Lady Blue, sing your song across the mountains
With the angels all around you on the climb
Lady Blue, spill your life in flowing fountains
Spin that water into springs of midnight wine
Only truth can set you free
Only love can see you through
Only you can do the magic you were always born to do
Cause heaven's heart belongs to you, Lady Blue
(from "Lady Blue" )
and this new little tribute lyric
And it's time to go up yonder
Before this fire inside turns cold
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
As we ride down this sweet sorrow road
(from "Sweet Sorrow Road" )
Seems like only yesterday when in 2005, a newly-married pair of wacky musicians decided to embark on what would eventually become one of the great musical adventures of their journey. Brandon had this little "private-eye" riff, and I added the slightly esoteric, but ever-so-sincere lyric, based on Brandon's frequent encouragements to my in-need-of-healing heart. Kind of an unlikely ditty for the bar crowds, but as I've certainly discovered at places like our own wonderful Blues On Grand, the scene at times isn't that different from a church...a church of the ragamuffins if you will. Sprinkle a little poetically meaningful "fairydust" between some Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin and good old Leadbelly, and it gets surprisingly positive reception.
Lady Blue, do your dance in dark pavilions
Underneath the broken world above your head (that referred to our basement bedroom)
Lady Blue, send the message to the millions
That they can make the choice to be alive or dead...
That's one of the best things the Lady Blue journey has meant to me, letting the music and the musicians beside me, overtake me and make me come alive, in hopes of this "aliveness" spilling onto those listening and watching. Now we will do our best to carry that same spirit into our future musical endeavors, with a fond reverence for "the good old days".
What makes you come alive, lights you up inside like a Christmas tree and makes your soul cry out in rapturous delight (geez, the fairydust is a little thick today--sorry!)? Whatever that is, that is what your life should be filled with, surrounded with, consumed with, in order for that "aliveness" to burst forth to the maximum. Life is short, and we all have way too many "good" and even "better" things that are subtle gates blocking out the "best".
Bye-bye, sayonara, see you later, and once again above all...THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for the support you given this band and these songs. Take care, try not to forget us, and hope to see you all again soon. We'll keep blogging here for a while to give updates on everyone's musical future and progress.
peace, tina
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
LIVE at the fork of sweet sorrow road--Farewell for now!
Parting is such sweet sorrow...at this fork in the road...so how do we cope with this? Head to B.O.G. and go out with a bluesified bang!
One of my all-time favorite movies is "A Star Is Born" with Judy Garland (I do like the Janet and Babs versions also). There's a scene where they talk about knowing when it's time to bring an end to the little dream so you can go on to the big one. Sweet friends and fans of Lady Blue, I hereby declare that now is that time.
It's bittersweet indeed to close the curtain on something that has been so rewarding and brought such satisfying moments. But it is nice to be going out on a high that has included headlining The Des Moines Arts, The Des Moines Wine, and most recently, The Wells Fargo Food Festivals. Since the Lady Blue journey began shortly after Brandon and I got married in January of 2005, we've been so blessed to share many wonderful stages playing many wonderful songs with gentlemen who have meant so much to us. Ben Williams, Randy Raemakers, and Kevin McGinnis, (as well as Todd Stevens and Derrick Ogden--our two bass playing alumni) Brandon and I want to thank you from the bottom of our souls for sharing your heads, hearts, and hands with us, and for sacrificially infusing your spirits into our lyrics and melodies. Please, lovely fans, continue to follow these special guys in their musical exploits in the bands Truth Be Told (Ben and Randy) and Mid-Life Crisis (Kevin). See links section on the sidebar to keep tabs on them.
As for Brandon and I, we are busy at work laying the foundation for new musical dreams involving both our performance life and our business--Kaleidoscope CreatiVEntures (see more about this at www.wearekaleidoscope.blogspot.com). We've become involved with a new management and investor team behind the scenes, and rest assured, lots of new music is on the way from us, both our own, and our production of other artists.
As some of you know, the last few months have been a rather long painful haul, from closing our recording studio location in Urbandale, to moving into our beautiful new home in the Highland/Oak Park area (enormously blessing but also enormously stressing), and undoubtedly most painful of all, my unexpected detour caused by a highest-level severity foot sprain which set me back flat on my bed for days of excruciating pain that I thought would never end, and that Vicodin didn't even help at all! Between all of these things, my score on the stress index skyrocketed into the danger zone. (By the way, while onstage at the Wells Food Festival this past weekend, I triumphantly returned to my leaping, hopping self, so there's finally some light at the end of this tunnel.)
