As soon as January 1st hit, the year exploded into gigginess.  Mostly private events which is AWESOME for my pocketbook, not so great for getting fans in on the guest list.  But February is your month!  I’ve got two gigs lined up just for you.  I’ve also, very diplomatically set one in the East Bay and one in San Francisco just to please everyone .  Okay,  it wasn’t completely my doing and they are two completely different genres….but that just means you’ll get two completely different shows if you come to BOTH gigs

The first February date, I’ll be singing with Rich and the Rhythm Roustabouts at the Savanna Jazz Club.  Rich is an amazing band leader with some fabulous talented musicians backing him up.  I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to sing some of the classic songs I grew up listening to as a little Zisman.  Songs like Slow Boat to China (he’s going to kill me).

And, dancing. By GOD there’ll be dancing.

The second February gig, Ryan and I will be sharing the bill again with the lovely Katherine Peck.  We have done shows with Katherine before and I have been a longtime fan of her powerful lyrics and performances.  There is another lady joining us as well.  I don’t know who she is yet, but I’m certain she’ll be the bees knees!

ZO!  Vit Out Ferzer Adoo….

Tuesday, January 17th
Private Party (Chance’s End)
Intercontinental Hotel
San Francisco

Saturday, January 21st
Private Party: Alameda

Wednesday February 1st
with Rich and the Rhythm Roustabouts
Cat’s Corner at Savanna Jazz
9pm (for the drop in dance lesson!)
Savanna Jazz Club
2937 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

$10

Saturday, February 4th

with the very talented and dynamic, Ms. Katherine Peck.
The Actual Café
6334 San Pablo Ave
Emeryville

7:30pm-9:30pm

All ages, no cover. Killer salad.

I know I’ve been out of the loop for a lil’ bit. But I just wanted to take a moment to share with you how much I appreciate seeing your faces at my shows. Since it is the season for giving thanks, allow me to give my sincerest to you. Thank you for showing up.

Whether you are new to my website, music, shows or have been a fan of mine since I was singing the alphabet, I. love. your. face.

I’d love to see more of it and promise to do my part and play out more. I won’t make you promise to come to every show. But I will tell you that when you do make it out, we will make it an event. Together.

I’d also like to give you a gift. A small token of my love and gratitude for all you have given me.

I recently went to see a musician that I greatly admire sing at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. She was lovely and exactly what I expected. However, I was NOT expecting to be blown away by the opening act; Sean Rowe.

Sean is a lyrical genius and vocal powerhouse reminiscent of Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and (visually) Zach Galifianakis. Anywho, he is my gift to all of you.

Maybe we can discuss his works in person next time. Perhaps at a gig? Hmmmm???

Enjoy with love!

http://seanrowe.net/page.aspx?id=2.sean-rowe-music

Sorry it’s been a rather swing-heavy October.

What do I mean by that? Allow me to essssplain:

I happen to have an enormous amount of respect for jazz music and musicians. I also have a rather stupidly huge addiction to dancing the Lindy Hop. Lindy Hop is in the family of swing dances and came out of Harlem, New York during the 1920s and 1930s (stolen from wikipedia).

I started learning this social dance about three years ago and have since made some amazing friends, some of whom happen to be amazing musicians in their own right. Ryan Avery being one of them (although, he was more of a by-product of my blues dancing addiction). Another is a fabulous jazz guitarist named Rich Werden.

Rich doesn’t only make the guitar sound like it’s reciting Shakespeare, Rich is also one helluva band leader. And by “band leader” I mean that in the oldest-school possible way.

Lately I’ve been fortunate enough to have been invited to sing along with the Roustabouts and it always proves to be a great event. Check out the facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rhythm-Roustabouts/238875766134774

I’ll be singing with them again in the near future and encourage you to come out and give a listen. Even if you don’t swing-out.

And now for the November calendar:

11-08-11 (yes, tomorrow) at the Hotel Utah: Beggar’s Jamboree goes on at 11pm. So, if you don’t have a day job, school in the morning or aren’t occupying anywhere, come on out!

It’s a slow gig month. But Ryan and I are working on the new Chance’s End Album to be released sometime early next year. We’ve put some really great time, work and passion into this album (especially Ryan) and I can’t wait to share it with you. Stay tuned!

Sept 17th: CLIF BAR Harvest party 4:00pm-5:30pm with the fabulous Chris Tomsha (private event)

Sept 24th: With Rich and the Rhythm Roustabouts at The Fillmore Black Couture Ball (West Bay Conference Center right by Yoshi’s) 9-10pm

Sept 25th: Agesong Home concert 4:30-6pm (Private event)

Sept 28th: With the Rhythm Roustabouts 7p-8p 1hour/1set @ outdoors in Union Square downtown SF. Come Dance with us!

Sept 30th: With Marty Atkinson And Ryan Avery 5pm-9:00pm Velo Vino Winery in St. Helena. Okay, wine and music MAY be better than chocolate and music. But that is debatable.

