On Facebook Today...

I pray that soon doors will be opened so that I may share my song with you. I'm totally convinced that it will take you by complete surprise...in a real good way.

"The One": The Story Behind The Song

I have become completely captivated

by the mormon.org site. 

I LOVE that it gives me the opportunity to share the truth with so many; lets myself open up to what normally seems a vast, closed-up world.

It allows me the chance to bare my soul's experiences,

which I typically keep well hidden.

If I may, I'd like to share with you one of my more personal stories (one I no longer deem private) from my own mormon.org page.

"Two years ago, I had set a goal for myself to read the Book of Mormon by a certain date. I realized I had fallen behind a bit so I began early one summer morning reading in the book of Helaman.

As I read into chapter 12, the enormity of Heavenly Father's power and majesty and creations began to consume me as I tried to understand. The words throughout that chapter (all that He is capable of, all that He created, all that He has dominion over, all the millions upon millions of souls He watches and cares for and guides them back home), all of this settled into my mind and, for a fleeting moment, I felt my devestated heart sink as I briefly thought, "If He has ALL this, who am I to think that He could possibly know who I am! What makes me think He could possibly have time for little, ole me! I am so, so small in His vast, eternal creation."

No sooner had this thought come into my mind (which in reality lasted about a half of a second), then a clean, warm wash flooded my being and spoke distinctly to my mind and pierced my soul saying, "Yes. I do have all these abilities. I can do all these things. But of all the mighty powers that I possess, my greatest is loving you."

I cried. I cried and wept because I knew more than anything in the world that at that moment, Heavenly Father was aware of little me. I wept because He had just testified to me that He was watching me, He loved me.

Not many seconds passed before I realized that the magnitude of that experience was so much more than that. Out of those few, brief moments on that early summer morning, He had just testified to me that He loves each of us as an individual, that He loves YOU, that He sees us ALL for what we can become and THAT is His greatest power."

That beautiful summer day, this song was born:

To read more about my testimony,

click HERE.

"Beautiful You" Countdown: The Story

Four months ago,

friends of mine, Jessi and Cristi,
(who happen to own my favorite photography business ever
Hiya Papaya)

ran an inner beauty campaign.
I loved it.
I asked if they'd ever considered a song for the campaign.
They told me to write one.
I did.
The End.
~

Not really.
There's SO much more to the story...

That just kicked it off.
~

I was actually in a very vulnerable place in my life, scared and nervous to try again...
or keep trying...
or whatever.
BUT,
I wanted to do this.
And I wanted to do this to the full extent-no excuses, no reserves.

I wanted to write a song that I believed in.
I wanted to write about a truth that is too often overlooked,
underplayed,
underdeveloped.
I wanted to build a song that reminded men of the beautiful women of their life
and why they feel they are beautiful.
I wanted a song that made women think of the inner strength they see and encourage and uplift in each other.
I was determined to create a song that inspired women
of all ages, in all situations, in all the world
to fully embrace who they are and what makes them uniquely beautiful.
Because I KNOW that there is something beautiful inside each of us.
There is.
I promise.

Well, knowing that in order to capture what others feel, I needed to know their feelings.
So, I turned to
asking my followers from all over the world what they felt made a woman truly beautiful.
Surprisingly enough, most of the comments were left
by MEN...and YOUNG MEN...
It made me so proud of them. :)

So, I took ALL of the comments and made a list (because I'm a cronic list-maker),
lauched myself into intense prayer and meditation
and spent lots and lots of time alternating between
the out-of-tune piano and the noisy old computer
crafting lyrics/music to capture the feelings of each and every one of those comments.

Here's an excerpt:

I see beautiful love
And a beautiful strength
A beautiful hope through a beautiful pain
I see beautiful tears on a beautiful face
Where a beautiful courage makes a beautiful....strength
(copyright 2012 Audrey Bandley Music)

I now had music and a lyric (a pretty good one, if I might say so myself)....
just one tiny problem: GUITARS/DRUMS.
How was I to put to work the instruments in my head!?! I've never worked with a band before!!! And me writing guitars with drums? What in the WORLD was I thinking!!!
(yes. I thought in EXCLAMATION points. A lot.)
Uh......so out of my comfort zone of soft, reverent, inspirational music.

Maybe I should call Hilary Weeks, who was my BFF-for-a-day...once...many, many months ago.

I didn't.

I decided I was going to do this the right way, the brave way:

I swallowed my pride (and turned beet, BEET red) as I pitched my idea to
amazingly talented, super-powered musician Tyler Castleton;
sweating bullets and shaking uncontrollably.
Immediately, he was caught on the project.
Enthusiastically.
Full support.
I about died from hyperventilation.

So....
We hired a band.
We hired a studio.
We hired a second vocalist,
Jen Marco,
(who happened to take this song to a whole new level!)
I created a "choir" with my own voice.
And now...


Well, you'll just have to see what you think for yourself...
(song/video release: Saturday, April 21st, 2012)