Anyway, Brandon and I thank all of you for all you have invested in our music and in us personally. We would like to invite as many of you as possible to be sure and attend THE GRAND FINALE of our charmed and charming group of musicians, an evening I've entitled..
"LIVE at the Fork of Sweet Sorrow Road"
Lady Blue at Blues On Grand
Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC)--October CONCERT CORPS featured event
Friday, October 24
9:30 pm
(Special reception at 8 pm--VIP mailing list friends cordially invited!)
$5.00
15th and Grand downtown
I say with conviction, this is one unforgettable evening you will not want to miss, a fabulous fun-loving fond farewell, with both laughter and tears. I'm laughing and tearing up even as I type this. (Also see www.desmoinesmc.com and www.bluesongrand.com for more info about this event.)
PS--The next night at B.O.Grand, Saturday, October 25, one of our favorite artists, Bruce Katz, is coming to perform. Check out Brandon's fascinating interview with Bruce at Brandon's blog (www.midnightwine.blogspot.com) and at the Des Moines Music Coalition site listed above. Let's continue the weekend celebration at the Blues on Grand on Saturday as well as Friday--trust us, he's awesome and inspiring, we're talking world class blues/jazz organ artistry with his amazing band!
One of my all-time favorite movies is "A Star Is Born" with Judy Garland (I do like the Janet and Babs versions also). There's a scene where they talk about knowing when it's time to bring an end to the little dream so you can go on to the big one. Sweet friends and fans of Lady Blue, I hereby declare that now is that time.
It's bittersweet indeed to close the curtain on something that has been so rewarding and brought such satisfying moments. But it is nice to be going out on a high that has included headlining The Des Moines Arts, The Des Moines Wine, and most recently, The Wells Fargo Food Festivals. Since the Lady Blue journey began shortly after Brandon and I got married in January of 2005, we've been so blessed to share many wonderful stages playing many wonderful songs with gentlemen who have meant so much to us. Ben Williams, Randy Raemakers, and Kevin McGinnis, (as well as Todd Stevens and Derrick Ogden--our two bass playing alumni) Brandon and I want to thank you from the bottom of our souls for sharing your heads, hearts, and hands with us, and for sacrificially infusing your spirits into our lyrics and melodies. Please, lovely fans, continue to follow these special guys in their musical exploits in the bands Truth Be Told (Ben and Randy) and Mid-Life Crisis (Kevin). See links section on the sidebar to keep tabs on them.
As for Brandon and I, we are busy at work laying the foundation for new musical dreams involving both our performance life and our business--Kaleidoscope CreatiVEntures (see more about this at www.wearekaleidoscope.blogspot.com). We've become involved with a new management and investor team behind the scenes, and rest assured, lots of new music is on the way from us, both our own, and our production of other artists.
As some of you know, the last few months have been a rather long painful haul, from closing our recording studio location in Urbandale, to moving into our beautiful new home in the Highland/Oak Park area (enormously blessing but also enormously stressing), and undoubtedly most painful of all, my unexpected detour caused by a highest-level severity foot sprain which set me back flat on my bed for days of excruciating pain that I thought would never end, and that Vicodin didn't even help at all! Between all of these things, my score on the stress index skyrocketed into the danger zone. (By the way, while onstage at the Wells Food Festival this past weekend, I triumphantly returned to my leaping, hopping self, so there's finally some light at the end of this tunnel.)
Anyway, Brandon and I thank all of you for all you have invested in our music and in us personally. We would like to invite as many of you as possible to be sure and attend THE GRAND FINALE of our charmed and charming group of musicians, an evening I've entitled..
"LIVE at the Fork of Sweet Sorrow Road"
Lady Blue at Blues On Grand
Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC)--October CONCERT CORPS featured event
Friday, October 24
9:30 pm
(Special reception at 8 pm--VIP mailing list friends cordially invited!)
