Christine Lavin, sitting in for John Platt on WFUV, 90.7 FM on Sunday July 9, 2017 from 5:00 - 8:00 PM, the “Sunday Supper” show. The Broadway musical “Come From Away,” written by the husband and wife team of Irene Sankoff and David Hein, has inspired this broadcast — I scoured the earth looking for folk music that will appeal to theater fans, and theater music that will appeal to folk fans.

IN THE ARCHIVES FOR TWO WEEKS ONLY:  www.wfuv.org/weekendarchives

Scroll down to July 9th, click on it, then click on "Sunday Supper with John Platt" -- but it will be me instead.

We’ll begin with David Hein — not a song from “Come From Away,” but a song he wrote a few years before he co-wrote “Come From Away” — so you can hear his musical roots.

“Subway Sparrow” by Canadian singer/ songwriter David Hein, co- author of the Broadway musical “Come From Away,” who will be our live guest in the the third hour of Sunday Supper. This is from his 2006 album, “North Of Nowhere.” www.Comefromaway.com


"Side By Side" from the musical EXPRESS
Words and music by Janine McGuire & Arri Lawton Simon
Lead vocal by Marialena DiFabbio
Guitar by Jake Ezra Schwartz
Backing vocals by Kellie Cullinan, Janine McGuire, and Arri Lawton Simon (aka “McGuire & Simon”)
Produced by Reed Robbins

EXPRESS is an immersive musical that explores one woman's life in transit across three decades. "Side By Side" comes from the 1960s segment in which the characters are on their way to the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing, Queens. The song is a teenage girl's response to her mother's racial biases, and a call for equality and acceptance of all people.

EXPRESS premiered in 2015 at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn performed inside historic subway cars. An expanded version of the show will be workshopped this summer at the New York Film Academy with a performance open to the public on Saturday, August 5th at 2pm. For information about future productions, please visit [http:www.mcguireandsimon.com/express]

MARIALENA DiFABBIO is a singer, composer and lyricist. She recently wrote music for and performed in Between Friends at The Brick Theater, produced by The Sycamore Theatre Co. She and Susannah Jones are developing a new musical about Elizabeth Bisland and Nellie Bly, which will be workshopped at the Springworks Festival in Stratford Canada this fall.

JANINE McGUIRE and ARRI LAWTON SIMON are a NYC-based musical theatre writing team. They met at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and have been writing together for 4 years. Arri is originally from Wichita, Kansas and Janine is from New Jersey. McGuire & Simon collaborate together on the music, lyrics, and book for musicals as well as songs of all styles.

Their latest musical in development is BORDERS, an adaptation of the 2006 Israeli film The Bubble, which is about two men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, who fall in love.
www.mcguireandsimon.com
www.marialenadifabbio.com

“Dance Across The Sky” by Kipyn Martin

As part of the highest reward for the Kickstarter for my first album, I offered to write a song for my backers. My friend Sarah qualified as one of these backers, and let me know that she would like to have the song written for her mother, Rebecca, who had recently passed away. We met at a coffeeshop and talked for hours about the song. Before I knew it I had a notebook full of beautiful memories, images, and sentiments that Sarah shared with me. Though I didn't write a note for about six months, when did I finally sat down to pen the song, it wrote itself. I still remember the moments after I played this for Sarah for the first time at a park in Charles Town, WV. Neither of us said a word. We both really felt like the spirit of her mother was present, and sat in reverent silence for a few minutes. This song is for my friend Sarah, and is dedicated to the memory of her mother, Rebecca.

www.kipynmartin.com
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“If I Could Tell Her” sung by Ben Platt and Laura Dreyfuss from Dear Evan Hansen, song written by by Benj Hasek and Justin Paul

“Dear Evan Hansen” won many Tony Awards this year, including, “Best Musical” and “Best Actor in a Musical,” Ben Platt. This is just one of the songs in the show, written by Benj Hasek and Justin Paul, who also wrote the music for the film “La La Land.”

www.dearevanhansen.com
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“Making Friends With Gone” by Shari Ulrich

When my daughter Julia Graff was getting her Masters in Music in Sound Recording at McGill, she asked if she could record an album for me as her term
project. The month long window she gave me to write an entire album was terrifyingly, dauntingly short! I could only go on faith that if I "showed up" every day the songs would eventually come. After the first couple of weeks they came surprisingly easily.

During that time, it happened that several people in my orbit passed away. As often happens to me, the mood and spell of a simple chord pulled out this song. A song of loss - all hung on that time AFTER the memorial, when the beloved is left with a kind of “gone” that is unfathomable and yet a new ever-present companion that one has to reconcile with in SOME way. It’s such universal human experience and yet such a personal and private one. (photo: Shari on left, Julia her daughter on right)

SHARI ULRICH has been a touring multi instrumentalist (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, piano, & dulcimer), songwriter and singer all her adult life, after moving to Canada from the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Everywhere I Go” is her 8th solo album and my 23rd including with the groups The Pied Pumkin & The Hometown Band, and trios with Ulrich Henderson Forbes & Bentall Taylor Ulrich, and with the bluegrass band “The Highbar Gang.” She says, “Even after more than 40 years, I have never loved music more, been busier at it, and been more in awe of the power of song - and music.[ http://www.shariulrich.com] ————————————————————————————————————-

“Lost In The Waves,” music written by Michael Kooman and lyrics by Chris Dimond, sung by Anderson Davis

The song was written at the behest of Craig Carnelia, as well as Andrew Lippa, and Lari White, all three of whom were the master songwriters overseeing the Johnny Mercer Songwriting Workshop, which Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond attended in the summer of 2008.

Craig, Andrew, and Lari charged the songwriters with writing about something that scared them, and “Lost in the Waves” is what came out of that assignment.

Chris Dimond decided to write about something he had never really fully confronted before.

When he was nine, his family was vacationing on the east coast of the US. While swimming in the ocean, Chris and his sister got caught in a rip tide. Their father and uncle rushed in to save them, his uncle going after his sister, and his father after him. Somehow, his sister, his uncle, and Chris all made it back to shore, but his father did not.

It was a long time before he was able to go back to the beach again, but eventually, as an adult, he did. The perspective of the song is from one of those return trips, reflecting on that event, and how it has shaped the rest of his life. I know it was very difficult for Chris to share this information, and I thank him so much for doing so.

ANDERSON DAVIS is an American singer/actor. About him Michael and Chris say: “Anderson has performed roles in Les Miserables, High School Musical 2, and the national tour of South Pacific. He’s the guy you want to hate because he’s better looking, funnier, more talented, and smarter than you, but you can’t, ‘cause he’s nicer than you, too.” (that’s Anderson’s photo to the right)

www.koomandimond.com

koomandimond.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/behind-the-musical-anderson-davis
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“When” by Shaina Taub

July 19 and August 4th she will be performing at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater on Lafayette Street in Manhattan.

Shaina’s residency has been extended through the end of the year at Joe’s Pub.

www.shainataub.com

“Coffee Tango” sung by Sophie Buskin, with Emily Bindiger and Sherryl Marshall, written by David Buskin and Jake Holmes, from their musical in progress, “Victory Train.” This song is arranged by Robbie Kondor.

