On March 22, 2011, I performed my first live show in two years. My throat was scratchy and soar, and my nose was stuffed more than stockings at Christmas. My band and I had already adjusted the key of the songs I was to perform to make it easier on my voice, and if I could get through this, I could get through anything. So...I did. I had to. I had recently watched a YouTube video of Usher being booed as he left the stage in Germany because he was too sick to get through his performance. I had to keep going.
A few days later I received a call from Plectrum Entertainment, the company that booked me to perform that night, and they asked me to participate in a benefit for the Japan Disaster Relief Fund, taking place tonight, Tuesday, April 26, at 9pm, at All Asia in Cambridge, MA. And this time thankfully, I'm not sick! I had been hoping to do my part in helping the people of Japan since the massive destruction of their land on March 11, 2011.
So tonight, 100% of the proceeds from the door go to benefit Japan. Only $6 to get in.
All Asia
334 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA
9pm
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Friday, September 10, 2010
Kisses, Rollerskates, and Your Favorite Songs
Do you remember the Walkman? Seems like only yesterday that I was hitting that rewind button over and over to replay my favorite song, "Baby Be Mine", from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" cassette tape. That song inspired my dream at the time, to ask my fourth grade crush to be my girlfriend. I had it all prepared, the white teddy bear with a "Be Mine" heart, and a box of Hershey's Kiss Chocolates. With Valentine's Day being my birthday, how could she refuse? I would never find out. Naturally shy even to this day, I only had the courage enough to quickly jump out of my mother's van on the way home, and hand Rochelle the teddy bear. Coward!
But I continued to play the song. It reminded me of everything I had planned. So for me, songs inspire dreams. They help you to make a move (though I didn't go through with mine back then). It also sparks the memory. Think of your favorite song, and I'm curious why it became your favorite song. What was the moment? What were you doing?
That is where my initial passion for songs started; when I realized how powerful they could be. But being shy more than anything is why I had to start writing songs. When I was 13, my church youth group went on a field trip to a roller-skating rink in Southern Massachusetts, Skatetown USA. While waiting in line at the snack bar, I noticed this gorgeous looking girl with a curly-haired ponytail, and a red shirt. I could not take my eyes off of her. I played it off like my friend was the one who wanted to know her name, and the girl's friend told me. Naudia. You can guess what happened...I didn't do anything. Didn't ask her to skate with me. Didn't ask if I could buy her some ice cream. But I did write about it when I got home.
Writing became my outlet. Instead of kicking myself and enduring sleepless nights because of what I didn't do, I wrote about her. The only way I knew how to record at the time was to have two tapes rolling on my karaoke machine. When I recorded on one, I would move that one over to the play-only side, and have the new tape on the record side to record while the other was playing. Sounds confusing but it was very simple. So it began.
In songwriting, what's more satisfying than a five-paragraph e-mail from a fan of mine telling me how much one of my songs changed her life, or having someone tell me that something I wrote made them cry? And all off of songs inspired by personal situations, of what myself or others have been through. To be able to put my feelings and thoughts out there, and have that much of an effect on people...that's why I write.
But I continued to play the song. It reminded me of everything I had planned. So for me, songs inspire dreams. They help you to make a move (though I didn't go through with mine back then). It also sparks the memory. Think of your favorite song, and I'm curious why it became your favorite song. What was the moment? What were you doing?
That is where my initial passion for songs started; when I realized how powerful they could be. But being shy more than anything is why I had to start writing songs. When I was 13, my church youth group went on a field trip to a roller-skating rink in Southern Massachusetts, Skatetown USA. While waiting in line at the snack bar, I noticed this gorgeous looking girl with a curly-haired ponytail, and a red shirt. I could not take my eyes off of her. I played it off like my friend was the one who wanted to know her name, and the girl's friend told me. Naudia. You can guess what happened...I didn't do anything. Didn't ask her to skate with me. Didn't ask if I could buy her some ice cream. But I did write about it when I got home.
Writing became my outlet. Instead of kicking myself and enduring sleepless nights because of what I didn't do, I wrote about her. The only way I knew how to record at the time was to have two tapes rolling on my karaoke machine. When I recorded on one, I would move that one over to the play-only side, and have the new tape on the record side to record while the other was playing. Sounds confusing but it was very simple. So it began.
In songwriting, what's more satisfying than a five-paragraph e-mail from a fan of mine telling me how much one of my songs changed her life, or having someone tell me that something I wrote made them cry? And all off of songs inspired by personal situations, of what myself or others have been through. To be able to put my feelings and thoughts out there, and have that much of an effect on people...that's why I write.
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