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.

SHOW EEEEEEHHHHHH AAAAAAHHHH

It's the day of the show ya'll

Rehearsal in the morning with Nick Boddington to go over background vocals.

Picking up my suit at work. (I hope it's there)

Session with the drummer Josh Giunta,

and then FULL BAND rehearsal in Brooklyn

Evgeny Lebedev - keys

Jordan Scannella - bass

Carras Paton - sax/flute

and then hitting the Bitter End for some music and good times!

It's been snowing and wintry mixing, but I hope people still come!

I'm nervous because I'm gonna attempt a new cover and 2 new songs aaaahhhhh

Do I even know the words?

As usual, I could flop big or nail it - 

Or somewhere in between

Either way I will have fun - I love music and I love performing!!! 

Yee-haw!!!!

PRINCE

Last night I got to go see Prince in concert at the Izod Center in NJ. My friend had an extra ticket.

WOOOW I felt so lucky....it was amazing! Seeing him perform Purple Rain. Wow...What a musician...His guitar playing...his voice...his moves & command of the audience. I really had no idea about Prince.

I'm going again to see him in January at Madison Square Gardens and I can't wait!!

Gave me goosebumps.

The Art of Singing

               It was a wonderful day...

1. I bought my nephews presents!!

2. And I got a new awesome coat from H&M

3. I went and got my haircut.... new design shaved...

     This Japanese girl was looking for hair models for designs, so of course I wanted to do it!

    She kinda gave me a mohawk and then shaved a dollar sign into my head and then wanted to shave the word Rich. I don't know why.

Well I wasn't into the idea...don't want people thinking that's my name or that I am rich.

So maybe those vibes were rubbing off....because she misspelled the word by accident. She spelled it R-I-T-H. Hmm.....LOL.....but I still like the design and you can't really tell that it's supposed to be letters.

4. I went and played for a lesson for a voice teacher I've been talking with, Jennifer Hamady. WHOOOOOOAAA I got awesome vibes from her, and had no idea, but she's the freakin bomb singer!!! She has worked with Patti LaBelle, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, American Idol.....WOW WOW WOW, and she has such passion and positive energy!!

She started crying as she was working with her student - shows how emotionally invested she is.

Can't wait to work with her more, and read her book "The Art of Singing."

5. Then tonight I went to play for "Baby Wants Candy," a musical improv group. They have classes/workshops, so I played for that for a few hours. Good stuff!!

Pointer Sisters

***I love my students. As I start to teach piano & voice I grow so much....

****I am obsessed with "Automatic" - a song by the Pointer Sisters .... Emily King sang it at her last show....Ugh such a good song!!

Set list

So excited...I love music!!

     Creating arrangements for the show on Thursday.

Had a WONDERFUL rehearsal today with Cara Scherker and Nick Boddington. They are awesome vocalists and the three of us sound wonderful together, and haven't all sung together since a gig back in February.

It's great to be reunited!

Full band rehearsal is tomorrow.

AND then TORI Roze, my long lost lover is coming in!!! Woo-hoo. I gotta clean (maybe) and practice her material. I'm playing keys with her on her sets.

Can't wait for show on Thursday! YEAH!

Prey

Taught my first voice lesson today. It went great! I'm hoping to build a roster of some more students. :-)

Tonight was a nice artistic, inspirational night.

One of my favorite choreographers since I was in elementary school is Shannon Hummel. She used to teach at Dance & Company in my hometown of Harrisonburg, VA and I've been a big fan for a LONG time. She has lived in NY for years now and has her own company, Cora Dance.

They have been developing a piece called Prey for a few years. It is a site-specific dance piece taking place in Red Hook Brooklyn. I went to Coffey Park and saw them perform some excerpts. It was awesome! It started out in the park and then we walked to some of the other sites they will be performing at along the way, ending at the pier, which is gorgeous...it was evening and there is a great view of the city & the statue of liberty.

