– Events –

Mentor

by | Oct 9, 2012 | , , ,

In July I was asked by the Strathmore Music Center to be one of their mentors for their AIR (artists in residence) program.  All together there are six young emerging artists. I was assigned two: Deborah Bond and Owen Danoff.  When Strathmore first called I had to suppress the thought that screamed through my head… ” Hey, when did I stop being a young emerging artist cross over to the eminence grise category? ”  The answer is: years ago.    I got over myself and now I am very happy to be part of this.  All of the emerging artists are talented.   And they have an unbelievable supply of young energy that is infectious.  The program is run by Betty Scott, a former schoolteacher, who brings a discipline and structure to this that is somehow strict and relaxed all at the same time.    Chaise Lounge is playing at the Strathmore Gala at the end of October and several of the AIRs will be sitting in with the band.  Last week we had a rehearsal with Isabelle DeLeon on drums, Integriti Reeves singing, Christylez Bacon on beatbox and personality, and Owen Danoff on guitar and vocals.  They all came prepared and ready to bring it.  I am mentioning  this program in case you know someone who would benefit from this.  I think that each of these artists is going to come out of the year long program with a much clearer understanding of all that it takes to have a performing career in music.   And in case you are called to be a mentor- Say yes. 

Theatre at Lime Kiln

by | Sep 25, 2012 | , , ,

I could not live in a small town.  I know thqt because I grew up in a few of them.  The smallest was 800 people living on the banks of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.  But I love it when I am thrown, for an evening, into the center of a small town.  We played a gig last week in Lexington VA at an outdoor theater in the woods called Lime Kiln.  I think that every person in the audience knew everyone else. We were the only strangers there.  At the first song they clapped politely, just feeling out this new friendship between town and band. By the intermission we were on a first name basis. And by the end of the concert I feel like we could have gone home for coffee and ice cream with half the crowd. Music is an amazing way to build a friendship.  You can leapfrog the years and years of passing on the street, having kids in school together, working on the same block and go right to a powerful personal, albeit non-specific, conversation  that would normally take 20 years of friendship to get to.  I got the whole experience of knowing everyone in town in the span of 2 hours. 

Charlie Barnett, composer, writer, musician and now Emcee

Charlie Barnett, composer, writer, musician and now Emcee

by | Jul 31, 2012 | , , ,

GSSCC’s 2012 Awards & Installation Dinner Was A Huge Success!

GSSCC sincerely thanks the sponsors and members who supported the 2012 Awards & Installation Dinner this past Wednesday, one of the Chambers most important fundraising events of the year. The money raised through these events is critical to the Chamber’s ability to adequately serve our members.

Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce Gala

Mixing

by | Jul 21, 2012 | , , ,

I just finished up two days of mixing with engineer Ken Schubert.  We were two guys sitting at a console staring at a screen of ProTools information with two very good speakers on either side – and not talking much for 8 hours a day.  That is some guys’ idea of a great day.   I guess it is mine.   It reminds me of a story about the famous pilot, Chuck Yeager, flying in tandem with another pilot  across the entire country, speaking only a dozen words during the whole trip and feeling like they had a hell of time at the end of the day.    I’m not sure if this is a particularly male trait or not.  But I have only had these experiences with guys.  We sit and listen…. and listen again. then one guy says:” Do you think the guitar is a little wet? ” or  “Let’s lose the piano until the bridge.”  The other guy answers with ” Hmmm… we could try it?”  This would be followed by another half hour of sitting, listening and staring. In two days we mixed three songs and ended up thinking we were flying right along on this project.

       At the same time I had to listen to the masters of the new Chaise Lounge Christmas album,  “A Very Chaise Lounge Christmas”.  Mastering is a completely different level, a much deeper level of listening that I am not capable of.  Greg Lukens and Bill Wolf are the two “master”minds ( pun intended) involved here.  They also sit in a dark room surrounded by audio gear and mumble about “shelves” and say things like ” Is that getting a little tubby ?”   In the end they took an album of 10 songs that were mixed over the course of nine months, and had a variety of instrumentations,  and made them sound like they all truly belonged on the same record.   

This is not my favorite part of my job, but it is one that is odd and peculiar to this craft of recording music.  In some ways I owe my career to the various engineers who have looked at me and said in all sincerity ” for the love of God, can we pull some of the big room back… please?”

Hollywood

by | Jul 6, 2012 | , ,

My relationship with Hollywood is somewhat fraught.  I lived there off and on for nine years.  I had little bits of success.  Enough to keep me coming back, but not enough to make me pull up stakes in my beloved Washington DC and fully commit to LA.  I had a great place there that I shared with a director. It was up in the Hollywood Hills and we had a view of the entire Los Angeles Basin that was nothing short of fabulous. But if I was there for more than two weeks at a time that view used to haunt me.  How could I look out at 7 million people and not have more than three people that I cared to talk to?   I am making it sound more depressing than it was.  Although I will share my favorite description of Hollywood with you.  Standing above the scene inside Loews Santa Monica Hotel -looking down at the sprawling LA film festival crowd, my old friend Ray remarked:  ” Behold, an ocean of C minus students” .  

     I finally gave it up about 10 years ago. What a wonderful, light freedom  it was to give up on Hollywood. I can still remember walking over the “lion bridge ” here in Washington and wondering why I felt so good.  And figuring out that I finally did not have to think about Los Angeles  any more.  

