were a redbird caged in my parlor
I turned the key, I let you loose
Into a cold, harsh winter that was the truth

I saw you outside of my window
Just like you had intended
The glass filtered everything out
But painful images
If I had other voices
I would call you out into the streets
If I had wings like an angel
I’d have guarded you from me

But I’m just a songbird in ink on your arm
And you are a redbird that my hands can only harm
I turned the key, I let you loose
Into the last song that I can sing to you
Track Name: Two Ships
We were two ships passing in the night
Too unexpecting to put up a fight
I thought that I could mold my life
And make whatever I wanted to
But how could I, how could I
Have imagined you

And if you told me right now
That we should go our separate ways
I’d feel just as lucky for
The minutes, the hours the days

We are a palindrome
We are waters yet unknown
I would have spent a lifetime
Just looking for you
So how did I, how did I
Find you so soon

My Mother says life isn’t fair
And for once that’s working out in my favor
‘Cause we’ve left the world behind out there
And I have taken the best of it with me

I have taken the best of it with me
Track Name: Maybe I Was Wrong
All the beautiful people in this world
They only make me want you more
What’s going on?
You’re across the country
And all of the eligible bachelors in this room
Only make me want to be attractive to you

Maybe I was wrong when I said
That “Love is just a mad rush of chemicals to the brain
That catches me at the right time,
something easily explained”
Had I forgotten that I could feel this way?

We don’t know what kind of affect we’ll have
On each other
And for once I don’t care to meet
The girl at the end of this road
But if I looked into your future
And I saw that I was no good for you
Baby I would go

Maybe I was wrong, when said
That “love is not for others, a decision to be made
It is only given with the intention to take”
Had I forgotten that it could be this way?

Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was wrong
Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was wrong
Track Name: Not For This
I can see the cortisone injections in my fingers now
I can hear the cough I’m coughing as I lay me down
I can feel the back I’m breaking finally giving out
I never said I wanted to put a good body in the ground

I want my hands to be ruined by the matters of my heart
And I want my love to be used by someone
For whom I can thank my lucky stars
I want my legs to be broken under that which can be carried
Far, far, farther than I
Farther than I..

Can see the cortisone injections in my fingers now
I can hear the cough I’m coughing as I lay me down
I can feel the back I’m breaking finally giving out

But not for this, not for this, not for this
Track Name: Sometimes
Sometimes everything works out all by itself
Sometimes accidents are good for your health
I went out that night ‘cause I was obliged
Who knew head on collision could foster life
Murphy’s Law couldn’t stand up to you and I
Sometimes everything that could go wrong goes right
Track Name: I Can't
You’re asking again if I’ll let you stay
‘Cause you’d rather it end any other way
And you try to remind me of the battles we’ve won
This is bigger than that, this is Armageddon

I’ve loved with my body, I’ve loved with my soul
I’ve loved with my mind but never the whole
And I need to know, I need to know if that’s possible

I try to explain but my words just pollute
I told you I loved you, how can this be the truth
But I’ve studied the structure we built with our time
Brick upon brick it’s your and it’s mine

And you are the ceiling, you are the floor
You are the windows and the door
But I can’t, I can’t live alone inside this house anymore
Track Name: As Small As We Are
You were taken from the hospital into the lion’s den
Where they found you a baby boy while they were looking for a fugitive
There was no custody battle ‘cause Mama didn’t show
So you slept in a cradle in my bedroom five years ago

You were so weak and they were so strong
As you took the brunt of the things they did wrong
But as weak as we are I won’t be gone long
And you’re safe with me when I’m holding your hand
Whatever you are, child I understand

And now you’ve got a new Mama and a little sister
The harder you try to get their attention the further you’re pushed out the picture
Take the medicine down for your rotting baby teeth
You are much too young to be asking “why do you love me?”

You were so small and they were so big
I couldn’t move a finger while I watched what they did
But as small as we are I promise you this
That you’re safe with me when I’m holding your hand
And whatever you are, child I understand
Track Name: Sticks and Stones
Put a bandage on the scrape
Peroxide washes the germs away
Tears and kisses on the face
They help alleviate the pain

It was easy to be resilient on the outside
You just get back on that bike
Harder with the things that can be kept in the dark
I can open my hands but can I open my heart?

You’ll find evidence if you map out the scars
Of living soul and beating heart
I used to know my enemies like I knew the pavement
Hitting my knees

It’s not sticks and stones, it’s words
And it’s not broken bones
It’s love that hurts

Living is messy business if you’re doing it right
I want to go to bed with my feet dirty tonight
And loving is gonna hurt you but I think it’s worth the price
Like grass stains on my jeans and a ruined bike
Track Name: Retreat
When you think more often than not
That you should have stayed in
When you can count the faces out there
That you’d like to see on one hand
That’s when I remember
That there’s no place in this world I have to be
And I can just go home to my handful of friends
And retreat

When you’ve got no one to prove yourself to
But the devil on your shoulder
When all this practice and perfection
Is just getting you older
That’s when I remember
If I can write just one song I want to sing
Then I can rest in peace

When you’ve got nothing to reach for
But gray skies up above
And beneath your feet is only
The sad excuse for a hill to prop you up
That’s when I remember
that I shouldn’t stop, not for anything
And if I can just keep moving
I will be happy