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!

Tour!!

I absolutely cannot wait to go on tour to Phoenix, San Diego, and LA!! Check out my new tour flyer:

Tonight I played 2 songs at the Songwriters Hall of Fame "Writer's Showcase."

Did some good networking with songwriters - have a writing session tomorrow with a girl named Raquel, who I met through SongHall

Till next time!

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 :-)

California I'm coming!! (home?)

I cannot WAIT to come to the West Coast!!!

This is kinda my first ever tour -

Kicking it off with a Bitter End show in NYC on April 5

First stop out-of-town is Phoenix for the Phoenix Pride Festival - performing there on April 16 -

Then I go to San Diego to see my friend Tori Roze - and perform two shows - April 17 at Ruby Room and April 20 at Portugalia.

Then off to LA to see some friends, network, take some meetings, dance classes, do some writing sessions (hopefully), see some shows, etc etc. and perform April 25 at M Bar in Hollywood.

I am BEYOND BEYOND BEYOND excited to get out there - Here are the flyers for all those events

Baby Wants Candy

I'm officially obsessed with Baby Wants Candy - musical improv.

Gotta be the best musical improv in the city. They are also in LA & Chicago.

They improvise a whole musical - complete with all kinds of wacky characters, singing (GREAT singing), choreography, LIVE BAND...

They are really sick, funny, amazing... YES, check them out.

Snot Rocket

Just a random, attention-getting title -- but I did feel like blowing a snot rocket earlier tonight while standing on the 7 train platform in Queens. If no one was there, I totally would have. When your nose is runny and you don't have a tissue (and there's no one around or you just don't care) ---> a snot rocket totally does the trick.

So ---> (i'm into the arrows tonight) <----

Last week I went to Boston to play a set at Middle East - it was a slot that the wonderful Rebecca Muir also played.

It was awesome because halfway through my set the fire alarm started going off for a good 3-4 minutes. I started playing in rhythm and key with the fire alarm --> meanwhile downstairs at the Middle East there was a big show going on, and people were coming up from downstairs while the alarm was going off. All of a sudden there were a bunch of teens watching my solo set, and like really cheering and yelling for me haha!!! Clearly, they were just trying to have a good time, but they also could've been hating on me and they weren't. They were getting into the songs, and I did a TLC Waterfalls sing along with them. HAHAHA it was kindamazing!

Here's a random pic of me from earlier this morning. I was at a VERY early morning show with Story Pirates in NJ, and bored, I put on these glasses.

Till next time!

Story Pirates piano musical improv land

I've been in Story Pirates land - I've been doing a lot of gigs with this awesome kids writing program through sketch comedy & improv - playing piano in their shows and teaching at their after-school writing programs for elementary schools.

I love the amazing improv actors that work with them - really enjoy spending time with positive, funny people.

Tonight I drove to Scranton, PA with Baby Wants Candy - arguably NY's best musical improv group. They do traveling shows to colleges - again, very funny awesome people, and they did a great show!

Also, I finally saw The Fighter!

My Duplex show & the weekend

Show at the Duplex was so much fun! Click here to read Chuck Taylor's blog review of the show.

My band Jordan, Jeffrey, Iakov, and Evgeny, plus newbie Ashton Parson on backgrounds, killed it - plus I had Heightz spittin some verses, Yvonne, Scott, & Brian dancin with me, and Alex Cowings (Emily King's brother) came up and tapped his ass off to "Trust in Me."

Check the video at the bottom of this blog entry for my interview with John-Andrew Morrison & some clips from the show.

This weekend I hosted Samuel Buscape from Germany - a friend of Simon Kirsch, brother of Kate Kirsch, who my family hosted a few years ago. (Yes, I believe that's 3 degrees of separation).

He's a budding filmmaker, and he stopped by my show to take pictures. He got some great ones.

Over the weekend, I went to Joe Buffa's Dance Strong workshop. Very proud of him, he's really grown his following & is passionate about teaching.

Went to a dance performance at Steps with Samuel. He was game for pretty much everything, and it was nice having him along.

On Sunday, we went to a video shoot for rapper So Fly Smooth. I did a hook on one of his songs, but for this video, I was just chillin, and did a couple shots with him. We'll see how the video turns out.

Afterwards, we went to an open mic at Tom & Toon, through Songhall. I played a couple tunes, then me and Samuel headed over to AMC to see Unknown. I loved the movie!

Now check out this vid:


Untitled from Web Show New York on Vimeo.