Last week marked the 25 year anniversary of the Tiananmen Square uprising in China. It was a heroic demonstration of the people taking a public space in protest of a totalitarian regime. In the 25 years since that uprising and the use of armed forces to suppress civil disobedience, there have been more and more widely broadcasted protests against nations near and far.

A defunct and corrupt government in Egypt.

Civil unrest against election results and media control in Iran.

An uprising against Wall Street bailouts in our own country.

And so on...

Through these many demonstrations have come hundreds of news stories. Sometimes the distance is too far for me to reach physically, and in those moments, I am solely a witness.

As a singer and songwriter, I use my voice to witness these incidents to others and to ensure the memories of the oppressed and the murdered stay alive. I continue to be a witness in the vein of folk-singers past, like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. No matter the distance between myself and the awful stories on the 24-hour news cycle, I am still a witness, and I keep on witnessing to those who can still hear.

I wrote a song entitled "Witness," inspired by the courageous protestors who were at TIananmen Square. This song is for those lost in the fight for freedom. I first released it on my "Retracing" CD recorded in Key West, FL in 1998. It is available to you as a free download. And here are the lyrics.

As a songwriter I write to express my reaction to events like Tiananmen, through song I am relieved at the same time that I am outraged. In reality I continue to allow events to inform my creative world and in that world I can find solace. 25 years ago there was no such thing as "social media" and the internet as we know it. Today I use it as another path to share with you.

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 — the pups enjoying snow on the beach by Lilian Haidar

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