Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do.  Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.– Ella Fitzgerald

This week, I am reading with great satisfaction… about all the musicians who are booked to perform at swank + fabulous clubs and restaurants. Y’all rock!

It’s wonderful!  They are ushering in the New year by entertaining energized crowds on Monday night.  Lots of them are posting the details about their gigs on social media sites such as facebook.  Rock on, I say!

Many of these guys and gals I know personally, and I am beyond happy for them, because I know they are going to have a blast… doing what they love.

I know they’re going to go big, and not hold back on such a night as this one coming up.  New Year’s Eve is a holiday designed for celebrants who intend to go over the top!

I am also thrilled to see all the  many varied + interesting venues that will be hosting the celebrations in the Raleigh area.

I’ve lived here 20 years, and it’s become quite obvious that this area has come a long way.

New Year’s Eve will be without a doubt, a night with plenty of exciting things to do.

Raleigh is really growing up!!!

But back to the question and subject at hand:

WHAT AM I DOING NEW YEAR’S EVE???

I will be working at the anchor desk in the newsroom on New Year’s Eve at NBC 17.

I can’t say enough about my gratitude for this opportunity to continue doing the work I love as a journalist.

In fact, I am happy to work any holiday I’m scheduled.

This post is about performing, though– singing– SOMETHING ELSE I LOVE TO DO WITH GREAT GUSTO–

FOR  various and sundry reasons I have not been as active on the music scene as I was two years ago.

It doesn’t sit well with me.  Singing/performing is one of the things that really light me up.  I believe I’ve been blessed with a gift, and that I need to be intentional about sharing it with others.. those who enjoy listening to jazz/standards… hell, just great lyrics delivered in a way that leaves them lifted.

 

I feel confident that that’s going to happen for me. It’s a feeling.It has served me well. I continue to sing with music backing tracks.  I get to sing pretty much any song that pleases me.  That’s the upside.  In reality I don’t think there’s anything that can really replace the sounds of live musicians.. the give and take.. the freedom to improvise… and perform a kind of  “dance” that can leave listeners astounded.

In the meantime, I am contacting musicians I know … and pitching the idea of having me guest appear with them from time to time.    That keeps the whole dream of me singing live on stage.. living and growing.

Outside of that, I am going to carry my sound equipment and music tracks to small venues that I can book around the Raleigh area. My intention is to just keep doing my best– no more no less— taking care of this wonderful gift I have the pleasure of owning and sharing. I know the importance of keeping skills sharp in all areas of our lives!

I wish all the best to all the performers who are booked to jam the night away on New Year’s Eve. I will be thinking about them… happy they have the chance to work at something so worthwhile in this world.

blue skies!

Blue Skies everbody!  Blue skies all around!

This is me and the talented photographer and Web designer genius:  Jake St. Peter.  I’m kind of dancing around the edges of interesting and exciting…. and that is where my head is these days. Musically.

I am challenged to channel all the va va boom I can for the next song I’m recording on my new album.

My record producer Chip Shearin says my musical salute to the military would not be complete without sex icon Mavin Gaye’s hit song, “Let’s Get It On”.

Wow.

Well, for a few weeks now I’ve been practicing and trying to make the song MY song.  Pam’s having to move way outside her comfort zone. (yes I know I’m typing in 3rd person!) I have created in my mind, images of our soldiers returning home to the man or woman who owns his or her heart.  I believe that is helpful to me, but not quite enough.

I mean, if I’m going to have success with this song, I need listeners to “feel” Let’s Get It on when they hear it.  This is nothing to play around with.

You have to be committed. 100 % to the message behind the music. No room for half steps.

Recently I thought of something that might really move me when I’m singing this powerfully romantic song.  I am bringing someone with me to Chip’s recording studio:  This man.

Idris Elba.

Lord Hammercy!

That’s the plan. Idris and me.  His photo taped to the microphone, or leaning against a music stand table.

