NYCSubwayGirl News Music + Art mashup at New Museum

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Hello, The calendar hadn't even switched to a new year since I sent out my last news. We lost a musical hero, (here's my blog Pete Seeger Remembered,) and I've recorded some songs from my musical songbook and look forward to releasing it to the public in the next months. Here's a post about it: New Recording Session. And a free download of my song Rise Up that I wrote for Eve Ensler and her V-Day One Billion Rising campaign.

In NYC it's been a pretty long cold winter and busking in the subway has had it's challenges as you can imagine (I've had to cancel a few times).  We've had back to back storms, bitter cold and a Super Bowl to contend with, and those of you who know what it's like to walk a dog on chemical salt covered sidewalks, it's quite a challenge (and I have 2). I am excited to share the news about a cozy and warm inside gig.

This Thursday February 20th from 6-9 pm I will be performing at the New Museum during the Pawel Althamer exhibition entitled "The Neighbors" (located @235 Bowery. NYC). Pawel wanted to have street musicians performing during the exhibit to express the idea of collaboration and connection. I will be performing from time to time (here's a link to my schedule). Many other street musicians have been selected to also perform. 

Someone asked me why I don't consider this a concert series in a museum lobby. I am being amplified so that the live music is heard up on the 3rd floor. Much like performing in public spaces, people are on their way to something, the fact that a performer happens to be on their route is not static or stationary as a concert would be. I have seen the exhibition, and I visualize it while I play. It definitely affects the way I perform as seen from two points of view. One is from the perspective of where I am physically performing in the lobby as people enter and as they wait for the elevator, and the other, where the music through speakers is part of the aural landscape of the exhibition. Having the music as a live soundtrack for an art installation switches the dynamic of performance. I hear and see things differently in this situation and find intriguing the mashup of music + art. Something that is new to my world. When I shared this thought with Pawel, he responded "welcome to the temple." 

Here's Pawel's Inspiration video clip:

It's a wonderful opportunity for me create spontaneous soundscapes.  I sing or play chordal arrangements based on my memory of a piece, say for example the whimsical one of Pawel imagining himself living in a suitcase….  

I hope to see you at one of my performances.

I am looking forward to March the month of Spring and new growth!

All the best,

Cathy

NYCSubwayGirl

the pups enjoying snow on the beach by Lilian Haidar

Harper James engineer, Degraw Sound + Cathy Grier by Nousha Salimi

New Recording session

I spent a very long Sunday at Degraw sound on January 19th with engineer Harper James. I recorded 22 songs live. it was kind of a marathon monstor recording session.  I have always wanted to get a good recording sound out of my thin bodied Guild Songbird. It's a great performance guitar, but I've found it lacking in the studio. Harper did a great job of mixing in the mics along with the direct out from the guitar and we put it through a fender amp for a bit of a springy sound.

Once we got the room sound like I wanted, I just sang and played for 7 hours straight. Guess singing in the subway has been a great way to keep my stamina up. My whole creative energy is about performing, (and why it was important to record voice and guitar at the same time), and I was happy to have friends Carter McElroy and Nousha Salami come to support, which was really comforting.

I wanted to record newer versions of some of my favorite older songs, and also interpretations of songs that fans and commuters often ask me if I have recorded.  I returned to the studio last Sunday and Harper and I mixed 15 songs.  I've been listening to them and trying to decide which ones to choose and what to do next….stay tuned for how I plan to get them out to you. but first here's a little listen. 

top row is from my iPad, and bottom row by Nousha Salami

New Recording Session

Tomorrow I'll be recording all day in a recording studio. 2002 seems like a lifetime ago when I went into Magic Shop in Soho to record my CD Comin Back To Me.  As far as vocal quality, guitar stylings and sound goes, it was a lifetime ago.  Also not lost on me, the world of the internet has completely transformed the life of a musician.  In 2002 it was beginning to seem like something big was changing. Today in 2014 we are in another hemisphere.

I've been singing in the subway since that time and honestly haven't been able to figure out what to do next.  Fast forward to the end of 2013 when a film maker friend of mine Lilian Haidar (she shot the cover of my 1998 recording "Retracing") invited me to hear Steve Poltz at Bowery Electric. I really liked the sound and introduced myself to the enginner Harper James who said he worked at Degraw Sound in Brooklyn, So that is where I will be singing my heart out all day long.

Stay tuned. Follow my postings on instagram @nycsubwaygirl

here are some covers of past recordings: Retracing 1998, Comin Back To Me 2002, What Fools Do 2002, Gut Reaction front and back cover, Troia/Grier 1983

OWWR radio interview

My trip out to Hicksville in Long Island was easy, no real traffic. I really enjoyed my interview on Michael J. Mand's show St. James Infirmary. We had a fun free flow conversation, and I also got Michael to answer my favorite question "What inspires you?" Michael's "day job" is dentistry. Michael is a dentist with an amazing love of music and people. On air he calls himself Michael The Molar Maven a perfect handle.

Here's an MP3 audio of the full interview:

Michael's comfortable style of interviewing revealed his inquisitive nature asking me such questions that ranged from "What's the difference between an engineer and a producer," "Who invented seats that recline?" to "What is it about musicians that make them more activist than dentists?" We discussed the rights of a subway performer, and Michael's experiences meeting other performers. We touched on other subjects ranging from rap as folk music, to violence against women. I performed live, and Michael played my Rise Up (One Billion Rising) song that I wrote for Eve Ensler's V-Day.org. The show is a little over an hour.  To the left of the image of Michael and I is the MP3 file of the entire interview

Michael The Molar Maven and me

When chatting about New Yorkers Say No To War, apologies to Laura Flanders for mangling her name. And to Willie Nile song One Guitar (completely missed the 2nd verse)… that's my world of live interviews folks!