A Wee Nudge

Just a gentle nudge from your Redheads to get your tix now for Miss. Laurel's upcoming gigs with her Trio JaLaLa.

Here's a link for the official flyer
'Laurel Masse' May & June Appearances'

Do You Know?

Strike up the band and roll out the red carpet here are the answers to last week’s quiz.


Madonna                   Judy Holliday

Beyoncé                    Stevie Wonder

Jim Morrison             Frank Sinatra

Fun Redhead fact: According to Stephen Davis in Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend Sinatra would get seriously annoyed every time he heard Light My Fire on the radio, because he thought Morrison’s crooning was a blatant rip-off of his style.

Stevie Wonder         The Staples Singers

 Linda Ronstadt        Maria Callas

Fun Redhead Quote: Miss Ronstadt has said I learn more...about singing rock n roll from listening to Maria Callas records than I ever would from listening to pop music for a month of Sundays. She's the greatest chick singer ever.


Ella Fitzgerald          Connee Boswell
Fun Redhead Quote: Of Boswell’s influence Ella said My mother brought home one of her records, and I fell in love with it....I tried so hard to sound just like her.

Christina Aguilera      Etta James

Billie Holiday               Bessie Smith

Mary Lou Williams     Lovie Austin
Fun Redhead Fact: Austin was often seen tooling around her adopted home town of Chicago in her Stutz Bearcat with Leopard Skin Upholstery and dressed to the nines.

 John Lennon             Harry Nilsson

Elvis                             Mario Lanza

How’d you do? Did you get them all? Any surprises? Are there any other interesting musicians and their inspirations that we left off the list? Do Tell.


By the way, the marvy photo of Billie Holiday is by Bob Willoughby.

Of Thee I Sing

The other day we found ourselves in the midst of a discussion about favorite singers and musical influences, and here’s the twist! They weren’t our personal inspirations but those of other artists. We were pretty surprised at who admired whom. It seems a shame to keep all the fun to ourselves, so for your cyber amusement here’s a little quiz to start off your week. Can you match the admirer to the admired? For brevity’s sake we’ve kept it to just one per performer. We’ll post the answers in a day or two.

Performer                           Influence

1.) Madonna                       A.) Frank Sinatra

2.) Beyoncé                        B.) Maria Callas

3.) Jim Morrison                C.) Connee Boswell

4.) Stevie Wonder             D.) Judy Holliday

5.) Linda Ronstadt             E.) Mario Lanza

6.) Ella Fitzgerald              F.) The Staples Singers

7.) Christina Aguilera       G.) Bessie Smith

8.) Billie Holiday               H.) Harry Nilsson

9.) Mary Lou Williams      I.) Stevie Wonder

10.) John Lennon             J.) Etta James

11.) Elvis                          K.) Lovie Austin

Now, on a not-quite-unrelated note, if you swivel your eyes to the right of this column and take a peek at Where in the World Are the Redheads?, you’ll note that Miss Laurel has a few gigs coming up. This weekend she’s got a solo concert with Tex Arnold at the Tusten Theatre in upstate NY. Come June, she’ll be reuniting with Lauren Kinhan and Janis Siegel aka JaLaLa, for gigs at Albany’s Egg and NYC’s Birdland (in case you’re wondering, their musical influences are the Boswell Sisters, and the Ronettes). We’ve decided to give away a free ticket to the Birdland date. All you have to do to enter the fray is post a comment here about who your influences have been, musical or otherwise. Tell us who you admire and why, and the entry that inspires us the most will get the tic. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things

Aretha...Liza...Chocolate...Any questions?

Sunny Day

There’s always a danger in doing a master class on the first glorious day of spring. Will your students show up, or will they abandon you for gamboling in some local field of wildflowers? Will their bodies show up while their minds are otherwise occupied with thoughts of gamboling, wildflowers, and other non-musical ideas? Will your redheads be able to resist their own temptations to abandon all thoughts of meaningful pedagogy and rush headlong into the great outdoors spouting poetry and eschewing all forms of sun protection? As it turns out we needn’t have worried. Even though it WAS truly the most wonderful day of the year so far, we were blessed with a focused and talented group of singers who showed up and gave it their all. Anne Ellithorp, Stephen Belfatti, Barbara Gurskey (our ever charming hostess at Edison Valley Playhouse), Bryan Murray, and Jessica Pfeiffer knocked us out with their unique song choices and cheerful hard work. We had such fun working with all of you, and can’t wait for our next class at EVP on July 10th. We’ve also set a date to teach in Philly on September 25th. We’ve got plenty of room at the moment, so if you’re in one of those places and have been wanting to brush up your performance skills, come on down. Details are to the right under Where in the World are the Redheads. Mention that you read it here, and you’ll get a special insider price (and may be eligible for our extended payment plan).

