Limitless Liner Notes

About the Limitless Songs Collection

Thanks for your interest in my music.  I am grateful to you - my friends and fans. If you are reading this, you are probably a fan or a music nerd -like me!

MY MISSION

My mission is to create positively soulful music that moves and uplifts hearts and transforms lives.

THE SONGS

The songs from this collection were written between 2013 - 2024. It took me a while to finally record some of them.

Unlike my prior CDs, most of these songs were co-written with other songwriters.  Some of the songs were written at in-person songwriting retreats.   However, many of the songs were written during the pandemic via Zoom (online).  The title track, Limitless is the only song solely written by me.

THE PROCESS

The songs were initially recorded in my living room instead of in a studio.  I created the arrangments, played keyboards, programmed the bass and drums and sang all the lead and background vocals.  On one track, (This House is Built on Love Track 10) I played alto sax.  After recording I edit my work, which can be very tedious —but someone’s got to do it!

When editing was complete and I liked what I was hearing, I used a transfer service (a program that allows me to email huge files) to send my recording to JD Martin, my co-producer.   JD enhanced my recordings by adding acoustic guitar, piano, strings, organ, bass & drum programming.

MY CO-PRODUCER

JD Martin is a singer/songwriter who has penned at least 5 number one hits and 10 top ten country and pop hit singles for Reba McEntire, BJ Thomas, Peter Cetera and more.

JD’s MUSICAL TALENTS

In addition to being a songwriter and producer he is a recording artist also.  His velvet voice and signature piano style are a wonderful cross between Michael McDonald, Marc Cohen, and Bruce Hornsby.  He lives in Colorado with his musical partner/wife, Jan Garrett.  They have produced 10 albums of original music and have won top songwriting honors at the Positive Music Awards for many years running.

JD also loves helping other songwriters produce great music.  I’m so grateful to work with him.  He is an intuitive musician with great production instincts.

THE MUSICIANS

For the most part, this CD was created by 2 people. Claudia Carawan and JD Martin.  However, there are a few exceptions:

GUEST ARTISTS

  • On the song Groove Again (Track 6) LEA (the cowriter) sang a duet with me and played guitar. She’s so soulful and I love our musical chemistry together.
  • On The Driver’s Seat & This House is Built on Love (Tracks 1 & 10) Rudy Faulkner added background vocals. Rudy has appeared on many of my recordings and he is one fabulous musician.
  • Co-songwriter Glen Roethel played guitars on the song we co-wrote together Independence Day (Track 8) I love the groove!
  • In 2017 I recorded the song My True North (Track 12) at Red Amp Audio in Richmond, VA. This track was originally engineered & produced by Jody Boyd (who also played guitar & drums) on this track. Marna Bales helped with background vocals also.

The Songs In CD Order

  1. The Driver’s Seat
    Claudia Carawan & Sue Riley
    Copyright 2020 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP), Sue Riley (BMI)

 In 2020 Sue Riley and I composed this song during the pandemic.  We wrote over Zoom at a songwriting retreat sponsored by Empower Music and Arts.  Songwriters from all over the country participated at the songwriting event, and many great songs were created that week.  Since all of us were weary from social distancing, it was so awesome to be creating music together.

Sue suggested the theme/title of the song and I loved the idea.  My hope was to create a blue-eyed soul song because that is what I love.   JD Martin played the gorgeous piano interlude at the onset of the song.  The bass line is very characteristic of Van Morrison’s Out of the Mystic.

I’m so pleased with rootsy blue-eyed soul approach.   Singing this lyric has helped me remember…

…I’m where I’m supposed to be, with love in the driver’s seat.     

 This song was a finalist at the Empower posi music awards.

  1. Limitless
    Claudia Carawan
    Copyright 2017 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP)       

At UCBA (the community where I serve as Music Director) we hosted a YOU teen retreat in 2017. The theme of the youth conference was Limitless. The organizers of the retreat asked me if I would pen a theme song for the retreat that the teens would sing at our Sunday service (which was the close of their event).  The day I started to rehearse the song with the teens, I felt a great sense of relief.   I could tell they liked the song and they sang it at the top of their lungs!  At the close of their conference it was an awesome sight to hear young people embrace this lyric “I am limitless”.  Performing this song with the YOU chorus of teenagers is one of my favorite performance memories of all time.

