Big Musical Post! including the musical bill that will kill us all
Oh man, its been a while since I got up here, I apologize to all the avid reader, all 3 of you =)
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I had received an email from Rob of ilyAIMY, bring to my attention the HORRIBLE new bill that the city counsil is thinking of passing, this bill will literally kill any potential “live entertainment” in the Baltimore area, including weddings and even jam sessions, JAM-SESSIONS-PEOPLE.
****The vote for this bill is on MAY 6TH****
So lets get envolved and stop this insanity.
The list list of City Council members.
Here is the actual bill.
Here’s a City Paper article about the whole thing.
Thanks Rob for the info
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Alright, here’s what’s been going on w/Me:
Wednesday | 4/1/09
Seriously, Not an April fools.
Teporah & I were on 89.3FM WPFW, on “From The Vault” hosted by Glady’s Brooks. It was an hour show, Teporah & I got to play some songs live on the air, I got to Djembe as well as sing a couple of my original songs =)
It was SO much fun.
Then later that day I had an Hour set for the Acoustic Baltimore Showcase at Bar Hon, which also went really well. My whole set was recorded and aired on Umberlla Radio. Speaking of which, they are trying to set up and interview/performance with me soon. So hopefully you’ll be hearing about me being on the internet radio soon =)
Thursday 4/2
Was the open mic night at The Java Mammas. It was supposed to be the New Song Night, but since Rob & Heather weren’t there, I guess people thought that it wouldn’t be done. There for not many people signed up for there. Michael Berkowitz & Rick Millman both had a “Sad Little Bells” song, which they will replay on which ever night the new song night gets “re-done”.
A band called The Sunflower Specticle came over and rocked the house, they were loud, and proud. And a whole lot of fun to watch. There were about 7 of them, all crammed in the little area infront of the counter (because I decided to go with the old set up) and just played funky loud music.
My PA was acting VERY strange, but Chris of The Honest Miskates totally saved my life. Apparently he has a similar system and was able to get it working. For some reason the sounds would only come out of “monitor”, so it was weird to say the least. Non the less, I was able to broadcast the night, and Heather watched it, YAY!
Friday (today) 4/3
After work Insha Allah (God Willing), I will be picking up Meezo and we’ll be seeing K’naan play in Baltimore. Should be a fun show, I enjoyed K’naan’s CD, but I haven’t seen him live (except for Youtube). Meezo on the other hand thinks he’s a genius, so I’m sure he’s looking forward to it =)
Window into the Future:
I have several gigs & mini-gigs coming up, including one that may end up being Next Thursday 4/9 at Joe Squared, but nothing is official in that yet. Check out my MySpace or my ReverbNation page for more details.
Also I’m not sure if I had mentioned that I am now a proud memeber of the Baltimore Songwriter’s Association, and I’m trying to see if I could get on the board of the BSA, we’ll see =)
The membership is only $25 a year! and you get to be part of a WHOLE bunch of events, and shows, I’ve already gotten 3 gigs already from it, and more are on the way. So if your a songwriter in the Baltimore area, make sure to check out that site and join up =)
Its been a crazy few days, but the music makes allll better.
Grease: The High School Musical
Yesterday, Saturday March 28th, 2009.
I took my brother and went to Franklin High School, in the Riesterstown/Owings Mills area, to watch their rendition of “Grease”. It was defiantly entertaining.
The live band was AWESOME, that really impressed me. I was kind of worried it would be one of those “play a CD on cue” type thing. But it wasn’t. The band themselves were absolutely great.
The stage was VERY cool, I loved how it was designed, I hear that our very own Java Mammas’ Troy built it. Great job buddy! =).
The tech crew were very much on point, they knew what to move, where, and when. So the transition between the acts went very smoothly, and I love the Garage/Car, brilliant.
Now for some constructive criticism.
I honestly don’t think the Casting Director, and the Vocal coach were doing their job. The acting was really good, but not from everybody. The singing, well, very few actually did it well. My issue is, this is a musical, so you should at least train the lead characters a little more than. It was still enjoyable, but when your about to tackle such a famous play/movie, then you should expect it to be compared, at times, with the original thing.
I’m not blaming the actors/actresses at all, they did very well. If the Director/Vocal coach says “that’s good!” then they will do it exactly that way. They were all very talented, and I can see their potential, I just hope that the next time they are in a musical, that they would be coached by someone who could tap into that talent that’s waiting to come out.
Good job guys, it was a very nice production, and we totally enjoyed our selves.
Keep it up, and I wish you all the best in the future.
