It's official!
My little musical adventure into the realm of avante garde, (the hidden track from my last album, "Chaos & Congeniality", "No More Words") was selected today to be be in the opening scene of a film called, "The Red Helmet".

"The Red Helmet" is a short film being produced for the Outdoor Games Festival, spnsored by Nissan, this July . It is one of 5 films being produced for the event, where 5 teams have 5 days to shoot and edit a 5-minute film. Each film centers around outdoor sports, including kayaking, rock climbing, BASE-jumping, mountain biking and paragliding.

The team I am working with is Team IBEX :
"The Red Helmet", is a film about a young boy who stumbles on a red helmet, thus sparking his imagination to visualize athletes performing incredible acts in the natural playground of the Swiss Alps.

Film Synopsis

The film opens with shots a non-descript European town. The streets are empty, the skies are grey and the mood is desolate. This is accented by the stark B&W photography and the sparse, moody music. We reveal a young boy, the age of ten, wandering through the empty streets alone. He walks by a stream, it is cold and slow moving. He looks at a mountain, it is fogged and barren. He passes through a forest, it is lifeless and boring.

Suddenly he sees something in the distance…a speck of color against the grey landscape. As he comes closer, he sees it is a discarded red helmet, the first color image we see in the film. As he tries the helmet on, he begins to look at the world in a new way. The mood changes dramatically as we see everything now in vivid color. He passes by the same stream and imagines a kayaker fighting a mighty rapid! He looks at the same mountain and visualizes a man in a wingsuit flying from its peak! The exact forest that was so cold and lonely now has a mountain biker ripping through the dirt, making it alive!

The music builds as we see the world through the boys´ newly awakened eyes. With each spectacular moment, we reach a new peak. A man walks a tight rope over a 2,000-foot drop, the boy sees a man paragliding through green valleys, and a woman leaps onto an incredible hold on the face of a mountain. This builds into an epic crescendo that peaks musically with a montage of all the sports until CUT…we see a wide shot of the boy alone in B&W with the helmet on, staring off into the distance at….nothing.


For more info, or if you'd like to see live coverage of the games or view the film, visit this website:
http://www.outdoorgames.org/

I'm totally excited!

:)
d

I'm happy to announce that I was interviewed on breakthruradio.com by DJ Matt Lehtola.

The air date was friday, June 20th, 2008.
here's the link:
http://www.breakthruradio.com/index.php?show=4148

As of today, the show is still the most recent, but if it's not in the player, you can find the show stored in the archive.

the home page is: http://www.breakthruradio.com

I will be on the show again this Thursday! Please stop by to listen!

Ciao!
d

Yes, it's true,..
and there's no excuse. I could say, "Well, I've been super busy", but aren't we all?
I mean, reeeaaallly,..it's the excuse of the new millenium.
Although it IS true,.

but enough, here's what's been happening:

Most of my days have been have been spent in the studio on a host of different projects. Here's a taste of a few that will be available for download or sale in the next few weeks:
The Off Broadway cast recording for "1918: A House Divided" is now completed and on it's way to stores, or online CD retailers.
Indie singer/songwriter hailing from Alabama, Alyson Greenfield, will be releasing her debut full length CD in the next few weeks,..
And I'm in the process of the finishing up the mixing for STL indie artist, Celia Shacklett's next album, "Transformateurs".
I'd like to point out, all 3 of these albums are the first mix projects I actually have completed entirely at home,.well, kindof,..1918 was initially recorded at Kampo Studios, Alyson came to me with pre recorded tracks,..Celia recorded about 80% of her tracks in Arkansas and a few will bemixed by that engineer,..2 songs were recorded at Kampo with the unbelievable, Bruce Cockburn,..but it is a milestone of sorts, as Rich and I have somehow managed to become home studio owners without actually planning it to happen.
It's fun, sometimes frustrating, mainly because we're constantly needed to upgrade this or that, fix this or that, try to figure out how to make something happen that's easy as pie in the big room,..you know, it's endless.
BUT, I can finally say, I'm feeling rather comfy mixing at home with the new updates and upgrades we've invested in. Of course, there's all sorts of gear I'd like to add, but,.. for now,..all is right. Now all we need is a name for the studio. lol and another $10K.
:)
(that last bit was a joke, Rich)

I've also been busy on other projects at Kampo, and I had the opportunity to share sound mixing responsibilities with my friend Michael at Fuse TV recently. A live TV mix for a show called, "The Sauce", featuring the band, Death Cab for Cutie. Another milestone, as it was my first live "in studio" TV recording.
The show will most likely be re-aired at some point and I do believe they have a cut or 2 up on the Fuse TV website.

In other news, I've been working with my band, The Morning Papers, to get the finishing touches completed on a host of new songs slated to be recorded in August for the new CD, "A Beautiful Mess". The songs are a bit of a departure from "Chaos & Congeniality", and for the first time, we're actually writing a bulk of the songs as a unit, rather than just me presenting a song and saying, "What can you do with this?"
It's been a lot of fun! It's liberating in some ways, as well. This recording will also be a milestone of sorts in the sense that it will be the first one where I will not be taking sole responsibility for the tracking dates. I've enlisted my good friend, Bob Smith, to work the board and it looks like we'll be working at The Mission in Brooklyn.
Pretty exciting stuff happening.
There will be a few songs featuring a different cast of characters as well, which will be recorded at my home base, Kampo Studios. This album in many ways is an opportunity for me to try something new, push pass self inflicted boundaries and open up a new dialogue in musical self-discovery. I've been listening to alot of free form jazz lately, listening to anything I can find on iTunes, searching for new sounds, new ideas,..something fresh,..
On that note, I've also been collaborating with my good friend, Kelsey Warren, in a side project we've been calling "Audience of my Familiar".
It's electronica fused with R&B, rock and hip-hop elements,..some spoken word too!
We plan to release a 5 song EP by the Fall of this year. So, I'll be sure to let you all know about that!

I always promise I won't be so lax in my blogging duties, and for a month or so I actually am good to my word,..but then fall behind,.So I won't promise anything other than I'll be working hard to get new music out there,..
:)

Till I see you all again,
Blessed be
d

Hello beautiful people!

Well, to start, I feel a little silly,..
Let me explain,..

This past weekend I was in DC,. I did a lovely show in conjunction with a charity called CALM (Coalition against landmines) at a venue called Potters House DC. It was an awesome experience, super successful turnout, we were able to raise alot of $$ for the charity, and I met some really nice new friends to boot,.. annnnnnnd, if that weren't enough, it looks like I'll be going back sometime in Feb/March,..
Fast forward,.
We stayed in DC with my good friend Mark at his new gorgeous abode,..We were chatting about various things and he mentioned to me that I haven't updated my "news" section in quite a long time, to which I replied, "Huh?"
It turns out that a link was broken and none of my new updates (since October of 2006!) have been posted. Sheesh!
:smacking forehead with hand:

So,..I thought I'd just let you know that it's all fixed now,..
There aren't many updates, just a few.. Along with a short tour diary detailing my trip to Berlin, Germany for Popkomm this past September,...

We at myshytune.com do apologize for the inconvenience,..
Happy reading!

(Thanks Mark! I owe you one! Dinner and a coke? You pick the place)
:)

ciao!
d

I've arrived back home,. safe and sound, although I think I picked up some kind of bug on the plane,..I spent most of my day yesterday sleeping it off,..
I'm still amazed that I was in Berlin not a day ago,..
It's almost like a dream you know? A Wonderfully fantastic dream!
My last day full day in Berlin was spent with my German sister Regina and her boyfriend, Andre.
We met for lunch and then visited checkpoint charlie. Beforehand, I had the opportunity to check out a street fair in my neighborhood. It was really cool, lots of old stuff from the East German days, trinkets and beer steins, glasses and clothing,..Also lots of local artists and artisans had their work on display and for sale. There were countless items I would've loved to take home if it weren't for the fact that I'd have to find a way to stuff them in my bag and pray nothing got ruined,.Eh? Next year,..
At least now, I know where to go! And I know to pack an extra suitcase! I also tried to get to the Turkish outdoor market, and after an hour or so on a wild goose chase to Kreutzberg based on information from a cafe owner, I finally found the place where the market is held,..not where she said it would be,..and of course, i was 4 hours too late,..However, with that chase I did get to see other parts of the city,..it was fun! As for the market,..eh? next time,..

My last day, which was monday, I walked around and bought lots of presents for my family back home,..about 11 bottles of beer, chocolate, magnets, Checkpoint charlie and Berlin Wall history books,..I actually had to buy another suitcase to fit it all,..As it was, I got yelled at by the Lufthansa rep when I checked my bags in because my main bag was over regulation weight. Luckily, she let me go with just a warning and some unkind words said under her breath in German (she probably didn't realize I could understand her) and there you have it.
I also picked up a few items that included pieces of the berlin wall. Little shards encased in glass, or big shards glued to a magnet,..But it's fitting isn't it? A reminder of how things can change so quickly,.. 20 years ago, no one would've dared to think that the wall would be torn down and Germany reunited. It was just a dream,..but today,.. a reality. These little shards,.there's something existential about it,..Pieces of a wall that divided a country and it's people, now being sold shard by shard and sent all over the world,.. Could it be thought of as a reminder of what can happen when we're not paying attention? Perhaps a reminder that we can be divided just as the people of Berlin were? A reminder of the ridiculousness of the whole situation? I've always said that writing songs is a way for me to rid myself of the things that mentally or spiritually weigh me down, or a way to express the joy in my heart,..whatever,..I can imagine that all of these little pieces of the wall, in a way, can be considered as a means to rid the people of Berlin of a heavy weight they had to endure,.It must be comforting to know that The wall, a structure which was so intimidating and hostile, has now been conquered and destroyed,.. And the pieces, sold to tourists for a small fee,..
That's got to amount for something!

And there it is,..Thank you to all of my new friends in Berlin for making this trip successful and happy! Popkomm was extraordinary! I, and the members of NY Music Exchange, will be going back again next year! I'm counting down the days and minutes,..

Auf Wiedersehn!

Denise

But in a good way! At the moment, it's 2:30AM and I am sitting in an internet cafe a few doors down from our new hotel room. We are now in a new neighborhood called Friedrichstien. I could live here! It's very similar to NYC's east village, or really what the east village was like a few years ago,..It's quite safe but has an edgy feel to it, lots of cafe's and independently owned shops,..Art galleries and music everywhere. Friedrichstein, like the rest of Berlin, is filled with graffiti art,..not the type we see in NYC, but actual murals!
it's amazing, I've snapped a bunch of pictures and I hope to make a collage of them.

Last night I actually got the opportunity to do an inpromptu show at a women's bar called Begine. What an amazing venue! My new friend, Claudia set it up for us. Sonya wasn't able to attend because she had pre arranged plans, and Will wasn't allowed in because, well,..He's a man,..(No men allowed!)
Claudia and I played about 6 songs each in a short round robin format, and Pantera did an A Cappela version of her awesome song (one of my favorites actually) "Sugarman". I REALLY enjoyed Claudia's music and she was even kind enough to give me a copy of her CD! I hope that we stay connected, I really enjoyed spending time with her and everyone we met at Begine!
And the venue! WOW!
The acoustics were stellar! no amplification necessary,..What a joy it is to play in an enviroment like that! I also met some new friends and had a nice conversation with the club owner who has invited us back next year, or whenever we return to Berlin.
How cool is that?
If anyone in the Berlin area is reading this, or if any of you are planning a trip to Berlin you have to go there!
please visit thier website: http://www.begine.de
And remember, it's ladies only,..