Might have to step into the studio with a pair of red stilettos, too.  I have a pair similar to these:

All of that being said, my intention is to own this song.. to get into the feeling of the song lyrics and pull pull pull that feeling out of my heart and soul.

LET’S GET IT ON!

“Never, never listen to anybody when they try to discourage you, because they do that, believe me.” –Mariah Carey

Adele can’t sing.

She has been diagnosed with a vocal cord hemorrhage.

What in the world???

I love me some Adele!

Loved that young woman from the start. She had me at Chasing Pavements.

Her soul, her writing, her seemingly effortless talent.

Now this Grammy-winning singer is sidelined with vocal issues.

They have forced her to cancel all of her 2011 performances!

A statement on Adele’s website says she’s going to have to have surgery and that a full recovery is expected.

Other famous singers have had trouble keeping their voices strong and healthy:

Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Justin Timberlake.

Adele’s situation is serious. It is more than simple laryngitis. Bleeding is involved here.

According to a fact sheet from the American Academy of Otolaryngology, “vocal hemorrhage results when one of the blood vessels on the surface of the vocal cord ruptures and the soft tissues of the vocal cord fill with blood.”

This is sick.  As singers, we can damage our voices forever if we don’t allow our vocal cords to heal completely when there is trouble. Absolute voice rest means absolute voice rest.

I am saddened by what has had to Adele.  I like the rest of her fans want her back on stage when she is fully over this episode.

Moving forward, I will be thinking about Adele.  She had made me recommit to my daily vocal exercises, warm-ups, and practice.

I fully recognize that in order to build a strong and healthy voice… to maintain it.. we have to go back to the basics.

It’s the simplest most important thing I can do to make my singing the joyful process it was meant to be.

Onward  + Upward!

It was an absolute blast and we had a really good time!

1. FLY ME TO THE MOON

2. WORRISOME HEART

3. WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

4. WHEN I FALL IN LOVE

5. ALL OF ME

6. BYE BYE BLACKBIRD

7. NATURE BOY

Brent Jordan is a musician, and while recently sitting in Chip Shearin’s recording studio, a plan was hatched to sing a duet on my new album.

I am going to record the song “Hey Girl“..  a mesmerising, melancholic song recorded by Freddie Scott back in 1963.

The plan at first was to have me sing it by myself… replacing Hey Girl, with Hey Boy.

I love this song.  If you consider the lyric structure, then you can see how it really fits with my theme of honoring our servicemen and women.

It goes like this in part:

Hey, girl, I want you to know,
I’m gonna miss you so much if you go.
(Bye, bye, baby.)
And hey, girl, I tell you no lie,
Something deep inside of me’s going to die.
(Bye, bye, baby.)
If you say, “So long,” (bye, bye, baby).
If this is goodbye (bye, bye, baby).
Oh-oh, oh, oh-oh.

For my part, I am changing the words to Hey Boy.

I rewrote some of the words to the parts that Brent will sing, and the song has basically turned into a love story between a woman and man  about to separate as he goes off to fight in the war.  She’s begging him not to go away and he’s reassuring her that everything’s going to be alright and that he’s coming back home to her.

I heard Brent sing a little bit while we were talking all this over at Chips’s studio.  His voice is amazing, and he almost moved me to tears right then and there.  I just not we have a winner with this one.

Brent would later share with me how much my music project means to him, too.

Here’s some of what he told me:  I think this will resonate deeply with many of our men and women in uniform and their families… We have many in our family serving right now and i know they’ll love this…Pam, I’ll give you all i have to give for this project: heart and soul. i feel blessed to be included on a song that makes a positive impact for our soldiers with a heart-felt rendition of a classic song. so here’s to  Healing and Hope through music…it sure does feel like a great recipe for success!”

So, you can see Brent and I are on the same page with this one.

With Chip Shearin on our side, I feel we can’t miss.

Onward + Upward!

I learned recently that every musician should have an answer to that question when he or she is invited to play a solo part, or just to improvise during a performance.

The question came up when violinist Dave Binanay joined me at Chip Shearin’s recording studio to play a solo part to a song that I’m including in the album.

