What's in a Name?

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to be a musical guest on a local TV show (click to watch). I was there in anticipation of a performance later that same week, so the station was interested in having me there to perform and talk about the upcoming concert. Halfway through the live interview I noticed that my name on the enormous projection screen inside the studio was misspelled. I immediately pointed it out to the host (we happened to be on a commercial break) and it was soon remedied, but the tape had already rolled and the beginning of my interview was to always remain stamped with my incorrectly spelled name. For a former national spelling bee state finalist, mistakes like these can be rather frustrating and difficult to swallow... This experience caused me to empathize with all my favorite singers and artists over the years who likely experienced a similar blunder by the press. But even if Bing Krosby, Frank Sinnatra, Judie Garland and Mel Tormay had been misrepresented by faulty nomenclature, their faithful fans still know who they are! We still love and cherish their wonderful work! Nobody is exempt from innocent mistakes, no matter how egregious they seem to those who are the unsuspecting recipients of those mistakes... So sing on, Diana Kral and Jane Monhite! Keep on crooning, Tony Benet and Michael Bublie! We love you-- and I, for one, promise to respect and dignify you (after this silly blog is finished) by at least getting your NAME right.

Divas and Masters of Jazz

This photograph was taken on the evening I opened my newest show in my collection of touring shows: "Divas and Masters of Jazz!" Spring Island, SC was an ideal spot for this show opening, as my friends and fans there deeply appreciated this tribute performance honoring jazz voices of days gone by... Ella, Sarah, Billie, Bing, Frank, Peggy, Margaret, Dinah, Chet, Mel and Judy were all represented and warmly remembered. What an honor to be able to share their great music with new audiences! So often I am touched to hear "I never knew (s)/he sang that song... but I love it!" from folks of all ages, backgrounds and musical preferences. It seems that the Great American Songbook, once again, proves to be universally accessible to those willing to open their ears and listen. I am greatly looking forward to sharing this new piano/vocal solo show throughout the country, so please keep those concert requests coming! Once again, thank you for your support of live jazz, cabaret and the Great American Songbook, and I hope to see you at a concert very soon! :)

The songwriter's process of discovery

In my experience, songs are born, not made. I once wrote a song whose identity I did not discover until after I found myself in the recording studio making the music with my collaborative partner. We learned together that the song had a natural "country" feel, style, groove and affect. Being an experienced jazz singer (with a good deal of both classical and pop singing experience) I was a bit concerned about how my recording of this country song would sound! With a little help from my friends (my guitarist, John Chiodini, and recording engineer, Paul Tavenner) I found the right "voice" to pull it off, and my country single was born. This song has not yet been released, but I expect that it will be commercially available within a few months.

As I teach my songwriting class at USC Upstate, I encourage the students to understand that they cannot always superimpose a style upon a set of lyrics with the intention of forcing a song to become something it is not. A case in point, one of my students, aiming to compose a twelve-bar blues tune, wound up with a country-rock song instead. There was no way to push that song into the blues format he and I had intended, but that was ok! He had a new song from the experience, and learned that songs are sometimes just what they seem, regardless of the initial intention of the composer or lyricist. When we allow songs to unfold gently upon our pianos, guitars and pens, we can learn to accept the outcomes as gifts from the muse rather than beating them to a pulp to match our original plans. We might just love the results of simply letting it flow...

Looking Forward

As I put the month of November away, I am glad to see some promising things and experiences on the horizon... December will bring an always-welcome opportunity to return to the gorgeous island of Oahu to enjoy Christmas Eve singing at the First Baptist Church of Honolulu! In February I will perform my inaugural jazz concert at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg, SC with the wonderful commercial music faculty from University of South Carolina Upstate, of which I am now a proud member. I'll return to that stage with my Peggy Lee Project in April, following a soprano soloist appearance in Schubert's Mass in G at the USC Upstate Performing Arts Center. June will bring more touring, this time in Nashua, NH, among other places, and the summer promises some new recording possibilities.

Reviewing the year enables a working artist to reconnect with her goals and aspirations, revisit her career priorities and solidify yet-unmade plans to keep moving forward. Life can and will get in the way if one allows it to! Happy are they who remember who they are before the circumstances of life crowd out the truly joy-giving endeavors.

