I’ve often wanted to get a time machine and at the very least, send a message to my former self. If I could, it would go something like this:

Dear 16-year-old Brendan,

Congratulations. You’ve written your first song for a musical. You’ve recognized that pop songs in and of themselves are too limiting for you, and you feel you’ve exhausted the subject matter of teenage unrequited love. (You haven’t yet–you just think you have–but that’s another story.)

You are about to embark on an extremely difficult journey. Most people who write musicals do not make a living at it. Very few new musicals are produced, and with each passing year the cost of mounting one becomes more prohibitive. You’re going to study writing musical theater, and you’re going to learn a lot–but you’re also going to go into debt to do so. You’ll be freaked out by how long it takes to get a musical on stage–how many years and how much faith and trust from how many people–it will feel like an impossible task.

You will tuck your tail between your legs and try several times to do something else to make your way through the world.

Each time, you will find that you’re really not suited to anything else, and you don’t have a choice in the matter.

You will learn countless very painful lessons along the way.

Finally, when you’re 39 years old (and nearing 40), you will have figured a few crucial things out:

• Having people respect you is more important than having people like you.
• Respect is the most important ingredient in a good collaboration.
• You need other people to collaborate with. If you try to do everything yourself, your work will suffer.
• You must not ever work with people you don’t respect, or who have no respect for you.
• Nothing worth doing comes easy.
• The very, very, very best feeling in the world is the feeling of a group of people all working together towards the same end: making something great. And the way that you’re going to find this is writing songs for characters in dramatic situations, and helping to bring them to life on stage.

And this is the feeling that your almost-40-year-old self is feeling today, as an 8-person musical with a 5-piece band is opening at a respected regional theater. You are feeling the best feeling in the world.

Remember to enjoy that feeling when it comes.

xo,

your future self

Val with violin, age 9

I started playing violin in the school orchestra when I was eight years old. (Not because I had been yearning to do so specifically, but because I was told I couldn’t play the trumpet without front teeth; I was in dental limbo between my baby and adult sets, and wouldn’t be able to make the right “embouchure” for proper trumpeting.) I was offered the choice between waiting a year—an eternity!!—to begin trumpet, or starting violin immediately. I chose violin, of course, never knowing it would turn out to be such a huge part of my life.

Mr. Sharp, our twinkly elementary school conductor, encouraged us and waved his arms about with such glee that we thought we were really playing beautifully. (Years later, my parents unearthed a cassette tape of one of our first concerts, and it was so delightfully cacophonous, barely recognizable as tonal music, that only the tape label clued us in as to what it was…and I realized only then how what I remember about those early months of playing the violin was not at all related to what it actually sounded like; instead, what stayed with me was the contagious joy Mr. Sharp instilled in his raucous students. I realize now that without that joy, the horrendous screeching tones we were producing would have quickly stopped us all from pursuing music.)

After that first year, Mr. Sharp advised my parents that private lessons would be a good idea; so they did some research and found a nearby teacher for me, a retired symphony player with affordable rates. Suddenly, the joy was gone. The lessons with this man were actually scary: up a dark narrow staircase into his dim attic studio for weekly hair-raising encounters with his grim visage, glasses obscuring one eye completely behind an opaque pink lens and somehow magnifying the other to facilitate optimal scrutiny of my flaws. His conclusion: my playing would never be any good, due to my double-jointed fingers. (They tended to “lock out” rather than curve gracefully into relaxed violin-and-bow-holding positions.) Discouraged (and probably partly relieved—maybe I wouldn’t have to go back there!), I told my parents that I had better give up the violin right away. Fortunately, they didn’t listen to me, and instead went looking for a different teacher.

How lucky that the one they found was Ed Johonnott. With all the twinkly happiness of Mr. Sharp, plus his own unique combination of discipline and serenity, Mr. J quickly dismissed all my anxiety about double-jointedness, and got right down to the business of turning me into a capable violin player, while always ensuring that the process would be fun. “Don’t give up, just keep at it; you’ll be fine.”