Then I went to an artist showcase at Canal Room sponsored by Hennessy, featuring Erin Christine, Miguel, and Bilal, among others. I was especially impressed by Miguel's show. There was some simple choreography that the bass and guitar player did with him that was HOT. It had everyone talking.

Some friends of mine - Cara and Brooke, also came out to check out the show. A nice Tuesday evening!

Miguel:

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzip

Sooooo freakin tired.....Warming up some food, then time for bed.

Looks like I have one of my first lessons tomorrow. Student is coming over and we will go over some voice, piano, and ear training. Seems like some people are interested in the "combination" lesson. I'm ready to jump in and teach!

Still rehearsing for Faraway Bayou. The reading for that is on the 13th.

Excited for my bud Tori Roze to get here :-) She'll be here in two weeks.

Worked today a bit with Heightz. He has some new material he wants to collaborate on. I like that dude.

Tonight was a special birthday show for my bud Eli Bolin at Bar Nine in Midtown.

It was a fun time :-)

doo ba do ba doot doot doot....aaah

So obsessed with that Nicki Minaj song "Your Love," with the sample from Annie Lennox 

"No More I Love You's"

Had a rehearsal today for Faraway Bayou.

It's a musical with lyrics written by a former Berklee teacher.

I'm involved in the staged reading which is in a couple weeks.

Played tonight once again for the 

Sit Down and Shut Up NYPD Variety Hour

One of the best performances yet. Very funny! And I was definitely most comfortable with the music.

Jennifer Hirsh & jazz

I had a great weekend in Pennsylvania with extended family, welcoming the addition of my cousin Emily's little girl Lili....they had a baby dedication for her.

This weekend I also saw a good friend Faith Ruark (we went to school in Harrisonburg and she now lives in Lancaster, PA), and I saw the movie The Devil.

My parents came back with me to the city tonight. They are meeting tomorrow with my manager Janet to go over a few things.

Tonight we went and saw Jennifer Hirsh at Living Room. She is so wonderful, and the new songs and full band sounded amazing!

Afterwards we went to Caffe Vivaldi to see Evgeny Lebedev, who has played keyboard on a few of my shows. He was playing with his trio and they sounded incredible.

I love live music!

Parks & Recreation

Watching episodes of "Parks & Recreation" on my DVR.....

Love a good sitcom.

Today I had GREAT dance rehearsals with Yvonne & Emily....they are gonna kill on tuesday!

Tonight I went to see a bunch of friends play music:

The Amazing Jellies (Eli Bolin & Alison Posner) at the Googie's (above the Living Room)
&
Andrea Setaro w/band at Sidewalk Cafe.

Got to hang with some awesome peeps and enjoy some great live music!!!

Googie's eyeballs

Was soooo tired today and sore from Joanna's class yesterday,

and.....
my eyeballs hurt!


Random.

Managed to get through kid's music classes & a party and then took a NAP

Then went to Googie's to hear some excellent musicians.

Amy Crawford & Taylor Greenwood, accompanied by two of my favorite musicians Adam Tressler & Nick D'Agostino.

Amy:

Taylor:

                          

American Idol + John Legend

Well the American Idol journey ended for me already today.

I did not get passed through to the judges.

Ken Warwick (executive producer) was on the fence with me.

They thought the first song was theatrical,

and then after the second song,

said I was good and they were sure I was great at what I do,

but lacked the charisma they were looking for for the show

(or something to that effect)

Of course I disagree when it comes to charisma.

I think I have plenty of that.

But it's out of my hands now.

I try to do a lot of praying lately,

which helps.

I only have so much control

and then I have to go with the flow.

So with this, I need to move on for now.

I have good things happening in my life.

I feel I am better equipped to hear "no" and take rejection.

More and more every day, 

stronger and stronger.

And I am GRATEFUL for that.

                                                         

I picked myself up and went to see John Legend in Coney Island.

