This has been a year where I haven't done as many "Live" solo and band gigs. After nearly 30 years there has been a natural slowing down. With the band rehearsing and churning out CD's it seemed natural to book and tour like crazy. There are moments when I miss it immensely. Many of my friends and bandmates are still in the game and I get pangs of wanting to get back in. My truth at the moment is that I love sharing songwriting with others as a teaching artist. Every day is incredibly rewarding and I feel I'm doing important work helping to spark creativity through the language of music and video. With each song and lyric written, I'm reminded of why it's been my life work. The hours are great as well. So for the foreseeable future, I will continue along this path, but don't be surprised if you see some more "Live" gigs pop up on my calendar. There's something to to be said for the phrase "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
Birthdays represent the artificial time line that for some reason makes me reflect on where I am on that day. So here I go publicly reflecting... This has been a year where I haven't done as many "Live" solo and band gigs. After nearly 30 years there has been a natural slowing down. With the band rehearsing and churning out CD's it seemed natural to book and tour like crazy. There are moments when I miss it immensely. Many of my friends and bandmates are still in the game and I get pangs of wanting to get back in. My truth at the moment is that I love sharing songwriting with others as a teaching artist. Every day is incredibly rewarding and I feel I'm doing important work helping to spark creativity through the language of music and video. With each song and lyric written, I'm reminded of why it's been my life work. The hours are great as well. So for the foreseeable future, I will continue along this path, but don't be surprised if you see some more "Live" gigs pop up on my calendar. There's something to to be said for the phrase "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." A little story dating back to Greenwich Village 1984 @The Bitter End... I was standing on the side of the stage waiting for my turn to play a set (there were 4 bands that night). I watched a lead singer belting out a song. She was wonderful but pretty old as I judged her to be in her mid 30’s. I swore to myself that if I wasn’t a super star with a huge record contract by the time I was her age I would definitely not be playing small clubs like this. There was no way that judgy self absorbed girl (me) could have anticipated the long and winding musical journey I was just at the beginning of that night. So here I am 37 years later with a cache of albums, experiences, accolades, heartaches along with a zillion little euphoric moments and I can’t wait to play at 3 small venues this week to usher in my 60th year around the sun. Stop by and say hi to this old girl. Thu. 11/18- Ricks Club American Congers NY 7-10, Sat. 11/20 - Torne Valley Vineyards 1-5 under the heated tent with Al and Jimmy Leahey., Sun. 11/21 Tin Barn Brewing 2-5
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2015 has been amazing so far. I just signed a new song "Ciao Manhatten" to a licensing deal. Been writing like crazy. Co writing some new ones with Eryn Shewell as well. Some traveling. An awesome trip to Rome with my son. Magical.
My songwriting and music video business has been buzzing along and I'm super excited about how many people I'm sharing my love of the craft with. Still working on my new CD. I really need to finish up, but every time I think I'm finished a new and "Better" song gets written... It's been a an interesting year filled with triumph, sadness, a ha moments, reflection and plans. I can't take even a single moment for granted and don't even want the most painful ones to go by too quickly. I guess I'm always wondering if my musical contributions are important and continue to strive toward the goals of making a positive difference in the lives of my fans and all my students doing the thing I believe I do best. Sharing my love of lyrics and songwriting. Understanding that through this unique language, so much can be achieved. Here's a year in review video.... Been doing a bunch of thinking as I'm beginning the process of creating my next CD. What do I want it to sound like. What direction should I be headed.
I'm leaning toward organic simplicity with the focus being on my voice and lyrics. I'm currently going through a ton of songs and am even considering re recording some of my favorites from the Alice Project CD's. Lots to do, but finding my direction is the hardest thing. Now...what 's my image going to be? I'll definitely need to go shopping:) So I thought I'd reflect for a moment as we all have a tendency to do at the artificial end of a year. 2013 was a year where I personally said goodbye to some dear friends... Larisa Vaynberg and Brett Walker. I looked up to Larisa as a mentor. She had gone through so many real trials in her life becoming a top tennis competitor in her homeland of Russia only to be left out of the big tournaments because she was born Jewish. Emigrating to America after Chernobyl with her 2 babies, husband, twin sister and parents with nothing but the clothing on their backs. Working first as a housekeeper and eventually becoming a top tennis coach in Princeton. She was genuine, funny, fair, loving, hardworking and a role model to me. Brett Walker and I never met, but he was an incredible cheerleader for me and my music. We spoke hundreds of times on the phone. Placing my songs in countless TV shows and telling me all the time that my music was awesome and he valued it. That meant a great deal coming from someone who had achieved so much in the music biz. He passed away suddenly and too young as did Larisa. There were loads of wonderful things this year though... My son Eli finished elementary school and started Middle school. Became a black belt in TKD, Played his original classical piano pieces at the Liedenkrantz music hall as part of the Rondo music festival, made it to two travel baseball teams, really cut his hair for the first time and grew about 6 inches. Al Greene played some amazing gigs this year including Lincoln Center and learned how to play bass and drums at the same time. He also decided to embark on his journey into the martial arts. He helped me produce and engineered my last CD and is working on a new one with me.
