The Greatest Gig I've Ever Played!
Happy New Year !!!!
Last week I had the honor of playing at the Our Time Theater Company
gala here in NYC. The theater company is described as "an artistic home
for people who stutter" but I believe it to be that and much more.
This year Our Time honored singer and songwriter Bill Withers. Mr.
Withers wrote and performed such classics as "Lean On Me" , "Ain't No
Sunshine", "Lovely Day", "Just The Two Of Us" ,etc. You get the picture.
As it was a gift to peform with Mr. Withers, I feel equally inspired by
the kids of Our Time and thank them for accepting me in their group
for a couple days.
Here is a description of Our Time from their website (ourtimetheatre.org ):
Based in New York City, Our Time Theatre Company is a 501 (C) (3)
non-profit organization dedicated to providing an artistic home for young
people who stutter. Our Time offers an environment free from ridicule
where young people who stutter discover the joy of creating and performing
original theatre and music. There is no audition for prospective
members, no performance experience necessary, and Our Time serves its
company members free of charge. Usually kids come back to Our Time year after
year, fostering a feeling of community and family.
The Our Time company is comprised of young people who stutter ages
8-19, who study acting, singing, playwriting, drumming, and dance with
professional artists. Exercising these skills, the company members create
original plays and music which they perform in New York City and around
the world. Through its performances, Our Time educates people about the
challenges and misconceptions of stuttering using theatre as a tool to
demonstrate the vast capabilities of a group of people that is often
misunderstood. At the same time, Our Time's message of listening,
understanding, acceptance, and unconditional love transcends the boundaries
of the specific issue of stuttering, motivating audiences to appreciate
and celebrate everyone's unique voice.
Check 'em out.
In other news, I'm knee-deep in songwriting for my next record. It's
been a long time coming, and I can't wait to get this in the can and
share it with you all !!
Marc
January 9, 2008
Thanks to everyone who has come out to hear any of the projects I've
been involved in recently. It means everything to me to have the support
I've received in this last year. So, thanks....again!
I'll be heading to Canada this week to begin the next tour with East
Village Opera Company. The tour will wrap up in late January. If you're
in Canada and willing to face the snow and sub-zero temperature, come on
out to hear us!!
I'll be in the studio after that starting (yes, finally) my next
record. It will be featuring new songs that I've been writing in the last
year or so.
In my production life, I just finished engineering, producing and
playing some guitar on a project for new artist Andrea Dawn. The music
features Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Indigo Girls) on drums, Mike Viseglia
(Suzanne Vega) on bass, and Larry Salzman (Paul Simon,etc etc) on
guitar. Recorded at Avatar Studios here in NYC.
Along side that record, I produced a track for artist Nicola with her
band and Tim Hatfield engineered it at his own Cowboy Technical Services
in Brooklyn. Nicola's new single " Anybody Out There " will be released
in the coming weeks and featured on AAA radio stations across the
country. Check these gals out!
Marc
Big thanks to all the folks who have come out to hear East Village Opera Company during the first week of the tour!
We'll be off to South America next week, then the South West U.S., followed by some time in Europe. I really do hope you can catch a show in one of these fab places.
I also have a clip of a recent E.V.O.C show up on my "Videos" section to check out. The clip is a guitar solo from "O Mio Babbino Caro". Man, I hope I spelled that correctly.
Lastly, a big shout out of "Thanks!" to my friend and web designer, Mary Jane, for my new and improved website.
Hope to see you all soon.
Marc