Met my friend Charles Wood.

It was a free outdoor show and it was amazing....

He did a new song called "Dreams" (watch it below)

and some of my other favorites, including "Quickly," "Green Light," "Everybody Knows." 

The whole show was just so great....I had never seen him live.

Whether he's playing or just standing/sitting and singing, his voice and musicality is just tremendous.

And his presence.

And he's not bad looking. Not at all.....nope....

The band was awesome, and the way they weaved in some covers.

It was all seamless.

My FAVORITE moment was when he went into a bit of "So High." 

I love that song....so amazing...they really took it there!

And of course, for his first encore song, he did "Ordinary People" 

and had everyone singing along.

It was a beautiful night....I wandered around Coney Island a bit,

did some "food therapy" lol.... (ate my feelings)

and headed home.

Now watching So You Think You Can Dance.

Goodnight!

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....

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!!!

I love my crazy hair

LONG and productive day.

Kids music classes.

Lunch meeting with Ayhan (producer of album "Suitcases") & Janet (management/marketing) at Republic, a delicious Vietnamese restaurant in Union Square.

Awesome Bikram yoga class.

Printed out flyers for some upcoming gigs:

Went and got my hair touched up since I have a show at Googie's on Thursday and then this weekend at Out in the Adirondacks:

I like the beard design though it's kind of impossible to maintain. I may shave it off this weekend.

Put up a quick update/Red Light Special a cappella video on my YouTube. 

Over & out!

Updatessss

My blogger world:

This is the longest I've gone without writing a blog since I started, and I am sorry!!! eeek....

After my show last week I did a lot of sleeeping, and living life, and not blogging.

I did have a fun night on Friday going to Jordan Scannella's CD release show. He has played bass for me on 2 occasions. He does this white guy hip hop thing with some really clever/funny lyrics and SICK music & band. So proud of him!

Afterwards I headed out to BK to check out my girls Lucius at Sycamore. Though I missed their set, I got to hang out with them, Lucas Madrazzo, and some others. We went back to the famous Bromley House, where Jess & Holly (of Lucius) have lived for a couple years. It's an old music school, and they were the first tenants since it had finally closed a number of years ago. It has a rich history, and I loved hearing the stories.....There were definitely ghost stories!! And I was genuinely spooked. In other news, check out the music of Lucius. They are amazing!

Saturday and Sunday, I went out of town for 2 kids parties. The first was in Southampton, and was amazing. There were camel rides for the kids, and it had an arabian theme. Lavish. On the way back, we stopped at this random carnival for some rides and ice cream. HAHA..

                                 

The second was this lovely family who I have done many parties for. They have 3 beautiful girls and another little girl on the way!

Last night, I actually took the Long Island Rail Road out to this studio in...duh...Long Island, to record a song for this rapper. I did the vocals for the chorus & breakdown, and some ad libs. I think it actually came out great. They were all happy with it, and I was too, and excited to hear it! I will get a copy of the master and it will probably go on their mixtape. 

That's it for now.....over and out!!

Bitter End

Had a really fun show tonight with full band at Bitter End.

Check out this wild pic hahahahaha.....

Me & U

Sooo........

had a great day starting with music class with cute babies,

then vocal rehearsal with Nick & Jade for my upcoming show.

Meeting with Chris Frasco to discuss a possible tour in late August-September,

meeting with Kim Garey to go over some things for the show (she's playing drums)

then watching music.

I saw Elise Hayes at Bitter End. She's living in Boston and is a freakin sweetheart. She let me borrow her keyboard for my last Boston show, and she's great! Writes good songs, grooves on the keyboard, and has an awesome voice! I was so glad to be there to support her, and picked up a CD.

Then saw my friend from work Eli Bolin with his fiance Allison Posner (together they are "Amazing Jellies") at Dixon Place. Fun show and good people!

Wheeeee! I love music!!!

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!