Silly Little Love Song Mix for Conspiracy of Venus (and a show!)

A mix of cheese-tastic love songs

I've been keeping myself super busy lately with three different ensembles. One of them is the 40 women community chorus Conspiracy of Venus. I sung with them a few years ago and rejoined earlier this year. Tomorrow night is the last show of the season and will be my first show singing with them (I'm still learning the music).

We are currently look for new songs to sing for next year and Joyce, our conductor/arranger really wants to perform some straight up love songs since we basically don't have any! So I made a mix of some of my favorite cheese-tastic, silly, love songs.

If you'd like to check out the Conspiracy of Venus show tomorrow night at the Rickshaw Stop, details are below the playlist.

MONDAY MAY 30TH - Memorial Day
SeaweedSway & the Songbird Festival Present:
Dustin O'Halloran w/ the Magik*Magik String Quartet
+ Conspiracy of Venus
at the Rickshaw Stop!
8pm doors / 9pm show. 155 Fell St, SF, CA 94102

We go on first at 9pm.

Tickets: $15

If you're not familiar with the choir, we are an all-women community choir singing songs by tom waits, leonard cohen, joni mitchell, bill withers, bjork, & the pixies, to name a few...

See the SF weekly writeup for this piece about the show.

Am I a Gleek? Maybe. Did I have fun? YES.

Terrible photo, great seats.

Drove over to Sacramento last night to catch the 'Glee Live' tour. It was great fun.

(sorry Abby, I know you hate that word...)
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There is no doubt in my mind that Glee is a well oiled, hit-making machine with the main force being its incredible triple-threat cast of performers. Being a fan of the show, it was treat to watch these folks in their element, performing for thousands of screaming fans at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento Monday night.

Disclaimer: There will be mild spoilers if you are intending on seeing the show. Also, I will be referring to performers by the character's names, just because I can.

ARCO was, not surprisingly, full of mostly young women and their parents. I saw moms in Sue Sylvester tracksuits and teenagers in t-shirts with black lettering shamelessly advertising the wearer’s most embarrassing characteristic. Some were official merch and/or from the recent episode (“Likes Boys”, “I’m with Stoopid” (pointing up as well as down), “Trouty Mouth” and my fav “Lebanese”) and some were homemade (“Freckles”).

READ MORE OF MY REVIEW (it gets a little sappy, sorry)

Happy Birthday Bobby! A playlist of Dylan covers

Happy 70th Birthday Mr. Zimmerman!

I've always been in awe of your songwriting, however, not so much your singing. So here's a very short playlist selection of folks singing your songs (so that you don't have to), and I mean that with all due respect.

BIG NEWS! And a celebratory ticket giveaway to the Fillmore to see The Fray

Always More to Hear is officially a business! My aunt and I went down to City Hall this morning and I filled out the paperwork, which was surprisingly painless. AND, I've been given some some tickets for the Jim Beam Live Music Series to giveaway for the Fray at the Fillmore next Friday May 27th as a celebration!

(These two events are completely unrelated, it's just good timing.)



Making Always More to Hear into a music consultancy business just makes sense considering that all of the work that I'm doing right now is contractual. I'm getting the opportunity to keep my fingers and toes in several pots at the same time, which I really like. So we'll see where it all goes!

(My goal: I'll know I've made it when someone hires me to do the Music Direction for a film. Not kidding, coolest job EVER!)

Anyway, about this giveaway:
If you'd like a pair of tickets to see the Fray at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Friday May 27th, email me at alwaysmoretohear[at]gmail.com. They've given me six tickets to give away! You must be 21+ to win.

If you're interested, check out this link to the Live Music Series, whether or not you can attend the show or not. There's an interview with the Fray, ways to download tracks from any of the Jim Beam shows, and some other tidbits.

Other artists in the series and playing all over the country are Kid Rock, Bob Schneider, Cold War Kids, Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Fray, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, The Hold Steady, Manchester Orchestra, O.A.R. and Richard Ashcroft.

Woohoo!

I crush hard on music: Adele and Brass Menažeri

Okay, sometimes I more than crush. We'll have a short love affair and I get that chill up my spine. I feel a certain joy. I have to listen over and over a again. Turn it up in the car or just watch the musicians in awe. I go to bed and wake up with the tune in my head.

Right now I'm totally obsessed with Adele's pop tune from the album 21 called "Set Fire to the Rain". (The 5th track for those of you who don't do song titles.) I mean, the whole album is so good (well most of it) but I just can't get enough of this one.

It's the perfect pop tune. Not annoying but chalk full of gut wrenching emotion. A catchy lick. A string arrangement. A wall of sound. Adele hits those notes perfectly. It's an 80s pop ballad cleverly disguised as one from 2011. But it feels real.



The other night I went to the Make Out Room to see the premiere of Chasing the Moon's Brass Menažeri podcast. Co-creator and producer Scott McDowell introduced the podcast by explaining that he has a crush on this band. He totally hit the nail on the head.

I am so enamored by Eastern European Balkan brass bands. It's so sexy. These folks have to be so right on to pull off this kind of music, and Brass Menažeri always nails it. Love this band.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO

Fun videos: Ramon and Jessica's "Meter Maid" and audience member Rayna with Paul Simon

These are two videos I found inspiring today.

The Bay Area's own Ramon and Jessica (a.k.a. Dina Maccabee) sing about, and to an SF parking meter in the a cappella "Meter Maid":



And a wonderful video of a Paul Simon fan named Rayna who was called up on stage in Toronto to sing "Duncan" with the whole band. Paul just tells her to keep going. She's in heaven.

Concert Review: Fleet Foxes at the Oakland Fox Theater

Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes by Paige K. Parsons @ www.parsons.org

Last night I saw Fleet Foxes at the Fox Theater in Oakland, READ MY REVIEW HERE.

I've also gotten in the habit of chatting to folks with professional looking cameras to see who they are shooting for and if they would be willing to share an image with me. I met Paige Parsons last night who was shooting for the Ice Cream Man and she sent over this beautiful image. With generous people around like this, I'm leaving my camera at home.

Helplessness Blues is a really solid album. If you like folks like Iron and Wine, I highly recommend checking it out.

The Family Crest gives Always More to Hear a shout out!

The Family Crest has these great video blogs on youtube and they're still posting footage from South by Southwest. Check out the shout out that they give me and Always More to Hear (and Hear it Local!) right before the houseshow at Cedric's house (it's at 3:40).

Loving the love!

And it's blog 13! My favorite number.