Sara Tramiel/ViewCJ Borden, left, performs with Killian?s Angels at Brendan?s Irish Pub in The Orleans, June 16. Borden has released a CD of her own songs, which can be heard at her Web site, www.cjborden.com.
Sara Tramiel/VIewCentennial Hills resident CJ Borden performs with Killian?s Angels at Brendan?s Irish Pub in The Orleans on June 16. Borden, who works during the day as a nurse, has released a CD of her own original songs.
Advertisement
Musician CJ Borden says she is many things, but most of all, she is a songwriter.
"The goal is to get my own music heard and recorded by artists in Nashville," Borden said.
The Southern California native said she had always performed at church and for her family, but really knew she wanted a career in music in her early 20s.
"What really pushed me was when I was living in Ohio," Borden said. "I was working with a drummer and telling him my ambitions, and he got me in touch with a guy who owned a studio. He told me I was good. It took one person to say 'yeah you're talented,' and I started doing jingles and commercials. I have also done voice-overs."
Borden said the studio owner also gave her the advice to write her own music, so she would not be compared to other artists.
"Right then and there I started writing," she said.
Borden's husband, Paul Bordenkircher, said his wife gets many of the stories she tells in her music from her day job as a registered nurse.
"It's a good job," she said. "It's just not the desire of my heart."
Borden said most of the songs she writes are just about stories that relate to people. She said she wrote the song "Sam" after seeing casino security throwing a homeless man out of a hotel.
"I saw that and thought 'that's a story,' " she said. "Maybe this guy was a gambler. Who knows how he got to that place. I see stuff like that and it triggers something."
There are 13 tracks on her mostly country album, "A Songwriter's Collage."
"My family says some of my songs are sad," Borden said. "I write real life, and real life isn't always happy, but I do write the fun, up tempo stuff, too."
Borden said if it weren't for her husband, who does all the mixing and sound editing of her songs, she wouldn't have her first solo album. The couple has a recording studio in their Centennial Hills home and do most of the work there.
For some of the tracks on the CD, Borden hired musicians from studios in Nashville to perform.
"I really wanted this to be top notch, that's why I wanted top players in Nashville involved," she said.
Two songs, "American Skies" and "Sam," are sung by men.
"Some of the tunes are more male oriented," Bordenkircher said. "It would make no sense with her singing."
The CD has been released on the independent label Mesa Sound Music.
"Independent labels are a big deal now with the Internet," Bordenkircher said. "Some major artists have left major labels to go independent."
While Borden said she is always working on her own music, she also performs as a keyboard player and singer with the local band Killian's Angels. She auditioned for the band after it already was established and has been with the group of six women since she arrived in Las Vegas almost three years ago.
"It's kind of frustrating to find an actual working band," Borden said. "But, Killian's Angels really work."
She said Killian's Angels are going to learn a few of her songs and add them to their set list. The band performs around the valley, including a regular gig at Brendan's Irish Pub inside The Orleans.
"My focus is to pitch songs out, but if people want to play me on the radio, that's OK," Borden said.
Borden's debut single, "Kissed Me Goodbye," has been making its way onto podcasts and can be heard along with other tracks at www.cjborden.com.
Archived Editions| Advertising | Contact The Staff
