Movies

Great therapy appointment...

Coaching with Breanna...I play piano for singers...get them ready for auditions etc. 

Met up with Al and we went to see Cyrus...which was really good!!

Awesome cast...John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener & Jonah Hill. Then we snuck into the first part of Inception.

Getting excited

for my next show!!

Woohoo!!

Tues, August 24th @ 8:30 pm at Crash Mansion (199 Bowery)
18+ / $8


Click here to see the facebook invite.


Gonna be probably my biggest show of the summer.... Great full band + some dance performances and special guests. Yeah!!!

Better now

Was out in the world today.....

Classes & gym...

I feel a lot better....

I finished watching Precious and I have to say, it was not as depressing to me as I feel everyone made it out to be. I actually found parts of it uplifting. Here is a girl who seemed to be overcoming her upbringing and surroundings....raising her kids & stuff.... I really liked the movie....I'm just sayin...I've seen some depressing movies.....Revolutionary Road is damn depressing in my opinion.

Anyway, here's to you Precious!

Tonsilitis

I have tonsilitis.

Home resting.

Thats all

;-)

Living Room

Tonight I got to play at Living Room in NYC through my friend Todd's fundraiser for his dance company, Wobble Dance.

It was a great night of music. I played a solo set, and then afterward, checked out Adam Tressler & Astoria Blvd. at Rockwood Music Hall.

Shrine show + appointments + Inception

Had an Awesome show at Shrine on Thursday.

Good turnout, good vibes, good built-in crowd. Haha they don't play around with the lights. As soon as I started, it was strobes and smoke machine lol....but alot of fun. I pretty much played keys the whole time, and was joined by Iakov, Jordan, and Jeffrey. I think we sounded great. I did a few covers, including Mariah Carey "Make it Happen," which went well, had the audience singing along at a few points, and even had some friends come up on stage to sing, including Christopher Cox, a semifinalist along with me for Making the Band. He just moved to NY and wow, he sounded amazing! Such a fun show.

Here's some pictures of Jeffrey, Iakov, and Jordan, when we were on the train on the way to the gig. I love these guys!

On Friday, I had some good appointments - long overdue dental appt. (only 1 cavity, I'll take it!), therapy, and a good meeting with Jamie Salka from Story Pirates. He emphasized improving my live show and having a gimmick, or hook, for the audience, so I've been brainstorming on what that could be. 

I went back to Shrine Friday night to check out Geoff Earley, who was in town from LA. 

Today I saw a good friend Stephanie Jaggers who I hadn't seen in a while. We went to see Inception, which was awesome! And then had some Japanese food. Yum!!

Social Networking

ANXIETY....

LOL, the theme of today.

I was at the New Music Seminar pretty much all day, and while the seminars were great, and I did meet a few people and do some connecting, I was overthinking, and wishing I was better at networking! It can be tough when you go to something like that by yourself, because introducing yourself is like a cold call, and wow, it's so scary!!!!!!! Not gonna lie!!!!! And the pressure of knowing there are so many important people there that would be good to meet!

I'm still grateful for the experience though, and learned alot.

Show tomorrow in Harlem! woo-hoo!

BOOM

Slept in a lot later than I had hoped, but at least I got a full night's sleep for once. Went to the New Music Seminar in the afternoon and got some good advice and talked to a few people.

Then had dinner with the awesome Jenn Mundia, old friend from Berklee who was in town from North Carolina, as well as the lovely Andrea Setaro and a few others.

Met up with a friend in BK and watched "Up in the Air," which was very good.

That's all, over & out!!!!

New Music Seminar

Today was LONGGGGG........

Full morning of kids music class....

Audition for Hairspray at Paper Mill...where I got chopped....lol....

Gym....

Opening night of New Music Seminar.

I got a free pass to this 3 day music seminar....lots of panels and discussions on music business plus performances.

Tonight was comedy by Margaret Cho...awesome as always....talked alot about her pu*%y, & sex...
also comedy by Rob Cantrell, who was hilarious!!

Musical performances, including Naughty by Nature!! (AWESOME!) as well as a new hip-hop artist Mickey Factz, whose set I really enjoyed.

Kat DeLuna performed as well with a bunch of young dancers....Not trying to hate, but wasn't very impressed with her performance. Thought the choreography was sloppy and she didn't really seem to command the audience, though I do like some of her songs, and she has pretty good energy. I do have to say, it was a tough crowd - very skeptical industry folk. 

It was a really fun night though, and I look forward to 2 more days of the seminar!

Here I go

Big week ahead.

Had a nice time at the Shenk family reunion this past weekend, connecting with cousins, aunts and uncles, spending quality time with nephews...playing volleyball, capture the flag....swimming...eating sushi.....

We even had a little concert on Saturday night where I played some of my songs. A bunch of my cousins and some aunts and uncles picked up copies of the CD.

This week I am attending the New Music Seminar & also getting ready for my show on Thursday at Shrine . Here I go!!!!

Family Reunion here I come

Had a good meeting with Janet & Nate, who will be working on some bookings for me.

Was writing a little bit, came up with a new chorus called "Relief," or "It's such a relief" that I'm diggin, and still working on a song called "Leak."

Had an awesome Bikram class earlier.

Tomorrow (or later today that is) I will be going to PA for an extended Shenk family reunion, which I'm really looking forward to.

Over & out.

Love Jones

Woo-hoo!!!

Went to a great show tonight called Love Jones NYC at the Greenhouse, a showcase featuring lots of amazing singers, great house band, and good energy! Joey "J-Harris" Fleming is the ringleader and creator of the night, and I think they have performances every couple months.

WOWOWOWOOW.......