Today and tomorrow are off days now that PopKomm is over. My old friend , or as I call her, my German sister, Regina has come to visit me here in Berlin with her boyfriend, Andre. So far, we've spent the day sight-seeing and reminising about old times. We also met Pantera, Sonya and Will at a restaurant and had a grand old time drinking berliners and eating yummy food. Berlin is a pretty amazing city! I didn't expect to become so smitten! Today we went around the city on a double decker tour bus, and we also visted a place where I had been 17 years ago before the fall of the wall, called alexander platz. The main attractions in this area are an old church, the radio tower and the 24 hour clock. I have pictures of these sights at home, and I was amazed at how different it is now! Before, it was grey, deserted, ugly, today there are new shopping areas, restaurants (and curry wurst!) and filled with trees and other greenery. It was also mobbed with people!
So different, just like the rest of the city. Tomorrow we will visit checkpoint charlie museum and we will try to make it to the turkish markt before it closes. That is a lot to do in one day, but I think we'll be able to do it.
On a side note, This keyboard is very different also,..the letters are arranged differently than keyboards in the states and now I understand why I can never find an umlaut when in the US,..
So, with that I will leave you.
till tomorrow!

blessed be
d

Geez Louise, I LOVE Berlin!

It's my 3rd day here in Berlin and I still don't understand people very well,..
lol
I'm having a hard time with the accent, however today I spoke with some people from dusseldorf and I understood everything they said,..and here I thought it was just me! I have been speaking German every day, I've managed to buy a cell phone, get around the city on the subway, and order food,..my ability to speak the language is in pretty sad shape,..The first day was the worst, although i feel like today a cloud had lifted and many words and phrases have been coming back to me one by one,..anyhoo,..

PopKomm has been an absolute blast! I have met music professionals and musicians from all around the world! As a matter of fact, Coming into Berlin from Frankfurt I met a guy from LA on his way to PopKomm also,..He happens to be a Berklee grad, just like me, and is a songwriter and producer! crazy,..I hope we keep in touch!

The last time I was here in Berlin was 1989, before the fall of the Berlin wall. I was an exchange student at the time. Our group had come to East Berlin to visit students from an east German partner school. We weren't allowed to cross over to West Berlin during our stay. What a difference a wall falling can do to a city! I am amazed and excited to see the changes in this city. My memory of East Berlin was one of scared faces scanning our group from the corner of an eye, gray buildings, deserted streets,..There is so much building going on, so much new construction, happy people,..cafe's, restaurants, music clubs, movie houses, arts, theatre, you name it! So far, we've been going to Popkomm during the day, then around 4 or 5pm we start sight-seeing,..
Last night, we visited the holocaust memorial (which was just unbelievable and moving) the Brandenburg Gate (which everyone has seen at least once in old Nazi WW2 footage with the nazi flags and soldiers crossing through,..) The gate had originally been built as a symbol of Peace, then bastardized by Hitler to b a symbol of war,..this city's history is told on every block, seen on every face and via the architechture. Yesterday, my friends and I split up and traveled the city,..I visited checkpoint charlie,..well what's left of it,..and then did some window shopping,..the weather here couldn't be better,..and I'm just tickled pink to be here! I'm looking forward to coming to Popkomm next year I think,..So far its been an amazing experience!.

And there it is,..I'll be checking in again before leaving for home on Monday,.
auf wiedersehn!

blessed be
d

Great news!

I just received word that my song, "Hush Hush" has been featured on the ABC prime time TV drama, "Traveler"!

Awesome,..
A great show!
everyone should watch it!
I hear there is a petition to keep the show on the air for at least another season,..
go sign it!

more news to come!

blessed be
d

Our next show is July 5th, 2007.

here's the details:

Denise Barbarita & the Morning Papers
Mo Pitkin's
34 Ave A (btwn 2/3)
NYC, NY

show starts @ 9pm

The Morning Papers are:
Me!
Rich Kulsar on drums
Jason Wallenstein on bass
Kelsey Warren on lead guitar

This show is a fundraiser for my trip to Popkomm in Berlin, Germany.
I'm also booking a few dates while I'm over there.
I'll be travelling with a few friends from NYC as well!
We'll all be performing at Mo's thursday night!
I hope you can make it!

ciao!
d

So last weekend I was in my 2nd favorite town in the country,..Boston
ahhh,..memories
It's so civilzed in Boston,..clean and pretty,..everyone's so nice,..
Speaking of which, as many of you know, I helped to found a new songwriter series in boston, jamaica plain, specifically. Last weekend, we had an awesome outdor lawn concert to commemorate an amazing opening Spring season.
Each show of the month was a sell out, the performers were amazing, and we had a blast,..I'd call that a successful 1st season!

While I was in town, I got a chance to meet with an old friend from berklee, hung out at th Burren with my friends Danielle and Tom, and even got a chance to play at the Lizard Lounge,.. Not too shabby,..

I'll be back in Beantown in the Fall,..I'm looking forward to it!

In other news: Our Gigs page is still out of commission,..I don't know why,..we're still trying to fix it,..

please visit: http://www.myspace.com/denisebarbarita for up to date shows in your area!

That's the news for now,..
till next time,..
d

Has ARRIVED!

That's right, folks! The limited edition CD featuring LIVE recordings, RARE tracks and remixes is now available!
Please contact me for details (contact page) as this CD will NOT be available in stores or online except HERE, at MyShyTune (or at live concerts).
There are only 100 copies available and once they're gone, they're gone!
(And they're going fast, I'm actually quite surprised!)

More news to come!

Ciao for now!
d

Is complete!
how exciting!

I've been announcing (and un-announcing) that our upcoming live and rareties album, Alive & B-sides is on it's way,..
well after a few changes and a duplication company going out of business, it's finally completed!

Only 100 copies are available!
that's it, once they're gone, they're gone!
The CDs will only be available at shows and through me, so please, if you'd like a copy, email me and I will send you instructions.
The Cds will not be available via CDbaby.

I have been assured by Discmakers, that the CDs will be in my hands no later than April 10th.
Encouraging words!

That's the big news for today, if you want a sneak peak at the cover, visit the discography page! It's at the top!

oh, and yeah, I know the gigs page is still not working correctly,..working on it still,..

ciao!
d

Hello beautiful people!

All sorts of good things happening!

To begin, We are now sponsored by Sam Ash, the country's largest retailer of musical instruments!
(applause applause)
I want to thank my good friend, Nate DalCais, at Sam Ash for his support with helping us with all of the paperwork and phone calls and what not,..
hat's off to you, Nate!

In other news, I just got back from a week-long jaunt up to Provincetown. I played every night along with a gaggle of talented women who came from all over the country to perform during women's week. What a blast! Shows at the popular nightclub, The Vixen, shows upstairs in their newly renovated Winebar, long walks with Rich on the dunes during the day, walking along the water, shopping in town, Parties and inpromptu jams in the evenings that went well into the wee hours,..I also got to meet some songwriters I have heard of, but never "heard", that was awesome! Annnnnnd, I got to see some friends I haven't seen in ages! It would take days to fill you in on all the fun and excitement, but for now, I'd like to take a moment to thank 2 lovely women for planning and executing the week's festivities,..
Susan Souza, the mastermind behind the Women's KISS event, and Vicki Blankenship, my good friend, and CEO of Indiegrrl, the organization who sponsored the event. There were many other women behind the scenes working hard and putting weeks of work into the event, again, it would take days to list them all, and they were instrumental in keeping everything running smoothly behind the scenes!

Job well done ladies! Thank you!

I also had the opportunity to make it up to Boston for the weekend. I did a show at The Burren in Davis square with my good friend, Danielle Miraglia. She's awesome,..This is the 2nd time I've played there, and I swear, it's like walking into Cheers! Everyone is so friendly and warm,..I love that place,.I do miss Boston from time to time,..it's so,..civilized, (in comparison to NYC). I also got together with a few friends in Boston, Patti DeRosa, Jess Yoakum and Laura Bullock. They are putting together a new songwriter coffeehouse series, and I was lucky enough to be there for their first meeting. I think at the moment it's called JPUnplugged. (as in Jamaica Plains unplugged) It'll be a neighborhood type of songwriter series featuring local songwriters as well as out of towners,..I really hope it goes well! These ladies deserve recognition, they're all wonderful!

So, now I'm back in NYC, nursing a cold that I caught in P-town, most likely from lots of changing weather patterns and not enough sleep,..getting back into the grind,..
There's alot more stuff on the horizon,..We're getting the details together for a few more local shows in November & December,..I'll post them once we've confirmed everything,..
In the meantime, enjoy the lovely Fall weather!

blessed be
d

well, ok, not really,..

One of my guilty pleasures is watching south park, as disturbing as it is, it's pretty funny, and the characters they come up with, everything,.. it's all making sense now that I'm here in South Park. The policemen actually wear cowboy hats!

We arrived here friday afteroon, and headed off to south park. Driving through Denver was a shock to me though,..basically, my preconception of what I thought Denver would be was blown to pieces,..I expected it to be something like chatanooga or knoxville, in the sense that it's a mountain town, a city with coprporate buildings, but lush and green, filled with trees,..
It's not quite like that here,..At least not from the airport approach,..it's not pretty on the way into town on the main drag,.lots of industrial buildings and big lot types of shopping areas. Urban sprawl on the grand scale,..
However, the city of Denver, once inside, is quite nice, it reminds me a bit of Nashville in it's layout, and the area where we played tonight reminded me a bit of Decatur GA. Kind of a coffee bar, artsy college town vibe,..it's really cool!

And the festival was a blast! I met an old friend I haven't seen in ages,.we shared a manager some years ago,..that was awesome, and I met lots of industry folk types and really cool people in general!
The area where the festival is held is beyond words,..Absolutely gorgeous, snow topped mountains, rolling hilly valley with horse and cow farms, there was one highway on the way back to denver where there was next to nothing other than beautiful landscape,..in some places the rocks are red and craggy, almost like someone came by and blew a chunk right out of them,..
it's really hard to describe,..even the pictures don't do the scenery justice,..I haven't been so moved by the landscape since we were in Hawaii!
I've also been suffering a bit from the altitude change,..South Park is roughly 10K feet above sea level,..And Denver, of course, is called mile high city because it is
a mile above sea level,..
I've been told it's pretty common for out of towners to feel a wee lightheaded and out of breath,..which is basically what I'm suffering from,..The first night we were in town, we stayed in a town called Frisco. Rich and I walked the equivalent of 4 city blocks and we were both breathing heavily while we waiting at the stop light,..we had to laugh,..And we did,,..of course that made it worse,..lol So, I've learned to walk a little slower and breath a little deeper,..it's pretty interesting how the body copes with a new enviroment,..

We have a few more days to go before we're back to the big apple,..
Tonight we're staying in Denver, and tomorrow we'll be back in South park
Then we'll head out to so some hiking and sightseeing
with Rich's cousin, who lives out here,..

A big day for sure!

And that's the news so far!

more to come!

d

Geez,..

time keeps on ticking,..

Hello it's me again!

I first want to start my monthly dissertation by thanking everyone in PA for coming out to the PA singer/songwriter festival! I especially want to thank my good friends Bob and Audrey for sponsoring my performance there!

It was a great time! I have lots of friends in central PA and I got hang out with most of them! We had a blast. My friend Michael came out with us from NYC and we camped at the shagrila campground. Well,..the city version of camping,..we rented a cabin,..
:)
Kelsey came out to join us the day we perfromed at the festival and we had such a great time! We even did an impromtu set together. Kelsey played guitar along with Rich and me.
I also added a new song to the set list,..It's a musical gift for Bob and Audrey actually,..They are huge Todd Rundgren fans! (i thought I was a Todd fan until I met them!) So, I worked out a cover arrangement for "Hello it's me" (one of my favorite Todd tunes) And can you believe? They posted a video of the performance on the internet! I'm nto sure what the URL is,..I'll let you know,..

