Balticon and Podcasts

Posted on May 17, 2012 by MaryCrowell

Balticon 46 is next week, and we are attending. I have been planning to go back to this convention since 2009 when I was Filk Guest of Honor. Wesley and I had such a great time! This convention is very well run by some excellent people. (It’s got a fantastic Masquerade!) It is also the 2009 convention in which I learned about podcasting, Scott Sigler, and his novel The Rookie.

Sigler was Balticon’s Special Guest the same year I was there. His fans could be easily identified by their bright-orange kraken football jerseys. Sigler’s novel, The Rookie was released chapter by chapter as a podcast, and its fan base grew eventually it was published as a YA hardback. (According to Wikipedia, EarthCore was actually his first podcast book.) He continues to podcast his science fiction and horror novels and is a frequent poster on twitter and other social media.

Despite being in marching band from the 7th grade to graduation I had maintained a willful ignorance of football–until I started listening to his podcasts. The Rookie, a science fiction novel about this sport as played by aliens, made me appreciate and understand the game considerably more. The tutorial podcasts he made were especially enlightening. (Several of my friends and relatives received harcover copies of The Rookie that Christmas.)

I’ve become curious about podcasting in general, although I’m not sure it’s something I want to do myself (yet.) It’s a great way to enjoy a book on a drive or to rest your eyes at home but still enjoy getting into your favorite literature. Some of my friends do topical podcasts with structures, themes, and subjects. Other podcasts manifest as interviews. I’ve listened to some that have no structure at all—it’s just a bunch of folks with related interests talking.

I’ve included a few links (in no particular order) to some podcasts I know of either because my music is mentioned on them or friends of mine made them (or both.) Scott Sigler’s is in there too, since he put the whole podcasting thing on the map for me.

Podcasts I Have Encountered:

Tadpoolery: “Welcome to Tadpoolery, a podcast for fans and friends of the Frogpants Network of shows!”
Rob Wynne, a fellow Georgia filker is one of the hosts of this podcast. His segment on the show is NepoTUNEism. He featured my song “Pomegranate Tango” from Play It With Moxie’s new album, Play It With Moxie Live! on Episode 4 of 2011.
Synopsis of Episode 4: “This week, on Tadpoolery, Brian Ibbott is our guest! We talked about everything from playing darts to Brian wearing a bikini! In NepoTUNEism, Rob plays a track from Play It With Moxie’s (soon to be released)Live album. All this and so much more on this weeks Tadpoolery!”

TLBPodcast: “Just a bunch of nerds with microphones.”
On their Facebook page, TLBPodcast’s introduction reads:
Welcome to the TLB Scifi Podcast. Where four nerds speak every week about what’s going on in the Fantasy and Scifi World. We hope you sit back and enjoy and laugh along with us. Episode 11 featured my home recording of “I Put My Low Stat” on it and focused on rpg gaming.

What The Cast: “A podcast where geek-culture meets the real world … from the minds behind Dragon*ConTV. Everything from movies, television, science and news. Sometimes serious, mostly funny, always a little off-center.” Brian Richardson, percussionist for Play It With Moxie, is one of the hosts of this podcast. And I would be remiss not to mention that What The Cast has been nominated for a Parsec Award this year!

Scott Sigler
Do check out his audiobooks. They are quite good! His website lists several ways you can subscribe to them.

Chris and Crys Take Over the World: “Our Podcast About All Sorts Of Things”
Podcast 12 – The not quite “all talk of music” ‘cast.
On this podcast, Chris and Crys talked about music and musicians. They have a very useful synopsis complete with links on their webpage. Crys also said Really Nice things about my music! Thank you, Crys and Chris! They included several links to musician websites including my site, Wild Mercy’s site, SJ Tucker, Tom Smith, and Toyboat.

Escape from Cubicle 17: “Who am I? Christopher Merle. I go by Chris. I am a long time science fiction fan recently turned podcaster.”
This podcast site is, sadly, going away soon. Chris Merle and Mel Tatum interviewed Three Weird Sisters at FenCon in 2008 during one episode. We will be putting up a copy of that episode at our website,  I’ll post a notification here once it is up!