Well, here is how webster’s describes the word:

mo·tif

/moʊˈtif/ Show Spelled[moh-teef]

noun

a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work.

I learrned that every musician should have a “motif” around every song.. that he or she should always know the melody.. and that when called on to perform a solo or improvise… that motif should be easily within mental reach.

It was explained that the Motif serves as a starting point for a musician… a point from which.. he or she can then go anywhere interpreting a musical piece.

Get this:  Chip said it could be part of a nursery rhyme… the first few notes of … saying.. Mary had a little lamb or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Ain’t that a hoot?

Well given those instructions.. my man Dave went to work!  He put his motif to work at the beginning part of his solo in “Get Here”.  After that, the rest just seemed to flow so much easier for him.

Dave would later tell me he learned so much from Chip Shearin that day… even though he was only in the studio for a couple of hours.

That got me thinking.. wondering if a vocalist should have some kind of motif when beginning a song.. or taking on the “bridge” of a song.

I am not so sure.  I do know that I sing better when I can “feel” the intention of the songwriter.  Sometimes, rather than sing a song, I will just voice the words, and wrap my head around the story of the song.  That makes sense to me.  I believe it helps.

Moreover, I have gone into each of the songs I have written, motivated and inspired by the mission behind the music project.  That is, as I’ve mentioned before… to honor the military.

Over the weekend,  — About 200 soldiers with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade stationed at Fort Bragg deployed to Afghanistan.   Many of them were so young. I saw one young man with his father.  The solider was just 21 and on his first deployment to a region where there has been heavy fighting.

My hope is always that they come home safe and whole.

I am not sure if I have my motif, but I have my motive 100 percent!

Onward + Upward!!!

 It was not long after my very first music project took flight that I was hit with thoughts for the next one. 

I wanted to record an album to salute the military.

I have expressed it many times in previous blogs how much the military means to me… How grateful I am to the

men and women who have volunteered to wear a uniform to serve and protect our great country.

Singing a New Song!

After skirting around the edges of this dream for months, the real work began this week. Sunday afternoon.

Chip Shearin working his magic in the music lab

I was standing in front of a microphone inside record producer Chip Shearin’s studio in Raleigh. Fully relaxed. Singing my heart out. We were making music in a way I’ve never made music before.

singing!!!

The two songs we worked on are songs you’ve never heard before.

I am not singing other people’s songs… In their keys.. To the rhythm of their musicians. That’s how I did it last year when I released my CD: The Full Measure of a Woman.

Not this time.

Chip, who is by the way an amazing bass player..  wrote one of the songs, and he had a hand in crafting the other one . I love them both so much.

Chip in all his glory

The song titles are: “That’s Home” and “Yesterday”. Gems.

I recorded the lead vocals behind the music Chip and his magically talented partners created. What’s more, I recorded the background vocals.

What I like about “That’s Home” is that it has turned into a kind of anthem of thanks to the military. The song recalls some of the small, ordinary things that turn out to matter a whole lot when you are on foreign soil.. Millions of miles from the familiar: kids riding bikes, home cooking, a girlfriend’s beauty when you’re going out on a date.

“Yesterday” is a beautiful love song. It speaks of a strong yearning to hold on to feelings that have died.

It was harder work in the studio than I expected really. Do -overs.. And more do-overs!! I’ve never had to that level of harmonizing on songs in the past. To get it done, I sang each song three times, and Chip will ultimately choose the best of what he’s hearing.  What I really like is that he’s allowing me to connect with my inner self in a powerful way.

Chip is demanding, but he brings out the best!

The bar for excellence was set extremely high that day. It took hours just to get the basics done for those two songs. There is quite a bit of work ahead cleaning and mixing/mastering and touching up.

The happy part for me is that I’m fully on my way. 100 percent!

Onward + Upward!



~ I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing. ~ William James



The nightlife in Raleigh is growing and improving year by year. 

I have enjoyed every single venue where I’ve been invited to perform.. from The Mint.. to Yancey’s.. to Prime Only Steak House..  to Zydeco… to  Mirage… and now Club 313.

