A New Bathtub

2015. Holy actual cow. First of all, this is the year that I turn 18 and in one year I'll graduate. 

This year is a huge fresh start for me in a lot of ways. This is also the year that I plan to work harder than I ever have before and appreciate the lows just as much as the highs.

Religion

I've always followed my religion of choice but I've never considered myself a "spiritual" person. This year I plan to seek guidance in a new way with the support of my family and people closest to me. 

Stress

I stress about everything. Being a perfectionist, I constantly stress about work relationships, friendships and boys. Yes, boys as opposed to men. This year I plan to be confident in my decisions, trust more people, with caution, while being more social, and staying single for the entire year. 

This is huge for me. Being in high school, confidence is low and having such a unique career, it's hard for me to open up to people. 2015 is the year I become an adult and I have actual decisions to make. I feel like I should make these on my own. If I sound completely selfish in saying that I only want the input of my family to influence me, so be it. I'm not ready to share my life with a boy. 

Music

LETS GO PEOPLE. I'm ready to take on the actual world. 

I titled this post "A New Bathtub" because of Bath Fitter. They come in, fix up your crappy tub and give you a new one. You'll always remember the crappy tub, but it doesn't seem to matter because you have a fresh clean tub to focus on. In this metaphor, my new year is my new bath tub. So I'm ready to throw soap on the walls. 

Most Girliest

I'm allergic to everything. Except water. But most things, including sulfer which is a molecule in sulfa which is in most face washes for teens suffering from acne. I have literally tried everything; clearasil, stridex, neutrogeina, Burt's bees, Garnier, proactiv. You name it, I've tried it. The ones that work best are the ones that claim to be "all natural", yet I still get this burning/stinging/want to scratch my face off sensation. 

So, as people of the universe, I ask you to help me in my hunt for face wash. 

Yes, I'm writing a blog this week about face wash. 

Not only for myself, but because I see so many other kids and my friends suffering from the same frustrating battle and losing their self-esteem. 

And don't argue that pimples in high schoo don't matter because YES, they matter. Right now, and in the near future only, but they do matter. 

At my worst, I didn't even want to go to school due to a patch of cystic acne that formed on the right side of my chin. Out of desperation, I attamted to pop these lil buggers. I learned that us exactly what not to do, considering I have awful scarring in that same spot, that I am having an all new battle with. 

Things I've tried recently:

Coffee scrub (worked for a few weeks)

Burning face mask (just started - will keep you updated)

^^ these things are all natural and I literally made them in my kitchen so I would know exactly what's in them

If you are reading this and have any suggestions for me, please comment. I will be eternally grateful. (Toy Story reference) 

In my music news, I just had new photos taken by the amazing Sheri Angeles! Watch for them on my website and social media! My old pics were so 2011. 

As of new music, I'm working on releasing the single I had posted about a few blogs ago. We're still having technical difficulties with humans. Because I'm labeled as "in development" right now, it's hard for me to release new music because I'm literally developing. Not only music, but myself. And I'm changing so quickly to find the right landing spot. 

Here's me being moderately sassy from my new shoot:

Me Being a Libra...

Because my birthday is September 25th, this makes me a libra. Libra's are supposed to be good at balancing, right? Considering I won mostly on balance beam when I was in gymnastics, lets hope their talking about physical balancing. Life balancing + Leah = mental breakdown. 

Okay, so in high school I guess we're not going to have all our crap together. And you know what? It sucks. I can't tell you enough about how much I love music and sharing my music with people. It's the universal language after all. But I have to admit, balancing a career and social in life in high school is costing me sleep. 

Overall, I would rather write 100 songs a day (counting crappy ones) than spend 4 hours at a bonfire talking about my most embarrassing story with kids I might not know in a year. Not to say I don't want to know them, but life happens. Being around peers 7 hours a day, 5 days a week can get very distracting, and it's so easy to get caught up in drama and fitting in, even if you all claim to be artsy hipsters, you want to fit in. And I can't seem to shake this feeling of being lonely sometimes. 

Then, I stop and think; look at my life. I have everything I've wanted, and all the tools to have more. I'm pretty dang fortunate. So even if I suck at balancing, I know I'll always have a safety net in my parents, family, and God. And I'm happy. 