Since I've been back from PA, I've been working like crazy!
I wrote an article for Music Talks, you can visit the site and read the article if you'd like!
here's the link:
www.musictalkssessions.com

you can also visit their myspace page: www.myspace.com/musictalks

This month I'm back at Bach to Rock for my 2nd year!
It's always a blast! The Bach to Rockers are a constant inspiration to me in the sense that they know no fear and they are all willing to challenge themselves to play music they wouldn't have otherwise,..or try new things,..it's pretty cool actually,..I'm constantly reminded of the fact that I used to be just like them when I was a teenager. I really wish I had an opportunity to go to a rock camp and get my butt kicked everyday. The experience of teaching there always makes me want to rethink my own music and my own playing,..try something new,..
Another reason it's so much fun!

What else?

well, I'll be in the studio for a bit and the it's off to Colorado for the South Park Music Festival!
I think I mentioned this is my first time visiting Colorado. I can't wait!
We will be hanging out with Rich's cousin John, who live in Denver. He's a super nice guy and I can't wait to see him again!

And there it is!

More stories from the road to follow!

blessed be
d

Hey there kids!

it's me again,..

(not that you were expecting anyone else, but i figured I'd clarify, regardless,.)

So, I realize I left you all in the lurch,.bad bad me, for not filling you in on the last days of the Barba-shack attack in my favorite city, St Louis!!!!

Celia and I played 2 shows in St. Louis. The first was Novak's, a very cool venue in celia's neighborhood. I met lots of awesome people and the bartender, Dana, was using me as a guinea pig for some different conconctions he was perfecting. Needless to say, I don't remember much else from that night,..except that it was full of fun and bright colors!

Day 2, Rich and I tooled around St Louis,..We visited the arch and had a semi mediocre lunch at a touristy little spot in the downtown area. Then we met up with Celia at my favorite club, The Venice cafe. This place is awesome,..it's wall to wall ceramic mosaic, filled with bits of glass and beads and bottle tops,..even mirrors!
It's absolutely stunning!
And if that's not enough, 2 friends of mine who I haven't seen in forever, Jill and Jane, came to the show! I met Jill on my first trip to STL with the Sirens. We all had a fun little party at her lovely brownstone and we've kept in touch ever since. Jane and I met in Hawaii at the girfest festival. I haven't seen her since then. Truth be told, I was super tired and feeling a little weary when they arrived, but they filled the room with so much good energy I was able to pick up the pace and finish off the set on an up-note. We had the opportunity to catch up on current events and be silly,..
all that good stuff,..
But, all things must come to end, and alas, that was the last night of the Barba-shack attack tour.
I'm happy to report that his was the most successful and fun tour we've had to date. And I have YOU to thank,..all of you who came out to support us, who offered us a place to lay our heads, who bought CDs,..I can't put into words how humbling and how estatic I am for having all of you in my life! And I can't wait to get back out on the road to see all of my new midwestern friends! I'd also like to send out a big THANKS to Celia for being such an awesome tour buddy! She's an awesome songwriter and I still have her songs in my head, after 3 weeks being home! Lucky for me, she'll be in NYC in August to record her new CD at Kampo so I'll get to hear all of those great songs for a whole week! Some people might think that's not a good thing,..I think it is,..especially knowing that she'll have a great band backing her and I'll get to hear everything from inception to finished product,..I think that's the most fun for me,..

Our last tour date was in Cincinnati with my new buddy, Rhonda Everitt, of Pale Beneath the Blue. We played at a club called the Play by Play cafe. An interesting establishment. On our way to Cinci, I got a call from Rhonda saying that our show may have been cancelled because the booker had been fired and the headlining act wasn't able to make the show. Apparantly, the owners there are more interested in cover bands because "that's where the money is".
To each his own I suppose,..
We got it all worked out and the show happened and it was all good!
Once again I met awesome new friends, and as Rhonda says, I was spewing my "blue state latte drinking liberal" viewpoints during a conversation with my new friend Raymond. It was actually an eye opening conversation and quite interesting to get his viewpoints on some issues, I thouroughly enjoyed our conversation,..and while I didn't agree with everything, as I'm sure he didn't agree with me on some points, I was happy to have another angle to chew on,..Since we continued our conversation outside of the club for an hour after they closed, I'm thinking he enjoyed it too,..I hope so,..
I don't think people in Ohio talk much about things that may cause a stir,..here in NY we kind of thrive on it,..it's very different.
So, finally, Rhonda had peeled Raymond and I away and we headed for her home,..Before Rich and I made the 14 hour drive back home Rhonda and I planned and schemed for her upcoming mix session scheduled for the week after,..

And that brings me to today,..
The mixes have been finished and the tracks are backed up (twice!)
I finished a song for my publisher and I'm currently working on solidifying dates in Co during the South Park festival ANNNNNNND booking a European tour with my NYC partner in crime, Pantera. We're planning on going to Belgium, Germany and Italy in March or April of 2007!

Otherwise, it's been sessions and sleeping when i can, getting back into the rhythm of NYC life. It amazes me every time I come home that it takes a week to get myself hooked back in to the network.

And there it is,..the last 3 weeks or so,..
paraphrased,..

This coming month will take us to PA 2x. We have a house party scheduled for this coming weekend and then the PA singer/songwriter festival will happen on the weekend of July 22nd. I'll be traveling with Kelsey from Pillow Theory and Frank Carter! We're playing back to back on sunday the 23rd!
I'm really looking forward to getting out there and seeing all my friends!

So, friends,.that's all the news for now!
I'll keep you posted on the new tidbits as they come!

ciao!
d

Hey kids,..
not too much to say tonight,..I'm a wee tired. I'm writing to you from Kansas city!

Not a whole lot going on here,..but it's a nice place. Tonight Celia and Rich and I performed at a place called the cashew,..I heard through the grapevine that there are a few bars in KC called "the peanut" you know, the run of the mill watering hole type of places,..
hence the name "the cashew" which connotates a more refined enviroment,..
it was a cool place! I met lots of very cool people and I want to send a shout out to my new friend Jasmine who may actually be moving to NYC!
i hope she can!

I also want to send some serious love to my new good friend Charity who we met in Nashville and just happened to be in KC for work. She actually came to the show! crazy right? So we had a great time tonight at the cashew!~ I'm so glad Charity was able to make it out! She's one of my new best friends for sure! You know, an "insta-friend" someone you meet that you just know you'll get along and be friends for a long time!
you don't meet alot of those in a lifetime,..
I'm pretty lucky that I have a bunch!

I gotta tell you,..I'm really excited to be going to STL tomorrow! my favorite city outside of NYC!
I'm sure I'll have lots of great stories to tell,..
BUt before we go to STL, we'll be getting some awesome BBQ here in KC,..
a place called bryant's or something,..
I'll let you know how that goes!
Ciao for now,..
d

Hey Kids!

I'm writing to you from the heartland!

Yessirree!
This note comes to you from the gateway 2000 in the living room of my new friend Jeff in Lawrence, KS!

What an amazing tour this has been!

I can't even describe to you the amount of love Celia and I have received over the past week. It's been amazing!

Let's start with Memphis,..

Memphis is hot and humid,..let's just start there,..lol
the air is thick and the city itself is a mixture of southern hospitality and voodoo. We got into Memphis from Nashville in the afternoon. Our first stop was Tops BBQ where we got some yummy sandwiches in the hood. Good stuff!
We really wanted to get to graceland but we didn't have the time. The tour itself runs about 2 hours, AND would you believe it's a $22 entry fee?
silly if you ask me,..so in lieu of graceland, we went to the world famous, Beale street, checked out some of the famous bars and shops, listened to a cool blues band, and picked up 2 magnets for the fridge!

The show that night was at the MGLCC. It's basically a little house that's been converted into a meeting space. Everyone there was super nice and SJ Tucker is absolutely wonderful!
AND if the music wasn't good enough, SJ and her traveling mates put on a fire show!
yup, you read correctly, they dance with fire,..it's pretty cool. I even have pictures!

That night we stayed with a wonderful woman named Shel and her husband. SJ calls her "Mama Shel" and now I know why!
She is one of the coolest women i have met in a long time,..definately a soul sistah!
She not only took us into her home, but she even made us homemade pancakes in the morning. You can't get better than that!
Thanks Mama Shel!
Memphis for now on will be a stop on our route. We had a blast and everyone is so warm and nice!

Our next stop was Fayetteville, AR
Now I mentioned that I was a little nervous about Arkansas,..more or less based on touring musician friends descriptions of driving through Arkansas on the way to TX. Well,..I'm here to tell you now, there is nothing to fear! Actually the scenery is pictureseque, the foliage changes about halfway through the state, from hilly grassland to more hills and mountains once you reach the Ozark mountains in the northern portion of the state, which is where we were. It's absolutely gorgeous! There were a few times I was almost moved to tears by the beauty in front of us. It seems Arkansas isn't very populated,..thankfully,..it's rather refreshing to see open land as oppossed to the constant slew of McMansions and strip malls,..We stayed with Celia's bro, Derek who has a newborn baby girl named, Ivy, who is absolutely adorable!
Celia is smitten with her new niece!
She soooo didn't want to leave!

What an amazing show we had in Arkansas!
We played at a coffeeshop called Arsaga's that was packed to the gills with music lovers. AND, the barista made a mean cappucino!
We were quite impressed!

So a big thank you goes out to everyone who attended! We'll make Arsaga's a "must stop" venue as well! And a biiiiiiiig thank you goes out to Derek for taking care of us!

And that brings me to today. I'm sitting in the living room here in Lawrence KS, in a house that was built in 1910. It's unbelievably gorgeous! Celia and Jeff are playing old standards on the porch, Rich is in the shower and I'm here typing away sucking down the last of my capuccino,..

We arrived in Lawrence yesterday afternoon and made a pitstop to visit some old pals of Celia's, Bob and Jack Frost. (yeah that's his real name) and what an amazing guy! We had a nice chat actually, he's an amazing fellow and he actually salvages old junk,.things like TVs and cars and my lord all sorts of stuff,..either fixes it or scraps it for parts and recycles the rest. Whether it's copper wire or aluminum,..it gets used in some way! Then he gives away the stuff he is able to fix to people who are either disadvantaged physically or monetarily,.. An AMAZING guy,..I was really inspired by his passion and his devotion to helping other people. I'm hoping he's going to create a website to attract more awareness to his cause,..I'll add the link here at MST as soon as I hear anything!

Last night we played at the Gaslight Tavern. The stage is outside in a patio area and it was a standing room only night. Celia is a local legend here it seems,..
She got her start here in Lawrence,..this is her old stomping ground, so alot of her friends came out to say hello,..The show was awesome and we had a great time,..I met some awesome people and I even helped name a new drink! Gabe, the manager, created a new version of a "white russian", So when you go to the gaslight tavern, ask for the Barba-Shack Special,..it's called the "Russian Express".
ONLY available at the gaslight tavern in Lawrence KS!
I'm not going to tell you what the secret ingredient is for fear that other clubs or venues may try to adapt it as their own creation while our exclusive patent is waiting approval,..
but if you're in the neighborhood, go check it out!

