A Neighbor Swings By

Q: WHAT'S YOUR JOB?

I host a really fancy show called STORY JAM. It's got stories and a lot of music. 

Q: WHAT'S IT FOR?

It's for people who like stories and music! We're doing it tomorrow night, actually, and that's why I'm practicing.

Q: DO YOU LIKE IT?

Yup. It's a ton of fun.

Q: ARE YOU FAMOUS?

YES!

Q: CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?

NO!

Q: ARE YOU JUST TEASING ME?

Maybe!

Q: CAN I COME SEE YOUR SHOW?

Ummm....probably not. 

Q: CAN I COME WHEN I'M 8?

I doubt it. It's kind of adult-y. 

Q: IT SOUNDS BORING. 

Wait! Where ya going? Don't you want to hear the rest of the song?

Here's the Hopeful Part

Although I'm a gentile, the Jewish holidays–which came and went this past month–always mean so much to me. I love the occurrence of a new year each fall. I'm already sensing a year of change.

So...I'm on the paddle tennis court this past weekend (see February 2015's post about this super-fun, yet relatively bizarre sport), playing as a sub in a match. I don't really know the people I'm with, nor the level at which they play, so I'm a little wary, tentative, mentally frenzied. I'm trying not to make people upset with my tennis-style swings, yet I'm trying to please my newly acquainted partner and win her some points.

The ball comes toward me at a weird angle and I debate going for it, get stuck in my shoes when I finally do, and tumble down to the feeling of an exploding ankle. "Broken," I thought. "Definitely broken" (while gasping loudly).

It's been four days and I still don't have an official diagnosis, but I'm going with "sprain in two or more places." Possibly grade 2. Maybe 3.

If you read the last post before this, you'll know that I am taking a brief sabbatical from event music.

I am also on day #8 of a deep cleanse with a group of ladies who are checking up on each other (surprisingly, I have not surreptitiously gotten a hold of some Green & Black's organic milk chocolate as yet).

And...I've had a few physical challenges this past year.

But wait, there's more...I can't move much due to this grade 4 ankle sprain I've got here.

Here's the Hopeful Part

I've been writing songs again! I've set up the house to be a creative work-and-cook playground. It's a hot mess over here. I'm a hot mess. Dishes like mountains, and ice packs and Arnica. But, I feel alive! There are mandala coloring books and lentil beans galore. Vegan soups and cloud watching. Songs about Ken Kesey; songs about superstitious husbands. These are the 40-somethin'-going-on-seventeen days.

I've heard every Regina Spektor, every Rickie Lee, every Paul Simon, every fork over knife, ever Ted Talk concerning math and puppets...everything Ira Glass has ever said.

So, come. Come for some hot soup.

Thank you!

I've been a pretty dedicated event bandleader for almost six years now, and I have relished every minute of it! Thank you, Jeff Stitely, for pulling me into the fray, and thank you Chris Sarlas and Jeff for supporting me so intensely, providing charts, friendship, and endless advice while I developed my amazing band.

I've never wanted to not "job" or not lead a band, however I am going to be taking some wee time time off (six months) to focus on grad school, write original music, raise a wayard teenager, and develop STORY JAM.

I work with the BEST BEST BEST players in Chicago in my event band. They are incredible! Samotta, Doopy and I have our rhythms, our dance moves, our hearts and souls in sync, and we love each other so deeply. Our additional male singers–mostly Jerome, Emanuel and KC–are always brilliant and fun, and blend in with the core "team". 

With Chris Miskel or Kevin Brunson (drums) and Lamar Jones (bass) behind us, we are an unstoppable musical force. It took me awhile to lock the whole rhythm section into place, and I couldn't ask for more groove and energy from these master musicians!

Scott Tipping on guitar is a gentleman and a talent, and with his humor a great attitude, he's a wonderful guy to have on the bandstand. He and Josh Cooper (keys) possess a musical understanding and flexibility that is rare and lovely. Josh, who is an astoundingly professional musician (he learns the heck out of his material, and he shows up early and ready) is the latest recruit and he is a true gem.

