Coming up on the gluttonous kick-off to the insanity of the next 5 weeks - I'm preparing for a lot of overwhelming activity - eating, drinking, spending, traveling and many bouts of emotional outburst.
Right or wrong, I'm not one to focus on the historic and/or religious significance of this time - I grew up in a largely secular household, whereby the "holiday spirit" meant partaking in tireless traditions of which I feel so fortunate to have been part. Whether it be the annual Eisenberg NYC holiday dinner ("Dad, finally you get to see the big city!" -- he's been commuting here for 35 yrs), or Brandon's bizarrely accurate sound effects for Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time", we typically leave no stone unturned, memory-wise.
In recent years, with both my brothers/sister-in-law elsewhere in the country, it's no longer guaranteed that we'll all be together during the holidays. Last year was the first in several we were able to swing it. While sadly, neither my brothers, nor my niece / coming nephew will be 'round this time, I look forward to us joining again in the early new year -- to welcome baby Henry!
Change is ever-present, commanding you not take time with loved ones for granted... of this, I am increasingly aware. And I will be reflecting on that most of all in the coming 5.
Ok ... this entry is far more corny than planned. Blame Santa.
Bottom line though, sincerely ... I'm thankful for all of you, near and far.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Now Listen Here. . .
July brought the release of The Possessions' latest full length album, Ocean Blue. We booked Pianos for the release party - what a blast! In true LES venue form, we took the stage a good hour and a half later than scheduled, but 'twas well worth the wait, we were told.
Ocean Blue is a step up for Frank as a songwriter/producer, and myself as a vocalist. I have to say, we really tightened up our game. The lion's share of the work, as always, was on Frank's plate - but in my own working world, I burst through so many barriers that had held me back on Carousel. The honesty in our partnership intensified and the product resulting in that process shines much brighter. <here's where I would provide a link to cdbaby so that you may procure yourself a copy - but technical difficulties have halted our presence there temporarily -- stay tuned -- in the mean time, I'm happy to send a free copy>
Currently, as Papa Frank settles into a new house on an Island called Staten, we're texting lyrics back and forth, singing choruses into voicemail and plotting our next moves when we're able to get working together again. I am so excited for the house studio in which we'll next record!
The lyrics I'm writing are for a song I want to expand and contract rapidly. I'm sort of picturing it as Dizzy Gillespie's cheeks. What in part influences this song is the rock music I listened to having lived /shared a car with 2 older brothers / rock afficionados. Many of these bands employed a loud-quiet-loud dynamic. Nirvana, The Pixies, Jawbreaker, etc. . have been best known to work with this structure - but it's also evident in many of the soul and funk compositions I listen to most days. Even in Delaney and Bonnie's, "I'm Not Your Lover .. " - the way the choir presence pops and fades... it's less drastic than in rock form - but the emotional effect on the listener, I believe is similar.
The line I keep returning to in the quiet is "If I Had it My Way. . "
... maybe it's about life, about love .. or perhaps a dissatisfying experience at Burger King. You'll just have to wait and listen.
'night.
Ocean Blue is a step up for Frank as a songwriter/producer, and myself as a vocalist. I have to say, we really tightened up our game. The lion's share of the work, as always, was on Frank's plate - but in my own working world, I burst through so many barriers that had held me back on Carousel. The honesty in our partnership intensified and the product resulting in that process shines much brighter. <here's where I would provide a link to cdbaby so that you may procure yourself a copy - but technical difficulties have halted our presence there temporarily -- stay tuned -- in the mean time, I'm happy to send a free copy>
Currently, as Papa Frank settles into a new house on an Island called Staten, we're texting lyrics back and forth, singing choruses into voicemail and plotting our next moves when we're able to get working together again. I am so excited for the house studio in which we'll next record!