Just to lighten the mood, here is a picture of my photographer, sister, and I after the photo shoot we did this past Sunday. The pics will be posted soon, and I can't thank this lovely lady enough for helping me put my thoughts into images! 

Party Like It's Not Your Birthday

Well, today was the day I arrived into the world about 17 years ago. It's so strange to think it's my birthday already this year, like wasn't it just 3 months ago? In some ways I don't ever want to get older and in some ways I wish I was way older than I am. But I guess that's the stage of life that I'm in. 

The most incredible things have happened to me from the interval of age 16 to 17. I've gotten to open up for some amazing artists and meet the most helpful people ever. I've also moved to Tennessee and living here has inspired me in such unique ways and made me a happier person. 

Although, there were some minor downfalls that I need to tell y'all about. 

Due to "technical difficulties" the single I was hoping to release will not be coming out. BUT, fear not. I've decided to film a music video for my song "Jump" off of "The Game" EP. Id like to thank all of my friends and sister who were a part of making this, and my mom for filming and editing it! I will keep everyone up to date on when it will be coming out! 

Thank you all, as always, for your continued support. 

Xo,

Leah 

Me as a small child 

Group shot from the new video! 

Are You Single?

I want to start off this week with some housekeeping:

I didn't post last week because I had posted my interview with Broken Records Magazine out of NY and figured you all would find that interesting enough! And if you haven't read the article, you can find it here:

http://brokenrecordsonline.com/interviews/16-year-old-country-singer-leah-burkey-discusses-new-single-moving-to-nashville-more

So every week at school I meet and talk to new people. I went from looking around and knowing no one, to looking forward to seeing people everyday. 

So, its been 2 years since I released a The Game and I'm getting ready to release a new single! I wrote this song last year in NY with 3 guys who did an incredible job. We started, going into it as just a writing session, but it went so well that we started recording it! After some technical difficulties, it's ready to be shared with you all! Yes, this means photoshoots, excessive Tweeting and asking for Facebook shares which is what you do best! I'm hoping for continued support from everyone, for which I am forever grateful. It doesn't matter what goes on behind the scenes, or in the back lines, because you all are in the front lines. As Lady Gaga would say, I live for the applause. And to give you something to relate to and to share an experience with me through music. I can't wait for you all to hear this! 

I ask you, are you [ready for the] single? 

XO,

Leah 

(Photo from the recording session.) 

Still Early Out in Cali

Hello humans. 

So this past week, I started school. There's not really much to say other than ITS 10x BETTER THAN MY OLD SCHOOL. Even though I don't know anyone and am extremely nervous and anxious and whatnot, I'm staying positive that I'll make new friends soon (besides the lovely young man who stopped traffic in the parking lot for me to pull out). 

I've been taking to a friend from back in PA who moved to FL last year and she's helping me through this. Just sharing how crazy and strange it is being thrown into a crowd of 2,000 kids and not having a FREAKING CLUE what's going on is really settling.

I know kids change schools and move all the time, but I don't think anyone understands how freaky it actually is once you experience it. Overall, the kids are really accepting and have been super nice to me. I'm just so excited to be here that I'm dealing with feeling like I have no sense of direction (mostly because I got lost in the school twice) when it comes to this education thing. 

Thank you for reading and have a great week, my space cadets. 

PS GO VOLS (it's a Tennessee thing.) 

Jam Party

I believe happiness is being able to make fun of yourself, being comfortable in your own skin, loving your life and living the life you love. I can honestly say that back in PA, I wasn't a happy person. I was so afraid of everyone and "fitting in", my confidence was so low. But I didn't realize that until I got to Tennessee and now that I've been living here for a little over a week, I can see myself changing. Changing into someone that's happier, for the better. It's such a great feeling to be looking and driving around and think,"wow, I love where I am." The water, the city, the country, and the people. 

If you are reading this, I'm a 16 year old teenager, encouraging you to think about what makes you happy and chase it. And I also encourage you to watch Hilary Duff's "Chasing the Sun" music video. 

This upcoming week is the busiest I've had in a while. Between meetings and school shopping, I promise I'll keep writing this blog and keeping you all updated!

As always, thank you for reading. XO

PS. my sister has a southern accent growing in, so that probably means I do too. Y'all.