Comedy of Errors

The weekend wedding gig went..er...um...well, it went.

Nothing like REALLY EXPENSIVE WALLPAPER to make a party fabulous!

The band was a phenomenal collection of Houston's top musicians: David Craig, Chuck Payne, Devin Collins, Mike Owen, Woody Witt, Johan Keus, and Paul Peacock, plus the FABULOUS WONDERFUL BLOW YOU AWAY PIDO on vocals, and then there was me. Oh I'm joking, I had a moment or two...

But the room was full of, well, investment bankers. Not the liveliest of crowds. I hope to get some pro shots from the photographer that was covering the event, but until then, PIDO managed to get a few, just to give you an idea:

Here's me and Devin at the piano (rented a baby grand for this doozy!) going over some last minute things.



and here is one of the band. (minus my handsome talented and possibly deranged drummer) I believe this was taken during Moon River (father/daughter dance) which I counted off way too fast thanks to the Wedding Coordinator coming to me immediately before this and the first dance and telling me the bride has asked that we shorten the dances. This is why I need people like Glen Ackerman around to tell me that I am CRAZY and ignore my crappy tempo and just do it RIGHT instead! What a ROOKIE!



And one of Mike Owen and David Craig. These guys shared a hearty guffaw at my butchered version of Night and Day. Somehow I started out with the words all out of order/wonky and it all went downhill from there. By the end of it, I was just cracking myself up at such a TARD moment on my part.



NOTE TO MIKE AND DAVID: I SWEAR I KNOW THE TUNE BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS AND COULD SING IT IN MY SLEEP WHILE BALANCING MY CHECKBOOK, BUT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE IT INTERESTING AND CONFUSE YOU GUYS, TO SEE IF YOU WERE PAYING ATTENTION. YEAH, THAT'S IT.

PIDO took home the gold for band amusement that night, however, with his original reinterpretation of Blue Moon. He SAID he knew it. He approached the Mic with confidence and proceeded to sing...this:

PIDO BLUE MOON MADNESS

***

MWA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

The best part was that people in the crowd were smiling and nodding at him, totally oblivious to the bizarre non-language emanating from his lips.

It had the making of a cool gig; a multi-million dollar mansion, a rented a baby grand, a pro sound man, had some of the greatest players in town, and we all looked mighty fine, if you ask me. But the room was full of silent old farts glaring at the spectacle or young tards waiting for the DJ.

I managed to get a few folks on the dance floor with "At Last" always a favorite at parties as a sexy slow dance, and then had a little fun with a few people in the room during "Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You?" Of course, our recorder had run out of memory by that point so no proof of anything exciting. I had a moment of panic during "Gee Baby" when the horns all walked off stage during the first chorus. I thought "dang it isn't THAT bad!" but it turns out they were just making room for Mike's A-MAZE-ING guitar playing. Worked out pretty well, and as usual, I enjoy having the stage to myself. (nyuk nyuk)

We will be doing this all again in December, and I look forward to a smoother, better rehearsed show that time around.

***if this audio clip doesn't work, don't tell me. Figuring out how to do this was the source of no less than one ocean's worth of blood sweat and tears, and I do NOT mean the awesome band...just know that I will figure it out and post it again later.

lessons I am learning

I was recently asked:

"Who are you?"

in relation to my performing, singing, etc.

Such a simple question, but what a landslide of emotion! This is the one thing that truly distinguishes a "singer" from an "artist." I was a little ashamed when I realized I HAVE NO IDEA.

I stuttered and faltered my way through a pathetic lists of excuses for why I did not know the answer to this question. I have spent the better part of 24 hours contemplating the answer. Don't get me wrong. I know who I am in many respects. I even know that I am capable of being whomever is needed for whatever situation.

The question was posed to me by my current teacher Ann Ostrow who proceeded to remind me: "Remember, an audience looks before it hears." She went on to talk about how they will decide who you are the minute you appear on stage and how MY job is to either fulfill or dispel their expectations. Or both.

She asked if I was: 1. ingenue, 2. sexy, 3. red hot mama. (what is the difference between the latter two, I wonder?) She asked what people see when they see me. OK. So I have to think like the audience, I get the lesson. Then she asked what I WANT them to see. Sheesh.

SO the question is not truly "Who am I?" but "Who do I want everyone to think I am?"

And with that comes the question: is the "who I am" and the "who I want everyone to think I am" supposed to be the same? Or am I required to have two different versions of "Me?" On stage and off? Wouldn't that read to the audience as a "fake?" Or isn't that just what acting is?

I have always thought of myself as a multifaceted gem. You can turn it every which way and see a new shape, a new color, a new part of the gem, but at the end of the day, it is the same hunk of rock it was when it got out of bed and drained an ENTIRE pot of coffee all by itself..whoops, I think I lost the metaphor, there.

Is this the answer? Or am I entirely too caffeinated to adequately convey the immense emotional stress this question has put on me?

Cream?