  1. Brave
    Claudia Carawan & Karen Drucker
    Copyright 2019 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP), Tay Toones (BMI)

 I have had the pleasure of co-writing with Karen Drucker for many years.   She is so creative and it is fun to collaborate with her.   She lives in California and I live in Virginia so we created this song using Zoom.   Karen suggested the theme.  I suggested the use of “borrowing” Pachelbel Canon in D chord changes.  If you listen carefully you will hear those chord changes in the accompaniment.

As we created, Karen shared this quote from Theodore Roosevelt (1910) (and also used by Brene Brown) as a lyrical focus.

 “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

After reading this quote we realized the title of the song would be Brave.

  1. The Coming Light
    Claudia Carawan & JD Martin
    Copyright 2016 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP) Gill n’ Goldie Music (ASCAP)

Resilience is a re-occuring theme in my music.   Life has given me many opportunities to practice the art of resilence, and mother nature has also taught me alot about “starting over.”

I had penned two verses of this song, but found it hard to craft the chorus (the most important element).   In Front Royal, Virginia I attended a song writing retreat, and many great song-writers were in attendence.   I was paired with JD Martin (the co-producer of this CD).  This was my first time working with JD.

I recall JD picked up his guitar and started playing and singing his idea for the chorus.  At one point we were both “walking—or was it dancing” around the room in circles as we sang the chorus.   It was fun.

This song was a finalist at the Empower music posi awards.   I am grateful I can sing these lyrics and remind myself I can be resilient and…

…welcome in the coming light of a brand new day.

  1. I’m On my Way
    Claudia Carawan & Roger Thomhave
    Copyright 2015 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP), Roger Tomhave (BMI)

This song was written with my friend Roger Thomhave.  I was participating at a songwriting retreat at Roger’s home in Front Royal, Virginia.  The purpose of this retreat was to create songs for special holidays and special services for Unity communities.  Roger and I chose the theme of the Burning Bowl ritual.

What is a burning bowl?  In case you don’t know, the Burning Bowl ritual is a ritual performed at the start of a new year.   We create a fire pit (or burning bowl).  Participants write down on a piece of paper something unpleasant they want to release (loss, illness, etc.) and they drop that piece of paper in the burning bowl and let it burn.  This is a symbolic gesture (making an intention of letting go of your problem).

 At UCBA I perform this song at our yearly Burning Bowl service.    For me the song serves as a reminder to let go —so I can be on my way

  1. Groove Again
    Claudia Carawan & LEA
    Copyright 2022 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP), Lea Morris (BMI)

This is a duet with a very soulful posi singer/songwriter, LEA (Lea Morris), who currently lives in Germany.  She reached out to me via email during the pandemic and asked if I would like to collaborate on a song.   I was so happy for the invitation.  I am a big fan of LEA’s music and I am mesmorized by her voice and her guitar chops.

At the time this song was written, both of us were getting over a health challenge but getting ready to find our “groove again” so groove again became the theme/title of the song.  I am especially happy we could record this song as a duet, my first recorded duet!

The lyrics of this song remind me it’s okay to be taking my time

  1. We Need Each Other

-Claudia Carawan & Harold Payne

Copyright 2020 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP), Harold Payne Music (BMI)

The year was 2020 and many of us were isolated and homebound during the pandemic.  George Floyd had just been murdered and there was a feeling of despair in the air.  This was the setting behind the creation of this anthem written online with the amazing Harold Payne.  Harold pitched the idea of the theme/title to me and and I was very interested.   I thought it was a great song idea that addressed the growing divisiveness in our country.

As we worked together, we both knew we had an important message to share in this song. I hope it inspires those who hear it.

This song won the 2021 Empower posi award for Uniting.

