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Carla & Curtis performing at Goodbye Blue Monday
This Saturday, November 10th, I’ll be performing at Branded Saloon in Brooklyn, as part of Curtis Becraft’s Song Circle and Band Share.
I’ve really been enjoying my gigs with Curtis, who in addition to the accordion, plays a few other instruments. He also has a band, Curtis and the Dilettantes, who will be performing covers on Nov 30th at Wicked Willy’s, and I’ll be joining them as well. Should be fun!
Come out this weekend for a night of music and fun!
Sending a shout out to the kids of all ages trick or treating in my hood of Washington Heights, NYC today. Hurricane Sandy is not stopping those of us living in the highest points of Manhattan from getting our “trick or treat” on
Here is my video love letter to my hood from 2010, featuring the song “What Are You Going to Be For Halloween?” from Criminal Minds star Matthew Gray Gubler.
Sign up for the HMJ: HOME Music Biz Marathon at http://RockStarLifeLessons.com/hmj
Let’s talk about community and niches for a minute.
As you know, I live in New York City, where there are no lack of musicians and other creative folk. For my latest gig at Word Up, I deliberately chose it because it’s in my hood, Washington Heights.
If you’re a musician in NYC, you know how challenging it can be to get folks to come out to a gig, or to get press when there are so many other things going on on any given night.
BUT, by choosing to gig in my own neighborhood, I not only had a good crowd, I also got press in the Manhattan Times, the local paper for Washington Heights, Harlem, and Inwood. I mean the article was even written in English and Spanish. Even better, the writer Sherry Mazzocchi, did the interview on camera, so there’s a different video version of our time together (check it out below).
When’s the last time I got that from The New York Times? Uh… how bout never? ;-))
So you see, it pays to nurture your neighborhood!
I know – it’s been quiet on the musical front for me lately, but I have a slew of gigs coming up. My next performance will be at Washington Heights’ Word Up Community Bookstore on Thursday, May 3rd. What’s even cooler is that I won’t just be performing on that Thursday, but for the next 8 Thursdays after that. In other words, my first MUSICAL RESIDENCY!!!
What’s even cool than that is that I’ll be livestreaming these gigs, and filming the pilot for a new TV Show!! Lots of things cooking over here!
Stay tuned!!
Book cover design by CDS, from Word Up Bookstore’s “Voices: Our Young People Speak” program
Last, but not least, here’s my Make Music NY 2011 video featuring Hungry March Band. Like last year, I got to be a member in their New Orleans’ style Second Line Parade. And it was FUN!
Visit Make Music NY’s site for more info.
Here’s my Make Music NY 2011 video. I’m singing Yoko Ono’s “Secret Piece” for the birds at Central Park. Make Music New York is an annual event where people celebrate the Summer Solstice (June 21st, the first day of summer) by singing all over New York City.
Since I showed up for the 5am sunrise singing, I was fortunate to meet Aaron Friedman, the founder of Make Music New York, so of course I had to interview him! I had known that he was one of the organizers, but he’s actually the FOUNDER of Make Music New York. So the early bird really does get the worm! 😉
Learn more about Make Music New York
This week is the first week of the Nordic Music Export (NOMEX) Musician’s Roadmap Course for Social Media. The countries represented are Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, and it’s always a pleasure to work with musicians from outside of the US, as I appreciate their perspectives.
Similar to the Music Success in Nine Weeks Mastermind Forum, the Musician’s Roadmap Course is the private online course offered by Ariel Publicity for countries seeking to export their country’s music. As the moderator for this course, I answer questions, handle the day-to-day feedback, share resources, etc.
So this is the course’s Welcome Video with Ariel Hyatt and me. It was actually going fine before I censored myself at the end, but we got a good laugh out of it! 😉
Welcome NOMEX Musicians!
Perhaps I’m a little nutty from the heat (okay, I’m nutty all year round!) but I’ve decided to offer a special summer sale of my very first CD, Front & Center. Many of you know, or already own, my Soulflower CD, but you may not have even heard of Front & Center, which I’m selling this month only for $7.
Front & Center is the live CD that I recorded live in NYC from 1995-1999. At the time, I had just moved to New York City, and had no recording studio budget. So I recorded almost every live show I did, and created a CD from my favorite cuts. Because of my unauthorized rendition of Jimi Hendrix’ “Little Wing”, I was previously forbidden to sell the CD on iTunes. Thankfully, I’ve since worked things out with the Hendrix Estate, but before I re-release this last batch of CDs, I’d like to offer it to my Rock Star Life Lessons readers for the special price of $7!
To make things even more intriguing, if you buy Front & Center, I’ll also add my unreleased live EP, Dirty5, for no charge! Dirty5 is another live CD of mine, slightly naughty in nature, once even referred to as “A one night stand with music”. I don’t know about all that, but it was a lovely gig recorded during the last days of NYC’s CBGB’s Gallery – it was springtime, and I was feeling free!
Anyway, if you’re interested in this special offer, you can take advantage of my
Soulflower Summer Sale via PayPal. This price also includes shipping and handling! And if you want one or both CDs autographed, just let me know in the “special instructions” section of PayPal’s order form.
I only have a batch of Front & Center CDs left, so get ’em while we’re all hot! 😉
So today, (Feb 10, 2010) there was a blizzard in NYC (as well as other parts of the Northeast). There was so much snow expected that most schools and some businesses were closed.
My roommate Tym Moss and I both work from home, and Tym came up with the great idea of going to the park to make snow angels. What a great idea!!!