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It truly has been raining men in these parts. Hot on the heels of Miss Wendy Lane’s weekend adventure comes not one but THREE more of our beloved musicians of the masculine persuasion. And ON THE SAME NIGHT! What’s a Redhead to do? Well, in the case of this titian tressed duo we put on our party faces, fortified ourselves with Cream of mushroom soup and quiche (ahh… the culinary pleasures of fall) and sallied forth. Our first stop was midtown Manhattan where we took in our Aussie Pal, Tyran Parke’s US debut. Tyran has been making a name for himself in his homeland as a premier musical theatre performer. He just wrapped up a run there playing George Seurat in a rapturously received Sunday in the Park With George, A show which holds a special place in your Redheads’ hearts. Just the sound of the opening chords has been known to reduce Wendy Lane to tears. On this night Tyran took the stage as himself, and a charming self it is. To hear him sing is truly a wonderful experience and his performance of Sondheim’s Finishing the Hat (from Sunday in the Park) was one of the great highlights of a memorable evening. A side benefit for us was sharing a table with some of our favorite show folk including Jim Caruso, Alex Rybeck and Julie Wilson. After a quick congratulatory hug to Tyran, and a kiss to his musical director, Christopher Denny (whose talent is only exceeded by his great height, he makes even your vertically advantaged Redheads feel petite) we were off uptown as fast as the NYC transit system could carry us. Our next stop was the final moments of a house concert given by Mandolin Phenom and former Nickel Creek member Chris Thile along with bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer. Consummate musicians and lovely human beings both there is no musical style that these two cannot conquer. It was the perfect end to the evening for your Redheads who returned home to their beds quite tired but absolutely musically sated. The only downside to the evening was that we were so busy getting from one event to the next we had no time to remove the camera from the dark recesses of the bag in which it spent the evening. You’ll have to take our word for it that everyone looked divine, and we’ll make up for it in our next outing. Tomorrow we’re off to teach in DC. We’ll file a full report upon our return.

Sunday in the Theatre with Jason

I spent this past weekend with two of my favorite men on the planet, the amazingly talented, and awfully darn nice Jason Graae and Rick Jensen. Jason, one of the funniest humans I have ever met, flew in from LA to do a gig in the wilds of New Jersey, and he invited me to come along as a special guest artist. Knowing a good time is always to be had when one is with Mr. Graae I leaped at the chance. My pal Rick, composer, arranger, accompanist and all round good egg was at the keyboard for this one. It was a great gig! Jason never fails to make me laugh uproariously even after having seen and worked with him many times over the past few years. He is a master of making every moment feel fresh and spontaneous. There are always a few delightful surprises when he's on the stage. With Rick keeping up with him on the ivories much beautiful music was made. I got to sing and be silly, and it was all bliss!!!!!

Here are some snaps of my wonderful weekend...

Jason and Me: Putting our heads together

Rick & Jason: If you see these two on a stage you know you're in for a good time!

I Could Have Danced All Night

It is a wonderful thing to sing at a great club, and Birdland is definitely a great club. The sound was terrific, the lights also fine, the piano is a Bosendorfer. The staff is friendly and respectful, and the audience was wonderful last Monday night. Really, all I had to do was sing.

Back to that piano - it has extra keys at the bass end. We had no call to use those keys, but I think having extra bass strings changes the overall sound of the instrument. It was dark and rich like...hmm, like a really good Bordeaux, or like dark chocolate (two things I don't indulge in when I am performing, so it was extra sweet to have that piano).

I am already looking forward to returning.

Monday! Monday!

The only thing blue about this Monday was the nine foot electric blue Bosendorfer that shared the stage with Miss. Laurel as she warbled away at NYC's famed Birdland. The other half of your flame haired duo Miss. Wendy Lane worked the other side of the footlights on this one as creative collaborator. Here are a few pix of our grand adventure in the Land of Bird....

Your Redheads...We're a little dazed, slightly confused...but thoroughly thrilled!

Laurel with He Who Does it All, Jim Caruso

Laurel and the too marvelous for words Julie Wilson

Many thanks to the music makers who shared the stage with Miss. L, Tex Arnold who piloted the Bosendorfer, Rich DeRosa on drums, and Mike Finck on Bass. Thanks to Jim Caruso for being the most gracious host we could possibly ask for (and for providing the photos of Wendy Lane and Julie). To Sean Corcoran who ran lights and sound, and the rest of the wonderful Birdland staff you have our undying gratitude. Finally, a virtual hug and kiss to all of you who came out to share the evening with us, it could not be done with out you!

and the winner is...are...

Aitchd , you answered the questionnaire, and intrigued this redhead with by referring to a "Keatsian ecstasy" and to mowing the lawn with a push mower, one of my favorite sounds of childhood summers. Because you say you live too far away to come to my Birdland show tomorrow night, I am going to send you a copy of my CD, Feather and Bone.

Philomena was first to comment on our "Redheads on the Town" post, so she gets the ticket to the show.

Please email us at parkroadmanagement@verizon.net for details.

Thank you both!!!

One Last Chance

Just a reminder: to win that free ticket to my performance at New York city's famed Birdland this coming Monday night, September 15th, you will have to post your answers to our musical questionnaire by 5 PM Eastern time Saturday evening (the deadline having been arbitrarily extended to reflect the benevolence of the Redheads). That's tomorrow, my dears! So put on your thinking caps, and surprise us!

We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing

September always makes us a wee bit nostalgic for the whole "back to school" thing; fresh notebooks, sharp pencils, new clothes (Well, mostly the clothes) and the excitement of starting all over again. Since we're both a bit long in the tooth to be boarding the big yellow bus, we decided that perhaps it is better for us to celebrate this time of year by enjoying a classroom of our very own. We are thrilled to announce that we will be doing our Words & Music: a Master Class for Singers in two locations here on the East Coast. On Saturday September 27th we will be in Wendy Lane's former home base Washington, DC, and Saturday October 4th we will be in our current home town New York City.


We both love to be on stage ourselves more than anything, however helping other performers to hone their skills in a supportive and FUN atmosphere runs a close second. The fact that we encourage singers of all genres to participate only adds to the creative environment. We've had Jazz singers, cabaret singers, folk singers, pop singers, musical theatre singers, and Christian singers all in one class and the results have been amazing. It is wonderful to see how performers take coaching and change before your very eyes, but it is equally striking to see a group of eight to ten performers who were strangers bond and cheer each other on. We try to cover as much ground as possible in our sessions, and make sure we are aware of what each student's goal is in taking the class. For time and location details look at the blog calendar to the right of this column. If you’d like more information about enrollment, what the class covers, etc. contact Park Road Management.