Hope to see you out and about!

Give it a listen!
(has been archived)

While we didn’t win this time, we DID seem to impress the folks at Paul Frank. We’ve been chosen as one of three Bay Area Artist to perform at the Ghiridelli Chocolate Festival THIS Saturday (September 10th)!

The event site is here:
http://ghirardellisq.com/events/chocolate-festival/chocolate-festival

According to the schedule, the show starts at 3:30pm. Also, according to the schedule, it’s a Battle of the Bands thingy….Not sure how that happened, but cool!

Come on out and support us! I’d feel relieved to see some of your shining faces in the crowd.

Much Love!

I have the best fans in the world. No, for serious. I’m not just blowing smoke. You deserve this. So, just sit back, relax and take the compliments…

Whenever I (or anyone else for that matter) write a blog or perform my songs live (or displays a piece of artwork or juggles mothballs or just plain speaks their mind), I’m putting myself in a line of fire, so to speak. People are free to judge, walk out on or just plain ignore what I’m writing or singing. Or worse, I’m putting myself on a platform and no one shows up.

Well, the purpose of this blog is to thank you for not only showing up, but for actively participating as well. Allow me to esssplain…

I started a habit of announcing my blog posts to my mailing list along with a request to email, message or comment about any insights, mis-quotes or spelling/grammar mistakes they catch.

I posted a blog not too long ago about the word “permission” and how it has been a bit of a fixture in my word lately.

I was thrilled to have received a couple of fabulous insights which I will mention here:

Wendy Beckerman brought to my attention that the quote from Nelson Mandela wasn’t actually his own words. The quote that is often attributed to him is actually from Marianne Williamson’s book A Return to Love. Upon doing a bit more research (okay, okay, okay I wiki-fied it) I discovered that while Ms. Williamson isn’t exactly sure why the quote has been attributed to President Mandela, she’s grateful that her words are so meaningful for so many.

Wendy also shared a great little clip about taking the small steps to actualizing a big dream. Thought it was too good to keep all to my lonesome: http://vimeo.com/26415958

Thank you Wendy!

Also, must thank Sylvia Hahn for the grammar correction! I don’t have an editor, so I could use all the help I can get.

Last and far from least is my huge thank you to the folks who made it out to the Actual Cafe last weekend. I know that Saturday nights are pretty packed for most of you, so the fact that you chose to hang out with me, Ryan and Katherine was extra powerful.

I realize there are more of you out there reading the blog and coming to the shows. So, thank you. Even though I can’t always see you out there. Your presence and participation mean the world to me.

If you are free this coming Saturday and are in the Bay Area, Ryan and I will be performing at the Stork Club. We will be doing all Chance’s End songs which was a great success the last time we did it. We’ll be joining a few other great bands. Check them out!

Details here:
Saturday, August 27th at 9:00pm LIVE at the Stork Club

2330 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, California 9:00pm-Midnight

Ryan and I will be performing as Chance’s End which means our entire electronic set!

The lineup is fabulous:

Spidermeow
Cop Sound
Bigelow’s Treehouse
Chance’s End

$5 at the door

This one is 21+ so dress in your finest drinking pants and head on over!

Love ya!

Saturday, August 13^th at the Actual Café in Oakland.

6334 San Pablo Ave (between 63rd St & 64th St) 7:00pm-9:30pm

Ryan and I will be performing our acoustic material following the fabulous Ms. Katherine Peck.

The show starts with Katherine at 7pm goes until about 9:30pm and is kid friendly!

There’s great food, beer and wine.  So, plan to settle in for a great show. 

There’s also indoor bike parking so leave the car at home!

Saturday, August 27^th at 9:00pm LIVE at the Stork Club

2330 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, California 9:00pm-Midnight

Ryan and I will be performing as Chance’s End which means our entire electronic set!

The lineup is fabulous:

Spidermeow
Cop Sound
Bigelow’s Treehouse
Chance’s End

$5 at the door

This one is 21+ so dress in your finest drinking pants and head on over!

Hope to see you at either or both shows!

This word had been creeping into my environs steadily and, after recognizing its potency, Miriam and I decided to give it the stage.  We exchanged meaningful quotes that have stuck with us through the years.  These words gradually assumed the frequency of mantras that we would regularly gravitate towards for one reason or another.  I seemed to do so during periods of doubt and self-evaluation.  These quotes are the friend one invites over to serve as a buffer during tea or luncheon with the neighbors.  A reminder that you have all that you need already.  All you need, when the neighbor starts questioning your lawn, gardening or parenting skills, is to look over to your friend and watch her nod confidently into your eyes.  ”You got it, sister.”