Under his tutelage, I was able to get serious about the violin, but never ever had the experience described by so many of my classically-trained peers, where after years of strenuous practice and struggle the instrument eventually becomes an enemy, glaring at them from across the room, demanding perfection and inducing guilt. I know several incredibly talented, accomplished former musicians who will no longer touch their violin or their cello or their piano, because all the enjoyment was sucked out of their playing due to excessive emphasis on technique, and not enough on actual music-making. I don’t know of any students of Mr. J who have quit violin for that reason! In my case, he always made sure there were plenty of opportunities for fun, and for playing music I actually LIKED. He played duets with me at every lesson (the high point for me always); he went through considerable extra effort to set up chamber music groups for me to participate in; and I remember he even took some flak from colleagues for allowing me to play the Beethoven Violin Concerto at an early age. (It’s considered a piece of great depth, not the very most technically challenging but suitable for “more mature” musicians—but I felt very connected to the music and loved playing it, and to him that was the important thing.)

I never remember him not smiling—except for one time, the moment when he had to break it to me that I wouldn’t be a classical concert soloist. I was suffering from some delusions of grandeur, since having placed in the top ten in a national concerto competition won by Joshua Bell; and Mr. J very gently told me that a solo career simply wasn’t in the cards.

The characteristically kind, well-timed way he did that was actually a great help to me. A door had been closed, and I had suddenly graduated from being what I had always been up until that point—a young talented person with “all my options open” and a rather inflated idea of my own prospects—to being a person in the real world, with talent and ambition but also some limitations, on the cusp of making hard choices about my future.

The foundation given to me by Mr. J as a violinist and overall musician who truly enjoys playing has been absolutely central to my life. I’ve gone on not to be a classically-focused musician, but a songwriter, singer and electric violinist who tries to find the joy in the process—the discipline and the serenity—as much as I can. My fingers still “lock out” occasionally, but it’s not the end of the world…and best of all, my 5-year-old son Mose loves to hear the story of how I started taking violin lessons, and about my “happy teacher, Mr. Johonnott” who loved music and said “don’t give up!”

Ed Johonnott passed away suddenly last week, at the age of 66. The many people who knew and loved him are stunned and bereft, and I am no exception. It’s difficult to believe that he’s gone. I take some comfort in the fact that last December, he came with his lovely wife Dianne to our STRIKING 12 show at Arena Stage in Washington, DC; it was one of the only times he saw me perform on electric violin (and sing)—and I could tell he was proud of the path I’d taken. I think he knew just how fundamental a role he had played in my musical life, and that I will always be deeply grateful. I have him to thank for keeping me from my alternate destiny as a singing trumpeter; but even more importantly, I learned from him that whatever the instrument, joy is the key.

Val, Brendan and Max in Weesp, The Netherlands, in July of 1995

The song was written in the summer of 1995, when Val, Max Langert and I were in Amsterdam for 13 weeks. We had a meeting with a representative of EMI Music Publishing in Weesp, a town a few train stations away. The guy from EMI was looking for songs for Dutch artists to record, and was hoping for a hit.

On our way out of the office, I started to hear this simple song in my head, and started jotting down some ideas at a cafe on a canal around the corner. By the time we got back to the upstairs room at Boom Chicago where a grand piano was just sitting there in an empty room, all it took was twenty minutes at the keyboard and I had it.

Somewhere around here, there’s a DAT tape of me, Val, Max Langert on drums and Ken Schaefle on bass, recording the song live and direct to 2-track from the stage of Boom Chicago. If I recall correctly, it sounds wildly different from any of the versions that are on record — more obvious, blatant and hamfisted rock, but still the same sweet song underneath the arrangement. (Anybody in the LA area got a DAT machine they can lend me? Mine seems to have gotten lost in one of the last two moves we’ve done…)

The guy from EMI didn’t dig it — or the song Val had written in the same time frame, “Tell It Like It Is.” He chose to, as they say in the industry, “pass” on our mediocre-sounding DAT tape of songs.

