 We're long to hold you ever, so end to fear. Test, test. Isn't it wonderful gazing at our family tree? Doesn't it make you fool knowing how their lives will lead? Us to hear, us to know all the stars alive somehow. To make you, to make me, to make our whole family. Ancestors show me the way. Give me the quilt that teaches my heart to stay still. Trust me to carry your cross and I will. I will. Isn't it wonderful seeing how the worlds collide All the trades passing down generations formed your face And your voice and your heart every single piece we trace Ancestors show me the way. Give me the quilt that teaches my heart to stay. Trust me to carry your cross and I will. It's gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine. Thank you three. Do you prefer just Kulil or Kulil Brown? Kulil Brown is Kulil. There's another Kulil in town. Kulil. Excuse me. What's that? Oh my God, that was a lot. I definitely don't want to do that on air, so. I'll announce the show and who you are and then we'll just go right into the music. Okay, perfect. Mr. Smoke. And then we'll go straight into downtown, but I start that. Okay. Cool. We're live here in the Cabaret Studios. I'm your host, Bacaluna, and we have Desiree Gold in the house. Hello. Take it away. Man of smoke, you caught my eye. Take a toke and if I dive into the sky. You are just tuning into Cabaret. We are live with Desiree Gold. Thank you. So happy to be here. Yes. I want to say a little bit. First and foremost, I wanted to come to the moment where, you know, in that song, that last song, build it up just to break you down. Yes. Tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind that and what that means. Yes. So I wrote this tune in the middle of the pandemic, staying in my apartment downtown, downtown Denver, and seeing a lot of homelessness, seeing a lot of people. A lot of people struggling emotionally as well, friends, family, acquaintances. And being downtown and being brand new, I don't, I should probably start there. I had just moved to Denver, so I was brand new to the city. And I didn't have my footing. I didn't know many people. So I was, I was also feeling very kind of alone during the pandemic, trying to figure out how to make my dreams come true. And it seemed like it felt very much like a two, one step forward, two steps back kind of journey in the beginning. Just trying to establish myself and then seeing all of the pain and the hurt around me. This could get, this could get really dark really fast, but that's the inspiration behind it. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that with our audience out here in Radio Land. We were chatting a little bit about Desiree's journey and obviously it brought you to Denver, but it started in Chicagoland and then you went to college. So maybe just share a little bit about who Desiree Gold is. Oh, happily. Yes, I love to talk about myself. Thank you. I grew up in Chicagoland, Aurora, Illinois specifically. And I started singing pretty much immediately. I came out just like ready to go. So I was that little girl that was like, I'm going to grow up to be a singer. And sure enough, even in high school, I was convinced. I was like, yes, I'm going to grow up to be a singer. And I decided to pursue a degree in opera for college. Mind you, my mother was on board. She was my champion and I loved her for it. I love her so much for it. She put me through college even though we had no plan. I studied opera. What are you going to do with an opera degree is what every friend's parent said to me. I was like, I don't know. I'll figure it out. So yeah, I went to college out in Quincy, Massachusetts with the intention of hopefully transferring into a conservatory in downtown Boston. And then that just never happened. And let me tell you, I got out of college and those words were ringing in my ears. They were like, what are you going to do with that degree? And sure enough, I had no idea. But I started teaching. So I spent a good amount of time teaching private voice and piano lessons. And I still do that to this day and I love it. It's very fulfilling, but it's not everything. And I knew pretty quickly that that wasn't fulfilling enough for me. So that was when I decided to move out to Denver in 2019 to just like spread my wings, try this whole performing thing full-time. And I'd say it's going pretty well. Yeah, I'd say so for sure. And again, for those of you who just are tuning in, Desiree Gold is in our studios with percussionist Khalil Brown. Yeah, Khalil. Very nice. And I know you have so much music. You have an upcoming album that we're going to talk about, your show that's tomorrow night at the Roots Music Project. We'll talk about that. But let's dive back into the music and then we can chat a little bit more about who you are and all of that. Right on. This is a song, this is released. So folks can stream it if they'd like. It's titled Snooze for an hour. This next tune is titled It's Okay. And I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but it's for anyone who's feeling down, not about feeling down. Because you don't have to. It's okay. Here it goes. It's okay. Go to Desiree Gold Official and it's DZGoldOfficial.com and check it