Join us this Saturday for another tribute show with some of Dallas's most talented singer-songwriters. This time it's "Dallas Does the Eagles" and it's going to be amazing.
We do a lot of cover songs at shows, and I have to let you know that learning these four songs has been the most difficult time we've ever had learning cover songs. It makes me appreciate how incredible the Eagles are, and if you come to Opening Bell this Saturday, July 21, you'll appreciate them, too!
Show starts at 8:00, cover is $5, and I feel sure you won't regret it!
Read all about it here: http://www.facebook.com/events/434064223280157/
See you guys Saturday night at 8:00!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Putting down Roots
We had a fantastic time last weekend doing "Dallas Does the Rolling Stones." The best part about these tribute shows is we get to add new cover songs to our collection. (We've also signed up for "Dallas does the Eagles" for July, so there's even more fun to come.) If you want to hear some of the new songs in our repertoire, come join us this Saturday night at Roots coffeehouse in North Richland Hills, TX.
This is such a great venue, I would tell you to check it out even if we weren't going to be there providing the tunes. But now, you really have no excuse not to drink some delicious coffee or tea (they make a killer iced earl grey latte, or "foggy London" if you're looking to cool off from the Texas weather), settle into a comfy chair or cozy corner table, bring a friend or a book or your laptop for the free wi-fi, and listen to some great music!
See y'all Saturday!
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| Roots's Cinnamon Spice Latte. Yummy! |
See y'all Saturday!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Dallas Does The Rolling Stones -- Saturday
We had a wonderful time last Saturday participating in "Dallas does the Beatles" with some amazing Dallas artists. We played "Nowhere Man," "Norwegian Wood," "Don't Let Me Down," and "Here Comes the Sun," and when there was extra time left at the end, we played "Open Country" (from our latest EP -- which you can download for free using the link to the right) and Led Zepplin's "Ramble On." Songs from other artists included lots of favorites -- most notably, a moving audience-participation moment in "Hey Jude." The whole night was a blast, so thanks to all who came out.
We had so much fun, in fact, that we enthusiastically agreed to participate in this weekend's tribute show: Dallas does the Rolling Stones.
Read all about it here, and on our show calendar. It's going to be another fantastic line-up of wonderful musicians and classic songs, for $5 starting at 8:00 pm this Saturday, June 2, in one of Dallas's most intimate and beloved venues.
We had so much fun, in fact, that we enthusiastically agreed to participate in this weekend's tribute show: Dallas does the Rolling Stones.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
5 thoughts about the Beatles
In honor of the upcoming Dallas does the Beatles show at Opening Bell Coffee this Saturday night, which I am very pleased to be a part of, I present 5 random thoughts about the Beatles:
1. The first Beatles song I learned to play was "Ticket to Ride." I learned to play it on the bass guitar when I was 13 or 14, and spent many a Saturday afternoon playing it with my dad, along with the song "Kicks," by Paul Revere and the Raiders.
2. The first Beatles song I learned on the guitar was "We Can Work it Out." It's still a staple of our coffeehouse shows.
3. My favorite Beatles song is "Here Comes the Sun." This is a great song on multiple levels. It's simple, yet deceptively complex, uplifting without being cheesy, and it speaks to me of the hope of redemption every time I hear it. Adam and I had the Beatles' Love version of it (the one that was remixed for the Cirque du Soleil show) played for our wedding recessional almost 5 years ago.
4. Everyone knows the Beatles are important, but scholars are divided as to the nature of the band's significance. Among the random bits of information I picked up while studying for my doctoral qualifying exams are the ways that some scholars believe that the Beatles basically ruined some aspect of American music. For example, Elijah Wald believes that the Beatles effectively killed rock n' roll through no fault of their own by so dominating the charts that rock n' roll, a form of music that had become increasingly racially integrated, was turned it into a white man's game, forever splitting the musical world along racial lines and between the genres of rock (think Led Zeppelin) and r&b/soul (think Motown). In the process, Wald argues, rock n' roll was lost forever. (Read all about it here). Similarly, Richie Unterberger believes that the Beatles killed folk music, by being so good at pleasing so many people with their fusion of styles that their folk roots (in Skiffle bands in Liverpool) became obscured; moreover, Unterberger points out that the Beatles arrived on the scene when folk music was at its hottest and pretty much blew that movement out of the water with Beatle-mania. What both scholars agree on is that the Beatles were too good. They turned bubblegum pop into something intelligent -- but, according to these guys, that transformation came at a price to other music. Since there's no way to imagine the history of popular music without the Beatles, it seems to me like these discussions are a little too speculative to carry much weight, but it's still interesting to see what a stir those four lads from liverpool created.
5. According to wikipedia, not only is "Yesterday" one of the world's most covered songs at 2200 versions, but it's also Vladimir Putin's favorite song. My favorite cover version is Ray Charles's:
Frankly, Ray Charles can sing just about anything and I will love it.
As amazing as that version is, the one that has the most sentimental value for me is Boyz II Men's 1994 accapella version. Any song from that album immediately puts me back on a middle school dance floor. This should be a traumatic memory, but I must have been lucky (or lost in my own world, more likely), because I always had fun at middle school dances. Also, according to wikipedia, Boyz II Men is fourth "behind Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Mariah Carey" in the list of "artists that have held at the number one spot for at least 50 weeks." Given their mutual fame on the charts, it's not too out-there for me to treasure this Boyz II Men cover version of a Beatles hit.