I also met an amazing couple named Carol and Neeva. They have been together for 41 years, and are still just as much in love as they were when they first met. Carol is in her sixties, Neeva in her 80's. They were truly inspirational to me, which is why I must relate their story to you, especially considering the NYTimes front page article this morning concerning a ban on "gay marriage".
People who are against "gay marriage" don't want the masses to know about couples like these 2,.. Carol and Neeva. They don't want you to know the type of suffering they have endured just to stay together despite other people's prejudice and ill wishes directed toward them in the name of god or whatever excuse they make to be mean. They don't want people to think that a gay couple can sustain a family or can sustain a loving relationship for that matter. Truth be told, I know more gay couples who have been together for 10 years, 20 years, in this case 40 years, than I know of heterosexual couples who have managed to stay the test of time,.. my own family included,..
These women were a true inspiration to me. And if I can leave you with a quote from Carol which on the surface is kinda corny, but it's beautiful all the same,..
"love is tender and knows no gender"

Which is absolutely the heart of the matter,..Alot of people equate gay marriage to some kind of sexual immorality but they forget that underneath it all is love,..pure and simple, love for one person by another,..I wish all of you could meet them,..the time we spent with them I will never forget. And I will forever hold their stories in my heart. The type of heartache they had to endure to stay together I wouldn't wish on anyone,..
And it makes me cherish my own relationship with Rich that much more,..I couldn't imagine life without him,..he's my best friend and soul mate,..We do almost everything together,..Imagine, if you will,..having a great relationship like this, but your family members or neighbors or colleages at work who have known you for years all of the sudden turn on you,..or do everything they can to break your relationship apart because of a fear based and hateful type of "christianity",..that's got to be awful,..

Something to think about, anyway,.I applaude these women for having the courage and the strength within themselves to withstand such adversity and stay together all these years,..
41 years! When they look at each other their eyes dance like diamonds,..It's pretty amazing really,..How many "normal" couples do you know who have stayed together that long and actually are "happy"
I don't know any,..
But, my hope is that when Rich and I are in our 70's, talking to young whipper snappers like ourselves at this moment, we too will look at each other with dancing eyes, that we too, will want to share the story of our lives to anyone interested in listening,..that we too will know that type of enduring precious love that knows no boundaries, that isn't selfish or boastful,..that kind of love is hard to find.
Today, I say, I think that will be the case,..but life does throw curveballs at times, so who knows what will happen years from now. I will tell you though, that if hard times come, I'll remember those 2 and the adversity they faced to stay together. Hopefully that will sustain my belief that if you love someone, you can find a way to make your relationship withstand any test.

anyhoo,..
enough ranting and slushy love stuff,..
Rich and I are headed into town here to get a little local flavor here in Lawerence. Then we're off to Kansas City. Aaaaaannnnnd,..only 2 days away from getting back to STL!
i can't wait,..I love St Louis!

More to come!

love,
d

hey beautiful people!

I'm writing to you this fine evening from Nashville TN, the music city!

I'm hanging out with Celia and Rich and Molly Irene and her friend from Idaho Kristin, and our new friend Charity who Molly has actually known forever but who happened to be in Nashville for a hot minute AND the most famous man in Nashvile, Bob White,.AKA Roberto Bianco,..apparantly, Roberto is MIA tonight, so Bob is taking care of his clothes,..
we're having a party here,.and waiting for some pizza,..or rather it's a group effort to order it,..i don't think it's coming,..i may have to be happy with cheerios,..

We just got back from the french quarter cafe here in nashville. Celia and I had a great time playing at jack scott's songwriter showcase! He's awesome! Scott played one of his own tunes for us after the night was through that brought me to tears,..Damn,..that doesn't happen very often,..But it actually inspired me to finish a tune I've been a bit scared of,..
i'll have it ready soon,..


And nashville has been a blast since we arrived!
Rich and I met up with Celia and our good friend Molly Irene at Kimbro's cafe in franklin,..A packed house of attentive music lovers! Man what a great time! Even better,..my good friend from NYC, a recent Nashville transplant, Jairo was there to see the show too,..it was a great time,..we met all sorts of great people and great songwriters! man, i could go on, but i think you'd get bored pretty quick from namedropping and stuff,..i have noticed people do that a lot here,..and slow the sentence down a wee to accentuate the name that is about to be dropped,..just to make sure you hear it,..eh? to each his own I guess,..never has been my style,..

Celia and Rich and I also rocked the house at Carpe Librum,..Something told me it was going to be an awesome night,..and I was so excited that my intuition was spot on,..Sheila and the ladies at carpe librum treated us like family and took great care of us,..once again, we had a very attentive audience and a great time!
Our good friend Karen Reynolds, Knoxville's favorite songwriter (And who is absolutely amazing!) had us on her radio program, "writer's block" on WDVX in Knoxville later on in the evening. Man,..i got to sing into an old old vintage RCA ribbon mic,..i know,..i'm geeking out but it was awesome! thanks Karen! (if she's reading this,.)

I left NYC on a down note,.you know, just feeling a wee overwhlemed, maybe even unappreciated a tad,..but see,.. this is exactly why I come out on the road,..I've heard so much great music this last 3 days and I've met so many awesome and interesting people that I could drop today and I'd be happy happy!

but i digress,..
we've been getting lots of great feedback and selling lots of CDS and making people smile and in turn they make us smile,.a great big feedback loop of happiness!
it's just been great, super,..awesome,..but i think i've used that word already,..

Well, Molly has a video feed from her friend patrick in Cali coming in soon, so i need to sign off,..

we're heading to memphis tomorrow and we're planning to go see graceland! I'm so excited!

more to come!

blessed be
d

Hey all!

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I posted last!
So much has been going on, I don't even know where to start!

Well, I guess I should begin with,..We're back in NYC! Our trip to Rome was absolutely amazing! I'd like to take the time again to thank Alex and Costanza for their love and hospitality! I have decided that come hell or high water, We're going to make a pilgrimage to Rome every year!

We actually even got a chance to do a short guest performance opening for Alex's awesome band, Funkalista. They play everywhere in Rome,, the night we opened for them it was a little chilly, we played in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, and it was awesome because it had already become my favorite spot to people watch.
Rich sat in with Funkalista, trading tunes with Alex who is the band leader and regular drummer,..
They put on one hell of show, people were dancing in the streets!
I guess I wasn't too shabby either, based on all of the kind words and compliments,..I'll never forget that experience!

The few weeks we were back in NYC were a little surreal. I think it always is when you come back home after being in another country for an extended period,..On the one hand, we were happy to be back, (we missed Thai food) but on the other hand, I was still there in Rome, mentally processing all that I had seen and all the new friends I had met.

We took a month long hiatus in March to finish up the final wedding planning touches. Even though we made it a point to keep everything simple it was still a crazy amount of work to get it all together,..coordinating bridesmaids and groomsman, tuxedos and dresses, flowers and seating arrangements, menu choices and figuring out who is vegan and who's lactose intolerant,..
details details,..I'm glad we took the time off, it seemed that every day we had something wedding related to work out! Rich and I were married on April 1st,..it was beautiful and we felt overjoyed but the outpouring of love from our friends and family members! The wedding was held in NYC during the afternoon, then we held an "after-party" at Kampo to celebrate a little more! All in all it was a great time and it couldn't have been a better day!

Fast forward a week later to today,..
I'm trying to get the finishing touches on the MAy/June midwestern "barbashack attack" tour.
I'll be doing some double bills with my good friend Celia Shacklett from my home away from home St Louis!

We'll be hitting Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, STL, Kansas City, Lawrence, KS, and somewhere in Ohio.
That's the date I'm still working on,..
sheesh,..

And last but not least, 2 more things,..
I got an email saying my MyShyTune website updates are just about finished!
ahhhh
I can't wait!
it's only been a year or so,..

AND the live/B-sides limited edition CD is on track. Although, my lovely editor and chief believes that while he loves the band performances, he hates the recording quality,..I would agree,..
So, Our next NYC show at Ace of Clubs will be videotaped and recorded to hard disk,,.Hopefully that will do the trick!
Otherwise, it's finished,..

And there you have it! 2 months of my life in a bucket,..

till next time!

Buono Serra di A Roma!

I don't know whether my Italian is correct but it sounds good right?

Hello from Rome!

all I can say is WOW!
It's all that I expected, and more,.it's daunting, it's magical, it's overwhelming in many ways,.2000+ years of history within a few square miles,..a city whose streets are paved with volcanic rock,..to see, in one day, the ruins of the roman empire, One of the greatest civilizations on Earth overrun with cats, or incorporated into the largest organizational entity on earth, the vatican, holds so many implications on so many levels,..I can't even begin to describe the feelings of awe, or just the magnatude of the experience.
I'm really at a loss for words!

The other interesting puzzle for me is a very strange feeling of familiarity that I don't think I've ever felt before. Rich and I arrived in Rome Sat morning. We were met by one of Rich's friends from college named Alex. He's a sweetheart! He's been our tour guide here and there, showing us some of the best places in Trestevere,..the best cappuchino bars, the best restaurants,..even introduced us to our new friend, costanza, who is hosting our stay here,..

Since the first hour here, I feel as though I've walked these very streets before, I feel as if I KNOW where I'm going, even though i don't. I hear Italian spoken everywhere, i don't understand much, if any, but yet for some reason something inside of me is super frustrated that I don't understand,..somehow I should. Odd right? considering my knowledge of Italian comes from either musical terms or from the Italian CDs I bought a few weeks ago to try to learn to speak at least a little something,..i've been getting by with broken Italian phrases mixed with German, and when that doesn't work, grunting and pointing,..otherwise, most people speak a little english,..

I can't really describe this feeling of familiarity,..I keep thinking I'm going to meet with people i know, even though I know there's no one here,..it's odd,..the other tidbit being that i see features that are familiar to me in the faces that pass me by,..for example, a woman in a restaurant yesterday, looked very much like my aunt, another girl like my cousin, perhaps it's the awakening of that Italian heritage? Like a part of me belongs here, it's in my blood,..maybe? Being American, that's really the only heritage I know, an italian-Irish-dutch american female,..there are cultural norms and mannerisms that i identify with, ..that are familiar,..mannerisms or features I share,..which, here, make me blend in, or make it so that I'm mistaken as a local,..elsewhere, these mannerisms define me as something else,..I'm not sure what I'm trying to convey here,..maybe just a sense of belonging,..hard to say,.In some ways it feels like home, even though it's completely foriegn in other ways,..

So far, we've visited the Imperial Roman forum (unbelievable), the vatican (even more unbelievable), a dozen churches more fantastic then the last, the Pantheon,..(incredible),..
We've visited at least 12 capuchino bars,..much different than I expected! basically you go in, order a capuchino, suck it dry, pay for your drink, then leave,..that's the roman way,..lol
3 slurps and goodbye!
I imagined people hanging out, having a pastry maybe? nope,..not really
there are no "to go" cups,..which doesn't surprise me,.
man, the capuchinos are yummy, no matter how quickly they go down!
And the food! yikes! It's so good! We went to a restaurant tonight, "mario's"
Seems every time we sit down for a meal we wind up chatting with the people next to us,..tonight was no different!
everyone here is friendly and kind! anyway, tonight's dinner was just like spaghetti at grandma's house, the sauce was the same, everything was the same,..again, there's that familiarity,..eh?
oh and the chocolate is divine,..it's heavenly,..blessed by the pope no doubt, there's got to be some reason it's so good! i can't imagine anything better!

I could go on, but i'm tired nad maybe even slightly delerious!, lots of walking and talking and eating and sightseeing,..my brain is on overload and my hands are cold,..what can I say? I'll write more tomorrow or the next day,..
All I can say is this place is magical, it feels like coming home, i don't know what else to say about it. I'm in awe and overwhelmed by the beauty or everything around me.
until the next installment!

arrivederci!

Hello lovelies!

It's an update from "your truly" after a wee hiatus,..

