You never know what can happen when you become a fan of an artist you admire (as I admire blues piano virtuoso, Bob Malone). I supported his fabulous new cd, "MoJo Deluxe", by buying "play a track for your cd" in an indiegogo campaign. I never imagined at the time that he would eventually come to Charlotte in person to record a song I wrote for him to play ("Keep on Talkin'") at Gat3 studios. Chris Rosser was there producing (and got recruited to add a bass track) and Wade Starnes engineered. What a day. Videos of the day and recorded song to come with release of my first cd of original songs. Make sure you subscribe to my email and like my Facebook page for updates!
Ever encounter a big talker who loves himself/herself more than anyone else in the world?...that's the inspiration for this song. I wanted to write a fun blues song that virtuoso blues pianist Bob Malone could play for my first cd of original songs. (But Bob was not the subject of the song!) I wanted to give the piano player a chance to show off (and personify the big talker in the song). Mike Alicke does a nice job on the guitar solo in this version (with Edan Aldridge on bass and Paul Walker on drums). Video by Wes Cobb.
If there's anything better than creating music, it is creating music with other people. I'm looking forward to playing in Charlotte's best listening room (The Evening Muse) on March 16 with a great audience (Charlotte's Folk Society is hosting the evening, so there's a full line up of musicians) and talented fellow band members (singer/songwriter and guitarist Mike Alicke, drummer Paul Walker and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Edan Aldridge). It will be a treat to have some of my bluesy/rockin' songs given a full treatment with instrumental solos and full drums. West Art Videos is taping the evening for me, so I'll post some videos at a later date. I'll play a couple of songs that I premiered a couple years ago at the Muse (Laughin' Through My Tears, Never Enough) and a rocking fast arrangement (thank you Dan Hood) of a jazzy song that I will close out the evening (Play Me) along with a number of new songs.
I've been rehearsing with a new band (Mark Larson, Duane Centola, Tom Hanchett, Paul Walker). We're calling ourselves "Latta Jazz." Old school jazz standards but some new stuff, too. Here's a peek at rehearsal--a "video selfie". I'm singing the end of "My Funny Valentine."
Several friends and co-songwriters performed with me at the Muse on January 15, so I started my set dedicating this song to them and to all the folks who have been supporting us (that would be YOU!). We all get discouraged and wonder if anything we do makes a difference, so remember: the song is in the singing and the reason's in the rhyme, so find your own muse and sing your little song blues.
A wonderful night at the Evening Muse sponsored by the Charlotte Folk Society. Four sets of performers and a packed house. I started my set on the keyboard playing "Little Song Blues" (click here to listen) which I dedicated to the crowd that came out to support us all. Music photographer Daniel Coston took pictures (full album on my Facebook music page: Katie Oates Music). Mark Larson took some video which I'll add in later posts on the Listen page and link to the titles of the songs in this post.
On Wednesday, January 15th I will be playing for Charlotte Folk Society’s new venture: "Folk Jubilee" at the Evening Muse: 3227 North Davidson Street from 9:30-10:00pm. I will play 5 original songs at the end of the evening and will be joined by frequent collaborator Cheryl Hoover (bass, vocals), who also plays at Covenant Church (and formerly played with the 'Rents and Crossroads) and multi-instrumentalist Mark Larson on keyboard. Some of the songs I'm playing I've put up on youtube or recorded "Little Song Blues," "Never Enough," and "Laughing Through My Tears," and two songs I haven't recorded yet which are a little more risqué (!) but all in good fun: "Heart for a Ride" and "Play Me." The evening will begin with a song circle at 7:30 pm, then at 8 pm Casey Conerly and DeWitt Crosby (who are in a songwriting group with me) play. The Myers Park High School Bluegrass Band (filled with many talented young folks I have heard perform) plays at 8:30 followed by Mark Larson (who I am also in a songwriting group with) at 9:00pm. Come out and enjoy Charlotte's best listening room for music!
"What is it about old friends?" I have written a fairly unsentimental answer to this question.
Sometimes it's hard to stay connected to friends or family who are so different from who we are today, so I acknowledge that difference (and the arrogance of either friend in thinking the fault lies with the other) in the first verse. And in the second verse I also completely dismiss the idea that old friends are special because of some inherent specialness about either person; my husband hates that line…:-). In the end I argue that old friends are special because we orient each other to our past, present and future. I use the metaphor of an old friend being like the prime meridian (historically the "brass line" at O degrees longitude at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich England). I had an opportunity to visit the observatory several years ago. While I'd known the observatory had once kept track of time by the sun (and that that standard was used to calculate time for the world), I hadn't known about how important the discovery of how to calculate longitude was to travel (particularly by ship). Ships can navigate somewhat by distance travelled (longitude) and orient by the stars and the sun, but that's not always accurate or reliable (cloudy day or night). The only way to truly know where you are is to know how to measure longitude (distance on the North/South axis) and latitude (distance on an East/West axis). Likewise, friends may travel in different directions (or an old friend may stay in one place while you move to many places), but the divergence actually can help us reorient. Old friends truly are "gold"--to be treasured. For any music theory buffs: I wrote the song in the key of C--kind of like home base for the piano and music theory. Yeah, I know, pretty nerdy….
Raymond’s photographs are truly works of art. Represented by the Doma Gallery, he frequently photographs people in strikingly unusual settings. For the pictures on my website, I am lucky that Raymond happened to come to a gig I was playing at the Dunhill with camera in hand. He took impromptu photographs just using the light and setting on hand. Amazing. Be sure to check out his website for examples of his exquisite photography and to find out when and where he will be showing his work next.