In the years to come, “Tell Me What’s On Your Mind,” specifically the Little Light album version, was used regularly as background music on soap operas (thanks to a licensing deal we struck with Heavy Hitters). I don’t have the exact data handy, but I think it’s second only to “Home,” which has been successful beyond Val’s wildest dreams of soap-opera-background-music-stardom.

In 2008, we were approached by our buddy Sean Flahaven about a new music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell. Sean represents WC’s Theatre and Standard Repertoire department, but he also pitches songs from musical theater shows to rock, pop and r&b artists.

One of the major stumbling blocks to us being able to actually sign with Warner/Chappell was that we had signed away publishing rights to six songs with Heavy Hitters, and “Tell Me What’s On Your Mind” was one of them. Warner/Chappell wants exclusive publishing rights to the songs of people it signs, and our deal with Heavy Hitters was the same. There was, dare I say it, a bit of a tug of war over these six songs, and specifically over this one tune.

Eventually both sides relented and agreed to share in the publishing of these six songs, and we were able to ink a deal with Warner/Chappell. Sean asked if we could do a remix of “Tell Me What’s On Your Mind” in an r&b style, so that he might be better able to pitch the song to a particular female r&b artist.

Val and I agreed that I would sing it–that I would whip out my white-boy mad hip-hop/r&b skillz and attempt to do it justice, while still placing the song in the context of something this unnamed-yet-very-specific female r&b singer might want to perform.

So I made a brand-new recording of the song. Let’s face it: I am not black, I have a thin voice, and I’m not an r&b producer. But this was very, very fun to do:

Listen to the song

Buy the song

The demo hasn’t led to any bites from major stars yet, but listening to it makes me happy. (If you like listening to it, do us a favor and buy it for a dollar–the money goes straight to pay for band expenses. Thanks)

It’s really nice that I finally get to sing this song for this reason: in the summer of 1995, Val and I had been dating for a little under a year, and we were just hitting our first bumpy spots in our relationship. We hadn’t yet learned how to really open up to each other about what we were feeling, and what the other person was doing that really pissed us off. Or, to be more specific, what *I* was doing that really pissed *her* off. And this little song was my way of gently prodding her to open up to me, to tell me what was on her mind. Letting her know that I wouldn’t break if she got angry at me.

Val and I have now been in one wild, long committed relationship for fifteen years now. The only other person I’ve spent anywhere near this much time with is Gene Lewin, and he doesn’t have ANY trouble telling me what’s on HIS mind.

He has ransacked his collection of old GrooveLily live videos, TV appearances, and now he’s even filmed and edited our recent Sleeping Beauty Wakes concert at McCarter. And he’s posted all of it here:

Rob Bond’s collection of GrooveLily videos at Vimeo.

It’s official. Rob is on fire. We cannot afford him. He gets the awesome award for 2009.

Val, Eric, Fire & Riley

(Ancient History: anecdotes from pre-GrooveLily days, in no particular chronological order.)

In the early ’90s, I was living in the Washington, DC area, and I played with an up-and-coming band called Big Black Nun. It was my first experience in an original rock band; I had played music all my life, but mostly in classical orchestras, string quartets, choirs, a cappella singing groups, and one top-40 cover band which I will affectionately mock later. I had always been a musician, but I had never been even moderately cool.

I believe our images of ourselves are formed really early on; in high school, I was a knee-sock-wearing/violin-toting/hopelessly unstylish/eager-to-please/grade-skipping/chubby/sedentary girl whose mom sent the police to the beer-soaked parties I attended, thus guaranteeing that I’d never be invited back. I try to fight the fact that I still think of myself this way, 25 years later.