Salaam.
A night with the Demon Barber of Fleet Street + more
Ah yes, Sweeney Todd.
Friday night was amazing, I picked up my awesome friend Teporah, and we went to Spotlighter’s Theater in Mt. Vernon for the opening night of “Sweeney Todd”. It was kind of odd when the Ticket Man asked for my name, I was a bit confused, but I noticed that there was list of names on a list, so I assumed those were the people who bought the tickets online or something. But luckily, even thought they were almost sold out, I was able to get us 2 tickets.
I must say it was odd, funny, and freakin awesome, all at the same time. Its my 1st time to see ANYthing of Sweeney Todd, so I didn’t know the story or what to expect. Teporah, who knows the the story almost by heart, and has seen a bigger production of the play, totally loved it, and said that she enjoyed this one better. They stayed true to the story, and it was amazing. I loved it, wholly crap it was awesome. I had NO idea that Torie made the costumes for the play, that’s awesome. I knew Brennan was part of the 3 man music/sound effects team, and I got to see him and say hi to most of the talented actors and actresses after the show. Awesome.
Afterwards we strolled down to XS and had us some sushi, then we drove up to her place, and we jammed for a little bit, then I drove home.
It was an AWESOME night.
Today I was super lazy and woke up around 3:40-iesh, to Meezo bringing me lunch. We watched “Supersize Me” on Hulu, then we headed off to Silver Spring for the benefit show we were playing.
The show was fun, it was a big gallery with things on auction, as well as the several magazines on sale. Those are the magazines that have all art work (either lyrical or visual ) from students. Since only 4 main performers were there, we all ended up facing the mic twice, which was awesome. Rob, The Honest Mistake, a high school duo, & Aowtar Duo (Meezo & I). It was fun.
Now I’m here, still in Oxon Hill. I’m actually happy and surprised that I’m home before 2am, for once =)
My PDA is filled almost every week, with events, shows, and activities in general. Its great, I love being so active, I honestly can’t wait to play more.
Alright ya’ll, have a good weekend.
Salaam.
Acoustic Baltimore: The Hon Bar
Last night’s show was really nice. I got to meet a whole bunch of new people, including the lads from Umbrella Radio. Who will be airing last night’s show tonight at 9pm.
They also took my contact information, saying that I will be contacted for an interview / debut of my CD on their show. Sweet. I’m really looking forward to that, and I will defiantly keep you all updated on when that happens.
I personally hold VERY high standards to my performances, and last night was no exception, in fact, it was essential, because it was my 1st time to play this event. So when my non-folk self got in front of the mic I had to put my best leg forward, but that didn’t happen =(.
The place was PACKED, so naturally it was loud, mostly due to the fact that the awesome act that was before me Sahffi & Sharon totally energized the crowd. Also there were no monitors, so I couldn’t actually hear myself, which means I was terrified that I was singing out of key, add to that I forgot lyrics to the song “Melisa Undone”, I played it off but still it pissed me off.
So as you see, I personally think I blew it, big time. But some people actually enjoyed it. One guy from Texas said that I reminded him of South by South West performances from his hometown, and Teporah tells me that there is House Concert with my name on it coming up soon. Soooo I’m kind of confused really, maybe they were able to see the potential in me, but I’m still pissed at my performance. I’ll try to redeem myself this Saturday at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Downtown Silver Spring, MD. A whole bunch of local artiest are playing a benefit show, its 6-10pm, and $5 gets you in, where you get food and live entertainment. I’ll be bringing Meezo, so hopefully it’ll be a better performance, we shall see.
Alright, I’ll see you tonight at the Java Mammas people.
Salaam.
Indie Band Survival Guide
Oh my god, I love ReverbNation.
I just got an email from there, they now have a free PDF download called the Indie Band Survival Guide. Its tips on how to maximize promotion for your band and shows, its completely free to download, and they ask you to share it with your friends, so go a head,right click & safe as pdf, print it out, add it to your eReader, or just pass it along to your musical friends.
Last night’s open mic went well, I think we (Rob & I) have convinced a couple of people to come out to the show on Friday, the rest of the people were either drunk or cheering for the hockey game. I’m not a fan of the bar scene, but I promised Rob I would be there, and its usually better to have a friend with you at a new open mic (new to me at least)
Today is gloomy, and that always gets me down, when I get home I’m planning to re-string my guitar Insha Allah (god willing) for Friday’s show, its looooong over due.
Enjoy your Wednesday everyone, hopefully I’ll see some of you at the show.
Salaam.