Please, feel free to comment on this post to advertise your own and other podcasts!

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Fragmented April

Posted on April 24, 2012 by MaryCrowell

Sometimes I can talk about my work as a musician or artist monothematically. Let’s talk about finances! Or shall we discuss marketing? Creativity is a beloved topic, although I tend to write songs about it more than discuss it really. Other times it is hard to settle in on one subject especially if I am especially busy. This is one of those times.

For example, April is tax month—that special time for the self-employed in which receipts are gathered from several little ziplocks marked ‘1st Quarter’ or some such. (Sometimes I actually remember it to put only 1st quarter receipts in the  1st quarter bag.) The calendar of the previous year is combed for gigs and music-related travel. I gather up all the bank, credit card, PayPal, Amazon, and CD Baby statements. I figure out the answers to all my questions. Then, after I’ve entered all of this in to my multi-tabbed spreadsheet, I give it to the accountants. That’s all done though. Whew!

April is also the month in which I record several parodies for a friend of mine. She writes them for her students to the tunes of a given musical or the soundtrack to a given movie. Then, after I do my part, she takes my recordings and pairs it with a slideshow for her graduating students. Lucky them to have a professor who cares so much for them! I get paid for my work on this—something I wish occurred more often with other projects.

That said, most of my musician friends and I have an informal quid pro quo arrangement. You play on my album or performance, and later on, I’ll play for yours. This is good, because we would never be able to afford each other. And that’s the other thing that is happening. I’m practicing my album, so that when I fly out to record in May, I’ll be able to play and sing well along with the arrangements Jeff has built around my scratch tracks. I’m also practicing a whole lot of Gershwin, because one should not go too long without playing George’s stuff.

And since I mentioned travel, there is also a great deal of it in April. April was actually supposed to be a nice quiet month, and it was for the first weekend. But on April 14th, Play It With Moxie performed at S.T.E.A.M.Fest in the Academy Theatre in Decatur, Georgia. I tweeted about it and uploaded some pictures to Facebook. (I’m on Twitter quite a bit if you want to give me a holler there.) On April 21st, I attended a lovely house filk in the greater Atlanta area. (Yes, pictures are on Twitter and Facebook for that as well.) And April 28th I drive to Danville, IN for a housefilk at Bill and Brenda Sutton’s. And then I’m a band chaperone the next weekend, but that’s May.

There is one more thing. And I saved it for last, because it is incredibly cool. Seanan McGuire has been nominated for FOUR Hugos on one ballot: Deadline as Mira Grant for best novel, “Countdown” as Mira Grant for best novella, Best Fancast as part of SF Squeecast, and Best Related Work for her CD, Wicked Girls.

Folks, I play piano on three tracks of Wicked Girls! There are so many fine fine performances on that CD from musicians I love and respect. Seanan’s songwriting is superlative. The only people who don’t know how amazing she is are the ones who haven’t encountered her work. You can buy it here.

This particular Hugo nomination has made the filk community very excited. Filkers are a group of people who love science fiction, fantasy, horror, and—well story-telling in general. We also happen to really enjoy music. Marrying the two seems natural and it’s what we do, but this community of ours has largely gone unrecognized in the larger fannish community. I don’t know if this nomination is an indication that all that has changed or not, but one can hope.

In the meantime, I am delighted for Seanan and delighted for everyone who participated in the album whether it be playing, producing, doing cover art, or keeping people sane. You may read about Wicked Girls and Seanan’s other albums here.

Happy April, everyone!

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How’s that solo album coming along?

Posted on March 15, 2012 by MaryCrowell

Where do I start? First, my new solo album is going very well! I have only one more scratch track to send to Mystic Fig Studio.  And then all fourteen tracks are in the process of becoming/being made manifest/springing into being/being born, etc. It actually does feel mystical. (Aptly named, this studio is.)