out. New album coming out. Yes, I do. I'm very much looking forward to finishing it. We're in the final stages now. And it should be ready and released come May. Mid-May, roughly. Maybe late May, but May. And some of these songs that you played tonight are going to be featured in that album as well. Absolutely. In fact, it's okay. We'll be on it. The second song I played this evening, Downtown, will be on it as well. And I have several more coming up that should be featured. Two. I'm very excited. So, Talis, when did you start actually writing music, coming from, you know, opera school and then, or, you know, studying opera in college? And then, like, was it before you went to college? Was it after? What inspired more of that songwriter in you? Okay. This is so funny. I don't share this a lot. And I definitely don't share my early writings, but I started writing in high school. And back then, I was very into musical theater. That might have been, like, my, like an idea of what my path might be. So, all of the songs that I wrote back in high school were very musical theater-y. And I can't, I don't remember any of them. I wouldn't want to. But I've been, I've been writing for so long. And it wasn't until, I'd say, 2017 that I started writing, 2017 that I started writing songs that I actually felt like sharing. That was the first year that I actually played a song of mine live. So, wow. It's surreal, like a little, like, when you think back at that time and who you are now. Right. I mean, I, for the longest time, I mean, I was studying musical theater and I was studying opera. So, I was used to just singing songs that were already written. So, the thought of sharing something that came out of my own brain was horrifying back then. Wow. Yeah. So, tonight's very special. We have Longmont Public Media here tonight recording and you can check out LongmontPublicMedia.org to see this recording later on down the road. But we do want to welcome Sergio and Nate to Cabaret as well as George who's engineering tonight's show. So, thank you both and all of you for being here. Of course, Khalil Brown on percussion and Desiree Gold here. Yes, thank you. Bringing us the most amazing music. Oh, talented. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. So, let's dive back in and then we can chat a little bit more about you and the music and Roots Music Project tomorrow night. Yes. Which apparently is sold out. Yes. So, those lucky people out there who have a ticket or, you know, like, if you have an extra, you can call me. Maybe I want to go because I'm really enjoying this tonight. But in the meantime, let's play some more of your music and... Yeah. You got it. All right, here's another tune that will be on the album. This one is a love song, but it's not a love song to a partner. It is actually a love song to all of the wonderful people that I get to meet doing exactly what I love to do. So, this is titled Memory Jar. Story about this real quick. It sounds like a breakup song. I actually wrote this song to myself from the perspective of my houseplants. So... Here it goes. Yeah, they were just looking real sad one day and it just, it came to me when I was like texting somebody and I was like, yeah, I can't keep my houseplants alive and then like a crying emoji. I was like, maybe I should water them with my tears and that song was born. I'll have you know though that my houseplants are thriving lately. Most of them. Most of them. I think they needed the song. I think they did. They just needed their little, their little slice of attention. And then you can replay this for them again and be like, here, I love you. Yes. They get to hear it almost daily, so... Yeah. Well, let's chat a little bit. Tomorrow night you're playing at the Roots Music Project, which for our listeners have you've never been. It's this amazing little project that's happening here in Boulder and you're going to be featured with a four piece? Is that correct? Yes. Yeah. Let me count in my head real quick. Yes. Correct. We'll have an upright bass, drums, guitar, and keys. Okay, great. And then you, so there's a... So five. Five. Awesome. And will you play keys too? Will there be two keys? No, there will only be one keyboard. For most of the set I will just be front and center. I will sit down for one song at the keyboard. And in fact, I wanted to play that for you this evening if that's all right. Oh, yay. Well, so come with me. Yes. And for those of you who will do a little test, who's the artist? Come with me. Maybe you have it. Okay. So it's a tribute live to Nora Jones. Nora Jones. Yes. And was that your idea? Was it Rich Project? No, it was... Brian Keating is the upright bassist. It's his idea. He brought it to me and I was over the moon because this album is a formative album. For me, I was seven when it came out and it informed my musical tastes, my musicality to this day. So I'm thrilled, overjoyed to be performing it. So you'll perform, come with me in its entirety by Nora Jones? Front to back. Oh, that's going to be a treat. Yes. Well, in the meantime, we'll play a little bit from that and then if you are curious about learning more about Deseret Gold, again, it's