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?)

 

With Friends Like These …

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.

 

As The Rhythm Changes

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]

According to my editorial schedule (which is a grandiose way of referrencing a list scratched on a Post-It®), I was supposed to write about how I became a blogger today. But, as you may recall, I sang at the Dakota this weekend as a member of my good friend Jay Young’s Lyric Factory. (That’s him and me in the photo.)

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Let me tell you, I had a blast! Being on stage with all those great players (and good-hearted people) was exhilarating.

(Fellow factory workers included Ian Young (bass and Jay’s son), Thom West (keys), Kevin Washington (percussion), Pete Whitman (brass and woodwinds), Sol Testimony (spoken word artist) and my sisters in song – Judi Donaghy and Michele Denise Michaels.)

It was a swinging, fun and cool night of music. Jay took the Wonder and Jackson tunes we all know and love and reworked them into fresh new treats to savor and enjoy. The new arrangements and integrating the spoken word worked so well it could have seemed easy (or obvious?) – but Jay told me he spent a year thinking about the concept and the tunes. (That’s genius.)

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Looking out and seeing so many friends and colleagues – Spices’ members, Lori Dokken, Ann Kay, Nancy Harms and Debbie Duncan and Anthony Cox (Debbie and Anthony have a show at the Dakota this coming weekend) – in the audience was great fun, too! One of the sweetest moments of the night was the woman washing hands next to me in the restroom who excitedly whispered “Wow, I’m standing next to the singer!” I responded “Wow, I’m standing next to a fan!” (Hey, it’s all about perspective.)

And, of course, I was happy that my dad was able to buzz up and catch the show. *smile*

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Well, all that good, clean fun took it’s toll. Not only did I abandon my posting plans for today, I meant to have more photos** to share with you … (You see I was busy being in the moment, so I didn’t do a great job of recording the moment.)

In other words, the Dakota ate my homework.

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For extra credit, I put together this medley of audio from Saturday night’s show. Enjoy! (No comments on my editing, please. *smile*)

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Thanks to everyone who came and supported me at my Dakota debut. I really appreciate it. (And, if you were at the show and took pics, I would love copies. *wink*)

“Do what you can instead of all or nothing.”

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The nugget of wisdom above comes from my sis.

(It’s the reason you’re getting a teensy blog post today … instead of nothing. *smile*)

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P.S. Here’s a 30-second preview of this weekend’s tribute show.
(Click the triangle.)