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We're posting this week's song a day early because tomorrow is our live online show - streaming straight into your living room. Need tickets? You can pick them up here.
As a proud subscriber to Netflix, I managed to spend a good portion of this year binge watching "Leverage". I'd seen part of an episode on TV a few years ago, but it wasn't until I hunkered down for a marathon that I got into it.
Among the cast was this badass, Christian Kane, who just happened to be a singer, too. Of course, I was curious, and later became hooked.
I managed to pick up a copy of his album when he re-released it to his fans early this year. There are a couple of tunes on the disc that really deserved wider airplay, and this one - "The House Rules" - managed to get some traction on country radio.
I knew that if we ever did a concert at my place (like, this Sunday's livestream, for example), I'd want it for my opening number. I made a small lyric change so the tune would fit my show, and Des, of course, gave me a rockin' blues arrangement. Here's our first run-through after Des got the thing transcribed to a sticky note.
I love that we were able to take a country tune and bring it to a wider audience. I hope you guys love it as much as I do.
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One of the things I really enjoy about the 300 songs project is taking requests. Several people suggested I give a listen to Joss Stone - an artist I'd never heard of. Yes. I live under a rock in a teeny tiny town in Midwest America. Don't judge.
I found a copy of her CD at the local thrift shop, which reminded me to check out her music. One song that really stuck out was "Less is More" - a reggae-funk tune that had a soulful groove. But all I could hear, the more I listened, was this ragtime back beat. So naturally, I went to Des and said "can you do this in a ragtime style?"
Yes. He most assuredly can, as today's video illustrates.
So for all you Joss Stone requesters out there, here's a ragtime jazzed up version to enjoy. I dare you to not be trying to Charleston before the end of the tune. The groove is that infectious.
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This week, we're playing fast and loose with Billy Joel. Hopefully, I don't offend him.
I recall an interview - I think during his summer stint on SiriusXM this year - where he said that "Modern Woman" was his least favorite song.
Every entrepreneur I've ever met has a project from their past that makes them shake their head and sometimes cringe - in shame, embarrassment, or just because it's not where they are at this point in their journey. Like a bad Throwback Thursday picture (I'm about six, with braids like Pippi Longstocking), those old bits of our past are things we try to hide, deny, or just wish they didn't exist.
But, sometimes, in all our pouting and stewing, someone else sees beauty.
That was what happened for me when I remembered this piece.
"Ruthless People" was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. I was 11ish at the time. I think my sister and I told Mom we were going to see Karate Kid II (don't judge me!). Instead, we snuck our way into the theater and watched as Helen Slater and Judge Reinhold held Bette Midler hostage in their basement for most of the show. Bette's character has a turning point and she starts working out, lifting paint cans, and reclaiming her figure, her confidence, and her sense of self-worth - all in a classic 80's style montage with a soundtrack courtesy of Billy Joel.
As far as I know, Billy's never said why he doesn't like that song. But for me, the lyrics gave me hope: I didn't have to settle. I could be me, completely, and the right guy would appreciate me. I was one of those "early bloomers" - so I looked like a teenager long before I was one. There was a lot of angst that came with having boobs before any of the other girls in my class. And a lot of fear. I wore high-top sneakers - not Italian, but those two-tone Chuck Converse All-Stars were quite the rage in the 80's. I've always been independent. Came from a long line of independent women. The thought of dumbing myself down to appease some guy made my stomach churn - even at 11. I've loved Bette Midler ever since.
Interestingly enough, my husband is quite the "old-fashioned man" and it works.
I really like this song. It was one of the first songs I dreamed of re-imagining in a jazzy, swing style. It will definitely make the final cut of the new album. It was my way of saying thanks and putting my own spin on a tune that changed my pre-teen years (and my perspective on me and my relationships) forever.
"She's got style. She's got her own money. So, she's not another 'honey' you can quickly disarm." - Billy Joel, Modern Woman
If I were to guess, the synthy-pop and hard-driving, frenetic stylings of the original make it a difficult tune to enjoy much beyond it's 1986 birth date. But like so many things, the right setting can make all the difference. So Des and I slowed it down a little, gave it a swingin' groove, and I got to do a little scatting.
Who knows? Maybe Billy will hate it a little less now.
What if, instead, you allowed for the possibility that it wasn't your job to make it perfect, just to get it out into the world? What if the world needed you to create it so that someone else could appreciate it and do their own thing with it?
Can you be okay with that?
Sometimes we make the biggest impact by just showing up and doing the best we can. It's not about perfection, it's about contribution. Here's my contribution - with the help of Des. Enjoy!
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Sometimes we make the biggest impact by just showing up & doing the best we can (tweet this).
This week's tune is officially the toughest tune we've managed to swing to date. According to Des, taking 80's pop and jazzing it out is about one of the most difficult departures you can do. I was kind of bummed when he said that, because I always thought of Huey Lewis and the News as a band that took some of the best elements of blues and pop-ified them so that more people would be able to enjoy it.
Lucky for us Des is on the case, because he managed to do a bang-up job. Huey Lewis and the News are one of my all-time favorite bands. Growing up I bought every one of their albums (on cassette, remember those?). I still have them, along with several of their tour books. Alas, no autographs yet.
I remember begging my mom to take me to their shows as a kid, but that was not something a welfare family had on their weekly shopping list. Somehow, I managed to win free tickets one year. Mom carted me and a friend 50 miles out of town to see them - grumping the whole way about the cost of gas. This week, they're coming to my hometown for the first time EVER, and all the good seats have been gone for weeks!
*poutyface*
So, as a tribute to my favorite band in the history of the world, and in honor of their visit to my hometown this coming weekend, here's our rendition of "I Want A New Drug". Stay tuned 'til the end and catch the new dance Des made up!
