Here's me performing one of my favorite new songs from the upcoming Broadway production of Disney's "The Little Mermaid". I saw the preview in Denver twice and it is nothing short of amazing. Now in NYC previews, 'The Little Mermaid' opens on Broadway January 10th 2008 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and the original Broadway cast recording comes out February 26th 2008. Starring Denver's own Sierra Boggess as Ariel, Norm Lewis as King Triton, and Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula. Go see it! It is not to be missed!
In the show, this song is performed by the Mersisters and Flounder who are beginning to realize exactly why "Ariel's head seems to be in the clouds and not in the water where it belongs!"
There are a number of new songs in the show and they are all good (well, except for the 2 numbers performed by Scuttle and his Seagull friends...those need to go ASAP). I can't wait to see the show again and buy the cast album when it comes out in February!
So I haven't posted any music lately coz after my last post, I came down with the flu and my voice went to crap. I was so sick I didn't even have the energy to post old recordings! There will be more to come soon! In the meantime, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I resolve to get my sh*t together and FINISH MY ALBUM this year!
This song was written quite a few years ago and was the first song I ever recorded in an actual "studio" setting. Is was an interesting experience for me. I took the song to my friend Jeff and he worked it into the finished form you hear here. We started by having me play a simple piano version of it into the computer. After that, it was all Jeff. He played the guitar over the song, programmed the drums, played the bass and added all the synth. It sounded so good, I didn't object to the removal of my piano line. If anything, I thought the piano part didn't fit into the song at all. This song was recorded in the summer of 2002 in Jeff's studio. I would love to get with Jeff to finish my album, but since this was recorded he has moved to Portland, Oregon. That would mean a trip to Oregon for me to finish it and it's just not something I am financially able to do at the moment. I'd love to redo the vocals on this track before it is officially released.
The song is actually about a friend of mine who had a crush on this other girl. That other girl had absolutely no idea. I thought about how she would feel if she ever found out. The song is written from her point of view.
The girl did eventually find out and they became a happy couple for a short time. However, they turned out not to be compatible and sadly are no longer together.
A friend of mine asked me in an eMail what this song was about. The posting below is the long-winded reply I gave him.
'Unaware' is a deeply personal song to me. I used to tear up when I performed it, I had a hard time recording it too. It's okay now. The song is actually about my friend Todd (no kidding). He was diagnosed with HIV in the late 80s (supposedly he was one of the first people diagnosed). He was a facilitator in a youth group I used to go to where GLBTQ kids could discuss their lives and do activities together. Part of that 3 hour meeting was an hour long segment we called "Small Group" where we all separated into (you guessed it) smaller groups, usually of three to five people plus one of the adult facilitators. We would use the time to discuss our personal lives, families, and other issues. It was like a check-in session, really.
One night in small group, I was in Todd's group. It was a very small group, 2 youths and one facilitator. So the two kids decided to ask Todd what was going on in his life. Since there was a strong group culture claiming that anything that is said or heard in small group stays in small group (it's almost like Vegas), he told us his story. I'm repeating it here because I don't think he would mind.
Todd opened up to us. We already knew he had progressed into AIDS a few years previous. He went on to say that when he was diagnosed, a lot of his friends were also diagnosed at the same time. He was always curious as to why he was still alive a whole decade after the last of his friends had succombed to the disease. It was something he had a hard time dealing with.
While we were attending the youth group, outside contact with any of the facilitators was strictly forbidden. Once I had "aged out" (turned 21) I made it a point to keep Todd in my life. He told me once that his friends and family had promised to always be with him until the very end. However, as he got more and more ill, we both watched his friends and family grow distant. It broke my heart that this was happening to him. I tried to be there as much as I could.
I thought a lot about Todd's situation. He slowly grew more and more ill. One day while I was bored at work, I wrote the lyrics to 'Unaware'. A few weeks later I sat down at the piano and that song just came out of nowhere.
Todd passed away shortly thereafter. He never got to hear the song.
I was asked to perform at Denver Pride that year. I hadn't planned on singing 'Unaware' as the song wasn't quite finished. However, I came up short on time and they asked me to keep going. So out of the blue and mostly from memory, I performed a very shaky version of 'Unaware'. It was incredibly unpolished and I wasn't very happy with it. However, when I was done with it, there was complete silence from the audience. Then, the crowd went crazy. The emcees were all crying, the audience was crying, and I was getting pretty close.
The next year at Pride, I performed the version you hear here, as polished as I could make it with the means I had. I know Todd has heard it, wherever he is. I hope he likes it. I figure the crowds always love it, I'm sure Todd does too.
This song was originally recorded by Platinum Wierd and recently made popular by Celine Dion.
I got a karaoke track of the album version and hopefully I'll be re-recording the song to that backing track. It sounds much better than my piano playing.
I have been unemployed for almost a month now. It is stressing me out to no end. I've applied for jobs at I don't know how many places and now I am really just playing the waiting game. I filed for unemployment benefits as soon as I was let go from my job and I am finally receiving my benefits this week. However, it's not going to be anywhere near as much as I was making at work. But every little bit helps.
Meanwhile, I received a call last week from a staffing/temp agency who were happy to take me on. They should be placing me [hopefully] today or tomorrow. I won't have to deal with the unemployment filing anymore (good, coz it's a real pain).
Since being unemployed, I have begun to find lots and lots of spare time. I find that to be one of the upsides: I now actually have the time to focus on my music. Granted, I haven't been so good at working on my own songs. I've had a bit of a brain fart in that department lately. So to pass the time I've been recording my own versions of other people's songs. If I like them, they get posted on YouTube as soon as I consider them done. One of the earliest songs I did was Defying Gravity from the Broadway musical 'Wicked', which is actually one of my favorite songs. Ever. Click the player below to listen!
This song has become my mantra and I have taken the lyrics to heart several times in my life. I love this song because it says that I can do anything I want to do to reach my dreams and no one can bring me down if I don't let them.
Hopefully, I'll let my music career happen. I don't know how, but I'm going to keep trying.
I'll be posting lots of my recordings here so keep checking back to hear more.
I am a musician in Denver. I would love to make my music career take off, but it is such a hard career field to get into that I don't see anything happening for me at this rate. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying though.
