Vocals

Vaudevillain Revue presents “The Bootlegger’s Ball” – February 10, 2012

Looking forward to making my second appearance as a Vaudevillain, this time in a 1920’s/1930’s themed show, which is definitely up my alley. I’ll be lending my dancing, vocal, and choreography talents to this show – very excited!

Here’s the skinny:

The VaudeVillain Revue is back with their biggest, most ambitious show yet – The Bootlegger’s Ball!! We’ll take you back to the Roaring 20s and into the 30s, with flappers, gangsters, big bands, and jazz. The cast for this show is fantastic, including aerialists, hoopers, pole athletes, burlesque dancers, jazz dancers, and the mentalist and magician, The Amazing Leoni. Guest performers include the banjo-player extraordinaire Curtis Eller, darkly beautiful belly dancer, Amelia Mourningstar, and a visit from NYC’s tapper, flapper, and gal-about-town, Kristen Minksy (one half of the NYC duo, The Minsky Sisters). This is not a show to be missed!

Doors open at 9:00 p.m., show starts at 10:00 p.m.. $15 at the door, $12 in advance. Vintage or costume attire desired, but not required. There will be prizes from our sponsors, Galaxy Cinema and Aradia Fitness, and a new seating plan to better accommodate our guests!

Advance tickets available here. We will sell out, so make sure to get your tickets ahead of time and get in line early to make sure you get a good seat!

Be My Jazz Baby, January 20-22, 2012

I am excited to be performing at the very first Be My Jazz Baby, a weekend of workshops and dances in Norfolk, Virginia, January 20-22, 2012. Bill Speidel and Victor Celania have put together a fantastic schedule, featuring instructors Michael Gamble, Jaya Dorf, Adam Speen, and Abigail Browning, with Drew Nugent and the Midnight Society of Philadelphia bringing their raucous jazz age tunes to both Friday and Saturday night dances. I’ll be singing a few tunes with Drew and the boys!

Bill and Victor have also made arrangements for a number of vendors to attend Be My Jazz Baby, so Lindy Shopper will be on hand to get the scoop. 😉 Looking forward to Be My Jazz Baby!

Eastern Balboa Championships 2011

This weekend, November 3-6, is the Eastern Balboa Championships, the epic Balboa workshop and competition weekend that takes place in Raleigh, NC every year. I’m pleased to be a part of the DJ roster again this year, along with head DJ Kyle Smith, DJ Kristy Milliken, and DJ Abigail Browning. I am also excited to be a featured vocalist with Russ Wilson’s Nouveau-Passe Orchestra on Saturday night.

On Saturday, I have made arrangements with the Raleigh Vintage Collective to have a trunk show at EBC from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. that will feature clothing and accessories for men and women from the 1920’s, 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s. This is an exciting prospect because everything offered will be era-appropriate for swing dancing! Lindy Shopper will be reporting, of course.

Closed Doors, Open Windows, and Starting a New Band

In light of recent events and a lot of questions from friends and fans, I feel the need to clarify a few things. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Atomic Rhythm All-Stars bandleader, George Knott, terminating my involvement with the band as the vocalist and as the marketing person for the band. My involvement was terminated over a dispute regarding intellectual property rights. As of two weeks ago, I will no longer be performing with the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars and have been removed from all future performance dates.

I’d like to thank those of you who have been supportive of me during this time. It’s tough to pour your heart and soul into a project for three years, use your contacts to obtain gigs for the band, invest time and effort into developing an online presence and fan base, share in the joys and woes of being part of a band, and see something you got into on the ground floor grow and flourish, only to have your efforts and talents be deemed unnecessary.

To borrow from lyrics, the song is ended, but the melody lingers on…after hearing the news, my friends expressed that I should start my own band. I discussed this with my husband, trombone player and arranger Lucian Cobb, who is leaving the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars as well, and we both decided that we love this music too much to stop playing it. As our options for joining other bands as regular members are non-existent in Raleigh/Durham, we will be forming our own group to play 1920’s, 30’s, and 40’s jazz, featuring Lucian’s arrangements from Atomic and many more new arrangements. We will also need a band name, equipment, ideas for songs, a book, a website, and gigs, among other things I’m sure we haven’t considered. It’s hard to start all over again, but, hopefully, we will continue our dreams of playing vintage jazz music and share the joy of this music through a different conduit.

We already have a gig on the books for next year and are accepting gigs for dates in March 2012 and beyond. Thank you to everyone who has faith in my abilities as a vocalist, organizer, and business-woman. I look forward to performing for you again!

Jammin’ on the James 2011

The Blue Crescent Syncopators are playing the Saturday night dance at Jammin' on the James

This weekend I will be traveling to Richmond, Virginia to DJ and sing at this year’s Jammin’ on the James, Richmond’s annual swing dance workshop weekend, featuring instructors Carla Heiney, Nick Williams, Casey Schneider, and Mike Faltesek.

I’ll be sharing DJ duties with Bill Speidel and hopefully grab some time to go vintage shopping with this infamous sartorialist. I’ve been invited to share the stage for the first time with Washington, D.C.’s Blue Crescent Syncopators, so I will be singing a few tunes with this band on Saturday night. It’s also my birthday this weekend, so there’s a lot to look forward to at Jammin’ on the James!

Peter Lamb and the Wolves at Carrboro Arts Center

Peter Lamb and the Wolves will play a concert at the Carrboro Arts Center this Sunday, October 2, 2011. I will be joining the Wolves onstage for a few songs and so will Lucian Cobb, the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars‘ trombone player extraordinaire.

From the Arts Center website:

“The dance floor will be open for Peter Lamb and The Wolves’ Arts Center debut! Named best Jazz group in the Triangle, this young quintet lives up to their fairy-tale namesakes. The Wolves peddle languid sophistication that is always a little bit dangerous–their repertoire reaches back to New Orleans’ earliest syncopaters but also forward to hipster bards like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. http://www.peterlambandthewolves.com. Recommended for fans of: James Hunter, Sam Cooke.”

Single Admission: $11
Members Single Admission: $9
Day-of-show non-members: $13

Get your tickets in advance through the Carrboro Arts Center’s website: http://artscenterlive.org/event/performance/527