The Songs Made Us – Celebrating JL’s birthday, featuring…
Musicians:
Danette Christine & Rober Luis, Jeanne Newhall, Jami Lula, Jason Luckett, Joselyn & Don, J Ramada, Mary Scholz, Robbie McDonald, Ruthann Friedman, Sara Melson, Stefanie Naifeh & JP, Steve Key, Willie Aron and maybe more…
Dancers:
Haize Hawke, Hilary Thomas
As we lead up to the show, follow the backstory on my Substack and Medium.
I’m creating a soundtrack of life, love, and comfort this year for my birthday … sung and/or played by my friends. I want it to feel a trip to the family home where the old records still sit by the turntable. We may bring some new ones to share where we are now, but the root is in the music that Dad or Mom might use to remind me of what led to this musical life.
Is it a Bacharach song? Is it the Beatles? Is it something written by Jimmy Webb, Paul Williams, Paul Simon, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Nina Simone, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Elton John or Pete Townshend? Or could be those records they really didn’t get — the ones that got me through adolescence by Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, or The Smiths? Or the stuff we shared like Earth, Wind & Fire, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Bill Withers and most of all Stevie Wonder? Get the picture?
This year, I’m older than my father when he died and my mom can’t tell stories like she did since her stroke, so I just want to feel that lifelong connection and share it with people I love. I want this to feel like a musical hug and a tribute to songs, songwriters and the inspiration we gather from them.
Most artists will do one song and I’ll do a few.
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