Things are getting busy! I can't ever seem to keep up, but all is good in Barbaritaville!

Here's what's new:

Check out this link to view the most recent Chaos & Congeniality review---> http://www.myspace.com/starchild54
She's got "Hush Hush" playing when you log on,..pretty cool,..
The review is listed in her "blog" entries


We've got a few live shows coming up,.. the tour schedule is light for the first couple month of 2006 because,..
Rich and I are FINALLY planning a wedding!
Yee-Ha!

The wedding date is slated for April 2006, so we're busy getting things together,..
Now I understand the term "Bridezilla" and it's relevence,..
Geez,..I didn't think it was going to be such drama!
So far it hasn't been TOO bad, just lots of little silly details,..We've got the space, we've got the dress, we ordered the invites,..so,..it's coming along,..now all we need is the minister,..hehe,..and so is life,..

We're planning a trip to Austin, TX with the band in March for the SXSW convention. (So hopefully I'll finally get to meet my TX penpal buddies!) We've also begun preliminary work for a 2006 Spring/Summer tour, starting in mid May,..We're planning to hit PA, DC, VA, GA, TN, KY, MO, KS, IA, IL, and OH for this one,..We've been asked back to quite a few venues from last year, and I think this coming tour will be the best outing yet! Stay tuned for more details!

In other news ...

This year is going to be a busy one at my second home, Kampo Studios.
I'll be producing/engineering 2 albums at the top of the year for 2 St Louis artists!
MarieK, and my long time friend, Celia Shacklett. I'm really excited to work with both of these gals! MarieK has a sultry Lucinda Williams meets Patti Smith vibe, and Celia is an artist whose music I've been a fan of for a long time (we met while I was touring with SirensWildRide). I'm not sure how to describe her music,..She doesn't really sound like anyone, she's eclectic and fun, kinda R&B/disco beat party vibe with a sprinkle of Kate Bush or even Joni Mitchell in her rock phase,..
Both gals are awesome songwriters, which is why I can't wait to work with them!
There are also other projects slated for the coming months; Most are in the beginning stages of development, I'll let you know about those as they get firmed up!

Once again, I'm hoping to have the website updated by the end of February. I feel like I'm cursed in that department! Seems like every time I hire someone to do the updates they disappear,..Web designers are to me what the drummer is to Spinal tap!
lol
except they don't die,..which is a good thing,..I wouldn't wish that,..

And that's the story so far for 2006.

More to come!

hey all!

so this is totally unrelated to anything relevant,..

I was just on the phone with a friend of mine,..We're going to drop by his new home,..anyhoo,..
the subject of mapquest came up,..which is cool,..but did you know you can get a satellite picture of your location on google?
Go to google.com, type in your address, and voila! you can see your house up close and personal,..spy on your neighbors,..yikes!
On the one hand,.that's pretty cool,..on the other hand, it's kind of scary,..unless of course you have nothing to hide, in which case it shouldn't matter,..
But, as I sit here typing this new knowledge poses a rather serious series of questions,..

For example, if, in fact, we can zoom in on our own locations and search a specific slice of NYC using google, why is it that we can't find Osama Bin Laden with all the high tech spy gadgets we've been paying for with our taxdollars??
hmmm
Can't they just do a search up there,..surveillance? and then fly a helicopter or something over there?
what's the problem? :giggle:
I mean really, we have the capacity to use sattelites and high density telscopes to find planets orbiting stars 50 thousand light years away, but we can't find one man forraging for nuts and berries through the brush somewhere in the mountains of Afganistan or Pakistan or where ever he may be,..crazy when you think about it right?
makes you wonder whether all the conspiracy theorists are correct in assuming 9/11 was an inside job,..
i'm not quite at that point yet,..lol but I'm starting to understand the logic,..

And, doesn't it make you wonder,..if I can see a picture of my own home on google, wouldn't it have been possible to search Iraq for WMD's via satellite? hmmm
it could have been better than faulty intel,..argh

so,..here are some other practical questions,..
What if you suspected your spouse of cheating?What if you wanted to spy on your boyfriend/g-friend to see if they really aren't feeling well and decided to go out with someone else? you could find out! real time surveillance on google!!
oh the possibilities for disturbing one's civil liberties! a field day for Big Brother! lol lol lol lol

ok,.now i'm getting silly,..

hmmmm

maybe there's a song in this?

:)

happy chanakwanzamas!

oh,..and there's a new review,..
Sort of new,..Actually I didn't knowit had been posted yet,..

BIG thank you goes out to Paul Autry from BallBuster Magazine!

here's the link (scroll down)

http://www.ballbusterhardmusic.com/left_field/11-2005.html

Hey beautiful people!

I have a confession to make,..
are you ready??
:ahem:

sometimes I do a google search on myself,..
it's true! And don't get all funny on me! (I'm sure you do it too!)

anyhoo!

I actually have a very good reason for my narcissistic behavior,..
I check to see if reviews came through, interviews, gig listings,..etc etc

So imagine my surprise when, today, as I was looking through my many pages of google links, that I found out "Beauty Lied" is listed on Walmart.com's music page!

Look!!!! It's true!!!
http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/catalog/servlet/ArtistShelfServlet;jsessionid=DZTUh8REyqArjIseOZrli0kBprIa1TqSH4Ed3E3k7piosLrdChnI!294316544?artistid=54998

Wha???

yes,..I'm officially a sell out! lol lol lol lol
Well, not really,..
Actually,..it's funny,.while on the one hand, I'm thinking,.."This is good right? Think of the exposure!" on the other hand (my conscious is killing me!) I'm appalled,..because I don't believe in WalMart's business practices, or their treatment of their employees,..I go out of my way in every instance to avoid WalMart,..Low prices be damned! I'd rather pay an extra 15 cents to insure that small local businesses can compete and can stay open,..I'd prefer to pay an extra 42 cents for a product to know that means one of the floor employees can afford to put food on the table for his/her family,..

I know,..I'm a bleeding heart liberal,..One of those tree-hugging do-gooders,..I guess I don't "get it" when it comes to blatant selfishness,..Or profits coming before people,..Call me a leftish commie who believes we're all equal in the eyes of God,..that class warfare is inhumane,..
phthttft! :rolling eyes:
How dare I care about others and other people's well-being instead of only putting myself, my own profits and well being as #1? that's so un-American!

but I digress,..

What to do when you're an artist who doesn't believe in WalMart but your music somehow winds up there for sale? It's a strange feeling,..Kind of like having one of your songs used in a commercial for a product you don't believe in,..or like "Happy Happy" being used as the background music for the RNC,..argh!
(no that didn't really happen, thankfully)
on the one hand you think, "WOW! I'm in the mainstream,..people will know who I am! Mass exposure!" On the other, it's "ICK!, ACK! BLECH, get this awful taste out of my mouth!"

So,..I believe i'll need to strike a compromise,..

A PERSONAL ENDORSEMENT:

I implore anyone reading this note,..if you were, perchance, thinking of purchasing a CD (maybe as Xmas presents?), or maybe thinking of purchasing a song as a digital download,..Read carefully!

I personally endorse the following companies based on their commitment to "the artist" and "the customer" and "the staff". I believe they are top notch companies who deserve to be treated nicely,..
in order of my love for them:

For Hard copies (online):

#1: CDBABY!!!!!!! (#1 in my book!) there is no other!

#2: Amazon.com

#3: Tower Records.com (or if you're in NYC, Tower Records, Columbus circle)

#4: BestBuy.com

Other places to purchase hard copies for people who aren't comfortable with purchasing things online:

NJ: Espresso Joe's (50 Front Street, Keyport, NJ)
Brooklyn: VoxPop (1022 Cortelyou Road, Flatbush)
FROM ME! SASE w/check or M.O. to me! I'll even sign your CD for you!

For digital downloads (MP3s)

#1: iTunes.com (#1, once you go mac you don't go back)

for those of you who are technologically challenged,..
(kidding)

#2: Rhapsody.com (#2 choice)
#3: Music Match.com
#4: iSounds.com


That concludes my rant for the day,..
lol

Thanks for reading!

blessed be
d

another review to add!

they're coming in fast!

this time it's from Roland Goity at OnlineRock.com
here's the link:
http://www.onlinerock.com/CDreview/review_denisebarbarita.shtml

Thanks Roland!

I'd also like to thank the wonderful "Q" at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall University, for inviting us to perform and banter unintelligibly on her show "No Man's Land" last week!
We had an awesome time! Thanks Q!
You can catch her show every Wed night on WSOU from 10p-12a

One last thing,..
I came across this article from the NYTimes' op-ed section today,..Thought some of you may find it interesting,..
here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/opinion/06kulash.html?emc=eta1

happy reading! more to come!

till next time!
d

ahhhh

the new review from Northeast In-Tune magazine is up!

here's the link:
http://www.northeastintune.com/music.html

A BIG wondrous siren call goes out to Nikki Chipman for such an awesome and thoughtful review!
We love Nikki,..We really do!

Also,..a friendly reminder,..

Listen to WSOU 89.5 (go to wsou.org for those of you outside of the NJ/NY area)
Wed, Nov 30th!
I'll be live on the air with "Q" on her program "No Man's Land", from 10-11pm

ok,.that's all,..

:)
d

Hey everyone!

So, I've been a little lax with my regular news updates,..
I apologize,..
the truth is, well,..I need an intern!
it's really just that simple!

There's been a lot to tell, just no energy to tell it!
but before I begin there are 2 pieces of news that are quite exciting!

1. I'm November's featured Indiegrrl!
go to http://www.indiegrrl.com
you'll see me there on the front page! Thanks Holly and Vicki!

2. There's a new exclusive in-depth interview,..
get all the juicy tidbits and dirt about the making of "Chaos and Congeniality"!
What does Denise REALLY think of her band mates? read the interview!
What the heck Is that song about anyway?

Go to: http://www.cuttingedgevoices.com
Once again, I'm on the front page!
Big thank you to Michael Foster, editor and chief of Cutting Edge Voices magazine!
There will also be a review of "Chaos and Congeniality" in the next few weeks posted on the same site,.
watch for that one,.

So whats g-nu?
well,..
I've been taking some well needed R&R! I feel like this whole year I've been on the road,..My time spent in NYC has been spent either packing to leave, planning and booking the tour, or I'm just gone,..hehe
Autumn is my favorite time of year, and NYC is my favorite city,..and "Autumn in NY" is one of my top 5 all time favorite standards,..
it's only fitting that I be here for this momentous occasion! Fall only comes once a year,..
Soon enough chesnuts will be roasting on open fires all up and down the avenues, people will be hustling and bustling and knocking others in their way over to get the new hot iPod or the new stuffed animal or related gizmo for Xmas,..
the subways are crowded with boxes and bags, people coughing and sniffling from jack frost's nose nipping,..
AAAAHHHHH, I'm glad to be back in NY! There's no place like home!

We've got 3 shows in the NYC area coming up,..Tonight is the year's last outing for the band at The Knitting Factory, and then there will be 2 solo shows, one at my favorite NJ spot, Espresso Joe's with Jo Wymer (I LOVE the coffee there!) and the absolute last show at the very cool Brooklyn spot, VoxPop, with my good friend Kristi Martel. If you mosie on over to the "gigs" page, you'll find all of the specifics there,..

And that's pretty much how it's going to be for a few months,..I'm taking a bit of a breather until March or so from touring,..

So, What am I going to do with all of this free time?
I've got a bunch of new tunes in various stages of finality,..I think I'll finish them! I've got a bunch of friends and family members who don't remember what i look like outside of the promo pictures,,..I think I'll visit them! There are some people who would really like to finish their records! I think Ill help them out with that! and last but not least, I'm going to do some relaxing, become a fixture at the gym, you know, stuff like that!
And of course I'll be able to keep you all updated on new events,..for a change,..

