Pepsi

Recording a demo tomorrow with this commercial producer I've been working with - this one is for Pepsi.

Always so excited to do this!

Had a great rehearsal today with The Bloodsugars at Looming Studios in Greenpoint. That has gotta be the quaintest rehearsal space in NYC. You go up a set of stairs, then exit onto the fire escape, then go in a different door. SO weird! HAHA....

We're performing next Monday, the 4th at Bowery Ballroom - and then of course Tuesday the 5th is MY show at Bitter End :-)

Boston College

Had a lovely trip today with The Bloodsugars to Boston College to do a performance.

 crazy knowing that kids in college today were probably born in the 90's

It was a sweet audience of mainly freshmen, and they gave us a standing ovation at the end. They were really into it. It was pretty awesome!

Always love hanging/traveling/playing with Jason, Kenneth and Brendan. Great guys :-)

Crazyyy night

Had such a long day.

Work all day and then
show at Parkside Lounge. It was a nice audience, and a great time. Band sounded awesome, especially having cara & nick singing backgrounds.

Tori did a great job, and we saw some friends from Boco who came out. Kalynn, Ben, Sarah and Stephanie.

I had to go to williamsburg to play for the bloodsugars but it was a really enjoyable set at a new-ish venue called Cameo.. Loved it

Snow Leopard!! Boo-yah

I have a new operating system for my computer and have been downloading lots of new software....

Fun...

Last night played at Bell House in BK with The Bloodsugars. I always have a good time with those guys!

Tonight I met with a songwriter named Ron Gerald and did some recording at his place.

Song was called "Constantly."

He lives in Jamaica, Queens. Kind of a trek on the subway, but it was fun.

I love meeting with new people, and I love recording. Every time.

Even if it's a small hot room, and I'm sweating. LOL

Loooooong day

Wow, what a long day...

After work, I did a coaching with the lovely Kalynn Dodge.

Then lunch with Jennifer Hirsh and Emily Greene at Yuca Bar on Avenue A.

Half price tapas and great conversation with these lovely ladies, who are amazing singers and artists themselves.

Had a great meeting with Rich Overton, someone I would love to work with,

hopefully we can get started sooner than later. He does PR campaigns for artists, specializing in the LGBT community.

Then rehearsal with Story Pirates,

followed by another rehearsal,

with The Bloodsugars (for a gig at Bellhouse on Thursday)

Wow, looooong day but full of great things.

Now for sleep....

Bloodsugars mini-tour & flyer for next show

Sorry I've been a little out of the loop.

Did you miss me?

I've been doing a few dates with The Bloodsugars. We played in Philly, DC, NY (the new gorgeous Knitting Factory in Brooklyn), and Boston.

In Philly, I got to see friends Doug & Lloyd & Sheldon, who I hadn't seen in a long time, and they graciously put the whole band up in their awesome house right outside of Philly. In DC, my cousin Heather came out to the gig, and got down. We also saw Matt Tredwell (who I used to work/play music with) and his wife Brooke, as well as Sachelle, an old friend from work.

Now I'm in Boston. We played at T.T. the Bears, and my parents came out to the gig, as they are visiting my brother, who I'm staying with tonight. I will go to the children's museum tomorrow with my nephews and family. Yay!

AND.....check out the flyer for my next gig. If you are in NYC, I hope you can make it!!

chex

I love cereal...


La di da, so I went to Bikram again today at Bikram Yoga Harlem. Love that studio~ Another amazing teacher.

Leaving tomorrow for a couple weekend dates with The Bloodsugars. Staying in Philly tomorrow. Woo-hooo!

Jared Grimes

Highlight of today was taking Jared Grimes' class at BDC. He is an amazing tap dancer and hip-hop choreographer. We've been tight for a couple years, and I have performed at his Broadway Underground show at BB King's several times. For the past year or so, he has been working on the new Cirque du Soleil show, but now he is done with that contract and back teaching.

Class was fire!

And had an inspirational talk afterwards with Jared and Robert Taylor Jr. (another artist). Lots of ideas back and forth, good stuff!

Had a rehearsal tonight with The Bloodsugars. We are doing shows this weekend in Philly, DC, NY, and Boston. Love those guys!

My Dear Disco

Played a show tonight at Matchless in Brooklyn with "The Bloodsugars." Cool joint off the Nassau stop on the G train. I took the G train! LOL, I think it was my first or second time. Not so bad.

I went to a diner to have some food before the gig. I had the classic diner waitress, which I love. Very attentive, moves you right along, friendly, down-to-earth, smoker's voice (Hey, she might've not even been a smoker, but she had the voice, no offense on that, I like it)

We had a good set, though I lost track of my phone, and was freaking out a little bit, and finally found it later in the keyboard case, with the help of Jason's wife, who claimed she was very good at finding things. Indeed she was.