An Evening With Tish Oney

...is usually the title of my solo touring show when I spend the evening alone on a stage behind a piano (most of the time) singing and playing. My upcoming concert on September 11 will be a bit different... instead of going solo I will be joined by four wonderful musicians--Dr. Gregg Akkerman at the piano, Adam Knight on guitar, Shannon Hoover on bass and Tony Christopher on drums. We have set out to give the University of South Carolina Upstate community a taste of my various touring shows--there will be selections from "Jazz Seasons," my NYC cabaret show performed at both the Metropolitan Room (twice) and the Triad Theatre in Manhattan, "The Peggy Lee Project," performed nationwide at performing arts centers, regional theatres, jazz festivals and university concert series, and "Sweet Youth," my latest critically-acclaimed CD of originals and a few standards. We'll be trying different permutations of the band which will be fun... I'll be doing the solo thing and adding the rhythm section to that, tossing off an adorable bass/vocal duet, featuring different soloists on various tunes, trading with the group and doing both quartet and quintet arrangements. An eclectic evening, truly!

Tickets are $2 for students with ID, $5 for faculty and staff and $8 for the general public. These are hugely discounted from the normal price of tickets to my shows, so I highly encourage folks in the south to come, one and all! The performance will take place Tuesday, September 11 at 7:30 pm in the Performing Arts Center on the USC Upstate campus. For ticket information call the box office at 864-503-5695 Monday - Friday between 1 and 5 pm. We sincerely hope to see y'all there!

Traveling Considerations

I'm back on the road again this week and into my pre-performance routine. What is that? Packing, organizing, practicing, running errands, writing a blog, checking and double-checking to make sure I have my music, equipment, costumes, shoes, jewelry, stage makeup, CDs, CD table supplies, and just enough clothes to last until I return... Fitting it all into one carry-on and a personal item is then the real test... But I usually can do it! One very relevant piece of advice I once absorbed was "Only pack what you absolutely cannot live without... and then empty half your suitcase. Now you're ready to go." I have lived by that sage wisdom whenever I travel and miraculously it seems to work...

This week I'm looking forward to a relaxing time at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack mountains of northern New York! This near-Canadian experience is always a refreshing retreat from the busier cities where I am fortunate to work. On the docket: music by G.F. Handel, Cesar Franck and a couple of my favorite African-American spirituals. I am excited to work with the wonderful organist/pianist Nic Steltzer on this project. Just being in that deep-woods atmosphere lends an air of restfulness to my singing, so the music becomes sheer contentment and gratitude. I am so fortunate that I can spend my week enjoying the great outdoors and still call it work! This isn't work... this is pure joy. Join me if you can Sunday morning at Big Moose Chapel at the 9:30 or 11am services as we celebrate how music can draw us closer to God. Blessings to you all!

The Teacher-Performer

Balancing a successful performing career with teaching can be a challenge and a delight at the same time. I am very excited to accept an offer to be the new Assistant Professor of Commercial Music at the University of South Carolina Upstate. One refreshing element of this faculty appointment is that my touring performance career remains important to the university and to our department in that we aim to train commercial musicians who are competitive in today's music business. Helping to build necessary skills for these students requires teachers that are true artists out in the real world providing real music for real audiences... Since the university has given me its blessing in continuing to pursue my international recording and performance schedule (much like the role of violinist Midori Goto at my alma mater, University of Southern California), I am thoroughly stoked to begin this work alongside my creative work.

There are scores of professionally touring jazz and classical musicians currently thriving in faculty positions at universities and schools of music throughout the United States and the rest of the world. This fortunate evolution ensures that our music students are being taught by the leaders in their field. I am honored to now join the ranks of other teacher-performers who lead by example and who fulfill their teaching obligations while pursuing parallel performance careers that add beauty and art to the world. One of my heroes, acclaimed vocal pedagogue and singer Dale Moore, once took me aside and confided: "You are in the very best profession in the world." Dale, I can honestly say that I'm beginning to see the light!

Please join me for my first faculty recital at University of South Carolina Upstate on September 11 at 8pm in the Humanities and Performing Arts Center. I will be joined by the Faculty Jazz Combo featuring pianist Gregg Akkerman, guitarist Adam Knight and drummer Tony Christopher. For more information see www.tishoney.com.