A Most Unusual Gig

Miss Wendy Lane Welcomes you to her fabulous dressing house

My friend Michelle O, when not trying to kill me through physical fitness, is often the source of inspired lunacy. So when she asked me to be the featured performer at a benefit for her foundation, I said yes at once. After all, there were no golf clubs or tennis rackets involved. This is how my intrepid pianist Rick Jensen and I found ourselves performing in the middle of a furniture store and sharing a bill with former New York Giants (I am told this is a football team) Ottis Anderson, Jim Burt, Harry Carson, and Bart Oates.

Wendy Lane auditions new back-up singers. Super Bowl XXV MVP Ottis Anderson is on the right.

Lest you think this is a bad thing let me say that, first of all, it was a VERY NICE furniture store, and second we were all pitching in to support the Colleen Giblin Foundation and their mission of pediatric neurological research. A variety of folks donated their time and talents to make this evening a success, starting with Joe, Marcia and Mark Bograd and Mark Thomas, who opened the doors of Bograd's Fine Furniture, for this event, and provided for Rick and me not just a dressing room, but a dressing HOUSE. Our very own two story Victorian with pressed tin ceilings, and lovely antiques.

Rick gets ready for his close-up in the dressing house

We were having such a great time staging an impromptu photo session in our digs we almost missed our entrance. A big Redhead smooch to event co-sponsors New Jersey Monthly Magazine, and Fiore Associates, as well as, Meg Minasian, and Michelle Oates of the Gilblin Foundation, and our wonderful tech guys Kaipo Bridges and Jason Small. It was a marvelous party, and we were honored to be part of it.

Wendy Lane & Rick on-stage

Wendy Lane, Ottis Anderson, and Michelle Oates having way too much fun

How I Spent My Summer Vacation… PLUS… October's Reader Challenge…..

It would seem a bit odd that only now when most normal people are deciding which presidential candidate to impersonate for Halloween am I getting around to this post. However, with all of our running here and there over the past few weeks I kept getting delayed and here we are. So without any further delay on my part… my summer story….

After six years of administrating a summer conference for singers I announced my intention of taking the summer off. This was met with varied reactions from skepticism to confusion and in the case of my friend Michelle, a plot to kill me. Michelle is my “sporty” friend, gorgeous, all of five feet tall, and one hundred pounds soaking wet, but I’d never be fool enough to bet against her in a fight. She’s fierce, and burns near as many calories as Michael Phelps on a typical day. I’ve seen her eat her six foot six former pro football playing husband under the table when dessert was involved and still fit perfectly into a size four. Life is not fair. Upon hearing that I would be taking time off she announced that idle hands were the devil’s (or maybe Jenny Craig’s) workshop and that she was going to take charge of ensuring that I spend the summer attempting to do all the things I’ve never done before. Namely, golf, tennis, mountain biking, and horse back riding, with a bit of yoga thrown in for good measure. A few trips to the local ER and one near death experience quickly convinced me that I was not cut out for the sporting life and that the better part of valor would be for me to return to the world where I belonged. In this case the recording studio where all I would have to hit would be the correct notes and chances of accidental dismemberment were far less likely. So I ensconced myself in the small recording studio at Rick Jensen’s and worked on putting some of my favorite tunes and arrangements on the record. With Rick acting as arranger, and producer, Miss. Laurel advising, doing some of the co-producing and a back up vocal here and there, and my friend Lisa Poulos providing a few additional harmonies we had a grand old time. I have worked on other people’s recordings and that has always been great, but it’s nothing like doing your own thing.With Rick and Laurel I couldn't ask for better creative partners and that makes it all the more fun. I love being in the studio, and I am looking to do some more recording over the next year. In the meantime, we have been working on getting things mixed and up onto my website( http://www.wendylanebailey.com/) a tune at a time. I’ll keep you posted as things develop, and I hope you enjoy what we’ve done so far. Remember it keeps me safe and off the golf course. Alas, Michelle has not yet given up on her plan. She keeps trying to lure me back to sports with the promise that this gives me the perfect excuse to get a whole new shoe wardrobe. Any shoe that involves a rubber sole is not worth dying for. There are pictures of my sporting odyssey but I fear the world is not ready for snaps of me wielding a gold club.

All of this brings me to our October giveaway…..

First the prize: This month we’re giving away a CD devised especially for our winner with two tracks by yours truly and two by Miss. Laurel. To win you won’t even have to perform any feats of athletic prowess you just have to participate in something we Redheads are calling The 0-10 Challenge. We’re looking for cultural stuff to do that costs less than $10. All you have to do is write in with your suggestions for great entertainment that fall within that price range. Over the course of the month we’ll check them out and write about some of our favorites. The very best one (or maybe even two) will be declared our winner and gets a CD with us warbling away. Not in the NYC area? Not a problem, share some of the fun things going on in your neck of the woods that meet our criteria and you’ll be eligible too. You have till Halloween to get your entries in, so get out there and find some cheap thrills!