The Secret That You Keep

NEW CD

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The Secret That You Keep

I'm so excited to finally release exclusively here on my website my 5th album, kind of a followup to the idea behind Bootleg. This album is a collection of songs that I've written or co-written over the last few years and have had recorded as demos or originals. I'd like to do something different with this one and give an explanation of all of the songs, so take a look!

1. WITH YOU
by Valerie DeLaCruz and Gary Tash
Produced by Mark Oliverius
Profound Sound Studio, Nashville, TN

This was a fun song that I started a couple of years ago as I was trying to find a short, succinct title. Gary, my longtime producer and collaborator, added the bridge idea, "With you the sky is bluer...the truth is truer...even old is newer"

2. WHERE'S THE FIRE?
by Valerie DeLaCruz and Bernie Nelson
Produced by Mark Oliverius
Profound Sound Studio, Nashville, TN

This song came from the first co-writing session that I had with Bernie in Nashville. After listening to lots of title ideas, Bernie had this one, which could have the double entrendre of "where's the fire...why are you in a rush, and, where's the fire, the passion." It's kind of a sexy song with a latin tinge; the guitarist, Danny Parks, added a Santana feel.

3. THE SECRET THAT YOU KEEP
by Valerie DeLaCruz
Produced by Mark Oliverius
Main Frame Studios, Nashville, TN

The title song of the CD, it's one of my personal favorites. It's the way I love to sing, capturing my lowest possible notes in an intimate way. I was thinking of the line, "you don't know how much I dream of you" and the song developed about the "secret" longing for someone unattainable. The chorus seemed to flow so easily and I really love the line about "the secret that you keep." Like many of my songs, I started this around midnight when I was all alone and the house was quiet.

4. IT WON'T BE YOU
by Valerie DeLaCruz
Produced by Mark Oliverius
Profound Sound Studio, Nashville, TN

I often joke when I play this song that I was really mad that night! Feeling frustrated about passion waning and getting older, possibly losing attractiveness, this song started with its first line, "someone will touch me again."

5. ROOM TO ROOM
by Valerie DeLaCruz and Marcus Ruggiero
Produced by Mark Oliverius
Profound Sound Studio, Nashville, TN

Marcus and I met at a concert and started talking about songwriting, which led to setting up a co-write, and Marcus said,"I only have Tuesdays and Thursdays," to which I said "there's the subject of our song!" So he came over and we wrote it about a woman trying to juggle all of her responsiblities of home, family, and acknowledging that the woman is the heart of the home, but she still needs time for herself...but then realizes that time apart from her "life" makes her miss it. This is poetic license here, I joked with Marcus, because it's an idealized view of what a woman wants (this is what the guys WANT us to want!)

6. GETTIN' IN TOUCH (With My Masculine Side)
by Valerie DeLaCruz and Mike Noble

Produced by Mark Oliverius
Profound Sound Studio, Nashville, TN

I saw a magazine ad (where I steal a lot of my ideas!!!) with a woman drinking milk directly out of the carton standing in front of the open refrigerator (yeah, right!) and the text was this title. I had a good laugh and brought the idea to my co-writer Mike Noble. Mike has played guitars on several of my sessions and this was a fun "list" type of a song...what do guys do stereotypically? I want to try and do all that,too. I particularly like the line: "well, things are kinda loose and I've been lettin' 'em slide 'cause I'm getting in touch with my masculine side."

7. THE USUAL JOE
by Valerie DeLaCruz and Brad Cotter
Produced by Mark Oliverius
Main Frame Studio, Nashville, TN

One night at Billy Block's Western Beat at the Exit Inn in Nashville, I met Brad. Another singer-songwriter, we talked about people we knew in common and inevitably, we set up a co-wrote. Brad flattered me by saying he'd write with me just so we could be in a room together! When we got together over at the EMI Music Publishing studios, (where Brad was signed as a writer), we discussed several ideas. Then we went to lunch! (the most important step in co-writing...no seriously, getting comfortable and to know what makes the other writer "tick" is so important to the process). When we returned, I told Brad of a song I had wanted to write for some time: about my father-in-law who had passed away a few years before. He was a professional bartender and was quietly well-loved by so many. Brad shared with me that his dad is a preacher, so when we played with the idea of Joe being the bartender in heaven, he was worried about what HIS dad would say to that. When it was finshed some time later, it turned out to be a real labor of love for me. It's really a male-oriented song, but here is my version. By the way, Brad Cotter was the most recent winner of the "Nashville Star", country's version of American Idol!!