This year, I released my CD "It's all making sense" which caught the ears of a number of film makers working on Tesla films. It was a chance to co-write with Jimmy Leahey and Eryn Shewell. I had a sold out show at the Turning Point which was amazing. My work as a teaching artist grew ten fold and it's an amazing fit for me. We did a bunch of traveling and made our yearly pilgrimage to my favorite spot on earth...Sedona Arizona. Time goes so fast and I've decided that even the crappy times should go slowly because I don't want any of this to end too soon. There's loads more to say...but I think I'll just add those thoughts to my next batch of songs.... Peace out.... Tonight was the first time in decades where I shared Thanksgiving with both of my parents. They were divorced and remarried so long ago that I have spent the majority of my life without them together at nearly every "family" gathering. Hey that's just the way it is for mine and many many families. Just saying...I was truly thankful to be able to open up my home and share this family day with...well...my family. So... my day job is...well ...songwriting. No it's not oncology or brain surgery, or nursing, or hospice care, or fire fighting. So does it matter? Over the past few weeks I've had an opportunity to create a dozen songs with a completely diverse group of kids from ages 7 to 87. We wrote about everything from dancing to growing old with style to being caught in a hurricane, to celebrating a birthday to girl empowerment and more... It DID matter. We got to discuss things through the language of music. Everyone felt their voices were heard and we created something REAL. I left each class feeling like I was given a gift by my students. Songs do matter... You know how it is. When you leave your house looking like a wreck to drop something off at the post office or pick up something at the dollar store, you tend to run into everyone you know. Well to that point, I've been observing that most people look like a wreck. It seems like we've given up or something. Crazy hair, old sweats, flip flops, no make up...basically no effort. I think about my Dad working on the lawn in the 70's wearing dress pants. I see pictures of Yankee stadium in the 60's and everyone was dressed up. Even going to a concert or the movies was something people dressed for. My Mom never left the house without make up on and my Grandmother always wore a dress. I'm not saying that nobody cares...I'm just saying that less do. I remember arriving at gigs in the 80's and 90's dressed up and bringing my "cool" stage wear. We all did. Now it seems there is no difference between the audience in a concert setting (except big shows) and the band or performer. Is this a bad thing? I don't know, but today I put on a red dress ,gold platform shoes and put on make up just to go to Lowes to look at refrigerators. Of course I didn't run into anyone I know, but I did feel pretty good and confident in the event that I did.
Each year seems to go by quicker than the one before and this Summer was no exception. I reconnected with old friends and extended family and mourned the passing of two close friends. My son's shoe size suddenly exceeds mine, and my NEW album is a year older. As time passes, I feel more love in my life. I acknowledge that I am blessed with a positive disposition and a hopefulness that the best is yet to come. I've chosen "All that I wanted" as my Song of the Summer as it reflects that sense.
Over the past month I lost two close friends...Larisa Vaynberg and Brett Walker. They were too young and still had so much to do. They pre deceased their own parents and that is the most tragic part. I am still in disbelief and refuse to believe they are truly gone. I wrote a song called "Goodbye old Friend a number of years ago". I wrote the words in a notebook and my friend Scott Monetti saw them and said they needed to be in a song. It was so hard to write but I'm so glad I did as the words give me a little relief and ring true every time.
"Goodbye old friend, guess we all can't stay... Seems like all those years were compressed to just one day A really good day...a really great day Goodbye old friend A really good day and you'll never ever know The way I loved how you'd greet me with unconditional love It was a really great day I will carry your song away with me.. It was a really good day Good bye old friend |
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