John Bowes (sax) and I have worked together since 1996 and I love him like a brother. I also love his phenomenal playing, his great attitude and his sweet backup vox. 

Playing for someone's wedding is kind of a spiritual experience. If I'm lucky enough to witness the actual wedding of a client, I feel uplifted by a sense of magic in the room, which pervades the entire reception. Sometimes I sneak a peak at the ceremony from the back of the room–with the event planners, venue managers, staff–and I always enjoy the sanctity of it all. We all feel it. There is nothing like a wedding. It's been an honor to provide music for so many.

Clients past and future, thank you for giving us the chance to participate in the joy and beauty that is performing live music for your special events! It is a profound privilege to play for the wonderful couples, companies and organizations who have hired us these past six years. I look forward to many more years as a bandleader, re-starting in the summer of '16.

With love and admiration, Steph :)

P.S. I have re-vamped my websites - HIPCHICK, HIPCHICK FACEBOOK PAGE, SRB FACEBOOK PAGE, REVERBNATION - and my blogs (including this Musings and THE ARTFUL PARTY). Please check in with me from time to time and say hello or come see us at a STORY JAM! 

Paddle On

Winter is good and bad in Chicago. Well, it's more bad than good. Okay...it's not good!

I'm wondering what–besides hot chocolate and heated indoor structures–is good about this season? So I've come up with a nice, juicy list. To wit:

1. REFLECTION

What more do you need than 122 uninterrupted days of blistering frost to keep you inside and thinking about all the things you wish you had/were/did?

2. MEDIA CATCH UP

Deep freezes are a great time to tell yourself you ain't doing squat right now! Hit me up Downton Abbey! What you got, Long Island Medium? Oh, and now I can Google stalk everyone I've ever had a crush on and research organic rhubarb gardening (maybe this is my year!). Yay for free time!

3. DELUSION DEVELOPMENT 

Chicagoans in the winter are always throwing out lines like: "Winter weeds out the riff raff;" "This is what separates the masters from the rookies!;" "We midwesterners are sturdy and awesome!" Bullpuckey! 90% of us cold dolts want to live somewhere warm, but isn't it nice to be able to create a warm, cozy, space-heater-free nirvana in our heads, and in the meantime tell ourselves that we are all-powerful?

Hmmm...I guess that's the end of the list because I can't think of any more.

Oh, wait, how about --

4. WINTER SPORTS?

I've recently learned to play platform tennis (often referred to as "paddle"), which is tennis on a small, raised court with metal flooring and tall fences (called "screens"). I have actually met some fabulously fun, wonderful folks playing this sport, and I dare say that I enjoy it almost as much as my beloved tenny, which I've been playing since I was 9.

If you're interested in taking up this endeavor, here's a vid on cold-weather paddle by Peter Burka, who is a paddle (and tennis) stud in Chicago (and the nation):

Winter will be gone soon, and we'll all praise Mother Spring Goddess for bringing us fertile land to plow and cultivate (not to mention the ability to walk outside without spewing profanities). However, until then, paddle on (or whatever it is you do to survive this dastardly frigidity) Chicago!

Night Club vs. Country Club

Right now I am prepping for tonight's Story Jam gig. I haven't had a public performance in over two months, because of wedding season (which, for me, will have occurred this year mostly from May until October). 

It feels like I'm two different people: one person is putting together event music, organizing the band, planning the heck out of each event in a most thorough, detail-driven, almost-maddening (acc. to my hubby) fashion; the other is a rocker chick who can let things roll!

It's the nature of my two jobs. Playing pop rock in a night club is not playing pop rock in a country club. In the night club, my hair is purple, my jeans are skinny and I am chill. In the country club, I am buttoned up, sober, prepared and alert (until I start dancing wildly with the crowd).

Traversing these two worlds makes things pretty darn fun. I wouldn't love either one as much without the other, and I love them both equally. But tonight, after a few months of weddings and private parties, I am donning my relaxed self and playing originals at The Rock House in Wilmette with Tom McCarthy, Paul Merar and Kalyan Pathak. I guess I better get crackin' - can't let "chill" me turn into "lazy" me!