Val & Fire

Joining Big Black Nun (whose memorable moniker can still be found on at least three “Weirdest Band Names” sites) gave me a sudden social cachet that I had never had before. For the first time, freaky girls with black lipstick and sullen hot boyfriends who frequented warehouse raves would talk to me. I had never been to a rave, or to a warehouse of any kind other than Hechinger’s lumber store to shop for plywood with my dad.

In my memory, BBN was a quartet: on lead vocals, and lead ego, was FIRE. (I never knew his actual legal name.) Often compared to Bono, he was riveting on stage and very compelling to watch, in that extremely-sexy-while-still-being-objectively-kind-of-unattractive way that Mick Jagger has.)

On guitars, production and general levelheadedness, was RILEY. An effective foil to Fire’s volatile personality, he gently propelled the band toward practical goals, strumming his guitar from behind the long hair that perpetually hung in his face. On stand-up bass and reliable good mood was ERIC. With his model-gorgeous looks and excellent musicianship, he was often my best buddy in the band.

The Drummer

Oddly, I have no recollection of a drummer, though there is a drum set in the pictures, and one shot of an actual guy playing it. The fallibility of my own mind is staggering.

There are some aspects of my tenure with Big Black Nun that are blazingly clear in my memory, though.

1. The coolness factor that was so appealing to me when it was unattainable quickly waned into boredom and then into actual danger – first when I realized that my conversations with the freaky Goth girls and their cute boyfriends were mostly devoid of substance, and then when I got mugged at gunpoint after one of our rehearsals in a hip but scary neighborhood in DC.
2. 

   Val with her alienated haircut

   I initially thought that any criticisms my bandmates, especially Fire, launched at me were warranted. (This is another character flaw of mine – sometimes generously misinterpreted as a brave, strong openness to criticism, instead of what it really is – simple insecurity and craven desire for approval.) Fire didn’t like my voice – so I stopped singing backups. He told me I was also “not alienated enough” to be a real artist – so I tried to become more misunderstood by going to the local Tysons Corner mall and getting a weird haircut: one side significantly longer than the other, half black and half blonde. This actually looked pretty good, resulting in many compliments and a feeling of much LESS alienation than before.

3. By early 1993, I was getting ready to leave BBN, feeling that I had learned what I needed to, and that what I really wanted to do was write my own songs and start my own band with people who actually liked the way I sang…but Fire beat me to the punch. I found out that I was no longer in the band by reading an article in the Washington Times: “Big Black Nun’s sound used to be propelled by the acoustic melodies of violinist Valerie Vagoda [sic], but she has since left the group amicably.” And so I had.

As I write this, I’m having a great time searching the net to see what my former bandmates are up to. Fire is still at it, under the name Fire-Dean. He is still an electric presence, still fascinating to watch, and still someone I don’t particularly want to work with ever again. Riley McMahon has moved to our own borough of Brooklyn, and is a busy and successful producer/musician, with an impressive discography, pro studio and instrument collection. It looks like Eric Leifert is doing well also, still a stand-up guy playing stand-up bass with multiple DC-area bands.

As for the phantom drummer? He quit music long ago.

Val, Fire & Riley

Val at China Club

Riley

Fire

Black and white photos by Erika Langley
I don’t remember who took the color photos at China Club. Let me know if it was you.

Like their music, GrooveLily’s Web site is a group effort. Despite their busy performance schedule, the three band members take full responsibility for their jam-packed site. Valerie Vigoda (electric violin, vocals, songwriting) and Brendan Milburn (keyboards, vocals, songwriting) originally designed the site, with subsequent design and maintenance by Gene Lewin (drums). Lewin actively updates the site, changing it at least three times a week and sometimes daily.