The fourteen tracks in alphabetical order:

  • Acolytes of the Machine (Title Track)
  • Balleto of Rupus
  • City of Doors
  • Devil of Stories
  • I Put My Low Stat
  • Just Dessert
  • ‘M’ Is for Magic Missile
  • Massacre Anne
  • Opportunity Tango
  • Oh Milo
  • Pas de Deux
  • Post-Apocalyptic Blues
  • Pretty Little Ladies
  • Shifty Screavy

All the songs are inspired in some fashion by gaming. They are stories of things that happened or could happen in the engaging campaigns in which I’ve played. Most of these campaigns were created by my husband. “Oh Milo,” however, was inspired by an event in one of John Brewer’s campaigns. Some songs are character studies. Others are songs about meta gaming in general. They are in a wide variety of musical styles. Jazz and classic rock tend to dominate, while romantic lieder, bluegrass, and gospel make definitive entrances here and there.  Overall, we’re going to call it folk. It’s definitely not world music.

All the musicians performing in this album have put their distinctive personalities into it. Amy McNally has recorded her fabulous violin. (Her other violin is fabulous too.) Michelle “vixy” Dockrey, Maya Bohnhoff, Teresa Powell, and Brenda Sutton have put their yummy vocals and harmony on several tracks. (I listen to the roughs over and over.) Jeff Bohhoff has played some fantastic acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and bass and created amazing arrangements.

There are more personalities to come. I am slated to finish up my final piano and vocal parts in May. Betsy and vixy are making plans to fly out to San Jose in mid spring and early summer respectively. Amy’s going to have another recording session. Maya and Jeff will be laying down some Queen-like harmonies for “Balleto of Rupus” and more. And there may be additional folks.

I think about this CD every day. I’m at the stage where I want everyone to hear it now. And of course, I really shouldn’t share these tracks until they are done. (That does not keep me from playing the roughs for everyone who unsuspectingly enters my house to visit.)

It is so incredibly moving to collaborate successfully. Honestly, I tear up sometimes. And other times I jump up and down manically. Interestingly for me, is there is at the same time a feeling of distance. Once you have other artists involved, it isn’t just your baby anymore. This project has several people’s musical ‘genetic’ material. And thus springs the primary source of my delight. It’s really our baby. And I love that!

As a result, I’m less wrapped up in the project being an extension of ‘me’ now.  This distance is a good thing, because it allows me to make decisions based on what is best for the project and listen to advice and it consider carefully (without being cranky or hurt.) Also, I’m less nervous while actually recording tracks. I find I’m enjoying watching it unfold and develop like a really good book, play, or movie.

Geographical distance is still a factor and limited access to recording studios. There are several beloved musician-friends who cannot be on this because they live far away and cannot travel easily. This makes me want the technology of sharing music and files and recording it to advance. Rapidly. But, even more, it makes me excited about the album after this. I already have that one planned out, you know. I was not supposed to go 5+ years between albums. And I’ve written many many songs.

Love to you all,

Mary

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8 Tips: How to Run a Successful Band Practice for Nine People by Mary Crowell

Posted on January 24, 2012 by MaryCrowell

Play It With Moxie had our best ever performance at GAFilk at the beginning of this year! Not only was it the most rocking set list we have ever put together, but also we were more confident, rehearsed, and unstressed than we have ever been. Much of this success comes from lessons learned during past rehearsals and performances over the last 9 years. These are some things I have learned over the years as Play It With Moxie grew from a trio to a nine-piece jazz band with horn section.

1.   Feed the band. I know I am absolutely useless without food. And, I think we all benefit from well-maintained blood sugar. We always start our Moxie practices with a dinner out or occasionally food brought in. Yes, dairy does make one’s voice all milky for a little while afterward. But, not only does having fuel make a huge difference in the energy level of the band as a whole, but eating together subtly binds people together and gets them more entrained for when they actually are trying coordinate musical timing. Maybe it’s a comfort association. Food=friendship=better music.

2.   Four songs on/5 minutes off. Part of the fun of making music with your friends is that they are your friends. Rather than having to politely (or not) ask everyone to please stop talking, or tuning, or beating drum sticks up the wall, or blowing really loud into their horn, or whatever, so that you can go on to song number 13 without a break; consider, taking a short break after every four songs. I set a timer, just like I do when I’m giving my son a short break from his homework. We seem to work more efficiently if we’re given reliable and regular breaks. This was a new strategy this year, and it’s a keeper.

