Green Chimneys

Sometimes I wish I blogged more - and sometimes I just don't feel like it ;-)

I've been feeling really great though - grateful for many things in my life.

I am now living at the Times Square building on 43rd/8th. It's low-income housing, which means super cheap rent, and they let you sublet the place out for 6 month periods.

Wheeee!!!!! And I'm right in Times Square, what?!?!?! Steps away from Broadway Dance Center, so I've been taking more classes there again, which feels really nice.

Today, I went back to this place called Green Chimneys, a home for runaway & homeless youth. Many of them are LGBTQ. I played there once before, and though many of them are "troubled," they really seem to appreciate the music - it's really an honor to have them listening and responding to the music. I brought my friend Melissa to sing some duets, and my friends Heightz to do some rapping. I think it went over really well.

LaShawn Kelly, who I met a couple years ago, has been very supportive of my career, and is one of the main staff at Green Chimneys. She is truly amazing. Hope to go back there soon.

Helllllooooooo

Whoa, haven't been on here IN A MINUTE!!!


Life's been a little crazy but good -

Traveled out to Los Angeles again - did a private party in Beverly Hills for a friend of Beth Shaw, CEO of Yoga Fit, who has taken a liking to my music.

I also went to Palm Springs to her home there and did a showcase for her and invitees of my new management, KMP Artists.

I spent two days in San Diego with my friend Tori Roze, and did the open mic at Lestat's, as well as a featured spot at Train of Thought San Diego.

Back in LA, I did a show with Wesley Cole on bass and Julian Hogan on drums at M Bar in Hollywood.

Meanwhile, I took a bunch of dance class, and had some great writing sessions with songwriter friends Adam Tressler, Brooke Parrott, and Jill Krachmer.

Planning on moving to LA later this year or early next.

On the way back to the east coast, I stopped in Austin to visit a friend. First time there - what a lovely city - but sooo hot.... then I flew to Boston and spent 4th of July with my brother Jeremy, Bridget, and nephews Gus & Cal.

Now I'm back in NYC, getting some things poppin here - getting ready for my cousin Chris' wedding. I am providing the music along with bandmates Cara Scherker, Iakov Kremenskiy, Josh Giunta, and Brian Holtz.

AND I got approved for artist housing - $470/month for a studio apartment in midtown. So alot's going on, but all good stuff.

Stay tuned!

Super 8 and Natasha Bedingfield

Tonight I saw the movie super 8 - I definitely recommend it!!

Also recommended is the frozen Fanta Blueberry drink. yum.

on Friday - I went with my friend Brandon to see Natasha Bedingfield at Irving Plaza....

I didn't realize how GOOD she is!! Her voice is like perfect - band sounded great - and she had an awesome back up singer - they sounded amazing together.

She's mature - a great performer - and hot!!

Yoga Fit

I had a great time in Minneapolis last weekend. The show was fun - founder Beth Shaw was awesome (we are pictured together below), and the whole team at Yoga Fit made me feel so comfortable and welcomed.

Can't wait to go to LA in a couple weeks!

Minneapolis

I'm in Minneapolis at the moment - my new management got me some gigs as entertainment for some of the Yoga Fit conferences.

I played solo in front of a very attentive audience - mainly women 30-60 - good energy - I was nervous, but I think it came off pretty good!

The CEO of YogaFit was taken with my music when she heard it the other week, and it's so cool this was able to happen so fast.

Taking some yoga classes tomorrow then headed right back to NYC. And then coming back to LA for a week or two at the end of June!! Can't wait!

Management & Christopher Rice

I've been off my blog grind - but plugging away.

Signed a management deal with KMP Artists - who are based in LA, and incidentally they work with pretty much my favorite writer of all time - Christopher Rice

I just finished his fourth book, Blind Fall, and immediately started his most recent work, The Moonlit Earth. His stories are absolutely captivating - written with a lot of heart and emotion, with suspenseful and mysterious aspects that are totally up my alley.

Hope to meet him soon - I think I may meet him at a showcase in Seattle in September.

Also been working on some development with Jonathan Whiteley - he has been giving me some advice on things from performance to image - he suggested I take some technical dance classes as a form of exercise, and to train my body in a way that hip-hop classes don't quite cover. I took a jazz class today at PMT Dance Studio.

Boychoir & Bridesmaids

I met up tonight with my old friend William Southerland who I went to the American Boychoir School with, and whom I hadn't seen since I think 1998.

Pretty crazy - but awesome to see him, and we chatted it up for a little while at Bourbon Street (bar) in Midtown.