The lyrics I'm writing are for a song I want to expand and contract rapidly. I'm sort of picturing it as Dizzy Gillespie's cheeks. What in part influences this song is the rock music I listened to having lived /shared a car with 2 older brothers / rock afficionados. Many of these bands employed a loud-quiet-loud dynamic. Nirvana, The Pixies, Jawbreaker, etc. . have been best known to work with this structure - but it's also evident in many of the soul and funk compositions I listen to most days. Even in Delaney and Bonnie's, "I'm Not Your Lover .. " - the way the choir presence pops and fades... it's less drastic than in rock form - but the emotional effect on the listener, I believe is similar.
The line I keep returning to in the quiet is "If I Had it My Way. . "
... maybe it's about life, about love .. or perhaps a dissatisfying experience at Burger King. You'll just have to wait and listen.
'night.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
ch-ch-ch-ch
At long last, I've decided to get writing again. Promises promises, I know :)
So. . what's up.
Changes made and changes on the horizon, as ever. 2009, I have to tell you, has been a hell of a ride. I'll be carrying its bags to the car with unbridled enthusiasm come December's end. This is certainly not to say there haven't been wonderful times and learning experiences -- I just look forward to finding the levity and light that's still proving to be a bit elusive.
So. . how to find.
I returned to a dance solo I'd begun working on mid-summer. It's likely to be the most clearly emotional work I've done in years -
Having said goodbye to most of my beloved cast of dancers, (babies, grad school, etc. . ) I'm entirely focused on my own body as the performer. Typically, my solos have served more as a cameo-type presence between group pieces - which frankly I enjoy more - but with a cast of one hired, moi, I'm to tackle the challenge.
My initial inspiration several months ago was a need to exhume feelings I was having over the end of an era (read: break-up, a bit of self-prescribed movement therapy) but as I kept digging into what there was to be addressed, I discovered that there was something much deeper and broader to unearth. This was about repetition, patterns, cycles - positive and negative forces coarsing through my body. The patterns I focused on clearly identified themselves within other territories of my life.
Scholars of my work (ha) will remember that I've worked with concepts similar to these before, but in a more edgy and agressive form. I won't give away too many secrets (my publicist hovers as I type)- but it's taking form as an exploration in plain pedestrian and abstract movement motifs.
There are a number of work in progress series happening where I'll be showing it's development - will certainly keep you up to date on those events.
So .. what else.
Saw a very groovy photography exhibit at Aperture Gallery -- www.aperture.org
Michael Wolf -- you'll be entranced.
Next blog will be a musical one ... for now, it's bedtime.
thank you for reading.
t.
So. . what's up.
Changes made and changes on the horizon, as ever. 2009, I have to tell you, has been a hell of a ride. I'll be carrying its bags to the car with unbridled enthusiasm come December's end. This is certainly not to say there haven't been wonderful times and learning experiences -- I just look forward to finding the levity and light that's still proving to be a bit elusive.
So. . how to find.
I returned to a dance solo I'd begun working on mid-summer. It's likely to be the most clearly emotional work I've done in years -
Having said goodbye to most of my beloved cast of dancers, (babies, grad school, etc. . ) I'm entirely focused on my own body as the performer. Typically, my solos have served more as a cameo-type presence between group pieces - which frankly I enjoy more - but with a cast of one hired, moi, I'm to tackle the challenge.
My initial inspiration several months ago was a need to exhume feelings I was having over the end of an era (read: break-up, a bit of self-prescribed movement therapy) but as I kept digging into what there was to be addressed, I discovered that there was something much deeper and broader to unearth. This was about repetition, patterns, cycles - positive and negative forces coarsing through my body. The patterns I focused on clearly identified themselves within other territories of my life.
Scholars of my work (ha) will remember that I've worked with concepts similar to these before, but in a more edgy and agressive form. I won't give away too many secrets (my publicist hovers as I type)- but it's taking form as an exploration in plain pedestrian and abstract movement motifs.
There are a number of work in progress series happening where I'll be showing it's development - will certainly keep you up to date on those events.
So .. what else.
Saw a very groovy photography exhibit at Aperture Gallery -- www.aperture.org
Michael Wolf -- you'll be entranced.