VICTORY TRAIN - Synopsis

VICTORY TRAIN is a story about the lives and fortunes of a group of young people serving in an army entertainment unit in Georgia in 1968. The Soldier Show, a presumably morale-raising effort directed particularly at new arrivals to the base, has become a haven for a handful of draftees who almost certainly would otherwise be Vietnam-bound. The Show and its GI director Rick have aroused the emnity of the Colonel, who is looking for an excuse to shut down what he considers to be an ill- conceived outfit of misfits and shirkers.

Rick finds himself involved with Julie, a young woman who, while waitressing at a coffee-shop near the post, is a member of a radical anti-war group responsible for increasingly violent protests. Julie is repelled by the gung-ho message Rick and the Show are putting out, but she can’t ignore her increasing attraction to and involvement with him. She is constantly urging him to use the platform of the Show to – at least once – advocate for a fairer social contract and an end to an illegitimate and cruel war. Rick resists for obvious reasons, until, in the wake of the Martin Luther King assassination (and an eye-opening conversation with two of the black troupers), he does make such a gesture – with far-reaching consequences to all.

While this story is being told, there is are intermittent flash-forwards to 2009, when Rick and Julie – after having lived two separate lives – meet again at the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC. There are new obstacles for Rick and Julie now, of course, and the rekindled relationship plays out and plays off against the backdrop of the old. Time alters some perceptions and the past enriches the present, as these young and old people try to get some perspective on their tumultuous era and their lives as participants in it.

Coffee Tango - Julie, a young woman involved in an anti-Vietnam-War group planning a violent protest, has just received a dressing-down from the group's leader, Jay, for consorting with the enemy - i.e., being seen around and about with Rick, a serving draftee. Julie is outraged that Jay has been spying on her; he retorts that he's only concerned with the security of their planned action, that what she does in her personal life is her business - that she should "do [her] own thing." He leaves her furious at his hypocrisy - the men in the group treat the women like junior partners, expecting them to do all the scut work and also to make themselves available sexually. Even in a group espousing peace and freedom for all, the women are expected to play a secondary - and subservient - role.

SOPHIE BUSKIN is a veteran – since age four (!) - of the NYC studio–singing scene. She was also, while at the Berklee College of Music, a member of the prestigious Berklee Gospel Choir. She has backed up Jewel, Little Anthony, Alana Davis, Marci Geller and Paul Schaffer, among others. She is currently working – in collaboration with her co-producers, Neale Eckstein and Steve Jagoda - on her first CD as a singer/ songwriter.

DAVID BUSKIN made about fifteen albums, most as half of the duo Buskin & Batteau or one-third of the notorious “geezer band” Modern Man. His songs and jingles have been recorded by many great artists; a sample: Judy Collins, Peter, Paul & Mary, Johnny Mathis, Astrud Gilberto, Tom Rush, Dixie Carter, Roberta Flack, Mel Tormé, Take 6, Phoebe Snow, Richie Havens and Arlo Guthrie. He is a New York Nightlife Award, Bistro Award and Clio Award winner. Earlier this year he was given the ASCAP Jamie deRoy Award for excellence in songwriting.

He’s organized or participated in numerous concerts for organizations like The Hole In The Wall Camp, Stand For The Troops and WHY/Hunger. For the last seven years he was a principal contributor to the late Isaiah Sheffer’s Thalia Follies, a thrice-yearly political cabaret in NYC. He has written special material for, among others, Bette Midler, Paul Newman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Whoopi Goldberg.

He is particularly proud of his recent acting debut as The Narrator, The Peddler and The Donkey in the York Theater’s revival of Sheldon Harnick’s “Dragons.” “Sheldon was speechless at my performance,” he says proudly. “In fact, he hasn’t spoken to me since.” wwwbuskinandbatteau.com

JAKE HOLMES is best known as a lyricist and songwriter. His music has been recorded and performed by such artists as Lena Horn, Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, The Four Seasons and Led Zeppelin. In the early eighties, Harry Belafonte sent Jake to Johannesburg to work with South African musicians on songs for Harry’s album “Paradise in Gazankulu.” It was there Jake fell in love with world music. It has been an obsession ever since. Jake has recorded five albums of his own and recently completed his sixth solo effort: Dangerous Times. He has played to concert audiences throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. His Musical “Sidewalking” was produced at the Manhattan Theater Club and earned a Drama Desk Award nomination. Jake ‘s song “Monsters Under My Bed” and 10 minute musical “Pigmailman” can be found in the musical “Story Time with Mr. Buttermen (Fables for Adults Living in a Modern world)” which premiered at La MaMa E.T.C. and has had runs at Center Stage,

NY, and Fringe NYC. Jake is internationally recognized for his impact on the world of advertising. He is the only advertising writer to be inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame for his music for commercials. His credits include “Be All That You Can be” (Us Army) “I’m A Pepper” (Dr. Pepper) “The UnCola” (7-Up), “Come See The Softer Side Of Sears” campaign, the Clio Award-winning “Little Old Ladies” for Lipton Tea and the “Less Is More” campaign for Charmin Tissues. Jake's passion for the spoken word recently led him to the Nuyorican Poet's Café where he has, on occasion, won the coveted ten dollar bill first prize.

ROBBIE KONDOR was born in Budapest, Hungary and grew up in Queens, NY, playing rock’n’roll in any garage or basement that would have him. Playing piano since age five, he later studied with Lennie Tristano, David Labovitz, and Francis Hall, culminating in a Bachelor's Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. While still in school, he began playing keyboards on recording sessions and soon became one of the most sought after studio musicians in New York.

His credits as keyboard player, arranger, producer, and/or synthesizer programmer include records with with such diverse artists as Eric Clapton, Jewel, Barbra Streisand, Luciano Pavarotti, Queen Latifah, Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, The Manhattan Transfer, the Bee Gees, Anita Baker, Bette Midler, Meat Loaf, Carole King, Dionne Warwick, Vanessa Williams, James Galway, Roberta Flack, Smashing Pumpkins, and many others. He produced and arranged four songs on Jewel's 2013 Christmas album, including one of his own.

He's played concerts and major tours with many of the above artists, and has also toured with Linda Ronstadt, Mariah Carey, Darlene Love, and with James Taylor and Carole King on their historic Troubadour Reunion Tour.

He is frequently seen on television, including The Grammys, The Kennedy Center Honors, Tony Awards, Pavarotti and Friends, In Performance At The White House, Comic Relief, and TV specials honoring John Lennon, Aretha Franklin, and Les Paul, just to name a few.

Most recently he was the musical director for two large events honoring Carole King - one for the Musicares Person of the Year, and the other for the Gershwin Prize for Songwriting, which was Kondor's third White House performance.