We are sorry we didn’t get a snap of our terrific little group, but we’re still having camera issues. In other words, Wendy Lane is still trying to locate her mysteriously missing camera, and Laurel has not owned one since the 1970s. We give your our solemn word as Redheads that next time we will have a camera along to document the goings-on!

Come Saturday Morning

We’re at it again this Saturday. Miss Laurel, Miss Wendy Lane, and the unflappable Tex Arnold are heading out to the Wilds of Jersey (Edison to be exact) to spend an afternoon working with singers. If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to beef up your performance chops, there may be a space left in the workshop with your name on it. If you’ve ever wondered what these classes were all, about you can take advantage of a new option we’re trying with this one: auditing. For $20 you can come, sit in a comfy theatre seat and observe the goings on. It’s a great opportunity to check it out. If you’d like more info on participating or auditing drop a line or call (646-831-0359) Park Road Management. We’re waiting to hear from you!

Ease on Down the Road

Braving blizzards, transit trains and the New Jersey Turnpike we set off last weekend for my appointed gigs. First up was the Metropolitan Room in New York City. After spending the first half of the week in blissful rehearsal with Michele Brourman, I lay awake all Thursday night listening to the wind howl and the snow fall (yes, if you’re really listening you can actually hear it fall) and wondering who in their right mind would venture out in the worst storm of the year just to hear me sing. Ah, but New Yorkers are a hardy lot and we ended up with two lovely and enthusiastic audiences. We had a fine time delving deeper into the material that Michele and I had begun to develop in LA over the summer. The addition of Miss Laurel for two numbers was the icing on the cake. For me, there is nothing better than making music with people who are not just great musicians but also dear friends. The relationship the three of us have off-stage has only served to make the music that much better.

Miss Laurel, Me & Michele after the 10:00 Show at Blues Alley. Thanks Michael M. for the snap!

By Sunday morning the weather had cleared and we hopped into the car, pointed it south, and set off for DC. My friends Alex Tang and Bob Bagnall allowed us to invade their gorgeous historic house in the Kalorama section of the city. We were provided with comfy beds, vegetable frittatas for breakfast and all the Girl Scout cookies we could eat. I wondered if they’d notice if we took up permanent residence on their third floor. Michael Miyazaki and Ron Squeri provided us with a wonderful evening-before-the-show supper that included several of my longtime DC pals. Michael and another DC friend Matt Howe provided me with the only pictures from this run of gigs, for which I will be eternally grateful. It was wonderful to be back on the stage at Blues Alley. The audience was filled with many old friends, and some of my very first mentors. The whole experience was like coming home. It was difficult to leave, but we’ll be back soon!

Me on-stage at Blues Alley...Photo courtesy of Matt Howe

On Tuesday we staggered to the car and up the Jersey turnpike to home, slightly the worse for wear but thrilled at the work we did. Many many many thanks to the top notch staffs of the Metropolitan Room and Blues Alley, especially Ted Stafford (Met Room) and Robby Cooper (Blues Alley) who gave us great lights and sound. I am grateful to everyone who came out to cheer us one. Thank you! It was a delight to sing for you. We are making plans to do this again in the near future, so keep watching this space for dates. Some nice people even wrote a bit about the shows, you can check out their thoughts HERE, & HERE, & HERE.


And before I forget, I’ve gotten some requests for the song list so here it is:

I feel Lucky Mary Chapin Carpenter / Don Schlitz

Walking after Midnight Donald Hecht

I Got Lucky in the Hall Marshall Barer / Dean Fuller

Breathing /So In Love Amanda Mcbroom / Michele Brourman
Cole Porter

Round Amanda McBroom / Joel Silberman

Lucky Break Melissa Manchester / Beth Nielsen Chapman

Once in a Blue Moon /Night Ride Home Anne Caldwell / Jerome Kern
Joni Mitchell

It’s Never Perfect Shelia Rae / Michele Brourman

Monotonous June Carroll / Arthur Siegel

Silver Heart/ Shut Up and Drive Michele Brourman
Melvern Rivers Rutherford III / Annie Tate / Sam M. Tate

Sometimes More is More Michele Brourman

Ring of Fire June Carter / Merle Kilgore

Independence Day Gretchen Peters

A Mother’s Prayer Melissa Manchester