  1. Independence Day
    -Claudia Carawan & Glen Roethel
    Copyright 2015 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP), Laughing Buddha Music

 This song about freedom was written at an in person songwriting retreat focused on creating songs for specific services/holidays.   Glen Roethel (a fabulous singer/songwriter from NY) and I selected 4th of July weekend so that provided the theme of independence.

Glen picked up his guitar and said to me…

“Claudia, you are all about the groove.”

I felt so honored that he recognized that in me because I love the groove!

My mother and her family immigrated to the USA from Trinidad & Tobago and I do gravitate toward rhythmic music and island grooves. Glen started playing the carribean guitar riff that set the tone for the song and the rest was magic. The song came together quickly.

This song is great for July 4th weekend service or any service that celebrates freedom and authenticity.

  1. Enough Love for Two
    Claudia Carawan & Roger Thomhave
    Copyright 2013 - Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP), Roger Tomhave (BMI)

This beautiful song was co-written with singer/songwriter Roger Tomhave at a songwriting retreat at his home in Front Royal, Virginia.

My father, Claud Carawan, had been diagnosed with dementia and was living in a memory care facilty.  It was hard to witness his progression into the disease. I mentioned this in passing to Roger and he responded that his dear aunt Grace was also diagnosed.  He suggested we craft a song about this.

I really loved creating this song with Roger.  It is therapeutic to share “your” story in a song.   I sang this song at my father’s memorial service.

 I recall when I recorded the vocals I cried a bit.

  1. This House is Built on Love
    -Claudia Carawan & Sue Riley
    Copyright 2021 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP), Sue Riley (BMI)

 First, this song has quickly become a favorite sing-along at my home church, Unity Church of Bon Air (UCBA), where I serve as a music director.

This House is Built on Love was co-written with Sue Riley. At the time Sue was a music director at Unity of Clearwater and we both wanted to compose a sing-along for our congregations to sing.  Sue mentioned she had written a sing-along song for her congregation with the same title, but soon discovered the song was too difficult for her congregants to sing. I laughed —because sometimes it is hard to compose a simple song!  Sue said she wanted to create a new song called “This House is Built on Love.”   This idea resonated me.

When UCBA church was being constructed, congregants were invited to write prayers and affirmations on the foundation beams before the sheet rock was placed.  I thought the song title was perfect for our church and/or any new thought community.  To insure our song would be simple for anyone to sing, we decided to write it as a call and response.

  1. Namaste, I Honor You
    - Patricia Bahia & Claudia Carawan
    Copyright 2024 Harmony Bay Music (ASCAP), Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP)

Patricia and I collaborated on this song via Zoom because it was written at an online song-writing retreat. We both wanted to write a song for spiritual communities that embraced our values.  Patricia suggested Namaste and I agreed.  As we were writing the song we decided the song was a ballad, and we wanted it to have a “big build” at the end.  After we wrote the song I was eager to hear how it would sound recorded.

I opened my laptop and sang into an application called GarageBand.  I didn’t even bother to hook up a microphone.  I tracked all the vocals and harmonies using that method—no microphone—merely singing into my computer.   I sent the files to JD and he created magic with it.  I was floored how well it sounded (after he added strings and a little auto-tuning on the harmonies).

  1. My True North
    - Claudia Carawan, Sue Riley & Sloan Wainwright
    Copyright 2016 Heart Over the Bar (ASCAP) Sue Riley (BMI)
    Derby Disc Music (SESAC)
    produced by Jody Boyd in 2017 at Red Amp Audio

Years ago I read an article in Oprah magazine called True North.  Those words “true north” resonated with me and I thought it would be a great title for a song.  I found the best co-writers to craft this song: Sue Riley & Sloan Wainwright and we had a lot of fun creating it.

This is the only song in the Limitless collection produced by my friend Jody Boyd at his studio Red Amp Audio.   We recorded it in 2017 right after it was written.    I am singing & playing piano in this recording.  I had my friend Marna Bales assisting on harmonies.  Jody is playing everything else: drums, bass, guitar & strings.   This song was a finalist in the 2020 Empower posi music awards.

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