The Wedding Temptress

Hello Wedding Season. 

I think I'm ready. 

So ready! 

I love this planning phase. I can almost see each wedding before it happens as I make set lists and laminate my printed sheets of bridal party names (with phonetic spellings of course). I picture the guests in chic, bright colors; a stunning bride - with whom I have been meeting and planning all these months - and adorable, carefree children bouncing about the bandstand. I imagine them all becoming increasingly sweaty and silly as the evening progresses, because of music we select and play for them. I am visualizing each one. Imagining the rooms we'll be in, the families, the personalities, the goals we made materializing into this beautiful, perfect day...

I think there is a fine line between craving excellence and being OCD. Sometimes during this time of year, I wake up worrying over some detail for some wedding that is due to occur many weeks (or months) from now. I need to find the balance of caring a LOT, and perhaps caring too much. I enjoy all of this wayyyy more than I ever planned, much  more than necessary. But I can't quit her, that sultry wedding band temptress. 

Her siren song is a medley of 80s pop and current dance hits, and I am foundered by her call.

Party Bus

I haven't kept you up to date, but it's a sign that things are busy around here. I like busy. I am effective when busy, sunken when inert. Inert when immobile. It's a vicious cycle. 

Today I am the opposite of sunken, though. I'm downright animated!

But only because these past two days have been a BLAST. Yesterday I got to be on the radio with an Irishman, then later found myself holding court with said Irishman and two other pals around 1ayem at a bar in Bucktown. How many soccer moms can say that about an average Thursday night, eh? Luck o' the Welsh! 

(For the record, I am only something like 1/22 Welsh, but it still holds up, and sounds more fitting than "luck o' the Austrians!")

Two nights ago, this Welshwoman played at The Orrington Bar in Evanston, which sounds very hotel-like (and it is) but it was super fun; and being neither a wedding nor fundraiser, the hotel gig had a certain (very) laid-back charm. I tried to minimize the between-song babble - I mean "banter" - and got through three fun sets of mostly original material with some great players like Jennifer Lowe, Jim Hines, Scott Tipping, Geoff Lowe and Matt Nelson, all the while watching dear friends enjoy their hotel bar french fries, droopy-lettuced burgers and gun-spray sodas.
Then, to top off all of this goodness, I was an ol' pro on the radio yesterday, because I had been invited onto another station this past Sunday, and had exorcised all of the warbling and bumbling then (sorry Kathy Kelly and WNUR!). Look at me, all relatively radio ready!

When I get off this party bus and actually start to get back to work, I'll write in. Until then, let's enjoy the ride and see some sights!

Transitioning From Sweetness To Bossiness

I have been a business owner for almost three years, which is why I am now an expert on How To Go From Being A Relatively Affable Person Into Being A Big Mean Boss.

I find so much about my new life as a full-time bandleader (and still singer-songwriter) exhilarating-the networking, the musicians, the constant challenge of learning new material, the meetings, the organizing and planning.... But I will admit that I stiffen, solidify and panic when things go awry!

Okay maybe they don't go AWRY, and maybe I don't STIFFEN, but there are occasional surprises in terms of being a bossy-pants. Having taken, um, NONE classes in Personnel Management at theatre school (oh, why did I choose "The Movement and Physique of Opposable-Thumbed Primates" instead of "How To Run a Small Business?"), I am wont to refer to self-help advice gleaned from the internets. 

Lucky you, you get the benefit of my gleanings!

1. Developing Employee Bonding

Lots of businesses plan company trips and rewards events for top-tier employees, but musicians are inspired and aligned by such things as: CASH TIPS, LIVE BOOTLEG RECORDINGS of John Coltrane and NEARBY TAVERNS. Reward your people with what makes them most happy!

2. Firing People

"Fire Fast, hire slowly" so they say. When you let someone go in the corporate sector, you might say something like: "Your deliverables on our latest project did not meet company standards" or..."We're looking for new ways to meet our objectives." In music/jobbing lingo, this becomes: "I'm sorry dude, but you sucked on that Adele tune!"  

