Ah, Christmas! The time of joy and love. The season of hope and peace. And, for musicians, the season of endless gigs. It is no secret that everyone hates music that was not created by some sort of computerized machine, which is why it is so hard for non-robotic musicians to make a living. But […]
Category Archives: A Cappella
Infamous Gigs: The Bar Mitzvah in the Elevator
Last week you will remember that I told you all about the time my a cappella group was hired to sing at a Billy Joel-themed wedding, and that it was, shall we say, an adventure. I don’t know how much we got out of it, artistically speaking anyway, but what we did get out of […]
Infamous Gigs: The Billy Joel Wedding
Today I am starting a new Throwback Thursday feature called “Infamous Gigs,” in which I will attempt to tell the stories from some of my more bizarre and memorable musical jobs. Today I will tell you the tale of: “The Billy Joel Wedding.” Back when I was directing an a cappella group called Passing Notes, […]
2014 Christmas A Cappella Round-Up
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Christmastime! That magical time of year when choral music and a cappella singing suddenly become beloved by all. That brief period in which the rest of the world remembers what you and I have known all along: that using your voices to make music is aca-awesome. And quite aca-beautiful. I don’t […]
How to Shave During a Concert
Being the attention-loving, extroverted, fame-whore that I am, the center of attention is often where I like to be, so it only stands to reason that some of my stupider ideas have spawned from a need to shock and awe whomever I happen to be with. Perhaps you know this about me already, and so […]
The Amazing Gracenotes
So Sunday was my birthday, and yesterday I posted some apparently depressing ruminations on getting older, that I had hoped would maybe be funnier than I guess they were. So I feel like I need to clarify something. It’s true that I am not as thrilled with getting older as I once was, but I […]
A Few Thoughts About Kickstarter
For those of you who may not know, kickstarter.com is a website that allows you to independently fund projects. The basic conceit is that you put up a video explaining why you need money, and then hope that enough individuals will donate that money so that you can bring your idea to life. It is […]
Good Names For Christian A Cappella Groups
I’m thinking of starting a Christian a cappella group at my church. I have sung in, directed, and formed many other a cappella groups in the past, and I miss it. At a recent music meeting at the church, we were talking about doing new arrangements of old hymns, and I brought up the idea […]