Marching to her own tune

It's no secret that the journey of self-discovery is full of roadblocks, hidden curves and dead ends. For many, it takes years of wrong turns and stops to ask for directions before the map is finally thrown out and intuition becomes the navigator.

But for Mindy Braasch, who recently finished her debut album titled "Voices," it's only taken 16 years.

The Athens High School senior has spent the past several months creating songs about life's lessons, and has recorded them on a CD featuring 11 songs.

Since last spring, Braasch has poured her emotions and efforts into creative songwriting and recording, and the work shows. Teaming up with producer Christopher Weibel at Media Design House, the two, with the help of other local musicians, have produced an assemblage of songs that are catchy but intimate, and that use keyboards and piano prominently.

She kicks off the CD with a song titled "Lies," a ballad about the pain of getting hurt by a loved one. A few songs later, she sings "Home," a tune that seems to solidify the fact that to her, there's really no place like home.

Her inspiration, she said, comes from what she and her loved ones have experienced.

"A lot of the things I've written about are things that I've experienced or have happened in my friends' lives," she said. "Writing songs is therapeutic for me. It's a way to get out my emotions in a unique way."

But songwriting was just one piece of the puzzle. Braasch said recording this CD was certainly a learning experience for her.

"The writing, recording and practicing have all helped me develop both as an artist and as a person," she said. "Sometimes you really have to put all your effort into something to find out if it's what you actually want to do. And it is. Music is my calling."

So putting aside football games and limiting her social time with her high-school friends, Braasch has been practicing for hours each day, going on photo shoots, and creating her first music video to pursue the career as a singer-songwriter.

Although Braasch's career is just beginning, she's been studying piano for the past 11 years and practicing voice for five.

The journey has been long, but with her CD release party set for this Saturday at 9 p.m. at Donkey Coffee in Athens, Braasch's hard work seems to be paying off.

Braasch said she couldn't have done it without the help of her friends and family.

"I understand that this career path isn't as secure as others, and I'm just so thankful for how supportive my parents have been through all of this," she said.

For more on Braasch or to order the album, visit www.mindybraasch.com or download her album off iTunes. In the near future, Braasch hopes to get the album into a local record store. It also will be available for sale at the CD release party.