3. Motivating Your Employees

In the corporate realm, garnishing your office with "Wooden Praise," such as plaques and awards might work well, but in the world of event music, a mere thumbs up at the end of a solo has just the same effect. Musicians, who are utterly accustomed to seeing their amazing playing go mostly unnoticed, will be thrilled that you caught their modest, multi-modal moment of brilliance.

I admit, it is not always easy going from being a happily hired gun to being big-mama-boss-lady, but the rewards far outweigh the pangs of management and I get to have client meetings like the one I had yesterday, in which the awesomely cool couple told me they hired me because they loved my band and I was the only "genuine" bandleader they had met. It is so fabulous to have such nice clients, and the fellas (and gal) and I are excited beyond words (and supremely privileged) to make sure their weddings are UTTERLY AMAZEBALLS musically. When it comes to music, HEART OVER SMART! We may not have MBAs, but we are genuine baby!!!!

My Friend Alpha

This is my friend Alpha and his daughter Stephanie

I have a very good friend named Alpha Bangura whom I have never met in person. We connected on the internet 11 years ago when I was looking at information about various causes and people making a difference. Alpha lives in Sierra Leone, Africa. He helps children who have been orphaned by the terrible wars in his country through his school and his orphanage. I've worked on fundraisers and fund-raising for Alpha ever since then and find my relationship with him deeply rewarding. He is a truly lovely man. About two years ago, he and his wife had a baby boy who very sadly died because of poor health care. It broke Alpha's heart and I almost thought Alpha wouldn't survive. A year later they had a baby girl and Alpha emailed me to ask if he could name her after me.

My new cd

I wanted to find an organic, folky, pure sound for my third cd, Daisy Petal in the Dirt.  No fancy tricks! I had always admired a band in Chicago called Sons of The Neverwrong. I love their vibe, their music, their live show. And as I was once a rocker chick, the thought of recording it folk & roots like the Sons seemed pretty enthralling. You can’t get away with anything when you’re in the raw, a girl and a piano.

In July of 2009, I went to Sons’ producer/writer/guitarist/singer Bruce Roper’s studio pad on the north side and began laying down scratch piano and vocal tracks for 15 tunes. It took several months just to get those done because I was stealing hours during the day from my mom and jobbing band duties and I happened to be intensely loaded up, schedule-wise. But, it was worth the time because in all my mistakes and re-dos, we nailed down tempos and keys pretty well and had a decent enough basis for the rest of the musicians. I especially loved Bruce’s microphone, an Audio Technica AT-4050, and vocal set-up. The scratch vocals sounded so purdy.

Then we started bringing in some players and sent tracks to Stevie Blacke, a fantastic LA-based strings musician (who has played with some pretty famous people like Pink and Beck), two different drummers and a bass player.

While the Stevie stuff came back so gracefully, our Chicago sessions were sort of uninspired. Not because of the musicians but by the lack of vision and skill on the part of the “producer,” moi. I was hoping things would just come together, not realizing players generally appreciate more direction than “that sounds nice.” I expected the whole thing to unravel naturally, effortlessly. Although I loved the players we brought it, I knew something wasn’t adding up when it all came together. The recordings sounded soulless. My options were: 1. To finish what we had; 2. To trash the whole thing and start again;  3. To find a proper producer who could work with what we had and enhance what we needed or 4. To quit music entirely.

I spent about four or five months contemplating what to do while Bruce comped vocals and met me here and there. I was thinking: should I re-do what we have or should we mix it and hope for the best? I sent a few songs to various mixers and friends to see if they could rectify the situation or offer advice. Yet still, I wasn’t excited about the recordings. If I could find someone who wouldn’t charge a ton, I could send the material out of town and work the tracks from a distance (maybe I needed some distance at that point!).