When you log on to www.groovelily.com, Milburn’s well-executed Flash intro does just what it should: plays briefly and moves on to the home page. From there, it’s easy to navigate to pages devoted to GrooveLily’s music, schedule, reviews, bios, photo gallery, journal entries, discussion boards, and news updates. The sheer volume of favorable reviews is impressive. Journalists (and fans) can conveniently download online PDF press kits and high-res JPEGs of the band. You can order CDs, T-shirts, and hats from the merchandise page. Truly enthusiastic fans, called Petal Pushers, provide local promotion and man the merchandise table; in exchange, they’re rewarded with free admissions, backstage passes, and exclusive downloads on their own Web pages.

Three of GrooveLily’s five CDs are out of print, but you can hear every out-of-print song in its entirety on their site. Selections from their two most recent albums and from Vigoda’s 1994 solo debut are also online, along with lyrics to every song on every album. Their most recent CD, Just the Three of Us, is a live concert recording, and their next studio album is tentatively titled Are We There Yet?

GrooveLily Gives Passionate Performance For Homecoming

by

Andrew Havens

Those who missed the phenomenal group, GrooveLily, on Thursday, February 18 passed up a truly great show.

GrooveLily consists of Gene Lewin doing percussion, Valerie Vigoda on electric violin and vocals, and Brendan Milburn on piano, organ and vocals. Vigoda’s amazing talent on the electric violin and her angelic voice excellently complement the passionate and warm feel the band displays, particularly during her emotional solos with a six-string electric violin called a ‘Viper’.”

This concert featured almost all original compositions written by members of the band. GrooveLily has received many great reviews by such publications as NY Newsday, The Washington Post, The Music Paper, The Boston Herald, and Campus Activities Today.

CAB sponsored the concert as a homecoming event and an alternative to the usual Thursday night revelries here in Americus.

The next stop on GrooveLily’s tour is Orange County Community College in Middletown, NY on Thursday, March 4. For more information on GrooveLily, tour information and band merchandise, you can visit their web page at http://www.groovelily.com.

– Andrew Havens

GrooveLily fusion of melodic rock

by

Dan Austin

Melodic, not chaotic. That’s one way of describing the music of GrooveLily, an exciting pop-rock trio from Virginia that is making a rare appearance Friday, June 26 at one of the area’s most intimate venues, the Southside Pub in Herkimer.

“Our music has folk, rock and jazz influences, but we describe it as melodic rock,” explains singer Valerie Vigoda. “We do a fun live show because we’re happy people who are not out there to deliver messages of doom and alternative angst.”

Indeed, critics have heralded this creative combo as “an alternative to alternative” music. Laced with intelligent and positive lyrics, catchy melodies and impressive instrumentation, GrooveLily marks a recent trend in popular music that sees many artists moving away from the melancholic stance of grunge rock toward music with a considerably brighter mood and message.

Centered around the singing and musicianship of Vigoda, whose instrument of choice is the electric violin, GrooveLily also features pianist and vocalist Brendan Milburn and drummer Gene Lewin. It may seem a strange combination by today’s rock standards, but one listen to these accomplished players and it’s clear they easily measure up to any of the current crop of rock bands twice their size.

For starters, Vigoda’s violin is about as far removed from any image you could attach to this already rare instrument in rock music. Forget about Kansas and Charlie Daniels, because even though she’s classically trained, Vigoda doesn’t use a traditional four-string violin. Instead, she opts for a unique six-string electric version of the instrument known as the “Viper.” And the sounds that emanate from it can be a whole lot closer to a chorus of amplified guitars than from any bowed instrument you’ve heard in the past.

Her playing is so unique, in fact, that last summer she was sought out by pop diva Cyndi Lauper to accompany the songstress on her tour with Tina Turner. She then was hand-picked by Joe Jackson to complete the legendary piano man’s unique near-acoustic trio that toured America and Europe last fall. With Jackson, Vigoda was featured on the PBS “Sessions” series.

Milburn is himself an accomplished composer and player. His two-fisted rhythmic piano playing is reminiscent of early Billy Joel or, more recently, Ben Folds. Before joining forces with Vigoda, the NYU musical theater composition graduate played with Ben Harper and Clarence Clemons.

