Category Archives: Books, Movies, & Music

And we gigged

I had so much fun a couple weeks ago gigging at the Red Line Tap with my friend Carrie, songwriter and singer extraordinaire.

The night of the performance, we were able to practice a little after the evening service at our church, so I snapped a few pictures of the practice knowing that the lighting at the bar probably wouldn’t be ideal for gorgeous shots.

Eric, Carrie’s husband, was on the keys. He’s so stinkin’ good. They’d just better accept him into the Composition PhD program he’s applying for . . . or else.

Carrie sang her soulful rendition of ‘Black Coffee.’ That song hits the spot every time I hear it.

Petras drummed with soul.

I love capturing shots of artists doing their craft.

My husband manned the camera and snagged a shot of me as well. I was trying to control the nervous flutters in my chest and keep my vocal chords from twanging.

Sometimes they like to twang, or wimp out, or seize up, and the only solution is to run from the stage in terror. Or whisper out notes like a dying woman and hope that an alien from the future will swing by to erase the memories of everyone in the audience. You never heard me sing that horrid note. You never hear me squeak when I was supposed to belt. And you definitely didn’t hear me take about 50 breaths in between every syllable of that song.

Once we got to the actual location though, all my nerves disappeared.

The band sounded great, and thanks to the solid ability and artistry of my friends, I was carried away to a place where nerves could no longer reach me.

Great job on that thingamaging, Eric.

The gig was late on a Sunday night, so there was only a handful of people scattered around the tiny bar. One of them was Cassia, my talented friend who I handed my camera off to. Thanks Cassia. Yeah, she’s the one who hosted that wicked awesome wine tasting party a while back.

It was small and cozy. That may have assisted with my lack of nerves. Plus the fact that stage lights are quite blinding. I heartily approve of that design–it enables me to forget there’s anyone watching at all.

And don’t try to tell me that it helps to imagine a naked audience. I’ve never understood how that could help anyone, anywhere, at any time.

If you want to check out a small chunk of our performance, here’s a youtube video of Winter’s Ashes, one of Carrie’s newest songs. Before you click, know that I’m biting my lip to stop a barrage of disclaimers . . . please remember the sound quality on the video isn’t great . . . please avert your eyes as I sway from side to side and look slightly like a doofus . . . please believe that we REALLY SOUNDED SO MUCH BETTER IN REAL LIFE, FOR REALZ, FOR REALZ . . . But it will at least give you a taste. Plus during the last section you get to see Eric and Petras go to town on their instruments–it’s my favorite part.

For ‘clean’ recordings of Carrie’s songs and wonderful voice, you can also go to her website and knock yourself out.

If you like what you see/hear and you happen to be in the area, come join us at Uncommon Ground here in Chicago, Sunday January 2nd at 9pm, for another beautiful set.

My husband, Carrier of Musical Equipment, Buyer of Sandwiches for the famished band, and Supporter of Everything and Anything related to me and my endeavors, says it’s not to be missed. Or rather, he gave it the thumbs up since his mouth was full of granola bar at the moment. But if his mouth hadn’t been full, he totally would have said it’s not to be missed.

Gig at the Red Line Tap

Photo by Casey Jo Jenkins

My friend Carrie is a singer songwriter. She was classically trained, but her clear and pure voice makes her the perfect fit for Celtic and folk as well. She’s recently made a foray into blues and jazz and blew me away at the fall Blues concert I talked about a couple weeks ago.

I love singing . . . but I’m not a performer at heart. Or rather, I’m a torn performer. If you’ve been around this here blog for a while, you know that my parents were in a band for about 11 years and toted me around as a young thing to places like Japan and Daytona Beach, where the classic rock blasting through the speakers didn’t prevent me from going to bed on a blanket by the mixing board at the allotted time.

I’ve inherited my parent’s love for music, and once I get over my nerves I really enjoy performing. But those nerves . . . those nerves. They can kill it for me, and are one of the big reasons I decided to switch from being a Classical Guitar performance major to an English and French major the winter of my sophomore year. The way I explain it genetically is this: my dad is a behind-the-scenes guy. He mixes, runs sound, records, and has a fantastic ear. If he performs, it’s in a group such as a choir. My Mom, however, is a spotlight girl. She’s comfortable on stage, at ease being the center of attention, and has been singing under the stage lights all her life. Then they gave birth to me–and I landed somehwere between the mixing board and the stage.

Personality wise, that is–my Mom did not actually projectile-birth me into an aisle at a concert.

Right.

I may or may not hate being the center of attention–it gives me an unpleasant feeling deep in my stomach. This explains three things: why I’ve never been good in front of the camera, why my dreams of being a famous actress crashed around me at a tender 14 years of age, and finally the subject at hand: why doing back-up vocals is the perfect solution for me. I’m not the main act, so I don’t have to sweat it–but I get to be part of the amazing music that other great musicians are making.

It’s all coming together into such a neat package, isn’t it? It’s like my personality may actually make some kind of cohesive sense instead of being a riff-raff of sillyness, weird little dances, and this uncontrollable habit I have of spanking my loved ones.

Moving on! All of this has been a backdrop to the following: when Carrie invited me to sing with her for her gig at the Red Line Tap here in Chicago, I said ‘yes’ immediately. Carrie will be singing and playing the guitar, her husband Eric is on the piano, Petras is on the drums, and I’m the back-up girl. It’s a short set–about 6 songs or so–but it’s going to be be-yewtiful.

If any of you are in Chicago and want to come hear us perform some of Carrie’s beautiful songs, be there Sunday night with a $5 cover charge in hand–I think we’re on around 9pm. You can also listen to Carrie’s recordings online on her website, so even if you aren’t able to come see us in person, go forth and listen to her lovely, lovely songs.

Happy Monday everyone! And by the way, the theme of tomorrow’s post starts with a ‘g-‘ and ends with an ‘-arlic.’ Multiply that times 16 and you’ll start getting close to the wonderment of it all. I can’t wait to share!