Next blog will be a musical one ... for now, it's bedtime.
thank you for reading.
t.
Monday, February 23, 2009
few setbacks .. but still movin'
Hey ...
SO .. those of you who have marked your calendars ... the February 28th launch date for Ready or Not has been postponed.
We fought it, but in the face of choreographer cancellations and difficulties with the our scheduled time in the space, we felt it best to push it back. This is going to be a fantastic series - it should have the launch of which it is worthy.
We are working on nailing down an April date . . stay tuned!
In Possessions news .. .Frank and I are recording our upcoming album, finishing up in the next few weeks. Laying vocals down has been exhausting, but deliciously so. We are doing this up right -- Ocean Blue is gonna be off the chain!
SO .. those of you who have marked your calendars ... the February 28th launch date for Ready or Not has been postponed.
We fought it, but in the face of choreographer cancellations and difficulties with the our scheduled time in the space, we felt it best to push it back. This is going to be a fantastic series - it should have the launch of which it is worthy.
We are working on nailing down an April date . . stay tuned!
In Possessions news .. .Frank and I are recording our upcoming album, finishing up in the next few weeks. Laying vocals down has been exhausting, but deliciously so. We are doing this up right -- Ocean Blue is gonna be off the chain!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
my own number one
hey guys. hope you had a wonderful weekend!
i received a very exciting invite last night from one of my favorite rock bands, the kimballs (linkeroo to your left -- ) this is a band i've gotten to know through david, who used to take drum lessons from lead vocalist / guitarist tom burns. i've worked with them before, singing harmonies and back-up for such kimballs classics as "1933" and "brenda".
WELL. tom, (affectionately known as "tommy kimball") has asked me to be a featured vocalist on their upcoming album to be recorded this month. i don't consider myself to be a rock vocalist, but tom is skilled in bringing varied talents into his vision and producing a surprisingly seamless blend. i wouldn't have the nerve to call myself the merry clayton to his mick, but, the rock-soul hybrid we work with strives for a fusion with similar effects.
i love the kimballs because the kimballs love music. the unbridled enthusiasm and purely positive energy that infuses their recordings and live performances make them one of the most exciting, yet best kept secrets in the NY / NJ area. i am thrilled to work on this next album with them! updates on release and show dates to come in the next month or so .. .
i received a very exciting invite last night from one of my favorite rock bands, the kimballs (linkeroo to your left -- ) this is a band i've gotten to know through david, who used to take drum lessons from lead vocalist / guitarist tom burns. i've worked with them before, singing harmonies and back-up for such kimballs classics as "1933" and "brenda".
WELL. tom, (affectionately known as "tommy kimball") has asked me to be a featured vocalist on their upcoming album to be recorded this month. i don't consider myself to be a rock vocalist, but tom is skilled in bringing varied talents into his vision and producing a surprisingly seamless blend. i wouldn't have the nerve to call myself the merry clayton to his mick, but, the rock-soul hybrid we work with strives for a fusion with similar effects.
i love the kimballs because the kimballs love music. the unbridled enthusiasm and purely positive energy that infuses their recordings and live performances make them one of the most exciting, yet best kept secrets in the NY / NJ area. i am thrilled to work on this next album with them! updates on release and show dates to come in the next month or so .. .
Monday, January 12, 2009
don't call it a comeback!
