Hey Everybody!
Hope you are having a good time wherever and whenever you happen to be reading this.
I have no official gigs this week, but have been invited to sit in with the "New Sneakers" tonight at Peri's in Fairfax. They start at 9:30 pm. I will be there during the first set, maybe a bit later. If you are in the neighborhood, maybe our paths will cross.
Now, for a random musing: As you may or may not know, Arne has been taking an extended break from the LLK album to take care of some higher priority issues (health, home) and to work on Tomas' album. I hope that those of you who have supported our next album are not too disappointed with the delay and I thank you for your patience. In the meantime, I'm open for projects, both live and recorded.
Re : Tomas - He's been writing some great songs and his band is getting tighter. It's great fun to watch the progress. I'm OK with the wait, as Tomas has a much better chance at getting heard and seen in this crazy music biz than I do at this point. That is just reality.
Speaking of ageism and sexism in the music biz, Madonna mentioned these issues in her amazing speech at the Billboard awards. Check it out if you haven't seen it. Although we have never met, Madonna and I were contemporaries in NY. I give her a lot of credit (as if she needs credit from me, lol.)
Really grateful that she is using her voice to speak truth. Most of us who have the courage to speak truth are ignored, bullied or called crazy. Sometimes all of those things.
Here's her speech : http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/women-in-music/7616927/madonna-billboard-woman-of-the-year-labrinth
I'm not giving up on being able to make a living making music, but as mentioned above, it pays to be pragmatic. Maybe it doesn't pay. That kind of sucks.
Not much difference in opportunity for a fifty year old woman or a fifty six year old woman singer, if you can grasp that reality. To be completely honest, I was told "you're too old" in my thirties. Whatever. The age thing is just a number. I'm not making any excuses or complaining, just sharing my experience and perspective.
Anyway, speaking of career opportunities for women over fifty, I'm not giving up on the whole "Madame President" issue until after the electors vote on December 19th.
It is a long shot, but it seems that I'm not alone in that regard, as the electoral college has been trending a lot on social media. Several groups are organizing peaceful marches to show support for the electors this weekend.
http://december19.us/
Everything is temporary, good and bad. So let's do what we can to make more good, OK?
Happy Holidays and hold your loved ones close.
That's it for now.
Ox,
Mari
Related:
http://lettertoelectors.org