You know when you are in the middle of a conversation and you think of something murderously witty that could either send everyone into fits of laughter OR damn you for all eternity from that social circle?  And for a moment you hesitate.  You think “Should I say that?  Would they think me crude or unsophisticated?  Or WORSE! Would they think me a racist or that I have a limited view of a woman’s role in society?”  That entire conversation takes all of a 10th of a second.  But it decides for you.  It becomes your mother.  You need to ask it permission to say or do something that seemed to want to come naturally at first.  Permission.  That nod.  ”Go for it sister!”  If you don’t have any of these quotes in your arsenal, or any form of encouragement from your past that you keep for just such occasions,  where does this internal nod of confidence come from?

Please allow me to share with you some thoughts that were exchanged between my dear friend and me at our tea-date:

To paraphrase a 70+ year old lady figure-drawing model from a short documentary film I recently saw-”The one thing we give ourselves in life is permission.”

What?  Of bloody course.  The one thing we do that separates our ability to act from our self sabotaging, self-preserving instinct to play dead is giving ourselves the “Go for it!”  I don’t know when I decided that I needed to look outside of myself for that nod.  It probably happened during a particularly traumatic moment on the playground in elementary school or in the lunch hall in high school.

Here is one that Miriam mentioned that I had never heard:  ”There is a vitality, a life-force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is; nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.” -Martha Graham

How beautiful is this one?  To take the responsibility of  an action’s or creation’s impact SO blatantly off of the creator or “actor” is so blissfully liberating.  Empowerment is thick in these words and I believe empowerment is what one needs to take action.

And lastly, the famous speech from Nelson Mandela.  This one Miriam and I were both very familiar with: ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us…Your playing small does not serve the world… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”- Nelson Mandela

There’s that word again.

I want to do that.  I want to help inspire people to do their greatest.  Be their most generous, contributing, beautiful, artistic, intelligent selves whenever they have the chance.  I want to inspire people as MY mentors and heros inspire me.  I truly believe that by inspiring each other to do and be our best even in the face of failure, that we can not only serve the world, we can save it.  I also believe there is no other way.

So, if it will help you, please take the quotes with you wherever you go.  They may help you give yourself the permission you need to do what you love (as Miriam has) and thus inspire someone else (as Miriam has inspired me) to do what they love.

So, when the time is right and I have my act together, I will hit the road and sing my heart out for anyone who will listen.

Did I need to?

In order to fill the 45 minute set, Ryan worked diligently to program what he called “no-vox/no-lin” tracks (or, tracks minus the vocal and violin tracks) that can be played and manipulated with live performers (us). And I spent the last two weeks making sure our 4 new tracks were performance ready(bring it on pro-theater training!).

Up until that evening I had been performing mainly acoustic, singer-songwriter material of my own construction where I hide neatly behind a guitar that easily covers two thirds of my visible form on stage. The most I’ll do for those gigs is wear a nice shirt, jeans and put on a little bit of makeup. Or not. I’m singing and smiling and playing the shit out of my instrument; what’s to look at?

But there was no hiding behind anything during this gig. Indeed, besides singing, I was at a loss as to how to be entertaining after hanging up my guitar. Also to be acknowledged is a heightened sense of drama built into the electronic music that we produce. So, aside from dressing up like an Elvin princess from Lord of the Rings and waxing enigmatic a-la Enya, what do I wear and how do I present this stuff? Ryan and I had worked pretty intensely for a couple of years on the actual music. But hadn’t really discussed the presentation of our work.

Oops.

No matter! This is all part of the fun. I consider myself a bit of a social anthropologist and this presents a uniquely fascinating experiment for me. I get to choose a method of delivery and see what people respond to.

For the debut performance, I chose a sweet number suggesting 40′s glam. Bright red lips, high waisted, blue sailor pants and an off the shoulder fitted blouse. It was an unusually bold move for me. I was beginning to suspect that my inner feminist (whom I had previously drugged into a stupor with a couple shots of whiskey) would start to stir and protest. I was slightly scared that I could chicken out and slip back into my jeans for fear of her berating me and calling me a harlot. But I have a sneaking suspicion that she secretly enjoyed the getup….Can I say I felt particularly slinky that evening? Especially after the main pirate behind the bar handed me a tall-red plastic cup full of the “special” fruit punch. Yum.

This seemingly benign getup allowed me to adapt a slightly more diva-esque persona than I would have in my denim and boots. I have to admit, it felt quite lovely to be so blatantly feminine in front of a crowd. This feeling inhabited my performance and the crowd seemed to appreciate it. The ONLY thing that would have made the outfit better were if I had had my hair done by THESE LADIES. They specialize in retro styling and managed to tame MY hair into a sexy 40′s up-do at one point in time. I kind of want to carry them around in my pocket with me…. But, even without those lovely ladies coiffing my fro; I felt powerful enough to perform.

This new-found ultra-femme confidence also gave me permission to really explore a deeper connection to the music, lyrics and my on-stage partner. The songs were a pleasure to express and I had one of those performances where time passes in the blink. I wanted it to continue into the evening until I collapsed with exhaustion. I can’t wait until the next chance I had to sing those songs again.

Now, to continue testing this hypothesis: What to wear to the NEXT Chance’s End sha-bang? The music is hot. I should be too.