I found an old college friend, Craig Havighurst, who referred me to Neilson Hubbard, a Nashville producer. Neilson spent about a month organizing the pieces after bringing in his guys to re-track rhythm. Believe it or not, he kept two things: my scratch piano parts and Stevie’s strings. Oh, and he also loved a lot of the quirky background vocals Sue Demel (of Sons of The Neverwrong) had done – she’s so cool.  I found out later, when I went down to Nashville to sing my leads, that Neilson didn’t receive any click tracks on the hard drive I sent him. So, for each song, he and his boys had to follow my scrappy piano parts and play to them! Awkward. So much for all that time Bruce and I spent on programming the click to all my weird tempo changes!

I went down to Nash (with bronchitis) on March 8^th, 2011 and spent two days singing with Neilson after he had spent some time re-tracking and recycling what I had sent in the instrumental tracks. He’s sweet and low-key, a Mississippi boy. He knew what he was doing, but you might not think so by his humility. No ego at all. We did six, seven or eight vocal takes of each song – 7 songs the first day and 4 the next day – in a smooth, easy-going, yet purposeful manner. He had chosen 11 of the 15 to work on. He did reject one of my old standbys, Something’s Missing, but it wasn’t too hard to let that one go after I’ve been playing it since 2003 or 2004. All the other songs he chose were written more recently. He rejected another one I loved, Sweet Color, but maybe that one will reappear later (it has multiple annoying tempo changes and it arrived with no click track like all the others).

Neilson brought the boys back in and they tracked three more songs: Hand of a Rebel, Marie and Walk To the Water (which I later 86’d). I sent Marie and Walk in there last minute just to give them something extra, but “Walk” wasn’t a fully developed song yet, so it made it to the trash pile. Again…maybe next record.

Neilson came to Chicago in April 2011 to play a show with one of his artists, Kim Richey. So, I booked a couple days at Transient Sound, a St. Ben’s-area studio owned by my friend Vijay Tellis-Nayak and his partner Steve Gillis. We recorded lead vocals for Hand of a Rebel, Marie and one other song that needed another look, Come Orion.  I also invited two brilliant Chicago pals - Liam Davis and Cheryl Wilson - to come in for some background harmonies. Since Dan Mitchell, the keyboard player he works with, was here with Neilson, he sang some and played some piano and organ as well. It was a very productive day and-a-half!

Neilson went back to Nashville and I got busy laying down background vocals for a couple songs, recording at home on my M-Box. Not exactly high-fi, but good enough for backgrounds, Neilson assured me. Then, we realized I needed to get down to Nashville for final mixes and some last-minute vocal changes, so I spent a day in late May in his studio and we finalized our mixes.

So, after starting a total of 18 songs in Chicago two years ago, we had now collectively whittled things down to 13 tracks, then ditched a piano-cello piece, Easter Day, in the 11th hour. My old friend from Northwestern, Thom Russo, offered to give me some re-mixes at this point, so Neilson sent him the files in June 2011. Thommy did so well with those, he ended up re-mixing the entire record. I can’t wait for you to hear it. It is so beautiful (in my opinion). I haven’t made a cd in almost nine years, and this one is my most proud. For sneak peaks, please go to soundcloud to hear some of the songs. 


CD release party for Daisy Petal In The Dirt will be at Mayne Stage in Chicago on September 15th, 8pm. Tickets are $15 for general seating. 

Nash

I'm probably no hot studio singer. The process of recording tends to stress me out. Directing the emotion of a big song into a small metal tube is a challenge to this live-lovin' performer. But, I'm making a record (yes, they're called records), so I gotta record. In a studio. This time, I opted to do it in Nashville.

So, seated next to an inebriated ex-Marine with gold teeth and billowy muscles, I amble down in a rickety ol' can of tin (thanks, American Eagle) and hightail it to Neilson. Neilson is a Mississippi fella, a touring musician, a no-kidding producer with a vibey studio in east Nashville.

Neilson Hubbard

We meet. We talk. Music, marriage, religion, politics. Then, I sing. And sing. And sing. I sang from ten in the morning until seven at night that first day. And I couldn't wait to do it again the next day.

Maybe now I kinda get the studio and maybe it kinda gets me. Maybe one awkward flight, a Marine, the Nashville hills, a bottle of throat spray and a smart southern dude just turned me into a singer.