Thursday, July 26, 2012

Jamie sings the Berlioz Requiem with 250 other people in Davies Symphony Hall

Next Sunday, August 5th at 3pm I will be performing one of the coolest pieces, the Berlioz Requiem, at Davies Symphony Hall with 250 other singers (San Francisco Lyric Chorus), the Redwood Symphony Orchestra and FOUR horn choirs.

The horn choirs are going to be placed in various corners of the hall, SURROUND SOUND.

I'm so excited about it.  It's going to be so kickass. Loud. Dramatic. So rock and roll.

Also on the program is that awesome Strauss piece appearing in 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know, the one with the monolith and the monkeys?

Read more about it here in my examiner.com article

Tickets are $20-45


Listen to the "Dies Irae" movement from the Requiem, this is one of the more dramatic movements.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

I'm the editor of 'All Together Now: Women in Music' and it's a kickstarter campaign that needs your support


The photo above is my choir Conspiracy of Venus (I was not in the group when it was taken) by my friend, photographer Audra Marie Dewitt. The photographs are part of a book she's self-publishing called All Together Now: Women in Music . Right now there is a kickstarter campaign to get this book printed, and it needs your support!

Click here to see the kickstarter campaign. ONLY 7 MORE DAYS!

Read this post I wrote on Hear it Local's blog addressing why a book about female musicians is needed. This is a book for anyone who's ever wanted to stay true to themselves and "follow their bliss" (Thank you Miho Hatori)!

Audra gave me editor credit in the book, which is really awesome! In the last three years I've helped out and worked on researching and contacting artists as well as copy editing and marketing. I saw the mock up, which is gorgeous, and figured I had a hand in about half of the images. I'm very proud of this project.

Women included in All Together Now are on the famous side as well as unsung heroines of their genres. Here are some of the ladies that are in the book:
  • Corin Tucker, of Sleater Kinney, and The Corin Tucker Band
  • Exene Cervenka, of X, and Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners
  • Miho Hatori, of Cibo Matto, Gorillaz, and Smokey and Miho
  • Claire Evans, of Yacht
  • Sean Yesult, bassist of White Zombie
  • Noelle Scaggs, of Fitz and the Tantrums
  • Amanda Palmer, does she really need a byline?
  • Peaches, electro raunch queen
  • Theresa Andersson, Swedish born/New Orleans dwelling songstress
  • Jolie Holland, Americana singer-songwriter
  • Faye Carol, jazz/blues vocalist
  • Rachel Flotard, of Visqueen and backup vocalist for Neko Case
  • Rykarda Parasol, songwriter of dark metaphoric tunes
  • Grass Widow, SF postpunk phenoms.
  • Laura Bergmann, of The Family Crest
  • Netta Brielle, hip hop/R&B vocalist
  • Megan Smith, of SF based Misner & Smith
  • Melora, of Rasputina
  • Evie Ladin, old time banjo player
  • Kelly McFarling, Americana singer-songwriter
 Please consider contributing!

Friday, July 6, 2012

First blog post on Hear it Local "Think Like Amanda Palmer"

I'm very excited to announce that writing is finally PART of my job.

I started blogging back in 2008 because I needed to tell SOMEONE about what was inspiring me musically. I was out of graduate school and writing about music was no longer something I did on a daily basis, but I still had to do it.

I post here, I post on Examiner.com although I barely notice the pennies I get from them... however I do enjoy the free tickets and awesome seats I can sometimes score.

But, since Hear it Local is pushing super hard right now to make things happen and we've started publishing original content, I get to post a blog a week. IT'S PART OF MY JOB!

Luckily, I had written about Amanda Palmer (thanks to my friend Jessica) three years ago when she had blogged about why artists should demand financial respect from fans. Because of her recent super duper successful kickstarter campaign, it's something that is relevant again.

I'm pretty proud of this little piece of writing.

READ MY HEAR IT LOCAL POST HERE!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

'The Blues Brothers' (playlist!), 'Stand by Me' and Oakland's Paramount Theater

the lobby of the Paramount Theater
The Paramount Theater in Oakland is one of my favorite places to be. Not only is it incredibly gorgeous, I've seen two of my most favorite movies there this summer: 'Stand by Me' and 'the Blues Brothers' FOR FIVE BUCKS!

CLICK TO LISTEN TO MY 'BLUES BROTHERS' SPOTIFY PLAYLIST (or click play at the bottom of this post)

Both of these movies have two of my most favorite soundtracks of all time. So there has been lots of singing. There has also been boo'ing, cheering and lots giggling. There is something so wonderful about seeing a movie that is near and dear to your heart with a room full of people that love it too.

Check it out for yourself! All movies on Friday nights, 8pm, $5.

July 13 - Apollo 13
August 3 - Ghostbusters
August 17 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
September 7 - An American Werewolf in London
September 28 - The Breakfast Club

I've blogged about this before, but the Paramount also does tours every first and third Saturdays of the month, also for $5. See my slide show here.