He has won three Emmy awards for his work in television, two Clios, a Telly, and an ADDY for his work in commercials, the Elevate Film Festival award for Best Original Score, and the NARAS Most Valuable Player award for his contributions as a studio musician. www.robbiekondor.com

“Casey Jones” by John McCutcheon from the musical, “Joe Hill’s Last Will” written by Si Kahn. John McCutcheon is a legend in the folk music world, working on his 40th album. There’s not enough room here to write about him, so go to www.folkmusic.com to learn more.

“The Sinking Of The Reuben James” by the cast of “Woody Sez” currently in residence at the Irish Rep Theater on West 22nd Street.

Every Sunday 5:30-6:30 a free hoot at the Store House Bar on 6th Ave & West 23rd til final performance (now August 20th!).

WOODY SEZ debuted in 2007 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The original cast included actor/muso's Darcie Deaville, Helen Russell, Andy Teirstein and David M. Lutken, who recorded the original cast album about a year later in Los Angeles. The show is enjoying a successful run at the Irish Rep Theater in NYC through August 20, 2017. The cast here is David M. Lutken, Helen Russell, Andy Teirstein, and Megan Loomis, all outstanding performers who perform this show with no microphones. The run was supposed to end on July 23rd, but it’s so well received it’s been extended to August 20th. Good on you, Woody Sez. Folk music is rockin’ the theater!

“Father’s Day” and “Dilated To Meet You” by Loudon Wainwright III from his theatrical show “Surviving Twin”

Loudon is a legend, too. Too many accomplishments to write em all here.

www.lw3.com

LOOK — Another legend or three — Jim Caruso singing “Tone Deaf,” written by John Forster, accompanied by Billy Stritch.

JIM CARUSO made his Broadway debut alongside Liza Minnelli in the smash hit Liza’s At The Palace!, singing, dancing and celebrating the music and arrangements of the late, great Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers. The show was honored with a 2009 Tony Award for Best Special Event and the recording was nominated for a Grammy.

For his nightclub work, Caruso has won six MAC Awards and two BackStage Magazine Bistro Awards for sold-out shows at Birdland, Arci’s Place, The Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, and The Russian Tea Room. He has also performed in runs at the Cinegrill and Gardenia in Los Angeles, The Vic Theater and Davenport’s in Chicago, Libby’s in Atlanta, the Colony Palm Beach Hotel in Florida and the Connaught Room in London.

His studio recording, “The Swing Set,” was called “a top drawer first-rate swinger” by Jazz Times and “a completely entertaining experience” by All About Jazz. His first CD, "Caruso Live and In Person," went to number one on both the album and singles charts at Outvoice.com. Jim was featured in a Tribute to Kander & Ebb at Carnegie Hall, backed by the New York Pops, and performed in a Tribute to Hope & Crosby in an evening hosted by Michael Feinstein at Zankel Hall.

As a writer, Jim has contributed to InStyle Magazine, Theatermania and InTheater Magazine For the past 15 years, he has hosted a weekly Monday night showbiz bash at Birdland called "Jim Caruso’s Cast Party,” which has brought him a New York Nightlife Award, MAC Award and the Sidney Meyer Award. He’s taken celebrity versions of the Party to Town Hall in New York, and celebrated local talent at venues in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Austin, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Francisco and on the high seas. The weekly “Broadway at Birdland” series he produces has also been honored with a Nightlife Award.

An award-winning composer, arranger, vocalist, and jazz pianist of extraordinary range and sophistication, BILLY STRITCH breathes new life into the Great American Songbook, all the while bringing an easy sense of humor and showmanship to his performances. He is currently on tour accompanying Tony Bennett in concert.

www.jim-caruso.com  www.billystritch.com   www.castpartynyc.com www.johnforster.com

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“Some Traveling Music” recited by Frank Sinatra, written by Rod McKuen. Rat pack poetry at its finest.
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“Charles Ives” by Jim Beloff

JIM BELOFF (pronounced Bee-loff) is the author of The Ukulele – A Visual History (Backbeat Books) and author, arranger, and publisher of the Jumpin’ Jim’s series of ukulele songbooks with well over 600,000 copies sold. This series is available worldwide and includes The Daily Ukulele: 365 Songs For Better Living and The Daily Ukulele: Leap Year Edition, two of the biggest and best-selling ukulele songbooks ever published. All Jumpin’ Jim’s songbooks are distributed by the Hal Leonard Corporation.

Jim produced Legends Of Ukulele, a CD compilation for

Rhino Records, and has made three how-to-play DVDs for Homespun Tapes. Jim is also an active songwriter and has released a number of CDs. His latest 2 CD set, “Dreams I Left In Pockets,” features 33 songs he wrote or co-wrote with uke legends Herb “Ohta-san” Ohta and Lyle Ritz.
In 1999, Jim composed and premiered “Uke Can’t Be Serious,” a concerto for solo ukulele and symphony orchestra. Since then the piece has been performed many times,most recently in 2016 with the Choate School orchestra in Germany and Austria and with the Michigan Philharmonic.

Jim and his wife, Liz Maihock Beloff, own Flea Market Music, Inc., a company dedicated to the ukulele. They regularly perform together playing their family’s Fluke, Flea and Firefly ukuleles. They have also gone on tours of Japan, Australia and Canada and believe in their company’s motto, “Uke Can Change the World.”

Jim says: My song "Charles Ives" was inspired by the composer Charles Ives who lived a double life around the early 1900s. He was known as a composer of challenging orchestral works while at the same time co-owning a highly successful insurance company based in New York City. Finding that balance between being an artist and paying the bills is the eternal struggle for many.

www.fleamarketmusic.com
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“Coming Back To You” by the Newfoundland group “The Once,” written by Leonard Cohen.

From their beginnings as three actors who also loved to sing together, The Once has embraced a different vision of Newfoundland music. Their sounds do not come from the noisy pubs and dockside taverns that fuel so much of the Island’s energy. Instead, their music comes from a quieter and more thoughtful place.

Hope and tragedy are intertwined in their music, whether they are singing an old lament from World War I, original songs that speak of love defeated, or tasteful songs from the artists whose music inspires them.
borealisrecords.com/artists/the-once      www.theonce.ca

“Come On Home”
by Henry Gross
This is a love song — a dedication from Allan in Englewood to Eileen in Englewood. Allan says, “It’s about me showing my appreciation that someone was there to take care of my wife in a way that I was not able to. I was just able to say thank you in a unique way, and my friend Henry Gross sings it.” Allan and Eileen are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, so this song is for you two, still in love after all these years.