So there it is: five random Beatles' thoughts. I hope you will join us this Saturday night, May 26, for way more than five fantastic Beatles covers from some of Dallas's best singer-songwriters. It's going to be a blast!
1. The first Beatles song I learned to play was "Ticket to Ride." I learned to play it on the bass guitar when I was 13 or 14, and spent many a Saturday afternoon playing it with my dad, along with the song "Kicks," by Paul Revere and the Raiders.
2. The first Beatles song I learned on the guitar was "We Can Work it Out." It's still a staple of our coffeehouse shows.
3. My favorite Beatles song is "Here Comes the Sun." This is a great song on multiple levels. It's simple, yet deceptively complex, uplifting without being cheesy, and it speaks to me of the hope of redemption every time I hear it. Adam and I had the Beatles' Love version of it (the one that was remixed for the Cirque du Soleil show) played for our wedding recessional almost 5 years ago.
4. Everyone knows the Beatles are important, but scholars are divided as to the nature of the band's significance. Among the random bits of information I picked up while studying for my doctoral qualifying exams are the ways that some scholars believe that the Beatles basically ruined some aspect of American music. For example, Elijah Wald believes that the Beatles effectively killed rock n' roll through no fault of their own by so dominating the charts that rock n' roll, a form of music that had become increasingly racially integrated, was turned it into a white man's game, forever splitting the musical world along racial lines and between the genres of rock (think Led Zeppelin) and r&b/soul (think Motown). In the process, Wald argues, rock n' roll was lost forever. (Read all about it here). Similarly, Richie Unterberger believes that the Beatles killed folk music, by being so good at pleasing so many people with their fusion of styles that their folk roots (in Skiffle bands in Liverpool) became obscured; moreover, Unterberger points out that the Beatles arrived on the scene when folk music was at its hottest and pretty much blew that movement out of the water with Beatle-mania. What both scholars agree on is that the Beatles were too good. They turned bubblegum pop into something intelligent -- but, according to these guys, that transformation came at a price to other music. Since there's no way to imagine the history of popular music without the Beatles, it seems to me like these discussions are a little too speculative to carry much weight, but it's still interesting to see what a stir those four lads from liverpool created.
5. According to wikipedia, not only is "Yesterday" one of the world's most covered songs at 2200 versions, but it's also Vladimir Putin's favorite song. My favorite cover version is Ray Charles's:
Frankly, Ray Charles can sing just about anything and I will love it.
As amazing as that version is, the one that has the most sentimental value for me is Boyz II Men's 1994 accapella version. Any song from that album immediately puts me back on a middle school dance floor. This should be a traumatic memory, but I must have been lucky (or lost in my own world, more likely), because I always had fun at middle school dances. Also, according to wikipedia, Boyz II Men is fourth "behind Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Mariah Carey" in the list of "artists that have held at the number one spot for at least 50 weeks." Given their mutual fame on the charts, it's not too out-there for me to treasure this Boyz II Men cover version of a Beatles hit.
So there it is: five random Beatles' thoughts. I hope you will join us this Saturday night, May 26, for way more than five fantastic Beatles covers from some of Dallas's best singer-songwriters. It's going to be a blast!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Friday: French food and French Music
A while back, I wrote about how I was learning some lovely, but challenging songs by Leonard Bernstein for a forthcoming concert. Well, the concert is happening tomorrow night (May 4) at 8:00 at the University of Texas at Dallas. It is free, it's filled with delicious French music (and Bernstein's American music about delicious French food) and it's going to be fantastic. See all the details, below. I'd love to see you there!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Sinus infection and other excuses
So, I've been a really sporadic blogger over the last month. I had my doctoral exams as an excuse, and when they were over, I promised to focus more on music (and music-related activity, like keeping this website updated). Then, I got a horrible sinus-infection, which, in addition to preventing me from singing, also delayed my dissertation proposal writing, setting me back on my goals. And Wednesday, I was in a car accident. (No worries; everyone is fine). If I keep telling you about my crazy life right now, you'll probably start to think I'm just making stuff up. So, I'm going to stop making excuses, and just post some pictures from Easter, including my parents' adorable cats, Ringo and Regina.
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| This is totally music-related, see? This picture contains two band-members. |
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| And there's a possibility I'm writing a hit song in that notebook, not doing something silly like drawing pictures of cats... |
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| My mom! |
Now to get back to writing that dissertation proposal...
Friday, April 6, 2012
Free Download for Good Friday
Hello everyone! I am happy to say that I have passed all my doctoral exams. Thanks for bearing with me as I abandoned music for a little while to focus on that.
In honor of good Friday, I am offering a free download of my song, "Wells of Love," which I wrote several Good Fridays ago, available only at CD Baby, here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chand. (You'll have to scroll down to that track, which will say $0.00 beside it).
Listen to a performance of the song here, if you like:
Have a happy Easter weekend, everyone.
In honor of good Friday, I am offering a free download of my song, "Wells of Love," which I wrote several Good Fridays ago, available only at CD Baby, here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chand. (You'll have to scroll down to that track, which will say $0.00 beside it).
Listen to a performance of the song here, if you like:
Have a happy Easter weekend, everyone.
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