D-Z-I-R-A-G-O-L-D. Oh, A-E. Oh, A-E. D-Z-I-R-A-E. Beautiful. G-O-L-D official. Mm-hmm. Dot com. Can't forget the official. Yes. All right. Here we go. It's not the pale. It's just the near. It's just the near. Shall I move into some more original music? I'm very excited to play that one, by the way. All right. Up next, I've got a tune that's brand new. I don't perform it much at all. So bear with me if things go awry. But this is a jazzy original titled Shine. And when you shine. Deseret Gold in the House with Khalil Brown on Percussions. Oh, got a little tip. So we must know, after everyone now has looked at your website, DeseretGoldOfficial.com, how did you get coined Denver's Golden Girl? Oh, boy. We must know. I mean, obviously, because you're an amazing artist. So that's, you know, obvious, but tell us the story. Well, I think that it has something to do with my stage name being gold. I think that inspired, you know, just some rumors flitting around. Especially, actually, I came up with gold with some help, but my voice was often compared to liquid gold, or like honey or butter, you know, just like the rich things. And so that's how I took on the name DeseretGold. But I think, yeah, Denver's Golden Girl, I swear, I didn't come up with that myself. Someone else said it, and I said, yes, I will take that and run with it. Thank you very much. It was said in an introduction for some sort of event that I played at some point. It's fitting. Thank you. Appreciate that. Maybe Colorado's Golden Girl. Okay. Why stop there? I mean, the Earth. We can go on. Right. The universe. Yes. Wow. That's ambitious. We'll take it one step at a time. How much time does it take to put an album together? For those of you out there who might be, you know, working towards that, like, how long is this project taking you? Oh, goodness. I hate to talk about this part of my journey, but it is a very prevalent part of my journey, and so I should. This album, I mean, I mentioned that a lot of these songs, well, I only mentioned one, but was written during the pandemic, and a lot of them actually were. So with that in mind, I've been sitting on a lot of these songs for four years, and that hurts my soul a little bit. It shouldn't take four years to release an album. In theory, it should probably only take, if you have everything written and planned properly from recording to mixing and mastering, it can be done in a matter of months. But for me, it's been stretched out over years, partially because of financial situations, also because of personal life changes, slowing me down, getting in the way, you know, life gets in the way. But I'm really glad that you brought this up, because I did change the name of the album. Initially, the title was Golden Hour, and that just doesn't, it doesn't feel fitting anymore. I've changed the title to Right on Time, as a reminder to myself that this album, as everything in life, will be right on time. Fun fact, at my house, it's Justin Time, because that's his name. Oh, I love that. It fits, you know, Right on Time. And will there be a song you think that'll be called Right on Time? I've thought about it. I did actually start writing a tune titled Right on Time, but I don't think that it'll be a part of this album. I don't need to slow down this process anymore with a new song. Maybe it'll be on the next one. Right. Sure. Just a wink at it. Yeah, just a little tease. Sure. You know, who knows? But if you are just doing, you know, tuning into Cabaret tonight, we, you know, we're obviously live here, and then we also have video tonight, Longmont Public Media. So you can tune in to their website to check out tonight's show, which is super awesome. This is the first time we've ever done something like this, this collaboration. Yes. We're honored that it's Desiree Gold gracing us with that experience. And I'm honored to be your guinea pig. Right on. Awesome. Well, we have a few more minutes. We have about eight more minutes, so we can play some more music and take us to the top of the hour. Amazing. Yes. I have a couple more songs off of the album that I'd like to share. That's all right. Perfect. Yeah. Okay. This next one is called On My Skin and Heart. I'm going to tune for you this evening titled Dear Driver, and I'd like to say just a little something about this real quick. My friend, my dear friend from college, Rose, wrote this beautiful poem. Shoot. I think she wrote it back in 2009. And she posted it on her story on Instagram forever ago, and I was so inspired by it. I said, Rose, can I use your poem to write a song? Because I just love this concept. So, and she said yes. So I wrote the song and really quickly I'd like to read her poem. I used to watch the shadows move across the ceiling above my windows as the cars passed and did put me to sleep just wondering why a person would be driving around so late at night. You put it in my mind to think that someone's out there trying to put themselves to sleep by driving around the block. This is titled Dear Driver. It's the best for me. Thank you so much. This is Desiree Gold on Cabaret. Thank you for having us this evening. Stay tuned for Sound Lab. Up next with Bob Covno. Cosmo. Sorry about that, y'all. With Bob Cosmo. Thank you.