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Brace yourself. You're getting a couple of "firsts" this week.
I've been working on a musical mash-up for several weeks featuring Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" and "A Whole New World" from Disney's "Aladdin" - but it was missing something. It wasn't as easy to tie the tunes together as I had hoped.
Turns out, all I needed was a little Richard Marx. His tune "Right Here Waiting" gave me a nice piece to thread through the lyrics of the other two tunes.
This is the first musical mashup I've done with 3 songs. It's also the first musical mashup I've done with another artist. Des is fast becoming a staple in my studio, and I'm so happy to have him tickling the plastic ivories for me.
It's also the first "sight reading" clip I've shared. I've posted clips from early rehearsals before, but this clip is actually the very first time Des saw my notes for the song layout - he's the only person other than me to ever see them - and you can watch him take my notes and turn it into a real song - on the first pass. I've been plunking the piano for weeks, and he gets it this good in just one try. Granted, it's a rehearsal, and it's not perfect - there's a whole extra passage he added before we roll into the Richard Marx tune (watch him cringe!), but he's so good, even his mistakes sound decent! 🙂
This is why I beat my chest so fervently about focusing on your genius work. I could spend another 6 weeks working on this piece, and it still wouldn't sound as good as it did when Des just sat down and started playing. I get to sing and see my vision come to pass, and he gets to take the heavy lifting off my shoulders - or fingers as the case my be.
I edited the video a little differently, so you could see the whole run through - no cutting away - so you could be sure it was all played in a single pass.
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"Sometimes, friends are as family." - an inscription from The Secret Watch
A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to Great Barrington, MA, to reconnect with myself and some friends from an online group through which we all met. On the way, I stopped in Lewiston, NY to visit my friend and long-time accountability partner, Winnie Anderson (I'm working with her on a re-launch of my book). She was kind enough to let me crash in her guest room on the way out and then she and her charming husband took me to lunch on my way home.
I'm pretty blessed to have such amazing and supportive friends. I didn't see myself as someone with many friends a few years back, and that made my life's journey pretty rocky most of the time. As outgoing as I am, it takes a LOT for me to connect to and maintain friendships. For years, I'd wished it wasn't so difficult, and it's something I've spent time focused on improving. You'd think it would be easy for me to make friends.
Life happens. People get busy. I get busy. For years, I took that busy-ness personally - and assumed they did, too. What I've learned over the years is that the stories in my head often keep me from enjoying what life has to offer.
It's been something I've made a point to work on and work through - thus the trip to Great Barrington. This wasn't an easy trip for me. Driving 12 hours cross country to connect with people I've only met once before - and some of whom I'd never met before - has been a "scary story" in my head since I left home as a teenager. It's not the drive that's the problem, I actually enjoy that part. It's the meeting "strangers" part that gets me wonky. But that's another story for another day.
I'm counting my blessings and recognizing more often just how many friends I'm truly blessed to have - and now, I'm seeing them pop up all over the country. All because I'm willing to drop my judgments about myself and just show up and be me as best as I know how.
Guess what? People have a chance to like the real you when you take off the mask and stop trying to be someone you're not. That's scary at first, but really rewarding in the long-run.
When I hear this song, I think about how Billy Joel left LA - a place where he never really fit in - and went back to his roots in New York - on the Hudson River Greyhound line, no less. He was ready to stop pretending and start living life on his own terms. That's part of why this song speaks to me and is one of my all-time favorite Billy Joel tunes.
This week's video features photos from my trip - and all the wonderful friends that made it so valuable for me. Many thanks to Melanie, Nicole, Lou, Deb, and Trisha for all their photo taking, and their permission for me to share these wonderful pictures from our time together.
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About 18 months ago, I met this kid, Des. He's got an amazing gift for playing piano. Watching him perform is like watching God sit at the piano... It's almost like Des isn't even there... just music direct from the Divine.
I was looking for an arranger. For this song, in particular. For a few years - ever since I'd heard Michael Buble's version of "Feelin' Good" - I'd wanted to take "Dream On" and do it in a similar style. The song is so timeless. It speaks generation after generation, and has always been a powerful song - one of Aerosmith's classics.
But not everyone likes the screaming guitars of rock music, so there are a lot of people that have never heard the depth of these lyrics. To me, that's one of the powerful pieces of popular music - the story of the lyrics. This was actually the first song that got me thinking about a style of music that is no seeing a larger audience and a broader range of artists - like Buble', Postmodern Jukebox, and more.
We worked back and forth for several months before we got an arrangement that worked. It's been about a year since we finished it, and it remained unperformed. Written for a full instrumental ensemble, we simply didn't have an ensemble to perform it.
I couldn't stand not letting the world hear it. So I asked Des back into the studio, and he condensed the entire song to a single sticky note, and played the entire piece in two takes.
Yes. Two. He's that good.
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Des looks at a piece of sheet music for about 20 minutes and says "Okay, I'm good." Then he hands me the sheet music and creates his own equally compelling arrangement. Listen to the solo section for a glimpse into this kid's creative improvisational genius. Just amazing.
Oh, and this is song #75 in the 300 Songs project... I'm a quarter of the way home!
This is the second song written by Mike Reid I've had the joy of singing for this project. He's such a great songwriter. I wish more people would sing his music. Soulful, meaningful, and deep. Yummy!
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When Des came to visit, I was lucky enough to get two tracks for the new album done.
Yes you heard that - the new album is finally becoming a reality! YAY!
One of the things I've always wanted to tackle was Tobymac's "Made To Love". I've heard it covered and mixed in a couple of different ways, but none of them spoke to me quite like doing a jazzy love song version. After all, there is no greater love, right? Here's our last take:
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