“Always remember to slow down in life;
live, breathe, and learn;
take a look around you whenever you have time
and never forget everything and every person
that has the least place within your heart.”
– unknown
…
For folks in or near the Twin Cities, Songtaneous is TOMORROW at 2:00pm. Get in touch if you plan to come sing.
Lots of stuff happened in May (as you’ll soon see) and I didn’t have time to blog about all of the cool stuff going on at the time. So … my blog, my prerogative. *smile* (Besides, I just got all these cool pics … what better excuse for a trip down memory lane?)
(L to R) Connie Dussl, Jennifer Eckes, Erin Duffy, me, Rhonda Laurie and Heidi Zim
Fellow TCCAN-er Dean Elwell and I greeted guests to the event.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a member of TCCAN – the Twin Cities Cabaret Artists’ Network. In May, we held our premier cabaret event directed by Timm Homly and featuring several of our group members.
The evening was comprised of a songs and stories presented by eight of TCCAN’s members – Dorothy Doring, Erin Duffy, Connie Dussl, Jennifer Eckes, Judi Gronseth, Timm Homly, Kevin Werner and Heidi Ziman — and took place at CAMP in St. Paul.
The show’s theme was friendship, or rather, how friendship has changed in our highly social, highly digitized world. Songs and stories ranged in topic from mix tapes to body image, and from the silly to the sensitive.
I was so excited and honored to be a part of this improvised show. I’ve been wanting to work with composer/creator Mankwe Ndosi for some time. Imagine my delight when she called me about joining her project. Below are some more pics and a short audio excerpt.
We spent the week before the show in rehearsal. On the day of our photo shoot, we met at the home of our instrument creator — Douglas Eiwart to try out some instruments and continue to build “our troupe of griots.”
The shows themselves were incredible — a really fun, supportive environment for a spontaneous singer such as yours truly. But even though pics are great (see below), you can’t really get a sense of the show without hearing it. So I made you a short audio excerpt.
[audio:http://songtaneous.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ATRC_excerpt.mp3]
An early rehearsal for "As The Rhythm Changes"
Libby tries out one of Douglas' hand-made instruments
Libby Turner Opanga
Aimee K. Bryant
Mankwe, me and Libby
Kenna Sarge
More on anniversaries (as Food for Thought turns a year old):
“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed;
if in terms of ten years, plant trees;
if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.”
– Confucius
…
“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”
– William Arthur Ward
