Hi Everyone!
I want to tell you about what I did last Thursday night.
At around 4pm I arrived at Fairfield Theater Company’s “Stage One” venue, in Fairfield CT.
I said my hello’s and was escorted to the side-door where I could load in my gear, right into the beautiful main room
where the Grammy-Winning Melissa Manchester was already sound-checking with her cabaret-sized two-piece band.
I was thrilled to be invited to open for someone who, I discovered, had such a rich history in songwriting, recording, and the music industry.
Melissa was described to me as a great singer and 80’s pop-star… but as the night went on I discovered a true vocal powerhouse and veteran performer
who was ready to share her music, her influences and her experiences with the intimate crowd of 200 we performed for,
and even her kind words and crew for a young singer/songwriter just starting out in her career (me).
Stage One is an awesome “black-box” style venue where the audience feels like they’re listening in on a special private performance
that just happens to have great lighting and sound. And for the musicians it’s a big change from small NYC rock clubs (who will always have my heart).
There’s a big dressing room and backstage, tons of space, and great people who are all ready to help you put on the best show you’ve ever played.
When it was my turn to sound-check, my bass player and I were sensitive not to mess-up the baby grand piano set up Melissa had going on
and as I tried to figure out where to stand I heard a voice from the back row call out, “Stand center-stage Honey! And let me know if you need anything!”
That was Sue, Melissa’s backup singer and tour manager extraordinarie who couldn’t have been nicer, and stayed to listen to our entire sound-check while everyone else was eating dinner.
Everything sounded fantastic on stage, levels were perfect, my mic felt infused with all the confidence of singing in the shower without the echo (and the water…).
We’d brought some cool new gear to help us perform a brand new song called, “Almost Famous” and when ground loops and funky noises started humming the invisible
sound tech in the booth helped us fix it up in seconds-flat. I later found out, after a fantastic performance that sounded crystal clear and lush in the monitors
and probably even better to the audience, that the tech up in the booth was Melissa’s on-tour sound engineer Howie Lindeman who’s career credits include
booth time recording “Songs In The Key of Life” with Stevie Wonder, Hit Factory sessions with John Lennon, road tours with R.E.M. and the list goes on.
No wonder it sounded so great! But it wasn’t just Howie’s skill, it was his generosity and sense of teamwork that really blew me away.
When I thanked him after the show he told me that, “It’s all about being able to take a bow, turn off the lights at the end of the night, and know we made great music together.”
So instead of relaxing before Melissa’s set, he took care of our sound from check to “Thanks everyone!” just because he wanted to.
The audience hooted and hollered for us, and then I watched with them as Melissa performed her hits, and great songs she wrote but are known more
for the friends of hers who sang them (like Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks), and told great stories about getting discovered in a music industry before myspace and blogs like this one.
Her delivery was confident and powerful and she had her fans cheering and in tears all at once. And as a young performer I learned a lot.
After the show Melissa and I shared the signing table together as she listened to stories from her fans like, “When I first heard ‘Midnight Blue”....” and “Your ‘Color of Ribbons’ song
really helped me…”
We shared sharpies and autographed CD’s, and she offered kind words of congratulations to me for playing a great set.
Everyone at FTC from the business managers and owners to the booking agents and bartenders were so supportive and awesome
and we all had a great time talking about the show we just put on.
Backstage I chatted with Melissa’s guitarist Stephan and we got deep into talks of songwriting, singers with resonance and soul, and never giving up.
In fact I think everyone there reminded me to keep playing, keep singing, and keep reaching for my dreams.
In Howie’s words, “You’ve got something really special that everyone will want to hear… it’s some really good shit!”
So that was my Thursday night. Just another awesome experience that I’m so grateful for.
Thanks as always to you guys for coming to shows and helping me make this possible.
XOXOX,
Daria
Ps. You can get Melissa’s Cd’s on iTunes and download her new song “The Power of Ribbons” all the proceeds from it’s sales will go to Breast Cancer Research
EPK: www.sonicbids.com/dariamusk