(call it me being a big fat lazy-pants who has not been updating my blog as promised)
hi everyone.
sorry for being a blog-tease. there are so many thoughts, ideas, happenings and almost-happenings running around in this brain of mine, i'm inhibited by the open-ends. i think it's possible to have enough, too much to say, that it shuts you up entirely.
ive been thinking this morning, about that time i could not stop writing. i remember when i first got my driver's license, i was at the height of my writing addiction. i used to drive off to various diners, benches, train stations ... didn't really matter where. i just watched and wrote, watched and wrote. journals upon notebooks upon diaries ... full.
after traveling solo through europe, i came home with luggage 5lbs heavier - not with gifts and knick-knacks . .. with words! (i know, i am very considerate)
my parents had a house fire about 2 years ago, a house that held all those words. the reality of nearly losing my parents trumped mourning, what was comparatively, just a lot of old notebooks - but every once in a while i wonder what the hell i was talking about so much. certainly they were not words to rival those of Shakespeare; more like current boy drama, a little creative fiction, environment observations and dance diagrams - but it was a me i'd like to reconnect to, however inane a lot of those words may have been.
the obvious difference between this tracyblog and the old word habit is that i am not talking to some abstract, welcoming entity with an endless attention span. i am actually talking to someone right now. maybe even 2 people! it's a little hard to write without peeking through the potential readers' eyes, but i will take a tip from micol ostow and write through that consciousness.
it's a performance. i like those. we'll get to more of those shortly.
new year's reservations. ..
2009, for me decidedly, is the year of finding that balance of focused action with free expression - likely the biggest challenge i face as a person and as an artist. the gift of curiosity is indeed, delivered left-handed. i am perpetually in that mouse-in-a-maze state of navigating toward solid, tangible reward.
performing artists, at least in my experience, experience rather drastic highs and lows. you're tempted enough to indulge in a more momentary "reward" - visceral, positive, pure ... the least complicated your life gets. and then, the drop. i see the drop, i hear the drop, i feel the drop. those who manage to keep up their stage presence probably bypass that state - but when you're bogged down in the logistics of life between sets - job-finding, bills, relationships, (i have to update my blog!) and even the inevitable offstage creative process, however otherwise fulfilling, can cuff you to the drop. i don't want to get depressing, but writing about it helps levitate it all a little.
so, since a career in neurology does not hold my interest much (beg as they might .. ) i am refreshing my approach toward working, really working, toward bridging those highs and no longer romanticize the lows - the more i talk about them the more they feel adolescent and less authentically who i want to be today. (so nothing against adolescents, i just don't happen to be one.)
so, as promised ... focus. action. expression.
READY OR NOT!
(this is my new choreography venture with my dancer-in-crime Laura Spaziani -- below is the official announcement - if you know any choreographers seeking to show new work, send them this way! the inaugural performance will be february 28th)
Ready or Not is a choreography performance series that sets the stage and provides a network for artists developing new work.
Each Ready or Not production will showcase the work of choreographers (of various styles and disciplines) inspired by a common theme. Themes will be pre-determined by Ready or Not creators, Tracy Eisenberg and Laura Spaziani.
Participating choreographers are encouraged to return to more than one showing, as part of the Ready or Not mission is to build a community and support system for artists navigating the creative process.
In addition to feedback opportunities at Ready or Not productions, Eisenberg and Spaziani will host several open online forums at popular sites such as Blogspot, Facebook and Myspace. These pages will provide pertinent show information and a forum for performers, spectators and other online participants to communicate through and within the growing Ready or Not network.
The range of topic in these discussions can be anything from continued feedback on a previous show, to postings from a Ready or Not choreographer calling for a new live drummer.
The process for choreographers to join Ready or Not is a brief application calling for a basic description of their work and background.
The first Ready or Not production will take place February 28th at The Stables in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
THE POSSESSIONS!
New album February/March 2008 --- working title is Ocean Blue. so far, it is shaping up to be a more roots blues venture with a splash of good ol' pop you can dance to.
i am so excited for this - frank and i are booking shows locally to test out some of the new material (including sunday February 15th at tea lounge, park slope)
more shows / details very soon ...
hi everyone.
sorry for being a blog-tease. there are so many thoughts, ideas, happenings and almost-happenings running around in this brain of mine, i'm inhibited by the open-ends. i think it's possible to have enough, too much to say, that it shuts you up entirely.