HENRY GROSS: Heartache, triumph and love can be found in anyone's life, but put it to music and then you have the makings of an artist. Henry, one of the original members of Sha Na Na, then a solo star on his own, explores his fascinating history in this electrifying one man show. With music, jocularity and a great deal of nostalgia, Henry's stories and songs will take you back. Join Henry at a performing arts theater near you and feel what it is like to have "a" hit. www.henrygross.com
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“Come On Home” Henry Gross, written by Henry Gross and Roger Cook. I think on the air I goofed and said “Timothy Cook.” He is the head of Apple. Sorry Tim, but you should be so lucky to write a song with Henry Gross.
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On October 13 and 14 the Schimmel Center at Pace University will present two evenings of music hosted by Paul Shaffer celebrating the history of The Bottom Line. Go to https://www.facebook.com/BottomLineOralHistoryProject/ to leave the story of your favorite moment at this legendary Greenwich Village nightclub — a photo, a short video, or a written fond memory. Some of the best will be included in the concerts. —————————————————————————

“Last Song For You,” written by Hillary Rollins and Kevin Kelso, sung by Maude Maggart UNRELEASED RECORDING

MAUDE MAGGART is a sought-after cabaret star who has been widely praised for her vocal talent, her intelligent, emotional, witty interpretations, as well as for her taste in song selection, primarily from the American popular song book featuring the works of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Vernon Duke, and Rodgers and Hart. She has paid vocal tribute in her concerts to such popular singers and predecessors as Helen Morgan,Annette Hanshaw, Ruth Etting, Alice Faye, Helen Forrest and lyricist Marshall Barer.She is embraced as a protégée and colleague of such other performers as Michael Feinstein and Andrea Marcovicci. I call her a songwriter’s dream.

Hillary says: “Last Song For You” is probably self-explanatory. Suffice it to say that, as a lyricist, I seem to have a penchant for "ballads" (read: sad, unrequited, hopeless, heartbroken, low-self-esteem, longing, damaged-goods-no-one-will- ever-love-me, yearning, pathetic, slit-your-wrists-right-now-and-don't-look-back type songs . . . ”Dr. Freud, paging Dr. Freud!"...What can I tell you? They say "write what you know"). So, yes, it's a true story. But, as we all know, stories - and for that matter, truths - are ever-changing organisms. Am I over him? No. Never will be. That's the good news - a bottomless pit of fodder to amuse the muse. The bad news is, well...so many of us can relate! Okay, you may not be a songwriter - but I bet you have sworn to have written the last poem, or baked the last pie, or done the last load of laundry for him (or her) at some point or other. This is the last time. Again. And again. So there it is, you hopeless romantics, enjoy the sentiment -- and curse the heavens above if you find yourself relating. You can join me as I howl at the moon, the Fates, and Lady Luck. As for my co- writer, composer Kevin Kelso...well, he's happily married. But I guess he gets it. (Thanks, bro ;))

HILLARY ROLLINS, in addition to being a musical theatre lyricist and a singer/songwriter (which are her two favorite hats to wear!), she is a essayist whose work has appeared in the anthologies "An Ear To The Ground" and "In My Life: Encounters With The Beatles" (alongside such literary luminaries as Timothy Leary, Tom Wolfe, Allen Ginsberg) and a playwright who has been widely produced published in Plays and Playwrights 2005, Theatre Monologues for Women, and The Nantucket Short Play Anthology. Her ten minute play, Coitus Hate-Us, won first prize in Theatre Oxford’s Ten Minute Play Contest and her 9/11 one-act 29 Questions won a Goshen College Peace Play prize. Her musical Aging Out (co-written with Darin Goulet and Tara Redepenning) was produced at the Noho Arts Center, U.C. Irvine's School of the Arts, and Chattanooga State College. She is also a TV writer whose credits include The Disney Channel’s 1990's Mickey Mouse Club, Regan Tonight on FX, Goodnight America, The National TV Comedy Test starring comedian Rich Hall, The Chairman’s Choice starring Dick Van Dyke for Nickelodeon’s Nick-at-Nite, The USA Megamarathon starring Ed Begley, Jr., and Patti Lupone, and How To Be Donna Reed, for which she won an International Film & Television Awards gold medal.
www.hillaryrollins.com
www.maudemaggart.com
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"The Wheel Goes 'Round" from SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES by Brendan Milburn and Val Vigoda

Val Vigoda - vocals and electric violin Brendan Milburn - keys Gene Lewin - drums Curtis Moore - orchestration

In this show, co-written with Tony winner Rachel Sheinkin (THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE), Beauty declines to wake to the kiss of the prince and oversleeps for 900 years, ending up in a modern-day sleep disorder clinic.(The entire show is really about the question, how can we live truly awake in the world?) This song is the moment just before Beauty pricks her finger and falls asleep: the Bad Fairy tells Beauty all about the spinning wheel and lures her ever closer . . .

Val writes: As this musical trundles forward slowly through development, another of our projects, ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME -- co-written with Tony winner Joe DiPietro (MEMPHIS) -- is about to reopen in NYC after winning the Off-Broadway Alliance "Best New Musical" award this spring. The recording isn't quite done yet, but if you're interested in my/our work, here's where to go!

VAL VIGODA is an electric violinist, singer,
writer, former Army lieutenant, and founding
member of the band GrooveLily. She has
toured the world with Cyndi Lauper, Joe
Jackson and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and
recently released the acclaimed solo live-
looping multimedia project "Just Getting Good."
Co-writer of many songs for Disney, as well as
the scores for ten stage musicals (such as
ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME,
STRIKING 12, SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES,
TOY STORY: THE MUSICAL, WHEELHOUSE, LONG STORY SHORT, and BEAUTIFUL POISON) which have been produced from La Jolla Playhouse to Off-Broadway, she has won the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical (ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME), the Jonathan Larson Award for Excellence in Writing for the Theatre, the LA Ovation Award for Best Musical (SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES), and the ASCAP Richard Rodgers Award. An honors graduate of Princeton University, Val is also delighted to be the newest Artist Mentor in the groundbreaking, joyous Electrify Your Strings program, which brings rock arrangements and high-octane performance energy to school orchestras throughout the nation. Val will soon be returning to New York City to star in ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME, in a venue to be named shortly. Proudest production: 11-year-old son Mose.

www.valvigoda.com.     www.ernestshackletonlovesme.com
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“The Way It’ll Never Be Again” - Joseph Mulroy - BORN TO RIDE THE WAVES written by Joseph Mulroy, book by Mimi Leahey and Harry Nangle

In 1962, when women's surfing was an afterthought, aspiring surf champ Chrissy challenges the status quo by entering a major noseriding contest dressed as a guy. Growing up at Balboa Point, a rugged cove that produces the best waves on the California coast, she's been mentored by the colorful local surfers and is ready to compete. Her wealthy boyfriend Fletch has other ideas for her, including a role in a Beach Blanket horror flick he is producing. As the film crew disrupts the surfers' free- wheeling existence, Chrissy learns that Fletch's intentions have a darker side, a discovery that awakens her and the surfers to a changing world.

This song is a climactic moment in Born to Ride the Waves, a new musical about the end of a golden era for Southern California surfers.

The year is 1962, the post-war economic boom is in full swing, and we have just learned that their cherished big wave spot has been condemned to create a placid marina.

In this song, a World War II veteran-turned-patriarch of the local surf gang reminisces about their cove’s storied history and proposes a last ride together.

Composer/Lyricist JOSEPH MULROY trained at USC and in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, teaches at Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California. A longtime member of the Dramatists Guild, he sings lead and performs all the instruments on this recording, which features guest vocalists Matthew Levine and Audrey Sjobeck.
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“Two Guns Arizona” - Montgomery Delaney
Here is the story on Two Guns. . . . All of the songs on the record pay some type of homage to Terence Martin (who actually didn't think he looked like Harrison Ford and was in denial of that fact! lol).