Drummer Lewin, meanwhile, comes from the jazz world. His stickwork has been critically compared to that of Dave Matthews Band drummer Carter Beauford, and is rooted in his own work with Paquito D’Rivera, Clark Terry, and his own jazz quintet side-project Fundementia.

GrooveLily is a college and coffeehouse favorite from the band’s homebase of Charlottesville, Virginia to Bangor, Maine. GrooveLily has three independently produced CDs to its credit.

Gettin’ in the GrooveLily

by

Steve Sherlock

Princeton prodigy finds roots in rock with her electric violin, drums and a keyboard.

The three-piece band GrooveLily may be different from all other rock bands in the ’90s.
No one plays guitar. Nor bass.
Keyboards, drums and an electric violin fill the missing hole.
“The absence of a guitar allows us some more freedom on stage,” explained violinist and vocalist Valerie Vigoda.

The Virginia-based band is venturing into Maine for the first time this weekend for three shows in three different venues. Tonight, GrooveLily will perform at the Left Band Café in Blue Hill. Then it’s down to Portland for a pair of appearances: Saturday at Geno’s and a Sunday evening performance at the Free Street Taverna.

The GrooveLily name sprouted during the summer of 1995 when the band played a series of gigs overseas in Amsterdam. Originally called the Valerie Vigoda Band, the group wanted a name that better reflected the collaborative efforts of the entire band.
“We were looking for a name that epitomized our sound,” said Vigoda. “Something melodic, lyrical…with rhythm. The visual image is a dancing flower. That’s our music. It’s lyrical, beautiful and makes you want to dance.”

Vigoda shares songwriting and singing duties with keyboard player Brendan Milburn. Rounding out the group is drummer Gene Lewin. With the violin and the keyboard leading the way, GrooveLily features a unique alternative sound. But this is not folk or Celtic music.
GrooveLily plays melodic rock with an edge.

While many of GrooveLily’s songs are ballads with fetching and enticing melodies, the lyrics are often introspective and reflective. But Vigoda and company do not fall into the angst trap. Anger is absent from the lyrics. As one reviewer recently wrote, her songs demonstrate that “you don’t have to be shallow to be happy.”

Concertgoers will be awed by Vigoda’s unique instrument. Seeking a way to sing and play violin at the same time, Vigoda discovered a flying-V-shaped electric violin called the Viper. “I love the way it’s designed,” said Vigoda. “The entire neck area is empty. You don’t hold it with your neck.”

Instead, she straps it on around her body. The violin rests on her chest and shoulder, allowing her to sing into a microphone while continuing to play. The violin also has six strings instead of the traditional four, giving the instrument a greater range and the versatility needed with the absence of a guitar.

A classically-trained violinist, Vigoda was the youngest female to be admitted to Princeton (age 14). While in college, she discovered a preference to playing her own creations rather than the classics and sought out a way to play her violin in a rock setting.
While working as an assistant engineer at a Maryland studio in 1993, Vigoda found time to record and produced her first CD, “Inhabit My Heart.” Milburn was mesmerized when he first saw her perform in New York. Soon after, the pair was collaborating and the name GrooveLily was born.

The first GrooveLily CD, the critically acclaimed “Jungle & Sky,” came out in 1996. The group has thrived performing on college campuses while seeking more recognition on the club scene.

GrooveLily received tremendous exposure last summer when Vigoda was selected to play violin for Cyndi Lauper’s recent tour with Tina Turner. Vigoda and her violin were prominently featured in TV appearances on “The Tonight Show” and VH-1′s “Hard Rock Live.”
Playing with Lauper was a terrific learning experience. “It was eye-opening,” said Vigoda. “It was really cool. I was used to playing in small clubs. I had never played in front of 25,000 people before. I learned a lot.”

