Leap. Creative Commons attribution license, Sabrina's Stash on flickr.
Forgive me for being inconsistent with these “weekly” demos. It’s been kinda tough lately–and I’ll get into that shortly. But for now, here’s this week’s song, way more “adult contemporary” than we usually roll, but it still feels appropriate to the subject matter. Here’s “Leap.”
We’ll be in a cozy 99-seat theatre space at La Jolla Playhouse, trying out the latest version of ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME, our one-woman musical for Val that we’re writing with Joe DiPietro (who’s flying in direct from the Tony Awards to be there with us).
Script in hand, writing in progress…this is a free developmental reading, with brand-new material never before heard or seen.
Fun!
Fresh!
Free!
We’re very excited about this show.
Space is limited, so if you’re interested, RSVP to:
Mfitzgerald@ljp.org
The location is Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre – at La Jolla Playhouse at 8 PM on Wednesday, June 16th.
Midsummer is consistently one of our favorite GrooveLily albums, if we’re allowed to pick favorites–partially because we got to REALLY stretch out with the music, and play with themes and variations in a way that we don’t usually get to–and partially because the experience of MAKING the show was so sublime.
Guy in rehearsal for Midsummer, with Val in the background
One of the sublime parts was getting to meet and work with Guy Adkins, a gifted and wildly versatile actor. He’s done such a wide variety of work on stage, and playing Robin Goodfellow in Midsummer was just one new facet of his skill set coming to light. Read More »
Standing in the shadow of the man who is first in line.
This week’s song is about a guy who discovers too late that he’s lost his chance with a girl he used to date. It’s my hope that this song will become part of our live set with Gene singing lead…but in the meantime, this demo has me singing lead and Val playing the role of the hot backup vocal chicks. If you like the song, buy a download and send us your $ without diverting vast percentages to Steve Jobs, eh? Thanks.
This one’s also about envy, and in much the same way that “Happy, Happy, Happy” was born from an incredible, uncomfortable bout of pure unadulterated envy when we were trying our hardest to get signed by a major label and I walked past a larger-than-life-size-poster of Vanessa Carlton back in 2002…this song was born from the same emotion, but in a slightly different set of circumstances.
Here’s a little backstory, if you’ve got a moment. Read More »
Brendan and Val (and Gene, via video!) will be at this weekend’s gala 40th anniversary concert for TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Performing Arts Center, along with David Henry Hwang, Jeanine Tesori, Paul Gordon, Vienna Teng and others. We had thought it was a donors-only affair – but the theater has just released some last-minute promo ticket offers:
From TheatreWorks:
A special offer…
Buy one ticket, get one FREE!
Call 650.463.1960 now, and mention code “Brendan & Valerie.”
Offer expires May 7 at 5 PM.
Phone orders only. Not valid on prior purchases.
Subject to availability.
GALA40
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Cocktail Reception – 7:30 PM
Concert – 8:30 PM
Post-Show Dessert
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts
500 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
When I was in high school, it became clear to me that I needed to get my hands on a Nintendo Entertainment System. It had the best games available, games that played pretty much exactly the same as they did in the arcades. I finally saved up and bought one, and many hours were wasted thereby.
When I went off to grad school, I put it into a box and didn’t think about it again until twenty years later, when I read about people using Nintendo Gameboys, Commodore 64′s and NES’s as musical instruments, making a new genre of music called “chiptunes.” A bit more digging in my (cough) copious spare time led me to a band from Chicago called “I Fight Dragons” and their terrific cover version of Jonathan Coulton’s “The Future Soon.” I Fight Dragons’ choice to place the Nintendo front and center in their mix seems wildly appropriate to the content of Coulton’s song–cyborgs, unrequited love, and nerds with crazy power fantasies.
Well, all of this was percolating around my head when it became time to start writing pop songs for Warner/Chappell, in the Katy Perry/Kelly Clarkson vein. I started hearing a song in my head about a teenage boy and a girl playing video games together… Read More »
May 19, Philadelphia: Gustavo Dudamel leading LA Philharmonic, Jazz vocalist Lizz Wright & GrooveLily at Kimmel Center
We are so delighted to return to Philadelphia and be a part of this exciting event, which is the spring fundraiser supporting the Kimmel Center’s educational offerings. This will be a very special evening (“red-carpet attire” encouraged, says the Kimmel Center), so dig some festive clothes out of the closet and come join us. Tickets for the show are $20. (There are also $100 “VIP” tickets which include cocktail reception, meet-and-greet with Gustavo Dudamel, etc. – but the GL concert itself is just $20. See below for details.)
Take a listen at the link directly below this sentence, and download a copy if you like (and throw the band a little cash).
courtesy of Wikipedia
A couple of years ago, our manager Ben asked us if we might want to submit a spec song for inclusion on the soundtrack (and perhaps in the film) of an upcoming Tim Allen movie called “Crazy on the Outside.” Read More »
Take a listen at the link directly below this sentence, and download a copy if you like (and throw the band a little cash).
This week, it’s a song intended for a young female singer–maybe late teens, early 20′s–who is trying to maintain a reasonably “nice girl” image, and yet find her own identity. And rock out a bit.
Back in 2004 and 2005, Val and Jon Spaihts and I were meeting once a week, trying to keep our creative juices flowing by making *something* new every week. Jon had not yet become a famous screenwriter; Val was still contemplating a book about her experiences on the road with GrooveLily, Cyndi Lauper, and Joe Jackson; and I was doing web design (well, email newsletter design, mostly) and trying to keep my songwriting muscle in shape.
I got a couple of verses and choruses done in 2005, and brought it in–but I had made an odd choice which hampered clockability. Here’s a rough draft of the first verse and chorus: Read More »
