It actually happened!!! Singing in New York City!!!

This past weekend, for the first time ever in my life, I was invited to a charity event held at the world-famous Bitter End in NYC where I joined about a dozen other NYC musicians and a some singers where we performed our hearts-out for Cancer. "Exile to Mainstreet"~a classic Rolling Stones album was the main repotoire for the night, while later in the evening, other Stone songs filled the fairly packed venue.

My friend Ashley, who I met while I was Editor-in Chief of the William Paterson Literary  Magazine~Essence, which is not a copy-right infringement on the African-American magazine, since it was named that long before I was even a secretary to it.~Yes, this was addressed to every, single editor who was ever in charge of the magazine (tangent over). As I was saying, my friend Ashley, who studied voice/recording at William Paterson, invited me to watch her perform at the Bitter End (in the West villiage). Since she knows I can sing, and I think the Rolling Stones are pretty cool, next to the Beatles (insert the song stupid cupid), so I asked the organizer if I could sing. The conversation went like this exactly:

Me: Hey Sam. Is it OK if I can sing?
Sam: I don't know can you?
Me: (smiling) Yes!
Sam: Well, then yes, you can do songs with us.
EXCITED ON THE INSIDE!!!!~but kept my cool the whole time on the outside.

Ashley and I sat in the back corner with the set-list. I circled the songs I knew that I definitely wanted to sing~"Tumbling Dice," "Shine a Light," "Soul Survivor," and "Sweet Virginia." Ashley wound-up doing a few others, but that was because she was already a designated voice for the venue. Keep in mind, the only songs we knew what to do were the ones from the album. Oh and I didn't exactly practice, I listened to the album from start to finish earlier in the day when I was sending-out some resumes and doing some ETS work.

I looked-out into the audience hoping to see some faces I might recognize since I sent some invites out earlier in the day to some people from hs, and I also posted on FB. I thought I saw someone from Korea in the audience that I knew from Jeonju~a Scottish guy, who I actually apologized for posting mean pictures/videos before he went back home because I have been in that position before to know what its like to be publically ridiculed for no reason, too. Or to have my reputation almost tarnished. Other than seeing and smiling at Jeff, I didn't recognize anyone else. :(

The organization we were singing for is called: Pretty much this organization runs some of the best Cancer treatment centers in NYC. Continuum~http://www.chpnyc.org/services/cancer/index.html
Taking part in something about Cancer, of course touches on some personal connections to relatives that have died of the disease starting with my mom (58), my aunt (60's), my cousin Dave (late 30's), my Uncle Bobbie (50's), of course, I am also reminded of some amazing survivors~who all range in age and different circumstances, some overseas some in the States.
After the album was completed, time for the encores. Again, no practice involved. We rocked through "Satisfaction," "Gimme Shelter," "Wild Horses," and a very awesome ending with "Sympathy for the Devil." I sang back-up to all of these. It was truely an amazing experience. The video will eventually be posted with the performance.

Singing isn't anything knew. I always sing in the car, shower, walking (if I'm not already listening to something), and pretty much any time. Not to mention, I sang in two bands in Korea~the band with no name~since the original name was a direct Charlie Sheen quote~and eventually people decided to find it no longer funny (Vatican Assassins) to I forgot what we wound up changing it to. The other was Carpe Delirium. I wrote an original song based-off of the story book, "On the Road," and one of their songs already scored~ of course art has loose interpretations. Failed to mention, I was trained to play the violin when I was younger and slightly voice trained when I did acting school on top of baton twirling on top of sports. I sang in the synagogue chior a couple of times. So, like I said, singing isn't anything new.

The other part of the weekend consisted of going to www.buffstock.com. The two-day exclusive artist gathering brought-in some of the fresh, new artists in the area and other parts, too. The Larney's gorgeous home is offered and used for the location~a vast acreage home where tents/hammocks are laid among the Christmas tree farm patch, a river walk occurs in their back-yard river, races, volleyball games, slip 'n slide, endless food, memories, and of course, all of this is brought to you by the artist participants. Of course, a stereotype of among performers is that we're egotistical maniacs, who have our heads in the clouds and not on Earth~not so. If anything, some of us are too open-minded and down to Earth for most to realize.By the end of the weekend, I was offcially welcomed into the artist family in the New York area. No, I did not perform any songs at Buff-Stock, but I tore-up the dance floor, rocked volleyball (thank you Fair Lawn All Sports Vball in the early years), and enjoyed getting to know some of the fresh new talents on the stage by simply playing Mad-libs and obviously enjoying their music.
What will this experience do for me? It will certainly help with future performances, while also still substituting, test writing, and gradually trying to find that full-time job. My hopes are high and my faith is strong. There's nothing wrong with a hobbie. After doing something like this, I feel more gutsy and confident.