There's some cool stuff on the way,..so I think you'll all be hearing a little more from me!

till then!

Blessed be
d

Another killer review!!!!

Many thanks go out to Kevan Breitinger for his review on Indie-music.com!
Thanks Kevan!

here's the link:
http://www.indie-music.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4307

We'll be doing some traveling this month! Richmond, VA, Frederick, MD , Boston, MA, etc etc
Check out the gig page to see if we'll be in your area, and if so, come on down and say hi!

It's the "all about me" day!

hehe

more good news!

DJ Laney Goodman, who hosts a nationally acclaimed syndicated radio show "Women in Music" played "In Pieces" this week! (Show No. 05-34; Week of 08/23/05)

Want to hear the podcast??
I thought you might!
She's archived them on the site: www.womenonair.com
You can also check out a listing of what days her show airs in each city.
And, if that wasn't enough, you can sign up for a podcast preview of the show to be sent to you! (perfect for someone who is geographically challenged)
here's the link: http://www.podgrrls.net/wim/preview/wimpreview.xml

check out a new review of "Chaos and Congeniality"!

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/25/212244.php

Thanks Jon!
You should also check out Jon's personal site (the review is listed there as well)
www.jonsobel.com


Oh,..and we now have a myspace page!

http://www.myspace.com/denisebarbarita

cuz we all need friends,..

the site
it is a-changin'

FINALLY!

so,..the tour diaries page has been updated

in the words of the count,..
1 page,..ah ah ah

it's coming along,..
big thanks to Kjartan for making the necessary changes!

in a few weeks it'll all be done!
yeee-ha!

I just spent the last couple of days with an old friend of SirensWildRide, Sandy Andina.
She came all the way from Chicago to visit my lovely city, and what perfect timing!
The weather has been primo!
Sandy is also a singer/songwriter. Her music is best categorized as "traditional folk", in the vein of the great storytellers.
MY personal favorite is a a song called "Because we can". She turned me on to some of her new material. She has an awesome new tune called "Safe Home", the nutshell interpretation is that you can be against the war in Iraq but still support the troops who are fighting for their lives over there, making the best of a bad situation,..
It's a poignant message. Her song is actually being played at Camp Casey down in Bushville,..

We had an awesome time! Sandy is a self proclaimed coffee-geek,..Sh even roasts her own beans! pretty cool right?
She taught me a thing or 2 for sure! I'm still buzzing from all the coffee we bought at porto rico (my favorite coffee beanery),..

anyhoo,..It's been a pretty quiet month in the city, although Rich and I have been driving all over PA this month. We'll be doing some shows at home for the remainder and then it's off to DC and Boston in September,..

never stops,..i can't complain! I"m having a blast!

that's the news for now!
Enjoy the awesome weather while it's here!

hey all!

well, it's been a busy month so far!
I had the pleasure of teaching vocals and being a band leader at a 2 week kid's music program called "Bach to Rock"
here's the link: http://www.bachtorock.com

what a blast!
basically it's a program in garden city long Island for 10-16 year olds; cultivating their skills as musicians and allowing them to learn in a really creative and fun enviroment,..

I wish there was a program like that when i was growing up! anyhoo,..all of the teachers were awesome and the KIDS were awesome,..all super talented and open to different styles of music,..I was truly inspired,..i don't say that often,..the fact that so many kids challenged themselves in terms of singing material or playing material that did't necessarily fit into their comfort zone,..they were eager to learn and try new things,..it was pretty amazing,..AND the coolest thing is that the kids got to perform at a club in LI for their family and friends at the end of the 2 weeks,..

that was basically my last 2 weeks,..I'm hoping to be there again next summer,..

Rich and I made a trip out to central PA to perform the Juneteenth festival and we also stopped in at a small cafe in Lewisburg, called Mya's this past weekend,..
I dont' think it could have been any hotter,..it was maybe 105 in the shade? if you could find it,..the stage was put together in the middle of a baseball field, so needless to say,..we were stupid hot and sweaty,..but i learned a very good lesson that gave me a reason to ponder,..
Basically Rich and I got some homecooking from a mom and pop vendor at the festival,..spicy hot jamaican food,..mmm-mmm good!
you would think that would make you more uncomfortable,..but to my surprise,..I actually felt rather cooled off after our meal,.
and it makes me wonder,..
I'd like to send out a big thank you to Johnny Blair for co-ordinating the Jenueteenth festival and inviting us out! We had an awesome time despite the heat!

That same evening, Rich and I got a chance to play a very intimate and special show at Mya's,..2 folks who came out to see the show had seen us at the PA singer/songwriter festival and made it a point to come to Mya's,..It was a really special night,..in a few ways,..1 of them being that I think I was delerious from the heat of the day and from what Rich said the show was like a comedy and music routine,..hehe
I get a little loopy sometimes,..
And also it was one of those nights where, after the show, we got a chance to hang out with our 2 new friends from the PA singer/songwriter festival, Bob and Audrey, who were super cool, and got a chance to just laugh and chat and turn each other on to new music,..we were there hours after the show ended,..and actually got lovingly booted out when the time came to close up shop,..
As a matter of fact, Bob is a big Todd Rundgren fan and sent just sent me an mp3 of a tune off of Todd's latest record, "Liars"
It's pretty cool! Of course, anyone who is a Rundgren fan is an instant friend of mine,..
so,..needless to say, we all hit it off,..

So tonight we'll be traveling back to PA to play in Harrisburg and Danville. I'll let you know how it goes,..

other than that,..nothing really new,..

BUT, I do have a Birthday party coming up soon,..check out the gig page for more details and maybe you can come and celebrate with me!

blessed be
d

hey all!

Sorry for the delay in keeping you updated,..I'm starting to get those emails from people wondering whether i'm alive or just negligent in my news writing duties,..

truth be told,..

i've been a little pre-occupied with general life issues,..

but have no fear! All is good in Barbarita-ville!

Rich and I played some great fun shows this past month, most notably at my FAV coffeehouse in NJ, Espresso Joe's in Keyport! I've been writing some new material too!

here's some new info:

1st review of "Chaos & Congeniality" is back!
Big kisses and Hugs go out to Heather Corcoran of Coffeehousetour.com

here's the link:

http://www.coffeehousetour.com/CHTReviews.htm

big SHOUT OUT goes out to Tom Bingham of WCVF, Fredonia University, last week he added "Fractured" to his playlist on his uber-popular show, "General Eclectic".

As some of you know, our WSOU sponsored show in Jersey City was cancelled at the last minute, but don't dispair! "Q" and I are talking about some alternate venues and looking to book another show sometime in October. Details will be posted on the gig page once things are confirmed! Big thanks goes out to "Q" for thinking of us!

Next week we'll be in central PA, and I've been a booking fool for the last month. We'll be playing in Boston and the New England area, in the DC area and doing some local NYC shows throughout the month of September and October.

I'll do my best to keep you all up to date!

stay cool!

blessed be
d

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!

I'm hanging out in my brother's room, i hacked into his computer,.hehehe
silly PC people, and their silly passwords,...
j/k
he actually gave me his password,..but i used my big sister powers of deception to get it out of him,..

anyhoo,..we're going shopping with my mom in a bit,..getting ready for the big family BBQ!
and crazy enough the weather in DE is actually not so bad,.usually it's like walking out into a wet sticky stinky hot blanket in the summertime,..today it's rather nice,..

So,.as most of you know we spent the last few days in DC with my best buddy from high school, Mark and his g-friend, Jen,..
We had a BLAST!
man,..I went to bed early last night,..i was so tired, well and sorta hungover too from sipping on girly drinks,..yes yes, i strayed fom the usual jaegermeister goodness,..I actually got 2 "iced cappuchinos" and a jaeger,..
i wasn't drunk by any stretch but i woke up to a massive headache. stupid girlydrinks,..I should've known better,..but then, you know they were good going down!

So the synapsis,..
We got to the coffee perk early,..about 5pm. It was a crazy hot and humid day. The coffee perk is a pretty awesome place,..I have to admit it wasn't what i expected.
What I expected was your typical (ala U of DE, Main street) college town thing,..everything is close together, lots of shops with overpriced birkenstocks and cheap pizza, $2 pitchers,..you know the drill,..Well College Park isn't exactly that way, everything is pretty spread out. The college Perk was on a main highway in an old victorian house. It was very cool and they make a mean latte'. I can't say the boston cream pie was heavenly, but i dont' really like it anyway,..(inside joke)
anyhoo,..
the show went really well, it was kinda hot and humid still in the evening
Kelsey's bus broke down on his way to DC, which is funny now, but not when i was pacing back and forth at coffee perk wondering where he was,..hehe (his cell isn't working). He did finally arrive a tad flustered, but happy to be there nonetheless,..
My friend Mark showed a little earlier, I finally got meet his G-friend Jen and her brother Jay.
I havent' seen Mark in,..what 8 years i think? I'm so glad we had the chance to hang out. We all hung out after the show,..I had a long conversation with my new friend Paul on the intracacies of boston cream pie, and 20th century composition,.then we all headed back to Mark's place. Jen and I went out on the deck and did the girly talk thing. Juicy details, and what-not,. :)
Mark and Jen got a small bottle of Jaeger just for the occasion,..we sat out there until about 5am! chatting and sipping away!
We wound up in the living room where rich and kelsey and mark and Jay had been watching the dave chapelle DVD. I got sucked into it, and well,..I went to bed around 6:30aM.
You know, I got Dave Chappelle mixed up with someone else (no not Chris Rock)
But man, He's a funny dude! The puff daddy skit, making the band, had me on the floor, (hip-hop flashbacks) hehe
and the "white people can't dance" skit with John Mayer and Amir,..that was out of control!

So, now I too can say I'm a dave chapelle fan,..The deed is done,..

Needless to say,..Rich and I never made it to the Native American museum. We woke up late,..probably later had Mark not come in to remind us of our plans,..
So reluctantly we got up but wound up hanging out all afternoon. Mark took us out to a cool spot (i can't remember the name right now) for dinner and drinks. He recommended it as a place to play,..and then we all went to DC to get Kelsey on his chinatown bus back to the city.
Chinatown in DC is much different than I expected. there's not a whole lot around there,..
but the entrance way is very pretty. And the metro is soooo clean! Oh my,..
carpeted floors even!
and padded seats! A very comfy ride!
Kelsey's bus, we thought left at 11pm,..however, there was no 11pm bus to be found, so he wound up getting on the 2am bus,.which brings us full circle to yesterdays massive headache from girly drinks.
All in all, our trip to DC; our stay with Mark was too short. I wish we had another couple of days,..However, 2 days is better than no days, so on this point I'll be counting my blessings. Rich and Kelsey and I have sworn to be uber tour guides and have made Mark and Jen promise they'll be visiting us in NYC in the Fall, so we can return the favor of their hospitality. I'm hoping they do cuz i miss them already!

You know this year has been awesome in terms of traveling and seeing old friends,..There was Shannon From DE who came to our show in Philly, Everytime we come to DE we make it a point to visit my best friend Jen, We visited with Andy in Atlanta, Molly, Jairo and Emma in Nashville, didn't get to see Celia in St Louis this year, (but hopefully soon!), and now Mark in DC. We're pretty lucky! It makes me all reflective and corny. But I'm happy to say I've got some of the best friends in the whole world. I wish I could see them all ALL the time, but,..since we're all spread out, I'll take the couple times a year when I can get them. Touring, in some ways, has become an alterior motive. I know where my good friends are and I book gigs in certain areas just to make sure we'll be able to visit them! I can't complain, it's a charmed life in many respects,..