3.   Mix up the types of songs you practice just like you would mix them up on a set list. Make sure there are fast and slow, easy and difficult, and familiar and unfamiliar. Don’t save all the new difficult stuff for the end of the practice. And if you have more than one singer, try to make sure more than one of them gets to sing during your four song ‘practice set.’ That way your singers are less likely to blow their voices out.

4.   Mic your singers during practice, so they don’t hurt themselves. We have a horn section, amplified, guitar, amplified, bass, and drum kit. Singers need the love too. Back when the band was much smaller, this did not seem as necessary, but I think this is helpful in smaller ensembles too. It allows the singer to get used to working with a microphone during practice. It allows the rest of the band to know where they need to calm down a bit so they don’t play over the singers.

5.   If you have personnel playing more than one instrument in the set, arrange your set list accordingly. We had talked about doing that for years, as one of our bass players also plays tenor sax.  Now almost half of us double or even triple up on instruments. So this year, we arranged the set list, so that people had as few instrument changes as possible. Wow! We were so much less stressed on stage. We had a better time and played more songs than we have ever gotten to perform at this engagement. Twenty-five! Normally, we would get through 21 and just barely at that.

6.   Run the set list in order if possible at least once before your bigger performances—particularly if you don’t get to perform often as an ensemble. We have a two hour 15 minute dinner/dance set we do at GAFilk every year. When we ran the set list this year we called it an ‘undressed rehearsal,’ because we wore comfy clothes: sweatpants, tee shirts, and big old over-sized pajamas while we rehearsed. (We had the advantage of having a practice in the basement of the hotel we were going to be performing in.)

7.   Wear some of your more unusual performance apparel at your practice. I wasn’t really going to discuss practicing in your performance clothes, because that is covered in so many other performance tip sheets. But, if you are going to be wearing things you do not normally wear (constricting sleeves or high-heeled shoes,) you should at least test them out in company. You never know if your sleeves may attack your fellow horn players! That clarinet neck strap may not actually work when going from piano to clarinet and back. I have learned that, since I always wear a long prom-style gown at Moxie performances and usually sit on a piano bench, there is no need for me to wear high-heeled shoes. They are uncomfortable, and no one sees my feet. I go bare-footed as soon as I can.

8. Have a ‘band factotum’ as Dave Rood calls him. We have a Wesley. I recommend highly having a Wesley at your practices that loves your band, makes coffee and tea, helps lift things, or goes and finds them for you so you can keep rehearsing, arranges things with the hotel staff (and knows them all by name) so you don’t pull your hair out, and makes sure you stop to eat. But you can’t have our Wesley. Go find your own!

Dr. Mary Crowell is the band leader of Play It With Moxie , a mostly Atlanta-based swing jazz band that “performs ballroom banquet music in the glorious tradition of the early 20th century. Here you’ll find swing, Latin, ballads, vocal harmonies and a horn section, all delivered with class… with style… with Moxie.” (Quoted from website. )

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Scratch Tracks

Posted on November 3, 2011 by MaryCrowell

I’ve been recording scratch tracks and sending them to Jeff Bohnhoff in California. For those that may not know, scratch tracks are rough, imperfect recordings that help those involved with a recording project get a sense of the shape of the song; its tempo; possible ideas for instrumentals, vocal backups, and accompaniments. It is definitely not a finished project.

And that is probably what is hardest for me to accept. When I initially began recording scratch tracks, they would take a very long time for me to record, because I want the piano accompaniment to be up to tempo (Yes, I could cheat and speed it up with midi, but I don’t.) and the vocals to be lovely and perfect. But, I don’t have the equipment and I am too close to my own material. And they are scratch tracks.

Another difficult thing about scratch tracks for me is that once I have one sounding good, I want to send it to all my friends and post it somewhere. But, it’s a scratch track. Many would say it would be better if I present my material in polished formats. I mostly agree with that, but do wonder how sincere a picture of the music that presents. Luckily, bootlegs from filk conventions and youtube keep me honest.