Love reminiscing!!

Then I had a party of 1 (solo date) at the 12:30am showing of Bridesmaids at Regal. 

Freakin hilarious -

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kristen Wiig - she is my hero

Nose piercing

Got my nose pierced :-)

Zennnnnn

Today I wasn't feeling the best - a little bit of a sore throat.

So I slept in pretty late....which is grand on a Sunday.

When I got up, I headed down to E 14th St. to go to Chogye International Zen Temple for some guided meditation.

Months ago, Time Out New York did a write-up on Finding your Peace or something to that nature. Ways to find peace in New York city. And there was a section on meditation with suggestions of centers where you could go.

I decided on this because the time was perfect. 6-8 pm on a Sunday.

I plan on finding some other centers too and trying them out.

I would love to incorporate meditation into an every day practice.

Screen shots

My cousin's girlfriend was kind enough to take some photos of her TV when they aired my song, and sent them to me....

LOL.... here they are!

Real World

Was giddy today because of the impending placement on Real World: Las Vegas.

I set my DVR to record it, and watched it late at night.

Sure enough, as my friends and family already told me, my song "Warning Shot" played right at the very end of the episode before the end credits.

Was a great placement with a little bit of the track upfront (Nick Morin production) and then the lyrics "Tell  me what the hell's going on? / Some kind of voo-doo," and then the beginning and ending of the chorus: "Could you fire a warning shot before you blow me away / When the trigger is cocked / Give me a warning shot"

Very exciting -

I got a bunch of people commenting on my old YouTube video of Warning Shot - so exciting that people were seeking it out after the episode - I also searched Twitter and discovered that people were quoting the lyrics!!

Got a lot of congrats and well wishes from friends - this is pretty big for me, and I hope for more placements in the future -

Very Grateful :-)

MTV placement on REAL WORLD

I found out today that my music will be featured on Real World: Las Vegas

Episode will air tonight (Wed 5/4) at 10pm.

They will be playing my song "Warning Shot."

WOOOO HOOOOOO so excited!!!!!

Back in New York

It feels good to be back in NYC. I mean really:

No place like it --- even though I would like to go back to LA very soon.

I finally finished unpacking today from my trip - kinda pathetic considering it's almost a week later LOL - been dragging my feet a little bit on everything that needs to be done, but I'm getting back into the swing of things.

Today I went and took Eddie Villanueva's dance class at NYSC. Me and him both danced in Sheryl Murakami's carnival piece a couple years ago, and have stayed in touch a bit. It was great to see him do his thing!

I also hung out with Gillian Hunter earlier in the day - she is such a beautiful, sweet person that I went to Interlochen Arts Camp with back in '98. She's British, and currently lives in London, but I saw her back in 2009, and she was visiting New York again recently. We have kept in touch via Twitter. 

We had a lovely time.

Tour Blog

Well I'm back from my first mini-tour...

and I totally FAILED at Blogging ~~

I don't even have many photos or videos from the trip, but I have some great memories.

Here's the basic rundown:

Phoenix was gorgeous --- I played at the Pride Festival with a great drummer and bass player that were recommended through a friend. They were really groovin and the set was awesome - then I wandered around the park, met up with friend Ryan Pinkston, and generally lived it up at Pride.

I drove my rental across the desert to San Diego, where I stayed for a few days with good friend Tori Roze. I performed on a bill with her band, Tori Roze & The Hot Mess, at the Ruby Room in San Diego - I wasn't totally comfortable because of some issues with the keyboard I was using, but it turned out ok and I met some cool people.

The next night I played at the open mic at LeStat's, great venue in San Diego. However, the next day, after taking a Bikram class, I started feeling really ill. I stayed in that night and rested all day Wednesday before my gig at Portugalia in Ocean Beach - I rented a keyboard for my Portugalia gig, and I felt comfortable and it went well - had some friends from San Diego come out to see me, and saw Tori's brother and sister again and made some new friends. However, after the set, I started to feel ill again and went home. The next day, I could barely swallow, and I just had a feeling I had strep throat.

I went to the doctor, and sure enough, I had strep - they gave me antibiotics and a steroid to help the swelling go down - and by that evening, I started feeling good again.

Friday, I drove up to Los Angeles, where I stayed in Hollywood with my friend Tyler Parks. I had a good day of taking dance classes & going for sushi. I rented a keyboard for my LA gig, and found someone to touch up my design - also made it to Room 5 Lounge for a few performances, including my incredibly talented friend Jen Hirsh, and Annie & The Beekeepers, who I saw for the first time - even though she actually lives in Brooklyn.