After our set was the band "My Dear Disco." Check out their Myspace and website. They were awesome. The lead singer (a girl) had a great voice, and the band was very synthy, and 80's influenced. They did an amazing cover of "All I Do" by Stevie Wonder. Pure bliss! I love that song.

And now, for shits and giggles,

a phenomenal cover of "Tik Tok" by Doll & The Kicks

This has been in my head alot today

Enjoy!

Stu-stu-studio

Today, after baby music,

I went to the Engine Room Recording Studio

downtown near Wall Street

to record some songs for "The Bloodsugars"

We were the first band to record in their new studio

LOL, they were still building it, so there was stuff everywhere

But the space was really cool

Had a good time jamming with Jason Rabinowitz, Kenneth Salters, and Brendan O'Grady. 

Love those guys!

I think the tunes came out nice...We especially had a good time doing a new arrangement

for "Before the Accident"

They had a nice, bright (if slightly out of tune) Yamaha

I love playing real pianos!! 

Due to my lack of sleep, however,

I was stressing over many things,

trying to schedule rehearsals,

checking my email too much on my phone,

and being crazy.

Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight....yea yea!

Album is here!!!

Forgot to write in my blog yesterday......what was I thinking??

CD's have arrived!!!!

I have about 1,080 CD's in my apartment in boxes.....That's right, "Suitcases" has landed!

Today I did a show with "The Story Pirates" at the Drama Bookshop in midtown, including some songs such as "I Like to go alot to school" and "Killer Pineapples of Hawaii." HAHA.

Then I did a gig with "The Bloodsugars" in West Babylon (Long Island) at Looney Tunes record store, for Record Store Day. It was an acoustic set. There were a bunch of high school kids really into it which was cute.

I went to my friend's play tonight in Queens, "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom," a Charles Busch play. So funny!! I was "tee-hee"-ing a whole lot! Afterwards, we went to the diner and I got down with some pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Yeeeee-ah!!!!

Audition & Exhaustion

What a long week...

Played for day #2 of auditions for this Motown review...

Loved those girls!

Had a great meeting with Janet today of Redwood Entertainment

I get a great business yet motherly vibe from her.

Auditioned for a Michael Jackson revue that I was recommended for. 

They said it wasn't gonna work for this show.

Auditions can be so frustrating because you rarely get much feedback.

You have no idea sometimes what they are looking for,

and if you missed the mark, or don't have the right look, or what is going on in their heads.

But you have to keep your head up, and develop a thick skin.

But can that really be developed?

I will probably always be the sensitive artist / perfectionist that I am,

but will hopefully learn more and more how to deal with rejection, criticism, & hearing the word "No."

Played tonight at "Bowery Electric" with "The Bloodsugars." 

That place is freakin cool!

Man in the Mirror

Going over material for a "Bloodsugars" show tomorrow at Bowery Electric (8 pm)

Auditioning tomorrow for a Michael Jackson show

Singing "My Cherie Amour" and maybe "Man in the Mirror"

LONG DAY TODAY aaaagh

Woke up at 6:15 am!!!  What????

Went to Long Island with "The Story Pirates" to do a school show...

Rode the LIRR for the first time

Played for rehearsals for a motown show that my friend Melvin Bell is directing

These girls are pretty fierce....with their shoo-wop's

Songs like "Please Mr. Postman," "Baby Love," "Be My Baby" etc.....

So great!! I love Motown!

Someone scammed me today....I was carrying a keyboard back from the Story Pirates gig

Someone offered to help me through the security gate in the subway station

I assumed he was an MTA employee

He held the door, and took my card to run through the turnstyle

He gave it back to me through the gate

I had NO idea till later that he switched my unlimited monthly card for a bogus card

AAHHH, guess I learned my lesson

So be careful! Don't trust everyone.

I'm no dummy, he was pretty slick.

The Moon and the Sky

I love this song by Sade:





Trying to finish up master, ALMOST ready to take into printing...AAAGGH...


Had a long morning/afternoon of kid's music classes. Found myself very up and down again today, getting caught in negative thinking, comparing myself to other artists, etc.


However, I was able to take a walk in the park for a little bit, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day. Also made a bunch of calls to people who were able to give me some great insight, and make me feel better, including my dad. I talk on the phone alot with my mom, but it was so good to talk to my dad. He is so supportive and encouraging. I love both my parents so much. (Mom, I know you read this, haha...you may be one of the only readers. LOL)


I also had a good workout at Bally's, including going in the pool for a little bit and swimming some laps. So refreshing! I really needed it. I'll have to swim more often.