He had written a lyric about Lake Havasu City . . . ”They took the London Bridge and put in the desert, with old ladies selling flowers as you cross."

Needles, California and Parker, Arizona are right near there. He loved that part of the country as do I. I was driving back to the Marine Base at 29 Palms California on Interstate 40 and passing through Two Guns (now an actual ghost town) in the summer of 76. A pretty girl was hitch hiking. I was drunk and late getting back to base. I initially passed her by. About two or three miles down the road, I turned around to get her. She was gone. The song is about what might have happened. It never did. I used the word "deciphered" in the song. One day at a diner, Terence and I were discussing cool words that we had never heard in songs. We wrote them on a napkin. After he died, I found that napkin and began to write songs using those words. You will also hear the words "smithereens" and "tentacle" on the CD. They are napkin words too.

MONTGOMERY DELANEY has been a sort of enigma on the singer songwriter scene for over thirty years as both a performing songwriter and presenter. He is a US Marine, a former NYC cop and a practicing trial lawyer who recently was twice nominated to run for a seat on the NYS Supreme Court. Not your typical folk bio!

His new CD, "Almost Anyone," as mentioned above, is a tribute to a dear friend of many of ours, the late, great songwriter, Terence Martin. Monty wrote all of the songs on this CD (with the exception of the title song, which is Terence's) to pay homage to Terence and his work. This song, " Two Guns Arizona," recalls the summer of 1976, as a tip of the hat to Terence's tune, "Dreamland," which speaks about this same part of the country, the Southern

border between California and Arizona. Using the duo America's iconic 1974 debut album as a backdrop for each chorus, the song describes a few days in the lives of two young, adventurous and unpredictable travelers. Listen for the use of the word "decipher." It's a word that Terence once wrote on a napkin during a chat that he had with Monty about unusual words that should be used in songs. Monty does just that here, in honor of his friend, in "Two Guns Arizona.”

www.montgomerydelaney.com
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Lines of Longitude - Chris & Meredith Thompson Christina Thompson writes:

Meredith and I wrote Lines of Longitude together. A roommate I had put the Gall-Peters projection map on her wall upside down.

NOTE: The Gall–Peters projection is a rectangular map projection that maps all areas such that they have the correct sizes relative to each other. Like any equal- area projection, it achieves this goal by distorting most shapes. The projection is a particular example of the cylindrical equal-area projection in that it sets latitudes 45° north and south as the regions on the map that have no distortion.

I remembered reading about different
projections of maps before (Mercator, etc),
but this really made me think more about how
people drew maps without even knowing
what the world looked like, and how people
who draw maps often add their own point of
view. I began to think about how we map out
our own lives as we go, and we draw what we
know, and then more. I wrote the music, and
Meredith contributed most of the words. My
favorite lines in the song are "Why does the
North look at the South as open hand and empty mouth? /
Why does the Easy eye the West while both mull over who knows best?”

Sisters CHRIS & MEREDITH THOMPSON released their seventh CD, Lines of Longitude in April 2017. In June, the album reached #4 on the folk dj charts, with their cover of Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer's "When I Go" tied for #2 on the list of most played songs. Chris plays percussive, riff- driven guitar while Meredith plays congas and adds flute to their sound. The twin sisters also achieve a vocal harmony known uniquely to siblings. Their voices effortlessly combine in harmony as if they were two parts of one whole. Then the individual voices will emerge, creating a vocal sound that has become their trademark. "It is their mix of intriguing stories of people's hopes and histories that makes the Thompsons music so compelling" writes MaryAnn Robertson, Spotlight, Portsmouth, NH. http://www. www.cmthompson.com.
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Folk singers Loudon Wainwright, David Buskin, and John McCutcheon are deep into theatrical projects, and one female folksinger who is thinking about this is Janis Ian. Think about that — already her career has spanned 50 years — her first hit was “Society’s Child” when she was 16.

“Stars” written by Janis Ian, sung by Barbara Cook Barbara Cook, beloved Broadway star recently retired, loved to sing this song. Should it ever come to be, this would make the perfect 11 o’clock number. Maybe Barbara Cook can come out of retirement once a night to sing this in Janis Ian’s musical.

Now her fifth decade of writing songs and performing, Janis Ian has been nominated for Grammys a total of 10 times over the years in eight different categories. Her most recent Grammy win was for Best Spoken Word Album for her audio book, "Society's Child” (Audible.com). She had stiff competition -- President Bill Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama, Rachel Maddow and Ellen DeGeneres. When she won, she sincerely considered it to be a “stunning upset.” With her inimitable sense of humor, she went on to say "There must be a joke in here somewhere. An ex-president, a First Lady and three lesbians walk into a bar . . .”

On a more serious note, she said, "We artists are the last alchemists, pulling your dreams, your hopes, your deepest desires out of thin air, and turning them into something you can hear, and play, and sing . . . We don't sell music. We sell dreams."

Last year, 2016, marked a year of anniversaries for Janis. She wrote “Society’s Child,” her first hit, fifty years earlier, at the age of fourteen. Some months later, in collaboration with producer Shadow Morton (The New York Dolls, The Shangri-Las, “In A Gadda Da

Vida” with Iron Butterfly), she recorded “Society’s Child” and then her first album, Grammy nominee Janis Ian. It also marks forty years since she received two Grammys for her work on “At Seventeen” and Between the Lines.

Janis Ian began her mostly stellar, sometimes stormy, professional life at the age of 12 when she wrote her first song and was published by Broadside Magazine. That led to her first “real” show, at New York’s venerable Village Gate, where she shared a stage with Tom Paxton (with whom she recently toured the east coast of the U.S.), Lou Gossett Jr., Judy Collins, Phil Ochs, and a host of other singer-songwriters.

From Janis’ first headlining show at Greenwich Village’s Gaslight Café at age 15, her life was fraught with challenges. Most adults could not have survived the scorn and controversy that surrounded her debut single. “Society’s Child” focused on an interracial couple in an era when tempers flared at even the mention of such a relationship. She was subjected to hate mail and death threats, all of which she details in her critically acclaimed book and Grammy-winning audiobook Society’s Child: My Autobiography.

She has continued to place creativity first, saying of her early career, “"I wrote my first song at 12. Was published at 13. Made a record at 14, had a hit at 15, and was a has- been at 16. So ‘At Seventeen’ means more to me than you can know."

“At Seventeen” became her trademark song, and along with the album it appeared on, earned five Grammy nominations, at that time more than any solo female artist had ever received. The song has since joined “Society’s Child” as inductees in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Ian went on to record seven albums for CBS Records, garnering platinum status with other songs in Japan (where she’s referred to as “the godmother of singer- songwriters”), Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Health problems, a broken marriage and numerous other challenges caused her to re- think her life, and she took a nine-year hiatus in order to “study other forms, learn about arts that weren’t mine.” She worked with the legendary Stella Adler, who became both friend and mentor to Ian, studied ballet with Dora Krannig of England’s Royal Ballet,

took directing classes with Jose Quintero, and went back to piano studies with Leonid Hambro. In 1993 she returned to music with Breaking Silence, and received her eighth Grammy nomination.