      Hollywood is now like a bad, old girlfriend to me.  You know, the one – when you see her at a party… you say to yourself ” Man, she looks good! – why did I ever leave her?”   And as soon as you talk to her it all comes back to you.   I’m heading to LA in an hour.  Ready to face my old, bad girlfriend of a city.  And I am sure that when I get there…. She will look so fine.

The 4th Grade, now and remembered.

by | May 17, 2012 | , , ,

What an amazing time that was.  To be 9 years old. You are generally allowed, even encouraged , to occasionally be as enthusiastic and as loud as you can possibly be. 

The North Chevy Chase Elementary 4th grade invited me back to listen to them sing ” 43 Good Excuses”.  This time I came prepared. Sue and her trusty flip cam came along.  The video is sooooooo cute.  Their teacher, Jacqui, is incredibly cool.  And they respond by being the hippest little people on the planet.  My own memories of 4th grade  revolve around Mrs. Blackburn at Maury Elementary, who referred to me only “Loudmouth” for the entire year.  Happily, that singular trait of being VERY LOUD, has been part and parcel of my entire career.  It has at times made a broken PA a non-event.  It has made public speaking an easy thing for me to do.  It has gotten the quick attention of three unruly children.  And it made me unconditionally love the sound of a Marshall stack turned up to ‘pulverize’.

you rock

Live Performance .2

by | Apr 24, 2012 | , ,

 Chaise Lounge just came off two wonderful gigs.  A concert at Black Rock Performing Arts Center.  And then this Saturday at The Hamilton.  The Hamilton was amazing. To use a sports analogy : we left it all on the field.  It is an amazing feeling to know, and to know deeply, that you gave the crowd everything you had:  every bit of skill, every bit of emotion, and the sum total of all the arranging, re-arranging and rehearsal that, over years, add up to a good song and a good performance.  People say it all the time, but that makes it no less true, that what you get back from the audience, if you are tuned in, is more than you have given. We played for nearly 400 attentive ( meaning sometimes screaming and sometimes lost in a wash of emotion) fans.  It feels funny to say “fans”. I just think of them as lots of folks I know,… even when I don’t know them at all. That’s the way it feels.  There are only six of us in the band. We were hopelessly out-numbered. We put out only six people’s worth of music, but we got 400 peoples vibes coming back at us. The wave of musical joy and satisfaction that swept back over us after each song was palpable.  Every gig is different. But I hope we can get somewhere close to this feeling every time.

Mnemonics and music and Skype

by | Apr 6, 2012 | , , ,

Yesterday I had a Skype session with the Clemson University orchestra, courtesy of Dr. Andrew Levin.  They are playing “The Blue Chevrolet”

What totally surprising questions!  One question that a cellist asked:  “What are your thoughts on translating memory into music?”  He was not referring to songwriting or anything with lyrical content, He was talking about the completely abstract orchestral piece that they are playing. A far more difficult question.  Yes, “The Blue Chevrolet” is unabashedly autobiographical.  But I have never been so confronted by the clear evidence of this process, and my nearly complete lack of understanding of how I do this.  There is probably a very good doctoral thesis in just that one question.   Maybe abstract painters have a better handle on this?  I wish I could have come up with a slick answer to this.  As it is, I will be thinking about this for the next three years.  I will get back to you on this. 

I wish I could be there to hear the performance.  Good luck to the orchestra and thank you again to Maestro Levin for playing this.

Jazz Dynamos, Chaise Lounge hosts their "Insomnia" CD release Party April 21, The Hamilton DC

Jazz Dynamos, Chaise Lounge hosts their "Insomnia" CD release Party April 21, The Hamilton DC

by | Mar 16, 2012 | , ,

Sleep is Overrated
At least that that is the theme for Chaise Lounge’s CD release party, on April 21st, for their 4th album, aptly named, “Insomnia”. This hot jazz band, with just enough “lounge” to fill up a nice big martini, will be hosting  an “Insomnia” themed cocktail party  and concert for their fans at DC’s hottest new supper club, The Hamilton.

Artisan cocktails will be available and each guest will get their own bit of Chaise Lounge swag to remember this speakeasy kind of evening right here in 2012. There may even be a chance for a photo with the band or autographed CD.

A full concert will follow, featuring Chaise lounge’s unique blend of clever lyrics and artfully arranged musical numbers, reminiscent of Capitol Records circa 1962. You might call it “Early Stereo”, or perhaps Lounge with a capital “L,” or maybe just plain enjoyable.


Who:
CHAISE LOUNGE
www.chaiseloungenation.com

What:
Style: (Lounge/Swing/Pop/Singer-Songwriter)

Why:
Embrace “Insomnia” Chaise Lounge style at this fan appreciation party and concert at  DC’s hottest
new supper club and musical venue, The Hamilton DC.

Where:
The Hamilton
600 14th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20005
near Metro Center
202-787-1000

When: Saturday 4/21,
Cocktail Party: 7pm
Dinner Seating to follow
Show Start: 8:30

Dress: “Mad Men”

Tickets:
25.00
http://www.thehamiltondc.com/live/calendar

Recent Highlights:
NPR’s Liane Hansen interviews Charlie and Marilyn on Weekend Edition
Performances with the Capitol City Symphony & Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra
NPR’s Car Talk features “Coolest Car”

On Wisconsin! On Wisconsin!

by | Feb 20, 2012 | , ,

Getting ready for our trip to Wisconsin to play with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. rehearsing the orchestra arrangements this evening.

I am just astonished by all the hospitality they have already extended to us.  It seems that a good deal of that hospitality involves fried cheese curd and Point Beer.

And that is ok with me. 

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