Winnipeg singer songwriter Keri Latimer releases her first solo CD "Crowsfoot & Greyskull"

I tapped into stories from my Japanese grandmother Saito, who's told me so much about her life, my own stories that I can't recall whether they are true or not, and e.e.cummings poems.

—Keri Latimer, Winnipeg singer - songwiter

Keri Latimer is perhaps best known as the lead singer and composer of the Juno Award winning Winnipeg band Nathan. This past year, she devoted much of her energy, when not being a mother to her two children, to working on her first solo album Crowsfeet and Greyskull.

Manitoba SCENE is bringing you an exclusive sneak peek and listen to Keri's new CD. Over the next three days, one new song a day from the album will be put up on Manitoba SCENE so you can hear it first, literally. Three songs in all, plus a video from Keri about the story behind each piece. Tell all your friends of course, and be the first to hear her new music.

Here's Keri's story of how Crowsfeet and Greyskull came to be.

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This album is a project I began three years ago when I received a Canada Council and a Winnipeg Arts Council grant. I've been a mother for nearly six years now to a girl and a boy, and have been trying to capture this time frame in song. Days can become a routine if you're not careful, and the process of writing and recording this album helped me to tune me in to the joy and the terror and the excruciating beauty of the details. Especially when you stop for a moment to see them.

Parts of songs were written in the chilly basement while the children slept, and others in the bright sunlight streaming through the wintery windows. I tapped into stories from my Japanese grandmother Saito, who's told me so much about her life, my own stories that I can't recall whether they are true or not, and e.e.cummings' poems.

When the recording process started, I tried to think of it like quilting: cutting and pasting and arranging audio files of my own with music files from friends. I am lucky enough to be able to call a community of musicians. I would marvel at the trumpets received one day, and drums another. Stitching and editing, the days zoomed by in slow motion, and suddenly it was complete.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share this project with you, and I hope you enjoy it.

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Check back Wednesday, May 2 for an exclusive listen to a song from Keri's Crowsfeet and Greyskull album and the video story behind it.

Keri is launching the CD Friday, May 4 at Pop Soda's along with Jess Reimer and Linda McRae.