Troubadours of Divine Bliss - As You Wish
  • Big To Do (5:30)
  • Something Better (5:42)
  • Broken Open (5:59)
  • Extraordinary Life (3:45)
  • Secret Admirer (6:50)
  • Fortune Teller (4:56)
  • As You Wish (6:46)
  • Umbrella in the Sea (5:23)
  • Walking Wounded (6:20)
  • Hold On (6:11)
  • Soul Song (6:48)
  • You'll Be With Me (5:01)
Biography
CONTACT INFO:
Troubadours of Divine Bliss
Aim Me Smiley and Renee Ananda
troubadoursofdivinebliss@gmail.com
502 608-1587

Click here to go to Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music Page

"Music that could melt a stone statue." BBC Radio Liverpool

Voted "Best Folk Band" by Offbeat Magazine in New Orleans, LA, and Leo Weekly in Louisville, KY

Voted "Best Singer-Songwriter" by Louisville Music Awards

"Here at WRUW-FM we’ve been lovin’ those Troubadours for a long time—having Aim Me and Renee on as LIVE in-studio guests and spinning their awesome catalog of CDs" -James E. Guyette WRUW, Cleveland

The Troubadours of Divine Bliss album, "As You Wish", will take you to a magical place where divine harmonies reign supreme, as soulful melodies and love inducing lyrics to grow your heart three sizes and leave you humming on your way out the door. These mystic singers are one part Rumi, one part Indigo Girls, one part Kentucky bourbon, and all parts southern charm. These singing gypsy fortune tellers will sing your fortune, and you'll quickly learn that your future is a place where hope sings eternal--and so are their songs. "- Marcy Bain, Civil, Dayton

"The Troubadours of Divine Bliss’ As You Wish CD is a spiritual journey all its own. They break open our hearts with their soaring lyrics then guide us through the depths of our sacred wounds to the expanse of our inspired gifts. With seamlessly woven harmonies, they mend our hearts again and leave us stronger than ever – knowing that this life is indeed extraordinary!" Kristin Powell, Soulstream Radio

As You Wish
Release Date: 2015

A misty, fog-cloaked morning with rays of sunlight piercing through the trees, 'As You Wish' was born on such a dawn. Dreamy yet crisp, the sound of this CD is a perfect marriage of analog with digital. Woven like journal entries on your most potent days, this collection of songs go straight to the heart and the universal stories of what we long for as human beings.

'As You Wish' features accordion, guitar, mandolin, violin, cello, bass, and drums all carefully selected and tastefully delivered to enhance the soul of each song. 'Something Better' has been used nationally for The Women's Vote, Mental Health & Recovery awareness, and in Theatrical productions. 'Big to Do', 'Broken Open' & 'Extraordinary Life' have chosen as life mantras for people around the globe, and 'As You Wish' has become a Wedding favorite. How can you tell a life but through its struggles and epiphanies...'As You Wish' is the diary of a lifetime.

The album features master musicians perfectly enhancing each song on cello, violin, electric guitar, bass, and drums and, of course, the signature accordion, guitar, and heavenly harmonies.

"As You Wish" is an uplifting album with a lot of songs that make you want to sing along. It is power-packed with positive lyrics that cheer you along your path and your purpose.

MUSICIANS:
Aim Me Smiley:vocals, acoustic guitar
Karena Ahkmatova: cello
Renee Ananda: vocals, accordion, piano
Randy Brewer: mandolin
Steph Dlugon: violin
Doris Dupe: drums, percussion
Big Mac: bass


ORDER OF SONGS ON AS YOU WISH:

1. Broken Open(5:03)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

Sometimes the chorus comes first, like an anthem, like an old chant or prayer that is dying to be heard. And so it was with Broken Open.

The inspiration came after hearing a talk by Eve Ensler and the work she has done with women and girls around the world who are survivors of abuse. It is a protest that, finally, after all that has been taken, you will not take my vulnerability, my tenderness, my ability to trust and love again. As survivors ourselves, we defiantly shout, go ahead, “Break me Open!” I can bear it and the wound will become an entrance for healing and Light.

Rumi and then Leonard Cohen spoke to the wound being the place where the light enters. This song was written as an anthem to the spirit of reclaiming the power of vulnerability.

2. Big To Do(5:30)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

BIG TO DO
It’s funny how songwriting works sometimes. Most of the verses to this song were written over 20 years ago for a gospel song that never really fleshed out. As the melody and theme of this song started coming, those old lines popped into Renee’s mind. We looked them up and they fit! The chorus came suddenly. It always comes back to Love. No matter what we write or care about or want to say- it’s Love. It is the one thing that we need to remember to do on our honey-do list. “As I wake, work, walk. As I think, drive, talk. As I give, as I take, as I make. As I play, as I plan and as I pray.” It’s meant to be a sing-a-long and friendly reminder to keep the main thing- the main thing.


3. Fortune Teller (4:56)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

This is a song that has been with us for a long time. Originally it was a poem written by Renee. When Aim Me read it, she said it should be put to music, that it would make a great song. And so, you look for the strongest stanza in the poetry and create the chorus around those lines. We added some lines that describe the different ways that our actions speak louder than words and how we shape and are shaped by our lifelines.
4.As You Wish (06:40)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

While Aim Me was in Florida taking care of her Dad after open-heart surgery, Renee was opening her heart to tell the story of our love and life in As You Wish Woods, our 20 acres in the Hoosier National Forest. The hill where our pond, water source, and the highest point of inspiration nests, where our precious dogs' Blossom, Miracle, and Smiley roamed and were held, where we were married in the spot two gardens now grow, to the little altars everywhere that have carried our prayers home. When Aim Me returned home to this song, with tears flowing she sighed, “This song is the perfect time capsule of our life here and it will forever be heard on the breeze of these trees.”

