My Blog
Everything came to a screeching halt. On Wednesday afternoon, I received the news that my son Emmett’s best friend had been in a horrific accident. As he was riding his bicycle to work, he collided with a van. He suffered massive brain injuries and underwent emergency surgery at Harborview, where he now floats in a coma in the intensive care unit. On this particular day, my wonderful city was already in the grips of sorrow and shock over the senseless shootings that took the lives…
It was around this time last year that I started work on my e-book about the business of vocal jazz. I wrote diligently throughout the summer and by fall, I’d completed the first draft. The plan was to do rewrites over the course of the winter, to tape the video segments for the book and to ultimately release the book in late winter/early spring of this year. But things didn’t exactly go that way. In the early part of November, one of my freelance clients…
Last weekend, I made the trek to my hometown of Ponca City, OK and played a concert in the theater where I used to go to movies as a kid. I don’t think I could have asked for a sweeter homecoming or a more enthusiastic welcome. My Ponca City brethren rolled out the carpet for me in grand style. They put my name up in lights, interviewed me on the radio and came out in droves for my performance. Even before I arrived, the…
It’s not every day that a woman gets to return to the small town where she grew up and perform a jazz concert in the same theater where she watched movies as a child. However, I have the privilege of doing exactly that. One week from tomorrow, I am hopping on a plane and flying to my hometown of Ponca City, OK to sing at the beautiful Poncan Theatre. The show takes place on May 11th. Ponca City is a small northern Oklahoma town that…
There was quite a flap last week over Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen’s remarks about Mitt Romney’s wife Ann. In case you missed it, here’s what she said: “What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying, ‘Well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues, and when I listen to my wife, that’s what I’m hearing.’ Guess what? His wife has never actually worked a day in her life. She’s never really dealt with the kinds…
The inspiration for this blog post came to me while I was driving home from my yoga class last night. I have no idea where it came from or why. It doesn’t matter. The message is this: GET OUT THERE AND KICK SOME ASS TODAY. Actually, get out there and kick some ass every day. This will mean different things for different people. For some of you, this will mean maintaining a shit-eating grin while your incompetent boss blathers on incoherently. For others, it…
A few months ago, I had a gig at one of my favorite clubs. Leading up to the gig, I did all the requisite promo; I blasted through social media, sent emails to my distribution list, posted on my website and made sure the date was listed on all the local music calendars. Despite my efforts, the turnout was abysmal. As any sensitive artist would do, I left the club that night feeling crestfallen. Although the band and…
The other day I was talking to a fellow musician who had recently experienced a disappointment on the career front. She was understandably upset and was deep in that very familiar pit of lamenting, second-guessing and self-doubt. She was questioning her worth as a musician and contemplating as to whether or not she should continue. I dangled my legs over the side of the pit and peered down. God, I’ve so been there. My friend continued her devastating query, moving on to skepticism…
I can’t think of anything that would be more annoying than showing up for work in the morning and finding a bunch of priests conducting a vigil on the sidewalk in front of my place of employment. Equally annoying (and ridiculous) would be the sizable crowd of women, men and children holding horrific signs that accuse my co-workers and me of murder. Even more irritating would be the stress and worry that such an ugly crowd would cause my customers. Welcome to Martha’s world. Martha…
Many people will be come home to a bouquet of roses tonight or will gaze across a candlelit dinner into the eyes of that special someone. For these lucky souls, Valentine’s Day is cause for celebration and an excuse, as if one is needed, to throw a little kindling on the romantic fire. For many others, however, Valentine’s Day is a kind of a dirge, a painful reminder of someone or something that is missing. Some of these individuals are deep in the ravages of…
