Being a musician in New York City can feel a bit congested at times. There's so many bands and artists all trying to make a living off what they love to do best. As a Female musician, I am constantly looking for other women musicians to either gig with or even hang out with. We can relate to certain circumstances and situations that happen to us that men may not relate to. You have no idea how elated I was upon hearing about a women monthly showcase called The Songbird Series. The Songbird Series has a showcase every four Wednesdays in a wonderful intimate bar and restaurant called Branded Saloon. This showcase was hosted and created by DK, a musician herself, who sings and plays a unique instrument called the dulcimer. She introduced the first artist of the night which was Caroline Cotto. Caroline really captured the small audience with songs of love and self reflections of ones honesty. With a sultry and powerful voice and graceful guitar playing, it was pleasure to watch. The Second performer of the night was Naomi Frank. She performed a beautiful song from the 1400's titled "the unquiet grave". It was an outstanding emotional performance. It definitely pulled on the heart strings of everyone at the show. The headliner of the night was Brooks McKenzie, who played the electronic omnichord (which is something you don't see everyday). She spoke about how she has been playing the omnichord for five years and how she found this instrument due to her Dad collecting many different types of instruments. It was interesting hearing her sing soulful, in songs like Amy Winehouse's Help Yourself, but playing this pseudo classical instrument at the same time. It was a unique set and very enjoyable with putting her own twist on well known covers. Ending the night was the amazing host and founder, DK and the Joy Machine. She performed an amazing set with her Dulcimer (which is another instrument you don't see everyday). The instrument is something between a guitar and a violin, which as a guitarist I found amusing. I had never seen this instrument performed live, so she made my first experience a pleasant one. It was amazing hearing her play Punk Rock songs on the dulcimer. She also performed an original song called "The Selkie's Coat" Inspired by a Irish/Scottish folk story about a female seal. Here is a description from the tale about Selkie's story from Wikipedia which inspired her to write the song "The Selkie's Coat": "In the Faroe Islands there are two versions of the story of the Selkie or Seal Wife. A young farmer from the town of Mikladalur on Kalsoy island goes to the beach to watch the selkies dance. He hides the skin of a beautiful selkie maid, so she cannot go back to sea, and forces her to marry him. He keeps her skin in a chest, and keeps the key with him both day and night. One day when out fishing, he discovers that he has forgotten to bring his key. When he returns home, the selkie wife has escaped back to sea, leaving their children behind. Later, when the farmer is out on a hunt, he kills both her selkie husband and two selkie sons, and she promises to take revenge upon the men of Mikladalur. Some shall be drowned, some shall fall from cliffs and slopes, and this shall continue, until so many men have been lost that they will be able to link arms around the whole island of Kalsoy." This story and song made the night very special for me. I personally love hearing folk or mythical stories and hearing her write a song on it, was beautiful. DK's song was absolutely perfect with the story. You can hear the song on her reverberation page which you can find to the right of the article. I recommend that all female musicians should check out this showcase. It's not only a great showcase to be involved in but also a chance to network with other female musicians. You'll definitely learn something new especially about all the unique instruments that were seen in this particular night. Branded Saloon is also a very cosy place with excellent food which made the night even more enjoyable. The next Songbird series showcase is on March 18th at Branded Saloon featuring Tine Kindermenn and Concetta Abbette. More info on the event can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1629511223937208/ Written by Crystalla Gonzalez w/Gabriel Castellar All pictures taken by Crystalla Gonzalez #FunkLifeNYC www.Funkadelicstudios.com | To Learn more about The Songbird series visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SongBirdSeries Hear & learn more about DK, the founder of The Songbird series here: http://www.reverbnation.com/dknthejoymachine Caroline Cotto https://www.facebook.com/pages/Caroline-Cotto/836376943047115 Naomi Frank https://www.facebook.com/NaomiFrankMusic Brooks McKenzie: https://soundcloud.com/roesmoker |