So, if I missed any juicy details, I'm sure Mark will remind me! Oh, and if you're reading this, Mark, I miss you lots and it was awesome to see you!
BIG SHOUT OUT and a BIG Thank you to Mark and Jen for sharing their home with us! I'm hoping we'll be able to reciprocate real soon!
kisses!

hi mark!

looking forward to seeing you tomorrow in DC!!!!

(now you can't say I didn't mention you, ever)

:)

FINALLY!

there is hope!

http://campaignforrealbeauty.com

For the gals out there who are always obsessing over whether they are pretty or skinny enough, here's the site for you!

Dove soap (now I'm not really into endorsements, but,..whatever, they have the only commercial soap product that doesn't turn me into a shriveled up mass of dry skin OR break me out in hives, I'm so sensitive,..)
has a new ad campaign to help young girls and women of all ages start realizing that being skinny or "looking perfect" isn't a cure-all for happiness or success.
sheesh,..it's about time someone figured that out! I was beginning to think I was the only one who realized all of this blather is really about selling PRODUCT; whether it be make-up or weight loss drugs or well,..fill in the blank,..
of course, Dove has just won my support, and I already buy their product (see aforementioned addendum)
but now I don't feel so bad about it,..hehehehe

That's not to say, that every woman shouldn't strive to be the best "you" you can be, rather, the ad campaign stresses that EVERY WOMAN IS BEAUTIFUL despite the fact that she may not be anorexic and only talented enough to look sexy for the camera, as is the general trend. Add to that, an underlying theme that body image shouldn't be tied to self-esteem. What you DO matters! WHO you are MATTERS!
Finally someone in the mass media is saying something that makes sense,..

that's my little rant for the day,..
thank you Dove! For finally "trying" to de-bunk the beauty myth!

This goes out to all of my beautiful friends and family out there who may think they're trolls, but really are absolutely gorgeous when they allow themselves to believe it!

DAG NABBIT!

i forgot in my last "all about me" update to mention that Jen/ed's album "Exposed" {which is totally awesome, and I'm not saying that just because she and I worked together at kampo, it really is awesome!}
is not only available at CDBaby.com, but it's also available for downloading at iTunes.com!
You can hear a little of the "alternate-ego me" as I did some of the background music and sound fx-ie soundscape stuff behind her spoken word artistry {which is truly inspiring,..}

I betcha didn't know this,..even though it'll probably take forever,.I've started working on a secret project,.. a whole album of "bowed guitar/oscillator/chanty bit/2bit programming/someone else's drum loops cuz I suck at programming/gooddrumloopafterall" alter-ego stuff under an assumed name which will most likely sell better than anything else because people like that kinda stuff,..

So,..now that I've broken a deep trust with myself by telling you that little secret,..{I mean, I'll probably never talk to myself again after this,..}
Why are you still here? go to iTunes.com and listen to Jen/ed's CD,..
sheesh! it's not like you have to GO anywhere,..just sit there like you are, and "Boop"
google search
just like that,..
it's easy!
you can come back if you want,..I'm not going anywhere,..

search,..

(Jen/ed)

(google)

or just go to iTunes or CDBaby,..
















go!

hey all!

go to this station on live 365.com
http://www.live365.com/stations/macarty

He's playing "Hush Hush"!
(Actually he just played it about 15 minutes ago,..alas, i missed it,..I still have yet to hear my own songs pumping over the airwaves,..well, with the exception of my actually being in the studio while a tune is playing,..)

one day,..one day,..ONE day,..i have this pipe dream right? that I'll be in the car humming along to some tune, then WHAM, there's one of my songs,..out in,..I dunno,..somewhere,..well, actually i'd be pretty excited if it happened in NYC too,..or one day I turn on a TV show and there it is,..a kissing scene or something with one of my silly songs in the background,..I can picture myself leaning in and saying, "Rich, Rich? RI-I-I-CH?!?!?! (he comes out of a snooze) I ask, "is that me back there underneath the dialogue?"
and he'll say,.."turn it up! I can't hear it" {cuz he's a drummer} and I'll turn it up,..of course by this time the scene is over and I've missed the moment,..but,..I can forsee this happening in the very near future,..
{imagining the possibility}


oh! i almost forgot in my sudafed haze,..

log on to http://www.aiiradio.com

DJ Mickey Spectrum from jolly ol' England is playing "Hush Hush" too!
(I mean that in the nicest way possible, no it isn't a dig, I promise!)


You know what that means? I think people like it!

that's pretty cool,..

i like that people like that song, and want to listen to it,..that makes me happy,..
{are you happy happy?? hehehe well, I can tell you that i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i am!}
hehe
get it??

yeah yeah

that's all i wanted to say,..

g-nite!

DEBUT IN HAWAII!

BIG thanks go out to DJ Nocturna from 90.3 KTUH in Honolulu!
She hosts a show every sat night on KTUH from 6p-9p (Hawaii time) called "A Feast of Friends".
She added "In Pieces" to her playlist on June 11th, 2005!

Thanks Nocturna!

For all of you folks NOT in Hawaii, you can listen to her show every sat via the website:
www.KTUH.org.

All i can say is "WOW"!

Last night, we celebrated our CD release party,..
Many thanks go out to Jen/ed and Angela Jimenez, Kelli Durham and Pandora Scooter!
Absolutely fantastic artists and they're all super cool women to boot!

BIG THANK YOU AND CONGRATS to Jen/ed. I was so honored to be part of the recording process for her brand spanking new CD, "Exposed". (www.cdbaby.com/jened)
Her CD is absolutely awesome (i'm not saying that just because i recorded/mixed it,.. it really is top-notch!)
You should be so proud! I know i am!
Jen put the show together, lined up the artists,..she's awesome,..what a great night!

I want to thank my wonderful band members and special guests!
to David, Jay, Rich, Karen, and Kelsey,..i don't even know what to say,.."Awesome job" doesn't even cut it,..I don't know what i'd do without you!
kiss kiss!

To kenny, you rock and i love you to pieces! Thanks for playing "merch man"!

To the folks at Galapagos, especially Z and Julian,..great job! Sound was great and everybody left happy!

and HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who came out to celebrate with us!
I felt so much love! You guys are awesome!

some little special thanks,..
To Michelle, I'm glad we met and I'm glad I was able to set you "Happy Happy" again! (I promise I won't forget you!)
To Michaela, thanks for coming out again! I was so happy to see you!
To Cathy, you were sooo nice and i hope to see you again!
To my best buddy Michael! you're awesome! big hugs and love to you! Thanks for making the trip out!

To everyone else who I may have missed (or didn't meet face to face) Thanks for coming out to join the joyous occasion,..THANK YOU!

more news to come!
d

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF CHAOS & COGENIALITY AT AMAZON TODAY!

yup,..

official release date is June 30th, but you can pre-order as many as you like at amazon from today until june 30th!

check it out!

GOT YOUR COPY YET???
feel free to tell the world what you think!
write a review at CDBaby OR Amazon!

!!!!!!!!!!! BIG SHOUT OUT AND THANK YOU GOES TO......(drum roll please)

"Q" at 89.5 WSOU! host of "No Man's Land" (which airs every Tuesday from 10p-12am)

We had an awesome time hanging with Q last night at the station (she's a pretty kickin' violin player too!)

For those of you who missed the on air interview, we were on for a whole hour!

here are the tunes she played:

from "Chaos and Congeniality":
Hush Hush
Happy Happy
In Pieces
For what it's worth
The last Breakdown

from "Beauty Lied"
(her personal fav) It's what you said
In July

Make sure to catch her show every tuesday!
She's got an awesome mix of music on her show!
if you're out of the NYC/NJ area stream from here---> www.wsou.net

oh, and don't forget to request your fav tune!

that's it for now!

"CHAOS AND CONGENIALITY"
is now available at CDBaby.com!
here's the link!

http://www.cdbaby.com/barbarita2

GOT YOUR COPY YET????

Make sure to tell the world what you REALLY think!
write a review of either Chaos & Congeniality or Beauty Lied at CDBaby!

New website updates are happening as we speak!
Check in in the next week or so,..things will look a little different!

I saw this editorial in the NYTimes today and thought I'd share it,..



Cold White Peas
Published: June 7, 2005
Today new albums from Coldplay, the Black Eyed Peas and the White Stripes hit the stores. If you needed to be told that, then you are probably not part of the target audiences for these very popular bands. Just how big those audiences are is a matter of some concern in the music industry, which is showing unmistakable signs of languishing. Some sources report a drop of 15 percent of total sales since 2000; others say it is a 7 percent drop over the past year alone.

Record companies and retailers alike are hoping that today's sales are a blowout for all three albums - Norah Jones times three. That would be good for the weekly figures and the bottom line, but it would really do nothing to change the feeling that something is terribly wrong in the music business. The unease was palpable a month ago when the Warner Music Group went public, to a lukewarm response from Wall Street. Perhaps there was something about seeing Jimmy Page, guitar in hand, in the gallery above the trading floor that made even hardened traders queasy. But it was probably the performance of Warner Music - and the sector as a whole - that gave investors second thoughts.

The music industry loves to blame its problems on digital piracy, a case that has yet to be fully proved. The real problem is an addiction to blockbusters, and that is what today is all about - feeding the monster this industry has become. These days there are more musicians and bands than there have ever been, and there are still plenty of music-buying fans. Together, they are discovering alternative means of connecting with each other.

The big record companies continue to insist that the only route to profitability is blockbuster sales of a few titles, and the result is all too predictable - music that matters more for how it sells than how it sounds.

Oh, and I almost Forgot,..

CDs ARE IN!

(ahem)

sorry for yelling,..

I think I mentioned this before,..

CDs will be available at CDBaby.com in a matter of days.
CDs will be available on AMAZON.com in a few weeks
CDs will be avvailable at participating records stores in a few weeks
CDs will be available at participating Tower Records stores in the NYC area in a few weeks!

Songs will be available for download at iTunes in just a few weeks!

HarrisRadio and RadioCrystalBlue are playing songs from the CD already! (Thanks Pete! Thanks Dan!)

Breaking news!!!!

Live On-Air radio interview with "yours truly" on 89.5 WSOU!
(yeah, I know, most people think it's just a metal station, BUT IT'S NOT!)
I will be on the air with WSOU DJ, Q. She host the program "No Man's Land"
So, go sit by your radio on Tuesday, JUNE 14th at 10pm!
GOTO: http://www.wsou.net/
to stream live on the internet!
(can't beat that!)

there's more exciting news but I'm not going to jinx it by blurting it out too soon!

more to come,..

It is SOOOO good to be home!
We got back last sunday, but i feel like i've only been home for a couple of days,..
argh!

We had an awesome time out,..

We had a great time in Greenville, SC with Leslie Berry!
(the home of pretty perky soccor moms wearing pastels and pumps who dream of picking peaches for Jesus) <---That was my line,..getting delerious in the car,..

Ray at Coffee Underground was a pleasure to talk to, as always, and a gracious host!
Leslies's performance was great, as was Kelsey's,..they said I was good too,..but i dont' want to get a big head over ONE good show, you know? lol lol

After the show, Ray took us over to his new found pride and joy,.. the city of Greenville has been going through a transformation, it seems. They have a brand new suspension bridge only for pedestrians over a natural waterfall. It really was beautiful and I'm glad Ray took the time to show us!
Kelsey didn't see it seeing that he was busy flirting with some local skirts, but he missed out,..maybe,..I can't remember whether he got a number,..lol

We had a great time in Chapel hill as well! Old friends came out to hang with us,..missy and Tom, our friends from the Tori Tribute shows. We played to a packed house!
I think Missy likes Kelsey,..I think she does,.. hehe

We stayed the night with Tom, and even despite the fact the Kelsey totally rained on Tom's Aimee Mann parade, the next day, we initiated Kelsey to Mama Dips,..serious soul food! Tom is so awesome, he noticed "mama dip" herself was there and arranged for us to have our picture taken with her. How cool is that? She was so so sweet! I was so happy to have met her. That photo will definatly be in the tour diary!

once again we had to go, but we had a splendid time!
Thanks to Tom and Missy and Ray and Leslie and everyone who came to the shows!