My gig Monday night at M Bar in Hollywood went great - they actually had a grand piano in good shape which I used for half of the show. I had Wesley Cole on bass and Enrique Lara on drums (both from Berklee), and invited Jen Hirsh up to sing with me on "Seed." Audience was great, including some friends I hadn't seen in YEARS - was great seeing them along with some new faces. Was a great way to wrap up the tour.

Now I'm back in NYC - and I have to say, part of my heart definitely belongs to NY. I can't wait to tour more and go back to LA, but NYC will always be a home to me.

PHOENIX

I have finally arrived in sunny beautiful Phoenix:

Yes, that is just a random image I googled. LOL.....but there are cacti and Palm trees EVERYWHERE - it's gorgeous!!

Sitting outside at a Starbucks right now - and figuring out what I will do for the rest of the day.

So excited to be here!

Plays & movies, movies & plays

I saw two great movies and one awesome play this weekend -

1. Source Code - starring Jake Gylenhall this is one of those mind-f&*# movies - a soldier wakes up in the body of an unknown man, later to realize he is part of a mission to find the bomber of a train - hard to explain - but fun fact, Michael Arden, who stars in the film, was an old friend from Interlochen Arts Camp - I had no idea he was in it till I saw his name in the credits at the beginning!

2. I've begun to get comps for some Broadway shows - and I was lucky enough to get to see The Motherf**ker with the Hat - a wonderful play starring Chris Rock & Bobby Cannavale. Bobby plays a recovering alcoholic, and Chris Rock is his sponsor - In the first scene Bobby's character gets a new job and comes home to celebrate with his girlfriend (who is an addict) - They are about to have sex and while she is in the shower he discovers a man's hat on the table - of course he is immediately suspicious that she is having an affair, and the action ensues - wonderful play and AMAZING acting from Bobby Cannavale & newcomer Elizabeth Rodriguez.

3. New movie Hanna - AWESOME - it features an icy Cate Blanchett and wonderful young actress Saoirse Ronan - who also played Susie Salmon in "Lovely Bones" a few years ago 

Rocco Blog Posts

A friend of my girl Alex Dill has a blog called Rocco's Pop Revolution.

She posted two delightful blogs mentioning me:

1. Rocco will go to see Adam Shenk tonight

2. Adam Shenk is the Swag Master

Check them out - so much fun to read :-)

FIGHT TILL THE END

Had a show tonight at the Bitter End - hopefully got some pics and videos to come -

Been really thinking about who I am as an artist - the kind of music I want to make and what I wanna do with it - a little bit of an identity crisis - but so grateful for some great conversations I've had with my friends -

My friend Demond wrote me on facebook chat:

this is a jumping spot for you

dont fear it

don't live in fear !!!!

everything will be ok

I KNOW THIS!

just keep on pushing throught

you got this!

your songs will get hread!

heard

BELIEVE THAT!

hold fast to that

you are amazing!

you shine brighter then anyone I know

and most importantly is you are loved!

you have great people around you who love and support you!

if you fall...fall into that !

fall into the support that is around

DON"T EVER GIVE UP!

FIGHT TILL THE END!

Trust

Tonight I went once again to see Baby Wants Candy at the Soho Playhouse - musical improv at its best.

Tonight the title was Somali Pirates of Penzance...

Amazing of course.

Then I went to see the movie Trust. It's about a girl that starts an online relationship with a boy she thinks is 16 initially - and then they meet up and he is MUCH older - really interesting, creepy subject matter - the parents are played by Clive Owen and one of my favorite actresses Catherine Keener (who I served when I was bartending at a Tom Stoppard play a few years ago) - and the acting in the movie is really superb.

Insidious

Great writing session today with my new friend Raquel

Worked on a song called "Confidential" - pretty hot shit I think

Has kind of the John Legend / Estelle vibe

Then tonight I played for another musical improv show, this time at the Pit (beautiful improv space)

It was led by the wonderful musical improviser Ashley Ward - you could say I have a healthy obsession with her - she has got it going on - amazing voice, she can really wail - and super funny improviser and person. 

I was hanging out with my girl Melissa Guttman all night - we had also gone to see my friend Rebecca Muir play a set at the National Underground.

And we went to a late showing of Insidious. Quite a scary movie - it was kind of like a thrill ride, cuz I definitely screamed out loud numerous times, along with the rest of the audience. If you like scary movies, definitely check it out!