Her songs have been recorded by singers as diverse as Cher, John Mellencamp, Celine Dion, Hugh Masakela, Nana Mouskouri, Charlie Daniels, Nina Simone, and Roberta Flack. She’s dueted, on her own songs, with artists like Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Mel Torme (that recording was a Grammy nominee as well!). Her music has been used used on The Simpsons, Mean Girls, and the recently released AbFab film. As an actress, she recently appeared alongside Rita Moreno and Laurie Metcalf in the final episode of the critically acclaimed series Getting On.

Always one to follow her heart and her beliefs, Janis was one of the first celebrities to come out publicly. She and her partner of 23 years were married in Canada in 2003, the only place where gay marriage was legal at the time (2016 marks their 27th year together). Her roller coaster ride has taken her to Nashville, her home since 1988, where she thrives with new product on her own Rude Girl Records label, ongoing touring, and perpetual and prolific songwriting.  www.janisian.com
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“Let’s Not Die” by Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair. Joe and Kellen met in the BMI Musical Theater Writing Workshop in 2008 and have been collaborating ever since. Their murder mystery musical comedy Murder For Two had its world premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, winning the prestigious Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical, before debuting Off-Broadway at Second Stage Uptown. The Second Stage production transferred to New World Stages, earning Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, and Drama Desk Awards nominations. After two years of touring nationally, productions of the show have begun to pop up all over the world (including Japan, China, South Korea, England, and Argentina. www.murderfortwomusical.com

Kellen and Joe have had their work performed at the Kennedy Center and on Broadway at the Theatre World Awards. They're proud members of ASCAP and the recipients of the ASCAP Foundation Mary Rodgers / Lorenz Hart Award. Currently, they’re developing several new musicals, including Diane Steals the Show, a backstage musical comedy about two middle aged actors battling to set the record straight about their shaky romantic past. For demos and updates, visit http://www..kinosianandblair.com

Kellen Blair says: We wrote "Let's Not Die" at the Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project a few years ago. Craig Carnelia challenged us to write something that scared us, and honestly, something that scared us was sincerity, and especially sincerity about our collaboration. So this came out!

[Christine adds, “As I listened to this I thought about someone I recently lost, imagined singing it to him, and for the first time in my life, I burst into tears. I didn’t know that phrase could be taken literally — bursting into tears. Try not to think of someone you’ve lost while listening, or this might happen to you.”]

Kellen continues: We also have a 54 Below show on August 31st and we'd love people to come to that to hear some of our songs! And if anyone wants, they can follow us on twitter at @JoeAndKellen and buy our sheet music on www.KinosianAndBlair.com
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Rise and Fall by The WMDs

Lead singer Brian Bauers writes: I’m attaching the only "finished" song that I have written for my solo project. I'm thinking of calling it "Rise and Fall," or "Everybody Goes." I can’t believe it has taken me this long, but its the first time I think I wrote a really honest song.

I lost my brother a few years ago to a drug overdose and I wrote this after spreading his ashes at our family cabin in Wisconsin. Writing with my close friend Ari Wachsman was helpful for me and very meaningful to the people who know us.

Brian Bauers is a New York based music producer, composer/sound designer, recording engineer, and performer. His band, The WMDs have released three albums since 2003 and have performed at some of the most popular and demanding clubs, wedding venues, festivals and private events across the United States. To learn more about Brian and his band visit:www.brianbauers.com and www.thewmds.com

“When I meet My Maker” — brand new from Daniel Cainer, author and star of the theater production, “Gefilte Fish and Chips,” which has been performed all of the US and Europe.

DANIEL CAINER says: I’ve been thinking a lot
about death lately - well I mean a lot more than
usual - which is only about every nano-second.
And even if I’m not aware of thinking about it,
all my internal systems and processes are busy
trying to avoid it. This past few weeks, here in
London, we’ve had more than our fair share of
atrocities. In particular two suicide attacks on
Westminster and then on London Bridge -
places I visit frequently - and then the inferno
at Grenfell Tower, a mile from where I live. So
whilst I didn’t sit down specifically to write on
the subject, this was the general context (and in
the case of Grenfell, literally in the air). This
song is a personal reflection on a subject we all
consider, whatever we believe. If nothing else,
it’s a reminder to myself to ‘count my blessings’
and all that kind of thing. I like the line ‘I’ve one
or two complaints if I’m totally honest’ - it fits in with the Judaic tradition of arguing with God (if there is one) - and I’m pleased with the ambiguity of the final couplet. www.danielcainer.com
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1. . . with The Beatles and Tom Lehrer in the sidecar; you’d get Seattle super-harmonizers Uncle Bonsai. With
   

just three voices and an acoustic guitar, Uncle Bonsai presents an often dizzying

“Modern Medicine” — the Seattle trio UNCLE BONSAI, from their ninth album, to be released on September 15, 2017:

The Family Feast: The Study of the Human Condition, First World Problems, and the Lasting Physiological and Psychological Effects of Eating Our Young

Imagine what might happen if Tim Burton hijacked the Andrew’s Sisters en route to a Stephen Sondheim festival

vocal array of intricate harmony. Their songs, dark and hilarious at times, just as often delight with moments of great insight and beauty.

Now in it’s thirty-sixth year, this acoustic folk-pop trio continues continues to align itself with the under-achiever, the dejected, the outsider, the black sheep. Densely-packed lyrics fly by in a whirr at times, and take a skewed stance on topics such as first-world problems, the creation of the universe, the afterlife, and, of course, holidays with the family. Uncle Bonsai's acoustic folk-pop songs are almost one-act plays or short stories, resisting strict pop, folk, or singer- songwriter categories. Their songs focus on the passing of time, the passing of genes, and the passing of pets - the truth of everything seemingly buried somewhere under the family tree.

Uncle Bonsai will also be at the Schimmel Arts Center at Pace University on October 18th. Read all about them at www.unclebonsai.com
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“You’re Only Old Once”
Lyrics by Amanda McBroom, music by Michele Brourman, sung and played by Michele Brourman

My beloved piano teacher in Pittsburgh used to always say to me, "Kiddo, we grow too soon old and too late smart." Well, I had one of those birthdays – and found myself thinking about his words, and about the cliché "You're only young once." And I realized: you're only old once.

You're only anything once! So wasting a day, or a decade, worrying about age is foolish, right? Even if we hate the wrinkles . . .

I couldn't quite figure out how to approach the song lyrically - so I turned, of course, to my collaborator of 40+ years, Amanda McBroom, who came up with the perfect wry, dry, funny approach to the song. I just recorded it this past week – part of a new CD that I’m working on and which I hope to complete by November. Stay tuned!!