I had a rehearsal with the Bloodsugars tonight at Funkadelic, and it went well....even though in the first hour, we blew a fuse AND broke a lightbulb....hahahahahaa...I love playing with those guys so much: Brendan, Kenneth, and Jason. They are good people.


Tomorrow's another day. I hope I can stay strong, and never stop growing.

The Real

I gotta be honest, I had a rough couple of days. Sometimes life starts to feel too real, and it seems like there is no way to escape.

BUT I gotta feel these feelings, it's the only way to get through it. I heard a quote from my friend, "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional." I like that alot, not sure where it came from.

Last night I went over to my boss's house. She is the owner of the kids music program where I work, and she had some good ideas for my career. She used to work at Atlantic Records, so she is familiar with the music business, though that was in the 90's, when everything was quite different. She has a sick place on the Upper East Side. It was my first time going over there, so we hung out, and had some Indian food.

Today I played for some auditions for this motown show that my friend is directing. I like playing for auditions. It's a great way to hear some good singers, and I ended up knowing alot of the girls that came and auditioned.

Had another rehearsal tonight with Jason from the Bloodsugars, learning some new tunes.

Sigh....life goes on & on, trying to figure it all out, trying to make it all count...

Joanna Numata / Floetry / Indian food

Took class today with my girl  Joanna Numata. Not only do I consider her a friend, but she is an amazing choreographer & dancer. One of my favorites for sure. I look forward to working with her more. We both share a love of the group Floetry, and today we danced to "Say Yes."

JOANNA

FLOETRY

I also took tap class with Germaine Salsberg. Nothing else quite gives me that same feeling as when I'm tapping. Feels so gooooood, and I have some SERIOUS shoes that make it even more fun to tap.

Tonight I had rehearsal with Jason Rabinowitz, the lead singer of "The Bloodsugars," and Matt Katz, keyboard player, who taught me a couple new songs. We had Indian food that was amazing! Samosas, nan, raita, chicken masala, saag, the whole deal...Delicious!

Spike Hill

Had a good set tonight with "The Bloodsugars" at Spike Hill in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Listened to a couple songs from "Lowry," the band before us who is doing a residency at Spike Hill. They had a cool sound.

Brooklyn Bowl

Another LONG day today, starting with a call in midtown at 6:45!

Story Pirates gig....met at the Drama Bookshop and drove in a rental van out to Long Island to do 3 shows at an elementary school out there.

Stayed in town for the rest of the day, as the Bloodsugars had a gig at The Brooklyn Bowl. That place is f*&$ -ing awesome! It's a bowling alley connected to a restaurant, connected to a music venue, but it is all open. I.E. you can bowl and listen to music at the same time. It's like in a huge warehouse type space, but totally plush and cool architecture, lots of wood and brick. Nice greenroom, great hospitality & food, AWESOME sound system. The monitors on stage were great, and the sound woman totally knew what she was doing AND was really nice.

I can't wait to go back to that venue and hang out!

Charlie bit me!

Had a gig tonight with "The Bloodsugars" in New Jersey, at the College of New Jersey!

It was a cool gig...also performing was "Project Jenny Project Jan." They were awesome. 2-man group, DJ + singer with videos that are synced up with the music.

On the way back, we were listening to this in the car. "Charlie Bit Me," the auto-tuned version. I love it!!!

Whether you Fall...

I forgot to mention that last night when I played at Cake shop with the Bloodsugars, I wandered over to Rockwood Music Hall, probably my favorite New York venue, and Tracy Bonham was playing!

She's an artist I started listening to in high school, and she's really great! Her first album, The Burdens of Being Upright, and more recent album, Blink the Brightest, are pretty amazing! At the end of this entry, I am posting one of her songs, "Whether you Fall." It's so beautiful, and I saw her play it last night!

Today I rehearsed with a new drummer, Jeffrey Villanueva, a great guy and good player. We are getting ready for this event:

 

We are doing a Madonna cover, "Live to Tell," that my friend Todd requested. They will be dancing to it. 

Tonight I played keyboard for Alison O'Connor's midnight yoga class at Laughing Lotus Yoga Studio. 

It was a great class! I've done it a few times, but this was our favorite yet. I just play keyboard, no singing, but pacing, energy, groove, and all that are very important. I played some covers tonight, some Lady Gaga, Madonna, "Careless Whisper", "Weak", "Battlefield," haha. I also did an assisted handstand with these two girls, Taylor & Annie. Everyone there was really nice, and I even got a tip. :-)

Shout out to Alison for being such a great, fun, & focused teacher. She always shares some good stories & quotes, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight. Thanks Alison!!