I will probably post a scratch track or two later after we’ve done a few face to face recording sessions. I think it’s really fun to watch an artist’s creative process, and as a result some of my favorite panels at general science fiction conventions have been those where an artist presents a slide show of his/her work at different stages of completion. It’s like a little window into the brain or the muse or what have you.

And I think that is enough for this entry. Have you ever recorded a scratch track or listened to one? What is your process?

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October 2011 (part deux)

Posted on October 15, 2011 by MaryCrowell

Wow! Two updates in one month. That is because October rocks! The weather is cooler, and Halloween is coming. I bought Apple Annie apples yesterday. Ergo, two updates.

First, let’s talk Moxie: Play It With Moxie has finished a live CD, Play It With Moxie Live! There is an actual exclamation in the title and I’m excited about it. (I am informed that I really should avoid double and triple exclamation points, but this is difficult for me.) This is energetic and fun jazz album was recorded live at GAFilk in the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. Play It With Moxie has been playing for GAFilk’s banquet every year since 2003. The band, the dancers, and the diners all have a fabulous evening every time we perform.

In the words of Peter Alway, “You are the only band to move me to dance. Ever. In all my 47 years.”

Right now we are trying to come up with interesting swag to include with our preorders. (Suggestions are welcome.) I will be taking preorders in person at OVFF (October 21-23). We will set up other means of ordering online soon after.

We plan to duplicate and send out CDs in time for the winter holidays, so get your Christmas shopping done now. Yay!

Speaking of OVFF, I mentioned in the previous post I am nominated for a Pegasus this year in the category Best Writer/Composer. I’m thrilled and honored! But one of my favorite things about the Pegasus awards is the Pegasus concert held the Friday night of OVFF. This year, I’ll be performing “Tough Titty Cupcakes,” by Betsy Tinney. This song is one of my favorites on the new Tricky Pixie album Mythcreants! If you haven’t listened to it yet, trust me, you have missed out. “Tough Titty Cupcakes” has been nominated in the category ‘Best Badass Song.’ I’ll also accompany Bill Roper on piano while he performs “Die Puppen,” (“The Dolls”) a chilling fable written by Eva Van Daele-Hunt (née Wiest). “Die Puppen” is up for Best Filk Song this year.

And where are we on my solo album? I’m going out to Cali! Whee! Yes, I’ll be flying out in November to meet with Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff (guests of honor at this year’s OVFF) and start recording my new project, Acolytes of the Machine. I’ve already sent Jeff some scratch tracks, and he’s added some absolutely mouth-watering bass lines and chill percussion to those already.

And since I need to record several more scratch tracks, I’ll get back to work now!

Love,
Mary

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October 2011

Posted on October 1, 2011 by MaryCrowell

Hi everyone!

It’s finally autumn, one of the best times of the year for sheer creativity! Last month, I played at the fourth annual Literary Tastes, a fundraiser for the Athens-Limestone Public Library renovations. We have outgrown our library in Athens, AL and are preparing to renovate and move into the old Kroger building on the corner of Jefferson and Forrest. I’ve seen some of the preliminary drawings of the proposed new and improved library, and I am so excited!

Take a moment to visit online and sign up for the newsletter, the Acropolis, so you can catch up on the latest news.

October 7-9 I’ll be up in Romulus, Michigan for ConClave XXXVI. Seanan McGuire, author of the Newsflesh series and October Daye novels is literary guest of honor. The fantastic band, Wild Mercy, will be filk guest of honor. And Ray and Barb VanTilburg are fan guests of honor.

I will busy, busy, busy! I’m playing clarinet on Peter Alway’s and Seanan McGuire’s concerts on Friday, teaching yoga Saturday morning, and then performing my own concert Saturday afternoon and accompanying the improvisational theatre group, Space Time Theater that evening.

October 21-23 is the weekend of Ohio Valley Filk Festival (OVFF 27), the convention that presents the Pegasus awards. These awards honor musical excellence in the filk community. I am honored (and delighted) to be nominated for best composer/writer this year! I’ll be performing in the Pegasus concert Friday night, teaching yoga Saturday and Sunday mornings, and probably accompanying others in filk circles.