MICHELE BROURMAN began making up songs when she was three years old. By age thirteen, she had formed a small ensemble for which she was composer, musical director and singer. She’s been joyously making up songs and singing them ever since. Only now, instead of her living room, she performs for audiences around the world. A versatile musician – musical director, producer and composer for theater, TV and film, Michele’s love of music comes through everything she does. With longtime collaborator, Amanda McBroom, Brourman has penned the songs for 18 animated features for Universal Studios, a full-scale musical, and scores of memorable songs.

Michele’s best-loved song, “My Favorite Year,” has been recorded by Michael Feinstein, Dame Cleo Laine, and Margaret Whiting, with other songs recorded by Reba McIntyre, Olivia Newton-John, Rita Coolidge and more.

AMANDA McBROOM has been called “...the greatest cabaret performer of her generation, an urban poet who writes like an angel and has a voice to match.” Her name first came to the attention of the music public when Bette Midler’s version of Amanda’s song THE ROSE hit number one all over the world in 1979. But it was Amanda’s performance of her own song on the Golden Globes (she won), Grammys (she didn’t) and The Tonight Show that launched her career as a singer as well as songwriter.

Her songs have have been recorded by the likes of Bette Midler, Leanne Rimes, Barry Manilow, Judy Collins, Barbara Cook, Anne Murray, Harry Belafonte, Betty Buckley, Stephanie Mills, The Manhattan Transfer, Donny Osmond,West Life, Nana Mouskouri, the Chipmunks, and the Baby Dinosaurs in LAND BEFORE TIME (she wrote all the songs for 16 Universal Cartoon videos with longtime collaborator Michele Brourman). Amanda’s concert career was documented over two evenings high atop Manhattan’s RCA building for release as AMANDA McBROOM LIVE AT RAINBOW & STARS by the DRG label in 1995 and remains her only live concert recording.

Her recording career began on the MGM soundstage where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers had overdubbed the sounds of their tap routines over forty years before. It was 1980 and she recorded direct-to-disc – no tape, no overdubs, no mixing, no fixing – for the prestigious vinyl audiophile label Sheffield Lab Recordings. GROWING UP IN HOLLYWOOD TOWN became an audiophile classic around the world and set a new standard for vinyl recording and hi fi stereo reproduction. Billboard called the LP a “stunning artistic success” and Amanda became “the queen of the high end” for the purity of her vocals and the emotional depth of her songs. Sheffield released a second McBroom direct-to-disc recording entitled WEST OF OZ in 1981. Both recordings were compiled and re-released as AMANDA by Sheffield in 1996.

Amanda attributes her success to “divine intervention and a lot of caffeine.” www.amandamcbroom.com
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“Will Anybody Know That I Was Here?” by Mary Lee Kortes, from Will Anybody Know That I Was Here: The Songs of Beulah Rowley

About the project: Beulah Rowley was a midwestern singer/songwriter during the depression era. She wrote songs at a piano, atop a custom-made wrought iron piano bench where she stored her lead sheets and diaries, and locked the bench each night. One night, a horrible fire swept through the house, leaving no survivors. Only the bench remained, starting a journey of its own through flea markets and families until landing in my living room.

I heard the rustling of papers inside the bench and on my tenth birthday demanded that my father open it! With the help of a local locksmith, we succeeded. When I lifted the cover, there they were: Beulah's handwritten music and diaries, preserved for me. I figured out her songs, fell in love with them and decided I must become a famous singer, and bring her songs back to the world. Will Anybody Know That I Was Here embodies Beulah's story. Few people heard her music while she was alive, but know many can. And they will all know that, indeed, she was here.

Perhaps the New York Times described her songwriting best when it called the songs of Mary Lee Kortes "so meticulously crafted they sound completely natural". The Village Voice has agreed, calling her "a masterful songwriter",
and clearly one with her own voice, says Rolling Stone,

proclaiming "the bright bite in Kortes' voice combines the high-mountain sunshine of Dolly Parton with a sweet-iron undercoat of Chrissie Hynde”.

Mary Lee has released four CD's of original compositions
under her performance name "Mary Lee's Corvette,” all
to international acclaim and all landing on Billboard
Magazine's "ten best records of the year" in their years of
release. She also released one album of covers -- a
complete, song-for-song recording of Dylan's classic
"Blood On The Tracks," hailed by many critics as daring, and earning four stars from Rolling Stone for its "quietly direct magnificence.... Dylan likes this album so much he's featured one of the tracks on his web site.”

Having toured the world both as a headliner and opening act for such luminaries as Bob Dylan, Ian Hunter, Joe Jackson, Los Lobos and Steve Earle, Mary Lee brings her considerable creative and performing experience to her newest project, “Will Anybody Know That I Was Here: The Songs of Beulah Rowley”. This project caught the attention of legendary producer Hal Willner, who has just finished producing the album. “A religious experience,” reports Mary Lee. www.maryleescorvette.com
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28 MINUTE INTERVIEW WITH DAVID HEIN, CO-AUTHOR OF ‘COME FROM AWAY’

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“Sawchuk” - Ron Hynes
Ron was one of Newfoundland, Canada’s most beloved singer/songwriters, who died in November 2015. Another Newfoundland singer/songwriter named IAN FOSTER, sent me this song, which I had planned to play along with Ian’s song about Ron, but I ran out of time. So sorry Ian — I’ll make it up to you next time. ianfoster.ca is his website, and ironically, I starred EVERY track on his new album while screening material for this radio broadcast — and then I

didn’t play any. My bad, bad, bad. But check him out — he’s terrific.

D'oh!  We DID play "You Left A Song" by Ian Foster -- instant karma.  www.ianfoster.ca

This song of RON HYNES is about NHL hockey Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk. I learned more about hockey from this song than any hockey match I have ever witnessed.[ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=686860880&sk=wall]
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Magic Night — BETSY HIRSCH, piano instrumental.
I am a songwriter/composer, longtime consultant for Steinway. I play many instruments besides piano including guitar, mandolin and accordion and have played many venues around NYC and elsewhere.

Christine adds: Besty wrote this song on Julie Gold’s “Magic Knight” piano. As Honor Finnegan likes to say, “Google it!”
www.betsyhirsch.com
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“My Lifelong Love” sung by Jesse Tyler Ferguson written by Georgia Stitt

JESSE TYLER FERGUSON is an American actor best known for portraying Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family, which hasvearned him five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. In New York City, Ferguson worked mainly in Off-Broadway and Broadway theatre, including the Tony Award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, where he originated the role of Leaf Coneybear.

www.jessetylerferguson.com

GEORGIA STITT is a composer/lyricist, pianist, and music supervisor. Her original musicals currently in development include Snow Child (commissioned by Arena Stage and directed by Molly Smith); Blue Ridge Skies (written with Hunter Foster); The Danger Year (a revue of original songs, directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle); Big Red Sun (NAMT Festival winner in 2010, Harold Arlen Award in

2005, written with playwright John Jiler); The Water (winner of the 2008 ANMT Search for New Voices in American Musical Theatre and written with Jeff Hylton and Tim Werenko); and Mosaic (commissioned for Inner Voices Off-Broadway in 2010 and written with Cheri Steinkellner).

