Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen

Thanks to Lyle Caine for sending this my way. It resonated greatly with me…and hopefully will with you too. Amazing. If you don’t have time to sit through the whole piece, fast forward to about 28 mins or so….her finale performance is magic. http://www.evelyn.co.uk/homepage.htm

I am a blogging neophyte! I’m doing this because you asked for it…so please let me know what you’d like to know and I’ll give it to you! Also, f you have constructive (kind) ideas, please speak up about that too. I’m flying blind over here and don’t see a net in sight. HELP!

You may or may not know that I teach singing. I’m going to write a bit about it here in the new blog and I welcome questions.

I had the opportunity to work with the actor Mark Webber for the upcoming film Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe. All the music was written by Beck and Brian Lebarton, using Beck’s voice (big shoes to fill) and may I add, Mark had never sang a note in his life! I’ve taught members of Beck’s band, so that is how the connection was made. Mark came in one day for an assessment, after which, I called the producers to give them the news that Mark really wasn’t in the greatest shape vocally, it could be done, but it could take weeks, months, maybe years to get him to sing. Mark was committed, they were committed so we rolled up our sleeves and went to work. We only had 2 – 3 hour lessons daily for 3 weeks before they intended to throw him into a studio in Toronto with Nigel Godrich (yes you heard me correctly)! OMG anybody?

Well….he is quite possibly one of the most amazingly talented individuals I’ve ever met. He did it. He turned his voice around in that time and they ended up replacing all Beck’s vocals with his. I’m so proud of him. Go and see the film when it comes out!

He also has a film out…he wrote and directed it and it’s called Explicit Ills. You can find out more about it here….http://www.explicitillsthemovie.com/ Support him! He’s one of the good ones!

My favourite vintage clothing store in LA is The Way We Wore. I will talk about things of this nature from time to time. Got a question or a vintage fashion emergency? Hit me up! I love this stuff.

The Way We Wore had me speak for them on a TV segment, that will air in the not too distant future. I’ll let you know once I know the details, (only if I like the edit job!) Here’s a pic from the shoot…they allowed me to wear their clothes and I love love love this dress!
(Raymond Morales did my make up…bless him!)

Dressed at The Way We Wore for On-AIr Style Sement

I enjoy LA. I’ll be writing about that here. For now let me say my favourite venue for music in LA is Largo at The Coronet. They do it right. Oh yes!

I really enjoy eating. (no comments on that please)! From time to time I may share a recipe or a fav spot to eat. Stay tuned.

At the moment I’m addicted to Umami Burger on La Brea. OH MY GOD. It is truly the best burger that has ever touched my lips. Thanks to David Haugland for taking me there! Now, don’t tell anyone. http://www.umamiburger.com/

I went with my kiwi mate and new collaborator Florence Hartigan to hear one of my idols, Neil Finn at Largo last week. He is without a doubt one of the greatest. Always a humbling experience. He writes masterful songs with drop dead melodies. His voice is always spot on. He can play guitar within an inch of his life. He’s my Paul McCartney. If you are not familiar…check out Split Enz, Crowded House, The Finn Brothers and his solo work – Neil Finn.

My older brothers used to listen to Split Enz, so I grew up with that. My girlfriends and I were Crowded House groupies in School. I caught one of Neil’s guitar picks at a Sydney Uni Show. After my pal Allie I kept yelling at him, he finally knelt down and asked us what we wanted to hear….he then obliged and played Sister Madly for us. He singled out my other friend Alison N at The State Theatre….”this is for the girl up the back in the red shirt!”…we still laugh about that.

So yes, as you can see, I have nostalgic attachments, but I can honestly say, now as an adult, a singer/songwriter and a musician, he’s as good as it gets. Thanks Neil for being you. Neil with my friends Wendy & Lisa and also Sebastian on bass If you need more…spend some time on youtube, he’s all over.

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