ive been thinking this morning, about that time i could not stop writing. i remember when i first got my driver's license, i was at the height of my writing addiction. i used to drive off to various diners, benches, train stations ... didn't really matter where. i just watched and wrote, watched and wrote. journals upon notebooks upon diaries ... full.
after traveling solo through europe, i came home with luggage 5lbs heavier - not with gifts and knick-knacks . .. with words! (i know, i am very considerate)
my parents had a house fire about 2 years ago, a house that held all those words. the reality of nearly losing my parents trumped mourning, what was comparatively, just a lot of old notebooks - but every once in a while i wonder what the hell i was talking about so much. certainly they were not words to rival those of Shakespeare; more like current boy drama, a little creative fiction, environment observations and dance diagrams - but it was a me i'd like to reconnect to, however inane a lot of those words may have been.
the obvious difference between this tracyblog and the old word habit is that i am not talking to some abstract, welcoming entity with an endless attention span. i am actually talking to someone right now. maybe even 2 people! it's a little hard to write without peeking through the potential readers' eyes, but i will take a tip from micol ostow and write through that consciousness.
it's a performance. i like those. we'll get to more of those shortly.
new year's reservations. ..
2009, for me decidedly, is the year of finding that balance of focused action with free expression - likely the biggest challenge i face as a person and as an artist. the gift of curiosity is indeed, delivered left-handed. i am perpetually in that mouse-in-a-maze state of navigating toward solid, tangible reward.
performing artists, at least in my experience, experience rather drastic highs and lows. you're tempted enough to indulge in a more momentary "reward" - visceral, positive, pure ... the least complicated your life gets. and then, the drop. i see the drop, i hear the drop, i feel the drop. those who manage to keep up their stage presence probably bypass that state - but when you're bogged down in the logistics of life between sets - job-finding, bills, relationships, (i have to update my blog!) and even the inevitable offstage creative process, however otherwise fulfilling, can cuff you to the drop. i don't want to get depressing, but writing about it helps levitate it all a little.
so, since a career in neurology does not hold my interest much (beg as they might .. ) i am refreshing my approach toward working, really working, toward bridging those highs and no longer romanticize the lows - the more i talk about them the more they feel adolescent and less authentically who i want to be today. (so nothing against adolescents, i just don't happen to be one.)
so, as promised ... focus. action. expression.
READY OR NOT!
(this is my new choreography venture with my dancer-in-crime Laura Spaziani -- below is the official announcement - if you know any choreographers seeking to show new work, send them this way! the inaugural performance will be february 28th)
Ready or Not is a choreography performance series that sets the stage and provides a network for artists developing new work.
Each Ready or Not production will showcase the work of choreographers (of various styles and disciplines) inspired by a common theme. Themes will be pre-determined by Ready or Not creators, Tracy Eisenberg and Laura Spaziani.
Participating choreographers are encouraged to return to more than one showing, as part of the Ready or Not mission is to build a community and support system for artists navigating the creative process.
In addition to feedback opportunities at Ready or Not productions, Eisenberg and Spaziani will host several open online forums at popular sites such as Blogspot, Facebook and Myspace. These pages will provide pertinent show information and a forum for performers, spectators and other online participants to communicate through and within the growing Ready or Not network.
The range of topic in these discussions can be anything from continued feedback on a previous show, to postings from a Ready or Not choreographer calling for a new live drummer.
The process for choreographers to join Ready or Not is a brief application calling for a basic description of their work and background.
The first Ready or Not production will take place February 28th at The Stables in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
THE POSSESSIONS!
New album February/March 2008 --- working title is Ocean Blue. so far, it is shaping up to be a more roots blues venture with a splash of good ol' pop you can dance to.
i am so excited for this - frank and i are booking shows locally to test out some of the new material (including sunday February 15th at tea lounge, park slope)
more shows / details very soon ...
Thursday, October 9, 2008
opening night ...
it can drive you wild, but the nerves and anticipation of an opening show night is positively intoxicating.
can't wait to share all of this with all of you.
xo t
can't wait to share all of this with all of you.
xo t
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