In 2011, Georgia produced and arranged Susan Egan’s album The Secret of Happiness and Robert Creighton’s album Ain’t We Got Fun. Additionally, Georgia has written songs that are included on Egan’s Coffee House and Winter Tracks and Kevin Odekirk’s Unheard (all LML Records), Lauren Kennedy’s Here and Now (PS Classics), Daniel Boys’ So Close (Eden Records), Caroline Sheet’s Raise The Curtain, and Stuart Matthew Price’s All Things In Time (both SimG Records). She contributed songs to the 2008 MTV movie The American Mall.

Georgia was the on-set music supervisor for the Anna Kendrick/Jeremy Jordan film The Last Five Years and has previously worked as the vocal coach for the NBC hit show America’s Got Talent. In 2014 she played a nun and served of the music team for NBC‘s The Sound Of Music Live! with Carrie Underwood and Audra McDonald.

Georgia received her M.F.A. in Musical Theater Writing from New York University and her B.Mus. in Music Theory and Composition from Vanderbilt University, where she graduated magna cum laude. She has taught on the faculties of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Pace University in New York. She is a recipient of the ASCAP Frederick Loewe Fellowship, the Harold Arlen Award, and the Sue Brewer Award for excellence in music composition. She is on the board of directors for The Lilly Awards Foundation, a not-for-profit group that celebrates women in theater, and is a proud member of ASCAP, The Dramatists Guild, SAG-AFTRA, the American Federation of Musicians (Locals 802 and 47) and The Recording Academy. Georgia lives in New York City with her husband, composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown, and their two daughters.
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“Eddie by Julie Gold
It's the OLDEST SONG I've ever committed to

a CD. I wrote it when I was 15. Robbie Kondor arranged it and played on it. Here’s a photo of gifts Eddie gave me that I have saved.

JULIE GOLD is a New York Songwriter best known for Bette Midler’s version of her song FROM A DISTANCE which won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1991. That song has since received close to 5 million airplays:
• It has been recited into the CongressionaL Record (by Senator Barbara Boxer). • It has been recorded internationally and translated into many languages.
• It has been illustrated as a Children’s Book and mass- produced in Music Boxes. • It has been quoted in books, calendars and greeting cards.
• It was used as the wake-up call for astronauts in the Mir Space Station the very first time the Americans hooked up with the Russians in outer space.

A wide range of recording artists have covered it, singers from Jewel to Cliff Richard to The African Children’s Choir to Judy Collins to The Byrds to Donna Summer. Nanci Griffith, the first to record FROM A DISTANCE, has also covered Gold’s songs HEAVEN, SOUTHBOUND TRAIN, GOOD NIGHT NEW YORK, MOUNTAIN OF SORROW, and LOVE IS LOVE IS LOVE. Other artists who have recorded Julie Gold songs include Patti LaBelle, Patti LuPone, Lea Salonga, Andrea Marcovicci, Carol Woods, Sinead O'Connor and Kathie Lee Gifford. Gold’s Emmy Nominated lyric WE’RE 4 NEW YORK was a popular favorite that ran on the local NBC affiliate for years. Her song THANKS TO YOU was featured in the motion picture ANDRE, and her song DREAM LOUD was featured in the motion picture UNFAITHFUL, starring Richard Gere.

DREAM LOUD is also a favorite song of The Girl Scouts of America. Gold delights in the fact that she was paid in Girl Scout cookies for that transaction. Gold has served on The Board of Governors for NARAS and is a guest artist for Lincoln Center's prestigious Meet The Artist Series. She has 5 CDs documenting her work over the years: Dream Loud, Try Love, The Girl I Found, Love is Love is Love, and SIXTY.

Currently she is writing songs for the Oxford University Press for a series that teaches English to elementary school children all over the world. As the daughter of an immigrant, she sees this as her most meaningful endeavor to date. She performs and gives motivational speeches around the country.

www.juliegold.com
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David Johnson — the Blue Janes
The Blue Janes (self-titled CD)
Released 2017 Shoe Records
Words and Music by Arni Adler
Arrangement by Blue Janes
Lead vocal Arni Adler (but we swap verses)
Blue Janes members: Jean Mann, Kathleen Tracy, Arni Adler All playing ukes

Arni writes: The song is a true story overall (some poetic license here and there). This happened in 6th grade at Dawn James’ house. She lived in the rich part of town, and her father was the town judge. (They had an indoor and an outdoor pool.) We really did line up outside of Dawn’s bedroom door and wait our turn for a “spin” on David Johnson’s lips. (Incidentally, I recall him smelling faintly of boiled hot dogs.)

Awhile back, I stumbled onto his image on FB, after I’d written the song. I gasped when I saw it. No kidding. Screwed my courage and wrote to him to verify the memory. I wrote an elaborate description of my memory, not that different from the song. He said, “Well, I don’t really remember, but it sounds like me.” Ha! He lives in Florida and drives a motorcycle these days. He’s still kind of cute, but boy that woulda been a different life for me!

Another memory of my great love for him: I walked to his part of town one dusk, and waited in a little ravine a hundred yards in front of his house, awaiting a sighting while the sun was setting. I never saw him and walked home, lonelier than ever. :(

ARNI ADLER (songwriter) is an original and current member of the Seattle folk-pop trio Uncle Bonsai, now celebrating its 30th anniversary. She has also composed a song cycle based on Charles Bukowski’s “Love is a Dog from Hell,” and has sung in 7 vocal trios, including the most recent, The Blue Janes, whose other members include singer- songwriters Kathleen Tracy and Jean Mann.
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(Performer note: UNCLE BONSAI will play on the East Coast this October, including part of the Folk Music Series at the Schimmel Center for the Performing Arts, at Pace University, in New York City on Oct. 18th; at Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club show, on Saturday, October 13th, in Fair Lawn, NJ; and at Amazing Things in Framingham, MA, on Oct. 20.)

Thank you John Platt, Michael Kerker, Wayne Wolfe, Brian Bauers, Steve Doyle, Allan Pepper, Phillip Klum, Stuart Ross, special guest David Hein, and engineer/producer Jeremy Rainer.

Theater and folk in abundance in the area — Bastard Jones at The Cell Theater on West 23rd Street — and the folk Woody Guthrie Musical at the Irish Rep on West 22nd Street has been extended to August 20th and “Come From Away” on Broadway — Don’t forget October 13 and 14th at the Schimmel Center, Paul Shaffer hosts “The History Of The Bottom Line,” and they want your photos, stories, and videos.

Monday night (tomorrow July 10th) at 8 at Town Hall the annual “Rising Stars” concert produced by Scott and Barbara Siegel. I’ll be in the audience for THAT. Always terrific! It’s the best recent graduates from musical theater colleges all over the country. You never know who you might discover before the rest of the world knows their name.

See you round the campus. Dave Van Ronk, lead us into this full moon night.

DAVE VAN RONK “Mack The Knife” from THREEPENNY OPERA by Brecht & Weill. END OF BROADCAST

THANKS, EVERYBODY! NOW GO OUT AND FIND SOME LIVE MUSIC! — Christine