Kimberly Nichole
Melissa Musique
Yummy Bingham
Brian Slade (Tonex)
Jayms Madison
Danni Ai
Vassi

to name a FEW.....they were all pretty incredible!!! My favorite of the night was Melissa Musique...she did a NASTY RUDE cover of Summertime.....it was too good!!!!!!

At the end, they let some singers come up and sing to their Love Jones theme song, so I took the mic and did my thing. It was great!! Met some awesome people and saw some friends, and handed out some flyers, and it was all good!!!

Grateful....

YouTube

I spent a long time today doing a freakin' cover song for YouTube, haha.....Recording, then doing backgrounds in Garage Band, then editing on IMovie. All pretty simple stuff but it can be time-consuming, and it's still definitely not perfect --- aaaah nothing ever is I guess.

Root Beer Floats

from Wendy's are sooooo goooooooooood. Yum.


Had a nice Bikram class this evening. I forgot cash and they're like, oh you can pay next time. Wow, being a regular has some perks I suppose. I have to say, Yoga to the People is pretty much the bomb. I like the teachers there a lot.

Got my design touched up at the barber shop, and had a nice therapy session with my therapist who just switched from her residency at Columbia to private practice, so I hadn't seen her in a few weeks.

Justin Conte

Good class today with Justin Conte at PMT studios.

Then I went to see Neara Russell, a recent Berklee grad, at Caffe Vivaldi. Nice venue, I had never been there. They have a grand piano and really nice sound. Small place; I was diggin it. And Neara sounded great. She did a really amazing, goosebump-inducing cover of "Every Breath You Take."

Going to shows

I love going to see shows and being with friends.

Friday I was at the gym with Katya. I got a 30-day pass to Mid-city gym, and tweeted about it. She was like "that's my gym too!!" So we coordinated. IT was fun just sitting on the bike talking and getting exercise at the same time haha.

Then I went to Tap City at Symphony Space, put on by the American Tap Dance Foundation. It was wonderful. Met Mishay and Michelle Dorrance there. Michelle was supposed to perform but had a bad foot injury that day unfortunately. But wow, some of the tapping. My friend Cartier had a solo at the beginning that was unreal. Tap is so joyous, and so musical. I love it.

Today I slept soooo late and then recorded a YouTube video (Heatwave) and then went to a late set at Blue Note. My friend Juri Jinnai's boyfriend Romain Collins was playing with his trio, and it was excellent. It's a great room, because they have a quiet policy, ha, so people actually pay attention. IT was a nice time, then I stopped by Stonewall after, which I had never been to.

Over & out

Success

The show that I played for tonight at Upright Citizens Brigade earned itself a run, so everyone involved was very excited.

Not much more to report for today....
Over & out

Improv Comedy

This week I been staying busy.

It has been a HEATWAVE here in New York....almost unbearable. Got my AC goin and my fan blowin. Wow......


I took Bikram yesterday despite the heat which is kinda crazy, but it was a good class.


I've also been rehearsing for a comedy show that I am playing piano for, called the NYPD Sit Down and Shut up Variety Hour at Upright Citizens Brigade.


Performance is tonight at 7 pm. Should be fun.


Getting the improv/acting/theater bug.....aaaggggghhh maybe I'll be in a show soon. Going to some auditions.

Over & out, stay cool!

Wonderful weekend

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Wanted to give a quick update:

This weekend was so wonderful...I was asked by a friend to perform at Out in the Adirondacks at Great Camp Sagamore. It was an arts-oriented gay/lesbian weekend, where I performed alongside Chris Pureka, poet Andrea Gibson, and Patty Larkin. What great company!

I had a nice set on Friday night and then just enjoyed the rest of the weekend--canoeing, hiking, tour of the campground, hanging out with my friend Bryan Jarrett who came with me, and some of the other kids who were there working for the summer.

I was inspired by the other artists who performed & by the nature. It was beautiful weather.

Tonight I made a brief cameo once again in Broadway Underground at BB Kings. It was the first Broadway Underground in over a year, so it was fun to be back in that arena....Jared Grimes is amazing!

Over & out

Another picture from the park

Another picture of the cute little girl and her nanny from the day I played in Central Park for Make Music New York.

Googie's

Incredible lack of sleep today...but I have made it through....

Gig tonight at Googie's was cool. I had some people come out that it was really good to see. Adam Tressler who played before me was awesome. Such a talented songwriter. And Rebecca Muir, after me, was freakin' inspiring. Her voice is off the hook, and she did a couple blues tunes that blew my mind. She was accompanied by cello, bass and guitar.

My set was fun. I played piano and also my keyboard. Nick D'Agostino held it down on percussion, and I made the audience sing Waterfalls at the end. Some of my favorite moments were also performing "Rebel" and "Seed," which I've never performed live before. And I actually got the lyrics for both songs and I really enjoyed playing them.

Whee! Going to Adirondacks tomorrow. Have to get up at 5:45! AAAH!!!

Don't read this

Don't read this because it's way past my bedtime.

Today after work I went to an info session at Dixon Place to talk about teaching artist opportunities. So many great people in the room -- artists who spend time teaching and working with kids, seniors, disabled, etc.

Had a lovely date in Brooklyn at this awesome soul food restaurant called Night of the Cookers. Had some awesome lemon chicken & greens.

Good conversation, walk around the block, through the park, after dark....Reminds me of my favorite Jill Scott song. Name that tune.

Looking forward to my show tonight at Googie's with Adam Tressler & Rebecca Muir.

Over & out

(Go watch GLOZELL) on YouTube, she's a comedian who posts hundreds of videos, and always ends with over & out, a wink and a kiss. LOL....