I'm reeling from a terrific rehearsal with The Shivers for our upcoming Nina Simone Tribute and I am so very excited. I don't mean to be all "New Age" about it but It was an almost spiritual experience. Singing those songs after all the preparation, reading and researching I've done has put me in a place I haven't been in ... well... I can't remember being this excited. To sing, to just sing ... y'all gotta come experience this with me ... the journey continues ... and I have a feeling that …
Nina Simone & Janice Joplin Lit A Fire Under My Ass.
I have two great gigs coming up in January! I will be singing the music of two of my favorite female singers. You guessed it: Nina Simone and Janis Joplin. The Nina Simone tribute is part of a wine pairing event on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at The City Winery 1200 E. Randolph Street and and the Janis Joplin tribute is with Chicago Vocalist Alma Mendoza at Davenport's Piano Bar & Cabaret on Friday, January 25, 2013. Both of these women artists hold a special place in my heart because of …
Terisa Griffin sings on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Last night one of my peers performed on national television on NBC's The Voice. I watched the video several times and I was so moved by her bravery that I had to write about it. …
Live Through This
David Brooks, my bass player, band mate and dear friend of 15 years was stabbed to death by his son on Sunday night. There. I said it. It's been a solid 24 hours since I got the news and I still look at the words in utter disbelief as if they were part of someone else's life - someone else's terrible tabloid headline. I woke up this morning grabbed my pillow tightly and sincerely hoped that it was all just a bad dream. I have vivid dreams and often wake still shaken from the experience. I …
The Joy of Writing in Cafes
is definitely the people watching. I sit here as people, sometimes alone, often in groups enter the cafe either confidently like regulars or tentatively as though they are waiting for an armed booby trap to spring. …