$5.00
15th and Grand downtown
I say with conviction, this is one unforgettable evening you will not want to miss, a fabulous fun-loving fond farewell, with both laughter and tears. I'm laughing and tearing up even as I type this. (Also see www.desmoinesmc.com and www.bluesongrand.com for more info about this event.)
PS--The next night at B.O.Grand, Saturday, October 25, one of our favorite artists, Bruce Katz, is coming to perform. Check out Brandon's fascinating interview with Bruce at Brandon's blog (www.midnightwine.blogspot.com) and at the Des Moines Music Coalition site listed above. Let's continue the weekend celebration at the Blues on Grand on Saturday as well as Friday--trust us, he's awesome and inspiring, we're talking world class blues/jazz organ artistry with his amazing band!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A family affair at Byron's/TBT Scented Vinyl
1. Last Saturday night, our much anticipated evening at Byron's in Pomeroy had finally arrived. It was a pleasure indeed to put both Lady Blue and Truth Be Told on display, and for us all to be together getting paid to party! Byron and his namesake club both impacted us with a great music-loving all good things of the hippie world vibe. Complete with a plethora of tie-dye and Jerry souvenirs, it was like a little oasis in the northern Iowa musical sands. That night was actually the anniversary of Jerry's death, so Truth Be Told was the perfect band for the moment and they put their very best feet forward. Thanks, Byron and all the Byronites for a memorable evening which we hope will be the first of many!
2. Recently, Ben represented Truth Be Told on Scented Vinyl, the weekly Monday concert series at Mars Cafe, and you may check our his solo stint here.
Stay tuned for some major Lady Blue announcements in the very near future!
2. Recently, Ben represented Truth Be Told on Scented Vinyl, the weekly Monday concert series at Mars Cafe, and you may check our his solo stint here.
Stay tuned for some major Lady Blue announcements in the very near future!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The zoo and the tree farm
The other night, we were an auction prize for a worthwhile cause, the work of the Casa Hogar Orphanage in South America supported by the fine folks of St. Anthony's Parish in southside Des Moines. So an altered Lady Blue (Tina, Brandon, Tina's bum left foot, Kevin, and Kevin's talented son Spencer who is formerly of my old band The Groove Merchants) went out to the party at Ed Augustine's home and tree farm. It was one of those epic evenings; but wait, let's talk about the first epic evening at the zoo...
A few weeks ago, we did the initial charity event for this cause at Blank Park Zoo. It was full of zesty people, pasta, passion, and prizes! The folks involved with this are Catholics from the southside, and they carried forth the best traits of their stereotype--food, faith, friends, and frolicking. (And the alliteration award goes to...only me, and maybe Lorelei Gilmore.) Anyway, an evening like this gets progressively wilder as the libation flows more freely, and one of its many highlights was the sight of two of the party organizers gettin' jiggy with us onstage on conga and cowbell. A night this doesn't come along every day, until...
The tree farm funfest, great weather, great people, great home and grounds for entertaining. I was still limping with the foot sprain, so I did most of the gig seated. However, for one brief moment of excitement I couldn't help but get up and lead the "love train" around what I named "the Lido deck" by the backyard swimming pool. And since Ben and his handy-dandy percussion bag containing cowbell and other goodies weren't along for this ride, we figured we would sadly be cowbell-less. Boy, were we ever wrong. Mr. Cowbell came with his very own personal cowbell, and a T-shirt that said "I got the fever, and the cure is MORE COWBELL!" Use your imagination--it was speechlessly awesome!
But then at the end, the group requested a "holy moment" in honor of two of their friends who had passed away in the last month. So I sang "Amazing Grace" acappella as they all reverently remembered their loved ones gone by, followed a few songs later by "House of the Rising Grace"--Amazing Grace to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. Another fun and meaningful evening all for a great cause. It just doesn't get much better than nights like this!
A few weeks ago, we did the initial charity event for this cause at Blank Park Zoo. It was full of zesty people, pasta, passion, and prizes! The folks involved with this are Catholics from the southside, and they carried forth the best traits of their stereotype--food, faith, friends, and frolicking. (And the alliteration award goes to...only me, and maybe Lorelei Gilmore.) Anyway, an evening like this gets progressively wilder as the libation flows more freely, and one of its many highlights was the sight of two of the party organizers gettin' jiggy with us onstage on conga and cowbell. A night this doesn't come along every day, until...