8. HONEY LOVE
by Valerie DeLaCruz
Produced by Marcus Larabee
Marcoustic Studios, Green Island, NY

On my way to a recording session at my friend Gary Tash's studio, I passed a street sign with the name "Milky Way." I thought that was such a cool word and an odd name for a street, it stuck in my mind. I went home afterward and starting liking it as a song idea, using candy as a description of sweetness as a metaphor for passion. It has a bluesy feel that is really fun to play. I love the interesting percussion that Marcus came up with, such as clanging on a Jack Daniels bottle!

9. I MUST BE IN LOVE by Valerie DeLaCruz
Produced by Marcus Larabee
Marcoustic Studios, Green Island, NY

This is an age-old idea that in love, opposites attract, and sometimes attraction is disguised as irritation. This has a cool bluegrass feel that reminds me of a jug band. Again, Marcus experimenting with extra sounds!

10. LIVIN' MY LIFE
by Valerie DeLaCruz and David Hughes
Produced by Marcus Larabee
Marcoustic Studios, Green Island, NY

David and I often commiserated about yearning to give up our cushy suburban lives (how good we have it!) and follow our dream of being a songwriter living in the heart of the action, Nashville, TN. He wrote this song for me, and I tweaked some of the lyrics and I love the Rollings Stones feel it has.

11. OUT OF THE BLUE
by Valerie DeLaCruz
Produced by Marcus Larabee
Marcoustic Studios, East Berne, NY

Although I've been married for 25 years to Joe many people don't know that I was married briefly when I was young to my high school sweetheart. I hadn't heard from him in many years, but I often wondered how and where he was. I knew vaguely that he lived in California, and his sister always sends me a Christmas card, but one day I got an email from him after he saw my website. It was a surprise and a little thrill I'll confess. But after the second email where he was worried that his wife would see it, and he minimized the reasons we fell apart, I had the thought, "oh yeah, that's why we broke up." My first thought was, "out of the blue; go back where you came from," and I wrote the song.

12. WHEN I FIND YOU
by Valerie DeLaCruz and Mark Oliverius
Produced by Mark Oliverius
Profound Sound Studios, Nashville, TN

I was looking for songs for Nikki (then Brittney) Cleary, who was 12 at the time, and there were precious little options for someone in that age group without it sounding too mature for her possible experience. I decided to try and write one, and once I had the outline of the music and most of the lyrics, I brought it to Mark and we finished it. I love the odd chord right before "When I Find You," the tag line. Nikki never did record it, Whitney Jordan did a vocal version for me so when I pitch the song, there is a younger vocalist on it.

13. I WON'T GO DOWN
by Valerie DeLaCruz and David Hughes
Produced by Marcus Larabee
Marcoustic Studios, Green Island, NY

I was at the point of giving up my dream, of music and monthly trips to Nashville. It is something that happens to all of us that are baring ourselves for approval and falling on deaf ears. Everyone thinks being an artist is glamorous and profitable; but the sad truth is that very few will be able to make it their living. I'm not a quitter, I'm a determined achiever so I was very down about it, then when David and I were talking I said, "%*&!!!; I'm not letting anyone get the best of me, I won't go down!" It felt great to get out this anger as well and reaffirm my inner strength by deciding I don't care what anyone else thinks about my music; I LOVE IT! ("hanging on every word they said, get the hell out of my head!)There's some cool poetry in the lyrics too, thanks to David's wonderful sense of the dismal and grasp of the English language, oddly juxtaposing words that somehow say just the right thing. I particularly like "drowning in a drought" (he liked shroud, but I liked "decked out in my doubts. Marcus captured my anger and I love the rock feel of it!

14. YOU ALREADY CAME TRUE
by Valerie DeLaCruz
Produced by Mark Oliverius
Profound Sound Studios, Nashville, TN

I get a lot of my inspirations from lines in movies. I was watching Sixteen Candles again; I love that movie, how well is shows the awkwardness of being a teen trying to get someone's attention without feeling like a hopeless nerd. At the end of the movie, the main character played by Molly Ringwald has finally connected with the guy she has a crush on. It's her 16th birthday and everyone in her family has forgotten this milestone because of her sister's wedding on the same day. The guy and girl are sitting on a glass-topped dining room table across from each other with a birthday cake between them, lit with sixteen candles. The guy says, "Make a wish." Molly looks at him and replies "but it already came true." That struck me right then and there as a wonderful line about how someone can be our dream and also make a dream come true.

Management, PR and booking: DeLaCruz Enterprises LLC or call 518-505-1659