Finally, I’ve begun working on scratch tracks for my new album, Acolytes of the Machine. I will be flying out to California on multiple occasions to record with Jeff Bohnhoff. He and his wife Maya Bohnhoff are superb musicians, and I am absolutely tickled they are helping me with this project!

I hope to see you in October!

Love,
Mary

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August 2011

Posted on August 1, 2011 by MaryCrowell

Tomorrow, Renovation 2011 begins! Guests of Honor include Ellen Asher, Charles N. Brown, Tim Powers, and Boris Vallejo. Special guests include Tricky Pixie and Bill Willingham. There will be panels, signings, discussions over coffee and other beverages, dancing, reading poetry and prose, singing, playing, and many other fannish activities. I’m already there in my head.

Wednesday, August 17, is going to be a bit of a whirlwind, because we arrive, rent a car, rent a keyboard, and then pick up our pre-registration and program schedule. Tomorrow night at 9:00 pm I have a concert on the Hall 2 stage of the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. (Right after my concert there is a poetry slam reading in the Hall 2 bar that will also rock mightily.)

Assuming all goes well with airlines, cell phones, and practice times, I will have some excellent company on the stage. Performing with me will be Amy McNally (fiddler of the Crossroads), Betsy Tinney (cellist for the Ravens), and Katie Tinney (voice of the Fae.) I am truly a fortunate Mary, I am!

Betsy Tinney, together with S.J. Tucker and Alexander James Adams, make up the musical trio that is Tricky Pixie. They will be performing earlier Wednesday evening (7:00 pm) in Co3 and Co4 of the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. Make sure to come and hear them, dance to them, and buy their new CD, Mythcreants!

Love to all,
Mary

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Housefilks and such

Posted on July 1, 2011 by MaryCrowell

I just returned from a wonderful GAFia housefilk at one of our GaFia member’s houses. I uploaded several pictures to my Facebook page of us grinning and having a fantastic time!

Housefilks are wonderful ways to hear music and play music of course, but they have more opportunities for talking and getting to know local filkers as well. Typically they are held at someone’s house, with chairs and sofas drawn together roughly in a circle and a kitchen nearby with good things to eat. People can play, just listen, or even retreat to a kitchen or dining room and just catch up on news with each other.

GAFia meets about four times a year usually in the greater Atlanta area, and right now our next house filk will probably occur in December. Let me know if you’d like to go to one in the future, and I’ll put you in touch with Michael Liebmann, the GAFia coordinator.

At the house filk Saturday talk turned to upcoming CDs. Cat Faber is working on a CD, and has a working play list now. The members of Play It with Moxie have started discussing packaging for our CD. And we’ve set some deadlines for our Three Weird Sisters CD as well. (The sisters are very excited about Consonance coming up in March 2012 in the Bay area!)

The next convention coming up for me is Renovation, August 17 through 21 in Reno, Nevada. Most of the music events I’ll be participating in will occur in the Peppermill Hotel. The schedulers are working very hard on the music schedule as well as several other programming tracks, (There are many participants in the schedule grid!) and I’ll post an update on my schedule when I have it.

Love,
Mary

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Time to talk about projects

Posted on June 1, 2011 by MaryCrowell

As many of you know I not only perform solo as Dr. Mary Crowell, but I also perform with two bands who have CDs in the works. One of these bands is Three Weird Sisters. The other is Play It With Moxie. Both bands are recording albums with Greg Robert, and I’ve been making frequent trips to his studio to help finish these projects. I cannot wait, because both albums feature strong work from all my band mates! My CD Courting My Muse was released in April of 2007, and I have written a ton of new material since then. And I’ve been performing it. A few of those newer songs will show up on our two band albums.

But, I have enough material for two more solo albums.One will be the RPG gaming album I have promised myself for years, Acolytes of the Machine. So much of my inspiration comes from that quarter. The other is a bit more eclectic. Right now its theme is seasonal and introspective. But, I don’t stop writing songs, so that is not definite.

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