back at: B L O O M B A R S

WE BLOOM , YOU BLOOM

{ a posting about my show on Bloom's site }

I am so lucky as a musician to have a venue that feels like a home away from home to me. I am able to try out new material, gather friends, and share my music with comfort and confidence to a friendly crowd of faces at Bloombars in Columbia Heights, washington D.c.

I was first brought to Bloombars by The MakePeace Brothers { whose new album was just released, check it out!} 2 years ago. Since then Bloombars has blossomed into such a wonderful art space and community outreach project and I too have blossomed! As I performed more and more I eventually became an official " Bloombars ambassador" . At any given night you can walk into Bloom and recieve classes in yoga, belly dancing, tap dance, you can stumble upon independant film releases, or performances from artists like Justin Kredible, Kevin Sandbloom, Terrence cunningham or Grammy Nominees Christylz Bacon and Carolyn Malachi. It is a tiny slice of heaven on earth!

{ little cell phone pic i stole from twitter, taken by ica }

In coming home to washington for the holidays, I was booked to perform my first show at bloombars 100% solo! To be honest, I was a bit nervous since I have been performing with Scott so much, It was intimidating to perform an entire set solo. I went back to some of the songs from my first album " Hey mom! look what i can do!" and a couple of old covers I use to rock out to.

{ a shout out from FreeinDcBlog about My show? cool! }

But my friends & family & the whole BloomCrew came out in full force to support and the night went beautifully , even John { the owner of Bloom's } Mom! What an honor! - If you weren't able to make it this time, i send a huge sad face your way. we had a ton of fun - and a HUGE thank you to those who were able to make it! you warmed this little kitten's heart! <3>

Mini-Music V I D E O : zach jopling productions

**If i say anything on this blog too much, I want it to be a reminder that I am beyond lucky to have such multi-talented friends. I am aware that I am only where I am because of the people around me & I try to show my friends my appreciation. On to the Post...

{ iphone screenshot of video playback. Myself & Phillip noss}

While in College, I had a friend named Zach Jopling who was quite well known for his skills in film, aside from being friends, we worked on a handful of projects together. Zach had an internship and worked for 8112 Studios . { The back cover of my album was shot by 8112 co-founder Doug Sonders, I was also able to shoot a rough video with 8112's other co-founder Nicholas Cambatta & Zach Jopling} These boys are known for their large scale, high budget, and celebrity filled music videos. They have worked with everyone from Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber to Usher and Norah Jones. I was lucky enough to shoot this little promo the month my album was released last winter just one grey afternoon at their estate in Maryland.

{ See video Below}

Zach, after graduation, has begun building his own production company and contacted me with an interest in filming a mini-music-documentary. Our intentions were to short a simple interview spliced with a live acoustic performance. I brought along a friend of mine from HighSchool, Phillip Noss, who is an acomplished singer/songwriter/guitarist about to graduate from the Berkley School of Music in Boston. Phillip just released his debut album this december in washington DC! Phillip & I did a cover of the weepies " I gotta have you" and we filmed the interview!

{Phillip through the canon 7D }

We set it up in the front room of my parents house, to give a very comfortable and relax feel. Zach brought several lights, relfectors, and sound equipment to capture the acoustic performance best. He shot with a Canon 7D on a tripod and we did a few wandering shots with my NikonD5000 on hand. We mic'd the floor to pick up both Phillip's Harmonies as well as the guitar, and a lavalier mic pinned to my dress for my vocal pick up.

{ Floor Mic }

{Set up : lights, reflectors, etc}

For the Interview, Zach had a focus on the differences I was noticing between the east and west coast thus far, and what about Washington D.C. I was missing. ( of course my first thoughts were food...naturally)

{ Screenshot of Playback from the interview}

I'll be sure to post the final videos as they are released! So Keep an eye out! And be sure to check out both Phillip Noss & Zach Jopling. If you are on the east coast, they are incredible guys to know and work with.

zach: www.Zachjopling.com

Phillip: http://www.myspace.com/phillipnossmusic

merry C H R I S T M A S

Please, have yourself a merry little christmas.

thank you everyone in this video, and out.

recording A G A I N

This just in : WE ARE RECORDING AN ALBUM!

Say what, say what? In early/Mid spring, Me & Mr.Cassidy will be flying to the East Coast to do a few shows and Record a new Full length record with Justin Huey { of Seahorses & Steel Train}. Justin and I grew up together in charlotte N.C. and i am so lucky to have him, his smile, and his talent in my life. Justin Produced and Played the majority of the instruments on my first album, and it trust him with my work 100%. We are so happy to be working with him on this project!

Here is why this CD will be TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM MY FIRST:

1) Scott is a bangin ass guitar player, and I am well, mediocore at best. The melodies and instrumentation on this album is so beyond what I could ever hope to be a part of, and basically, its awesome.He has background in Jazz and Bossanova so you will see hints of that, as well as a few guitar parts still written by me, with my old "plucking" style.

2) It is a duo album. Both of us sing so you will have a much stronger male prescense on the album. My voice as well as a much more retro sound and full tone when singing in this style of music.

3) All of my old songs are personal stories and feeling of mine, this new album follows an imaginary story of two loves throughout their life together.

4) this is much more of a album/project than a compilation of pop tunes.

Keep an eye out for more updates.

Wrapping up 2 0 1 0

As I wrap up 2010, I have so many wonderful things to be grateful for { oh look, i learned how to spell grateful} and so many things to look forward to in 2011. For those of you in a time crunch, I bolded the highlights for ease with skim-reading.

2010 was a huge year for me. For one, i released my debut album : "Hey mom, Look what i can do" . Thank you hugely to Justin Huey, Emily Moore, Tim Cossor, Amanda Smith, Rugby Cafe, Ica Diongzon & the lovely folks at Built By Icon. ... It took a village folks.

I was cast in my first professional musical in years, at the H street Playhouse. "All That Glitters" that fought through the snowpocalypse and dominated a 3 week run. I then did my Senior Capstone shows "20-Life" and "Pms- Fulana" which sold out and ran beautifully. Then, I graduated College { I know right ?} without ever reading a book... { i KNOW right} seems like they give anyone a diploma these days, no but really. College was fun and all.

I decided to be "adventurous" I jumped off a cliff into a river in New Orleans. I traveled to europe for pretty much the first time. Italy. Greece. Croatia. the works, and then I moved to HOLLYWOOD... {cue music , probably Miley cyrus or something}.

I was introduced to the wonderfully talented gent you have all now heard of, the charming dork whom I love, Mr.Scott Cassidy. We created a duo project/band called Me & Mr.Cassidy and have just about finished writing an entire album worth of delightfully romantic songs following the story of two imaginary love birds Annabelle and Theodore. Since October 30th, we have had 7 gigs together and 2 seperate) we will be starting off the new year with a boom, Ica of Ica Images ( who shot all of my solo projects) will be flying out to LA to photograph Scott & I the 2nd week of January! And More wonderfullness to come ....so come to a show if you can! ( and bring a date it's totally cute)

January 2nd - Bloombars, Washington DC 8:00

January 6th - Genghis Cohen, West Hollywood 8:30

January 16th- Jitters, San Diego ( W/Bushwalla) 8:00

February 8th- St.Nicks Pub, Los Angeles 9:30

the first N O E L

the 2nd holiday song in the series from Scott & I, please enjoy.

baby it's cold O U T S I D E

Baby, it's cold outside...

{ the winter date rape song. what is in her drink ?}

from myself and mr. scott cassidy.