The tree farm funfest, great weather, great people, great home and grounds for entertaining. I was still limping with the foot sprain, so I did most of the gig seated. However, for one brief moment of excitement I couldn't help but get up and lead the "love train" around what I named "the Lido deck" by the backyard swimming pool. And since Ben and his handy-dandy percussion bag containing cowbell and other goodies weren't along for this ride, we figured we would sadly be cowbell-less. Boy, were we ever wrong. Mr. Cowbell came with his very own personal cowbell, and a T-shirt that said "I got the fever, and the cure is MORE COWBELL!" Use your imagination--it was speechlessly awesome!
But then at the end, the group requested a "holy moment" in honor of two of their friends who had passed away in the last month. So I sang "Amazing Grace" acappella as they all reverently remembered their loved ones gone by, followed a few songs later by "House of the Rising Grace"--Amazing Grace to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. Another fun and meaningful evening all for a great cause. It just doesn't get much better than nights like this!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Jazz without and with Lady Blue
It was a sunny, sticky, hot time in the old town on the night of my recent Jazz In July performance on 7-15-08, themed "My Personal Giants of Jazz: Fats, Billie, Ella, and Irene", a retrospective marking 2008 as the 25th year of my singing career in our city. It was an outing that officially included "other" musicians than Lady Blue (David Larson on keys, Pat Noonan on drums, and the one and only Scot Sutherland on bass). But the Lady Blue spirit still surrounded me, starting with Ben's sons, JB and Jeremy setting up the P/A system--a great help from two awesome young guys who could have easily been in air-conditioning playing Guitar Hero. And on the day before the gig, the sad news came that Pat Noonan had a death in the family, so who stepped up to save the day? Why, our very own Randy Maker's Mark Ramaekers, who definitely made his mark with an A-game drum performance. And who rescheduled his other band's rehearsal so he could come and be with his Lady Blue posse to sit in on one jazzy tune? Why, our very own Kevin "sent from heaven" McGinnis, always a welcome bass presence on any song.
To top it all off, Alpha and Omega narrations were composed and read by Brandon, which were quite simply among the most magic moments of my existence, being honored in such a way by my very own husband, so affectionately and publicly.
Thanks to all who attended this special night, and to torment you further, here's some of what you missed if you were gone:
Fats Waller songs--Ain't Misbehavin, Honeysuckle Rose, Black and Blue
Billie Holiday songs-- God Bless The Child, We'll Be Together Again, I Love My Man (Billie's Blues)
Ella Fitzgerald songs--I Got Rhythm, It Don't Mean A Thing, Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (which featured a special "birthday boy" cameo by my old pal Dean Schmitz, doing an outstanding job on the drums), Lady Be Good
Irene Myles songs--In The Dark, Lady Irene, Foreign Land
Finale songs--The Apology (a beautiful jazz original by written by Brandon), Rain Like Jazz (original by me), and the amazing, emotional composition, Everything Must Change
Hope to see you on July 28 at Grace United Methodist Church for a night of acoustic duo jazz, with Brandon and me, where once again, we will summon the spirit of Lady Blue to surround us yet again for another special evening.
To top it all off, Alpha and Omega narrations were composed and read by Brandon, which were quite simply among the most magic moments of my existence, being honored in such a way by my very own husband, so affectionately and publicly.
Thanks to all who attended this special night, and to torment you further, here's some of what you missed if you were gone:
Fats Waller songs--Ain't Misbehavin, Honeysuckle Rose, Black and Blue
Billie Holiday songs-- God Bless The Child, We'll Be Together Again, I Love My Man (Billie's Blues)
Ella Fitzgerald songs--I Got Rhythm, It Don't Mean A Thing, Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (which featured a special "birthday boy" cameo by my old pal Dean Schmitz, doing an outstanding job on the drums), Lady Be Good
Irene Myles songs--In The Dark, Lady Irene, Foreign Land
Finale songs--The Apology (a beautiful jazz original by written by Brandon), Rain Like Jazz (original by me), and the amazing, emotional composition, Everything Must Change
Hope to see you on July 28 at Grace United Methodist Church for a night of acoustic duo jazz, with Brandon and me, where once again, we will summon the spirit of Lady Blue to surround us yet again for another special evening.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Wellmark, Winefest, Arts Festival
Have you ever been eagerly anticipating the chance to connect with your audience, only to discover that they are seemingly a football field's distance away from you? That's the story from our three recent above appearances. All 3 groups were adorable and well-intentioned. I could see on their faces that they wanted to "get this party started!" But due to the distance, as well as other factors, they stopped short of really letting themselves go.