I have been piquing the curiosity of the mostly gay patrons of this gorgeously laid out establishment since I started performing there in April.  Lately I’ve been entertaining a sparse group of bargoers.

They listen intently as I go through my sets.  My songs include Nora Jones’ Don’t Know Why, Nina Simone’s My Baby Just Cares for Me,  As Time Goes By, Black Coffee, and Cry Me a River.

Later my performance turns ironic during Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” which I give a mid-century torch-ballad treatment.

Really, I’m not doing a self review, I am just leading up to my query:  Whether a straight Jazz Singer can make it in a club where most of the patrons appear  ambivalent about her presence.

I can count on the staff to support me.  They are in a word Ah-mazing!

A few years back a writer for Jazz Times (who reportedly  patronized gay bars with almost the same regularity as jazz clubs) wrote that gay culture feels more allegiance toward Lady Gaga than Lady Day.  He sensed a great divide between the two worlds.  He went on to say that at the risk of stereotyping,  the musical landscape to mainstream gay life was more devoted to vocal pop, club hits and electronica.

If there is then a divide of disinterest, I want to be a bridge if I can.

We’re going to keep the music playing at Club 313, but I’ve decided to do a bit of tweaking to my song list.

I am planning to build up a repetoire of songs that are commonly heard in cabarets or at most any piano bar.

I will not look for any off- the- beaten- track numbers. No No No!

I expect the “crowd” will be far more appreciative of the tried and true, the familiar… they want to hear the songs they know and love.

 I’ve already downloaded the musical backing tracks to “And All that Jazz”  (from Chicago) and “Cabaret”;

Also I’ve included some of the top songs ever written from the The Giants: Cole Porter, The Gershwins and Irving Berlin.  You know them:  “Night and Day”, “Miss Otis Regrets”,  “Blue Skies” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”.

So there you have it.

Nothing big is changing with me.  These are all songs that I love.  I will still be who I am when I take the stage.  It says a lot when you show up in your life as who you are and being happy.  That’s my intention. Always.

Onward + Upward!

I’m just looking for a bit more stage presence.  Dynamic + Daring.  That is the combination I’m seeking.

Really.  For me, it will be a matter of  turning up the heat some when I touch the stage.

To that end, I’ve enlisted the help of an old friend: Fique.  She’s the owner of Luxe Apothecary in North Hills.

   We’re going to make the magic happen with an airbrush makeup gun.   It’s not exactly a new thing on the market,  but it’s new to me! 

   I have an appointment at the Luxe Salon next month to have my face professionally done before my show at Club 313.  If you know anything about this exciting venue, then you know that you have to “bring it” and “work it” every time.

   So that’s the plan.  I’m beyond ready.  I’m told airbrush foundation photographs very well, and provides full-on, long lasting color that is très magnifique!

    I want you to be the judge.  I’ll be posting pictures.

Onward  + Upward!!





I’m in an Italian state of mind.

I spent a lazy Sunday evening with a dear friend (I call her mi socia) at a zazzy + delicious restaurant in Apex called Mambo Italiano.

 In the midst of catching up on all sorts of family matters and girl talk,  the manager Ron approached us in the patio and welcomed us to his restaurant.  Then, to my great + pleasant surprise Ron invited me to sing one Saturday night soon.

Mambo Italiano is about to celebrate its 2 year anniversary at the end of the month.  If all the details can be worked out, I’m doing it!

I am uber curious about how the restaurant/bar got was named… and intend to find out.

From what I know mambo has nothing to do with cooking,  it is a dance like the salsa and the Rumba, that has a very up-beat rhythm.

Rob will tell me.  I mean sometimes words are chosen and blended for the sound that they make or the feelings they evoke.

I may be fuzzy on that score, but I’m 100 percent clear on this:  I am beyond excited about the possibility of performing at Mambo Italiano.

From Ella, to Billie, to Nina and even Etta, I am going to sing my heart out!