5. Something Better (5:42)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

Renee’s Daddy was the inspiration for this song. He told her one day, “God told me there is something better for me.” How true is that…in so many ways. The second verse came from an experience in our woods. A bird flew into the front window of our cabin and lay stunned on the porch. We were unsure of what to do, so we held it in our hands and heard clearly,” Show it the sky.” We had been facing the cabin, but once we turned toward the big blue, the bird flew, knowing now that there was something better awaiting it!


6. Umbrella in the Sea (5:23)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

We had a friend who was struggling and feeling drawn to take her own life. As we counseled her, many of the images in this song arose.
We found ourselves calling in the Irish prayer-
“For every storm, a rainbow, For every tear, a smile, For every care, a promise, And a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, For every sigh, a sweet song, And an answer for each prayer.” Our mantra became- you are not alone, you have a home here in our hearts. Our friend has since weathered that storm and is, serendipitously, now living in Ireland.

7. YOU’LL BE WITH ME (5:01)
Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley
Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

Have you ever had a pet that you loved like a beloved family member? Well, this song was written in the middle of the grief of losing our precious Blossom, a sassy black Lhasa Apso who seldom left our side over 17 years. She was the third troubadour and started with us on the streets of New Orleans perched in the guitar case. Our hearts were weeping, seeing her everywhere we looked. This song beckons us to see our dearly departed all throughout our lives, in everything.

8. Walking Wounded (5:08)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley
Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

We were working on deepening our forgiveness for others- from deep, past wounds to the feeling of repulsion of people’s behavior. How to write a song about forgiveness? In Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke, forgiveness means to "untie." We knew the adage about unforgiveness being like drinking the poison and expecting the other person to die. We felt the tether of holding on to the pain, and we wanted to write a song that would help people release that hurt so they could free themselves. We know what powerful healing agent compassion can be. So, we sing to summon an understanding that we are all walking wounded.

9. Secret Admirer (6:50)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

This was one of the first poems Renee wrote while we were falling in love. Transforming from best friends into sweethearts was a delicate matter, but our feelings were too compelling to keep it a secret for very long. This song perfectly encapsulates the timeless and unyielding passion for crushing completely.

10. Soul Song (6:48)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

This is a condensed biography of Aim Me Smiley and the evolution of learning to love and find herself. The textured, tragic, but ultimately hopeful hero’s journey of a lost soul who fought against the odds to welcome herself home. On New Year’s Eve, Aim Me did a writing exercise of telling her life story as quickly and detailed as possible. That exercise became this song and celebration of wading through the muck to make it to the promised land.

11. Hold On (6:11)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

When you are down, lost, and weary, you can choose to hold on. This song was written for all of us when we feel like giving up or when we don’t know what else to do. Sometimes, you just have to hold on and wait for the smoke to clear. And the question is, “What are you holding on to?, What keeps sustaining you?” During these political and socially tumultuous times, we became inspired to write this song to encourage each other not to give up and to hold on.

12. Extraordinary Life (3:45)

Songwriters: Renee Ananda & Aim Me Smiley

Publisher: Troubadours of Divine Bliss Music, BMI

We wrote this piece to inspire the listener to look at life as a gift. The song is both encouraging and emboldening to view life as an extraordinary opportunity to live to the fullest and achieve your highest potential. We love to invite people into magic and miracles!

TROUBADOURS OF DIVINE BLISS BIOGRAPHY
Troubadours of Divine Bliss, Renee Ananda, and Aim Me Smiley have been best friends since their teens when they met at a holy-roller church outside of Louisville, KY. Despite Aim Me's dad kicking Renee's dad- the pastor- out of the church, the girls remained friends and over a decade later, fell in love. They dreamed of traveling the world making music together-singing songs about following your heart, freeing your dreams, and finding your bliss. So they moved to New Orleans armed with an accordion, a guitar, and harmonies "smooth as KY Bourbon" and became street performers calling themselves Troubadours of Divine Bliss.

Since then, they have spent two decades touring full time all over America, Canada, Scandinavia, and Europe. Their style has broken the shackles of genre and their nine recordings attest to that.

The one running thread through their music is the remarkable harmonies and uplifting message.

The troubadours are musicians, ministers, activists, writers, life coaches, retreat leaders, homesteaders, and founders of Mighty Kindness. They live in southern Indiana in the Hoosier National Forest and tour internationally year-round sharing their songs of love.

Bliss appeared: FIMU Intl Music Fest France, Blissfest MI, Troubadour London, Alaska Women's Fest, Living Room NYC, BBC Radio, WKSU Cabin Fever Fest, El Principal Spain, Mojo Copenhagen, Southern Womyn Fest FL, RiverRoots Festival, Murat Theatre, Eddie's Attic




5
  • Members:
    Aim Me Smiley & Renee Ananda
  • Sounds Like:
    Simon & Garfunkel, Indigo Girls, Rising Appalachia, MaMuse, First Aid Kit, Patty Griffin, Bon Iver, Brandi Carlile, Dar Williams, Shawn Colvin, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, Ani DiFranco
  • Influences:
    Bonnie Raitt, Michael Franti, Brandi Carlile, India Arie, Glen Hansard,
  • AirPlay Direct Member Since:
    08/31/20
  • Profile Last Updated:
    08/15/23 00:37:44

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