April K Music
Singer songwriter from Raleigh NC

Meet artist Jackie Tury

Artwork by Jackie Tury

Meet Jackie Tury, the designer of my album cover and one of several artists creating illustrations for the album companion booklet that also includes the lyrics to each song. Jackie is a childhood friend and fellow dreamer. Her passion includes combining her art and clinical skills to help others ignite their own dreams! Thanks for the personal note below, Jackie.

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13 Reasons Why You’d Smile

You'd Smile Sunflower

Last night I finished the final episode of the Netflix series, ‘13 Reasons Why’ and sat stunned. Speechless. Haunted. Heavy. Regardless of your opinion of the show - whether you think it glorifies suicide and is dangerous for teens to watch or should be applauded for its jolting reminder of the destructive power of bullying and sexism or both, it’s real. I know its real because I’ve had five - count them - five - people in my life commit suicide and a brother die from an unintentional overdose – so that’s six. Six people. Read More…

How fierce is your love?

Love Fiercely

It’s been almost seven years since my younger brother Jeremy died of an unintentional overdose, and in those years four big life lessons have come to light for me. I mention these in my Kickstarter pitch video, but I’d like to expand on them here. Read More…

Dreams DO come true, but you’ve got to learn to be still!

When it comes to dreams, be relentless.

If you would’ve told me at age 25 that I would be launching my career as a professional songwriter at age 50 – I would’ve most likely made a flippant, sarcastic comment like, “Uh, yeh, if I can launch it from my grave, maybe.” Fast-forward 25 years (like, blink your eyes, fast-forward) and here I am. I launched a Kickstarter campaign on my 50th birthday to fund my first solo album and it hit the $8,000 goal in 3 days! Now I’ve set a stretch goal to reach $16,000 by April 29, 2017 and I’ll be able to create two albums. It’s crazy awesome and I’m super thankful it’s not from my grave. (Btw, if you haven’t seen my Kickstarter yet, you can view it here.)

I do have a confession to make, though. Getting to this place hasn’t been easy. I worked for close to a decade in a job that was truly sucking every ounce of energy I had in me – out of me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly thankful for everything I learned while in that position, but there were days when I seriously didn’t know if I was going to ‘make it’ and I mean that literally. I was completely exhausted with no passion or zeal and although I walked into my six hours of meetings a day with a smile on my face, I felt dead inside. Corporate America had swallowed me whole and I was stuck somewhere deep in its bowels. I cried the day my company laid off my entire team and kept me. Oh, the irony.
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Sing this Lullaby and Hold On Tight

The story of Lullaby, April with her aunt

A little over two years ago on Christmas Eve, my mom’s 77 year old sister (my aunt) got up, went outside, walked down the front steps, picked up her newspaper, turned to go back up the stairs and fell. The result? A broken ankle, a deep gash over her eye, and the end of life as she’d known it for 45 years.

That moment of that day also ended life as her husband, my mom, and I had known it. My aunt and 78-year-old uncle, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, could no longer live independently in their home. They lived in a split-level house that was hard on my aunt’s knees even before she fell and the daily demands of caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s were becoming way too much for her to bear alone. They had no children and their closest friends were dealing with dementia and other challenges of their own. The two of them were alone and close to 1,000 miles from family.
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