Big News & Updates Post
Hey hey hey, been a while since a large big blog post. Here goes. I have a lot lot lot of big news to share with y'all.
1) March 30th - my last Wednesday at the Lafayette for a while
Playing at the Lafayette Hotel has been a dream gig. I've enjoyed each show I've done at one of my favorite spots in San Diego, I've made amazing friends and loved every minute entertaining hotel guests and locals alike. Thank you to the team at the Lafayette for being so incredible! Right now, I have to step down from a weekly San Diego gig because...
2) Summer Tour (WITH BAND) is Coming Up!
Yes, I'm touring this summer. Yes, I'm touring *with a band* this summer. Yes, I'm touring with some of my art this summer. Yes, each show will be a mega-awesome event. Yes, I'm going through the whole USA, and YES I AM VERY EXCITED TO SEE THOSE OF YOU I HAVEN'T SEEN IN SEVERAL YEARS. More tour details are coming VERY soon but tentative dates:
West Coast: July 17-July 27
Midwest/East Coast: August 1-18
3) NEW BAND: THE JOYELLES
So, I've been making music for a long time, and my journey has been full of many twists, turns, and unexpected happenings. One of the best gifts I gave myself this year for my birthday was a session with my pal Nyree, who specializes in helping everyone from business owners to creatives tune into our thoughts and come out with a plan.
I could go on forever about how useful and amazing it was to deal with a coach in this industry who was already a friend of mine and had earned my trust... I could also go on about how refreshing it was to pay a reasonable rate to a friend to get outside perspective, and how rare it seems to be to find *honest people* who work to coach creatives... but anyways...
The biggest thing that came out of my session with Nyree was that working with a team is very, very important to me. I didn't realize how much I love team energy, and I didn't realize the place it had in my heart... The most-repeated lie about creative success is that it happens alone.
I've been rejected in every possible way I can think of from all kinds of creative projects. Fired, replaced, brushed off, ignored, ghosted, or just the standard deal where the people you're working with make you feel so shitty about yourself that you quit. It's all happened. For so long, I've been hacking at a vision, and not realizing where I fit in when it comes to the music industry, or I mean the "indie music scene"... which frankly, bores the living shit out of me these days. (Along with facing all the usual sexist dismissal, devaluing, and harassment that's directed at any woman working in the arts...) I'm done trying to fit into scenes that only value sounds and looks from a narrow experience. I don't want to fit in anywhere except with all the freaks, the queers, the drama queens, the regular queens, and of course, the show queens. ;)
After a project I loved fell apart because of poor leadership, I spent a lot of time (a LOT) thinking about what makes a project work, specifically, what kind of leadership a creative team needs in order to keep everybody happy, creating, and enjoying life & art together. I'm not sure my leadership skills are better than anyone else's, but I'm working over here to create a place where my team and I are feeling the joy.
Meet The Joyelles, my new band... named solely for the joy that comes from making music with your friends. The Joyelles are composed of myself, Danny Cress on drums, Dave Fleminger on guitar, Symea Solomon and Maggie Taylor on vocals. I've been working hard on a new collection of original songs for 3 voices and more. It's a real joy to get together with my friends and make music, and that's the focus of this band. We are treating the project as more of a collective designed to provide joy, happiness, and fulfillment through the "voicing" of creative work.
I love playing and making original music for my voice, other voices, and instruments. I also love and believe so strongly in the songs that informed my childhood and my process, and I feel a responsibility to help keep these songs alive, and to share the joy they've brought me with others who may not know the songs. I also want to share the songs from the 50s and 60s that I love with younger people in a way that is respectful and fun, not patronizing. We will occasionally be doing cover shows, (starting with our first gig April 21 at the Lafayette Hotel) but mostly the focus will be on original music in a girl group style.
4) Glamorous Creatures: Cardboard Art Installation at the Lafayette Hotel
last piece of news in this post is that I'm doing my first art show in a very long time -- it will be at the Fabulous Lafayette Hotel April 18-22nd, and The Joyelles will be performing April 21st for our party. More details about the show coming soon.
I have a lot more to share also, like tour dates and new music, and new music videos, but today is filling up and I have to run, so more later.
xoxoxoxoxoxo