Lauper helped Vigoda expand her vocal range and become more of a performer on stage instead of simply being a musician. In an attempt to get her to loosen up on stage during the early portion of the tour, Lauper would grab Vigoda by the hair in the middle of a song and pull her across the stage.
While shocking at first, she quickly got the message. “I feel like I became a better performer,” said Vigoda. “I’m better at presenting my music. The experience has given me a little more ambition.
This is what I want to do.”

She followed up that gig with a six-month tour with Joe Jackson in the US and Europe. While Vigoda toured with the elite, the rest of GrooveLily completed a five-song CD sampler and Milburn worked on a solo effort, which includes GrooveLily songs.
That CD is expected out next month. Many of the new songs will be featured this weekend as well as the standard numbers that first attracted the band’s loyal following. “We want the audience to have a great time,” said Vigoda.

“We have lots of fun on stage and people have fun at our shows. We love to play and we communicate that to the audience.”
With that philosophy, who needs a guitar.

GrooveLily
Free Street Taverna, Portland
Sunday, June 21, 1998

The road to stardom is filled with potholes and treacherous twists and turns, especially when entering unfamiliar ground. That was certainly the case this past weekend when the critically acclaimed band GrooveLily played three shows in Maine.

After a performance last Friday at the Left Bank in Blue Hill, the band proceeded to Portland for a pair of shows. A Saturday night date at Geno’s and a Sunday gig at the Free Street were not exactly prime territory for this rising melodic rock group.

After Saturday’s show, which lead singer and violin player Valerie Vigoda called “tough,” the group played before a tiny Sunday evening crowd. Instead of mailing in the effort, GrooveLily played as if they stood in front of a packed house. The performance won over the Free Street regulars, who were awed by the group’s violin and keyboard sounds.

Keyboard player Brendan Milburn won over the audience with his two-fisted rocking style. Vigoda mesmerized them with her beautiful voice and her violin. Unlike other violin players, Vigoda can do both at the same time, thanks to her flying-V-shaped six-string Viper. The instrument, which straps around her body and rests on her shoulder and chest, resembles a futuristic ray gun seen in popular science fiction. The sound it produces, though, is lush and vibrant. As Vigoda told the audience, “we’re playful, not angry.”
The third member of the group is drummer Gene Lewin.

The two-45-minute-set show featured songs from the group’s three prior releases, plus a couple of new numbers from Milburn’s upcoming solo release. GrooveLily opened with its pop favorite, “Tell Me What’s On Your Mind,” and followed that with such standouts as “Odometer Song,” “Goodbye Virginia” and “Gotham City Breakdown.” The final two numbers, “I Won’t Forget You” and “Phantom Lover,” featured Vigoda at her best on her unusual instrument. Despite the difficult weekend, GrooveLily considered this trek a success.

It won over some new fans, sold some CDs and added names to its mailing list.
A success, indeed.

– Steve Sherlock

Music

By JIM CATALANO Special to The Journal

SOUNDOFF

Sunday, GrooveLily performs at the Rongovian Embassy. Long one of my favorite bands, GrooveLily has been on hiatus this summer while singer-violinist Valerie Vigoda joined Cyndi Lauper’s touring band.

However, the band has been working on a follow-up to its excellent 1996 CD, “Jungle and Sky.” The new songs feature the band’s updated lineup, with Vigoda and keyboardist Brendan Milburn joined by ace guitarist Mac Ritchie (It’s Ritchey, actually…). The five songs have an edgier pop-rock sound; I especially, liked “Phantom Lover,” with Vigoda’s soulful vocals and catchy violin riffing.

The band also has beefed up its on-stage presence, enlisting a drummer and bassist for a fuller sound. Cover is $5 for the 9:30 p.m. show. Call 387-3334 for more information.

By the way, Vigoda soon will be off touring again: Joe Jackson has signed her up to back him on his “Heaven and Hell” tour, which features a song cycle based on the seven deadly sins. Look for them on PBS’s “Sessions.”