It was indeed an honor to be featured at each of these high profile events, and even though the pep and interplay was decreased, the band still received high kudos from the groups after the fact. Only at the Arts Festival did we manage to reach across "the lawn" and get some booty-shakin' and shoutin' goin' on.
Actually these gigs did remind me of a weird oddity in performing which is, sometimes the quietest groups generate the most kudos, sometimes the loudest groups give little to no kudos (which isn't what it's all about anyway, but still feels good), sometimes the largest groups are touched the least, and sometimes (most of the time throughout my career) the littlest groups bear the greatest fruit and provoke the most impact. We'll just call this "the performance paradox."
It was indeed an honor to be featured at each of these high profile events, and even though the pep and interplay was decreased, the band still received high kudos from the groups after the fact. Only at the Arts Festival did we manage to reach across "the lawn" and get some booty-shakin' and shoutin' goin' on.
Actually these gigs did remind me of a weird oddity in performing which is, sometimes the quietest groups generate the most kudos, sometimes the loudest groups give little to no kudos (which isn't what it's all about anyway, but still feels good), sometimes the largest groups are touched the least, and sometimes (most of the time throughout my career) the littlest groups bear the greatest fruit and provoke the most impact. We'll just call this "the performance paradox."
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Scented Vinyl
4/5 of our merry band of bandits descended upon Mars Cafe for an evening of "Scented Vinyl", a cool weekly series celebrating local music and the preservation of the LP, every Monday night from 7 to 10 pm. (Randy, it was fun, but you were definitely missed, brother!)
First it was off to Jon Locker's studio, Sonic Factory, located straight behind the cafe across the alley, to do a couple of tunes acoustically. My reaction to our renditions was this: we better add this element to some live appearances because it was a pleasure to show "the softer side" of ourselves for a moment. Thanks to Jon (bassist for The Nadas) and assistant Skylar for their hospitality during our "light up the room and leave" recording moment.
Then back to Mars for the playing of our vinyl selections, and short interview. See HERE for more, including what got played, but what was just as interesting is what didn't get played from the pile we brought...
Amazing Grace from The Gospel According to Ike and Tina
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Kris Kristofferson--Jesus Was a Capricorn
Simon and Garfunkel
and various other eclectic choices!
Way cool indeed to celebrate a few of our many influences, and Daniel the host was just as kind and accommodating as he could be, as well as a true lover of music. We thank him for graciously including us, and we encourage our fans to become "Scented Vinyl" fans as well. Daniel is also a Capitol 106.3 personality, and invited us to come on his show there soon--we'll keep you posted. Remember...Viva La Vinyl! (Besides, if it's good enough for Judas Priest, it's good enough for us--see latest new releases in the music world for details.)
First it was off to Jon Locker's studio, Sonic Factory, located straight behind the cafe across the alley, to do a couple of tunes acoustically. My reaction to our renditions was this: we better add this element to some live appearances because it was a pleasure to show "the softer side" of ourselves for a moment. Thanks to Jon (bassist for The Nadas) and assistant Skylar for their hospitality during our "light up the room and leave" recording moment.
Then back to Mars for the playing of our vinyl selections, and short interview. See HERE for more, including what got played, but what was just as interesting is what didn't get played from the pile we brought...
Amazing Grace from The Gospel According to Ike and Tina
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Kris Kristofferson--Jesus Was a Capricorn
Simon and Garfunkel
and various other eclectic choices!
Way cool indeed to celebrate a few of our many influences, and Daniel the host was just as kind and accommodating as he could be, as well as a true lover of music. We thank him for graciously including us, and we encourage our fans to become "Scented Vinyl" fans as well. Daniel is also a Capitol 106.3 personality, and invited us to come on his show there soon--we'll keep you posted. Remember...Viva La Vinyl! (Besides, if it's good enough for Judas Priest, it's good enough for us--see latest new releases in the music world for details.)
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