I was especially happy to have some time to hang out with one of my best friends from college in Decatur, Andy. There's never enough time, although we did have a conversation that started with aspects of human nature, to the dawn of civilization, the creation of religion, it's necessity in a society that requires order, and finally to evolution and my dissertation of the laws of nature,..4 am isn't necesarily the best time to have that talk,..it was fun, don't get me wrong,..but Andy's favorite phrase for the night was, "why?" "how did you come to that conclusion", "why?" hehehehe
he got me to a breaking point where I screamed "dammit, evolution is just a theory!" lol
never thought i'd say that,..
hehe
But it reminded me of the long talks we had in times past,..makes me miss him more now that I'm home.
ah well,..
I do have friends here in NYC to call on when i need a fresh debate on political issues and the laws of nature vs. the laws of man,..
anyhoo,..

so we're here,..and we're off again to the PA singer/songwriter festival this weekend in Milton.
This year it'll be held at a campground andd a bunch of my buddies are coming along!
no sleep for the weary that's for sure!
In attendence there's my favorite singer in the world, Frank and his better half, Cat,..then my good friend Michael, and of course, Kelsey, my better half Rich, and maybe my friend Val and her better half Keith.
So it'll be a blast, no doubt!

more to come!

SPRING TOUR 2005, THE MOUNTAIN TOUR

you know,..IHOP flips a nice flapjack,..
we needed some comfort food last night,.besides the fact that all restaurants with something somewhat healthy in decatur GA close at 10pm,..
turns out that you need to be signed up in advance (5 weeks) to play the open mic in eddie's attic,..
When i asked the booking manager whether I needed to sign up in advance or just show up, she said, "sure you can just show up if you'd like"
argh
she forgot to mention that if I wanted TO PLAY i should've signed up then and there on the phone,..
noted for next time,..

oh well,..
so after 5 hours of driving, we decided to just go get some flapjacks,..

today was a day off,..we wound up going to stone mountain outside of atlanta,..it's a pretty cool place,..a really good workout climbing to the top of this big granite mountain in the middle of nowhere,..
odd,..

we'll be visiting the Jimmy Carter presidential center tomorrow, then heading over to the red light in the evening,..
should be fun!

that's pretty much the gyst of our day,..

i'm on the clock here at kinko's so i'll keep it short,..

more to come!

d

SPRING TOUR 2005, the BBQ tasting tour

What a beautiful day!
and believe it or not I think I"m BBQ'd out,..just about every day we're trying something new,..

Rich and I are sipping some latte's in the blue ridge mountains, in a little town called Black Mountain,..about 1/2 hour from asheville, NC,..This place is called the dripolater,..the best coffee I"ve had out,..as most of you know RIch and travel with cappucchino machine,.. but we decided to hang out for a bit,..We just learned how to play a hammered dulcimer, a bowed psaltran and some other misc instruments at a shop next door,..I had to leave,..i felt the pull of my credit card, it screamed "you want this!!!"
argh
We decided to rent a cabin in a camping ground last night,..perfect idea,..
we grilled up some chicken with some left over BBQ sauce we saved form a place called Butch's BBQ in hickory, NC (that place is awesome!)
and grilled us up a nice meal,..

then topped it of with some yummy smores! gotta love it,..my only complaint was that you had to walk a little ways to get to the public bathroom,..other than that, we had a blast!
Yesterday was our day off,..
we went hiking in the woods,..the first day of some bonafide exercise after being holed up in a car for days on end,..

SO far we've been to Nashville, Hickory and Brevard, NC.
Brevard is known as the land of waterfalls,..next year i think we'll spend a few days in this area,..Chreokee NC is close by as well,..
I'd like to visit there,..apparantly the cherokee have a museum and a visitor center to learn more about thier history and culture,..they also have theatre performance,..
WOW~


Today we're on our way to Atlanta, and Kelsey will be joining us on Wed,..

We had an AWESOME time in Nashville,..I"ll give the play by play later, (I've only got a 15 minute time limit on the computer here in the cofee shop,..) BIG shout out to Emma and Jairo for making us so comfy in thier new place! Big shout out to MOlly irene! IT was awesome to see you! and big shout out to my new friend Holly , a CT transplant and AWESOME singer!
She rocks!

The short story:

brevard was gorgeous and hickory was awesome too! We played with Vicki BLankenship in HIckory and stayed with some longtime friends of hers, Misty and Robin,..
Today we're going to visit my best friend from college, Andy,..well and we'll be playing at eddie's attic too,..

so,..that's the news so far,..the new CD's are selling like hotcakes!
(what are hotcakes? hot cross bun type of things maybe??)
eh?

more to come!

d

FINALLY!!!!
Are you ready for the big news????

"Chaos and Congeniality" has arrived!
I got the first box shipped to me today!

Those of you who have pre-orders reserved will get an Email from me with instructions on how to get your signed copies!

Those of you who have not pre-ordered and wish to do so, Email me and you will get an email with instructions! Email me here: denise@myshytune.com

Cds will be available online at Amazon.com and CDBaby.com and iTunes.com within the next few weeks.
I'll be sure to let you know!


Today, we're leaving for Nashville,..(everything always happens at the last minute,..)
We'll be doing a short 2 week jaunt through the south, once again,..
We were in North Carolina last week doing a bunch of shows for Indie Music for Life, with singer/songwriters, Allison Tartalia, Danielle Miraglia (whose new CD is AWESOME!) and Vicki Blankenship. I also got to meet the girls of Someone's Sister who were awfully sweet and lovely!
check the calander for details!


play by play is on the way,.

I'm giddy!
and it's a beautiful day to boot!

you'll hear from me in 2 weeks!

denise

ANNOUNCING: Indie Sounds NY - the only monthly publication focusing on the NYC Indie Music Scene!
Pick it up at music venues across NYC, or download it from www.indiesoundsny.com.

BIG thanks goes out to Pete Harris of Harris Radio and senior editor of IndieSoundsNY!
Check out the May 2005 edition with the big article on little ol' me on page 5!
CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR DIRECT ACCESS! http://www.indiesoundsny.com.

it just keeps getting better as time goes on,..

weather is warmer, sun is shining,..ahhhh

What a great time we had in Ohio!
We did 3 shows in 2 days and it was a blast!

EXTRA SPECIAL Thanks goes out to Missy Broderick for putting together the Amnesty International Benefit show at Wesleyan College, We had a great time and I'm proud to have been a part of the festivities!
Extra Special Thanks goes out to Myke Rock for inviting us to play for his monthly showcases in Columbus!
And a BIG hello goes out to all of the awesome performers and new friends we met in Columbus!
We were so amazed at the level of artistry/talent exhibited by all of the performers we performed with! Great songs, great people! It just doesn't get better than that folks!
OH YEAH,..And in Ohio, Jaegermeister is only $3.00 a shot (hint hint $7.50/shot NYC clubs,..sheesh! That's 2 for the price of one!) Yet another reason to visit Columbus more often!

Actually, these shows were THE quintessential perfect excuse to visit my family in Columbus as well! )not that we need an excuse, but it is pretty far,..) We stayed an extra day on Sunday and got the chance to catch up on some sleep, laugh and chat , gossip, and play softball with my cousins, Emily and Meagan. We had an awesome time! My Uncle makes a killer pasta sauce and my cousins are growing like weeds! Seems like it was yesterday the girls were little chubby cheeked cherubs still in diapers,..funny how time flies! Next thing you know they'll be teenagers, or worse,..(gasp) adults,..{sigh} (not so fast!) My cousin Emily invited some of her friends over and we recorded them singing "girls just wanna have fun" What a blast! I loved it! And they all did such an awesome job!
All in all, it was an awesome weekend,..I wish my aunt and uncle lived closer,..It seems every time we go out to Ohio, we always leave wishing we had one more day to spendwith them,..whaaa
Hopefull it won't take us another year to get out there again,..and considering we have so many new friends to visit now, I'm sure we'll get out there sonner than later,..

any new news??
well,..

OK,..i'll say it one last time,..The CD is almost done,..yessireee,..it's been shipped out to the Oasis CD Manufacturer to be mass produced, and (hopefully) will be shipped back to me before we pack our bags and hit the road to Nashville towards the end of May.
CDs should be available on CDBaby.com and Amazon.com by mid- June.
phew!
i think that's pretty goods news, don't you?

Sorry kids,..I'm beat,..I'll add more soon,..I just wanted to make sure I included another news item before I started getting emails from a certain someone in DC telling me to get with the program,..Apparantly, my Aunt Kathy was happy to hear that someone else ALSO thought I took too long between updates,..hehehehehehe

I make jokes, yes, but it's nice to know people are reading!

oh and one last thing,..something to ponder,..
what is the deal with those little fish on the backs of cars? there were SOOOO many,.i've seen them here in NYC, but I saw many more out there,..is that supposed to mean something? they're made of metal it looks like? is that an extra charge? Does it mean the dealer is Christian or something? or that the driver is?
and what's the deal with "how's my driving" stickers on the back of 18 wheelers?
Usually their driving is scary,..Why even joke about it? Big ol' trucks flying past you at 90 miles an hour with signs that say "Dangerous: hazardous materials" and such,..Who has the time to call the number to report every truck driver playing chicken with unsuspecting cars or cutting us off or driving at the speed of light with an oversized load in the mountains of PA on route 80,..my god, you'd rack up all of your daytime minutes,..crazy right? there should be a law,..trucks shouldn't be allowed to drive in the mountains of PA on route 80 over a certain speed,..so while our right wing freakazoids in congress are trying to turn the country into a totalitarian state,..they're missing issues that make a difference to the everyday touring musician and other normal people in the country who are constantly endangered while driving,..
crazy truck drivers,..hmpf,..

and that's all for now
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

hello all!

So my friend Mark in the DC area says I'm not updating my "news" frequently enough for his taste,..says he's tired of reading about decapitated chickens,..hehe that's cool,..
So this one's for you Mark!

what's new?

argh,..

we're still putting the finishing touches on the new CD. Almost there,..painfully almost there,..
we've hit a bit of a snag on the cover art,.as it's not fitting in the space allotted,..So,..back to the drawing board on that one,..Kristine is scrambling to send me some more cover art ideas while Val tirelessly tries to figure out if she can make the one I want to fit,..

bugger,..

We did an awesome bunch of shows in the past few weeks,..
We traveled to Philly to do a show at the new World Cafe' live,..i was a kid in a candy store,..I grew up listening to WXPN,..that and 9494 WYSP,..and WMMR,..those were my top 3,..whenever we're in the DE area, I chomp at the bit until that funny fuzzy stuff starts around Trenton,..then I get busy turning the dial to 88.1,..So visiting the new WXPN home, where the World cafe live venue is located, was a treat.
This gig was an Indie Music for life show, Allison Tartalia, Kevin So, Vicki Blankenship and I all were on the bill,..We had an awesome time!
Vicki called me the night before to ask me to fill in for her for the afternoon show as she caught a bad case of bronchitis,..so we showed up and allison and I played to a hungry lunch crowd,..

My parents and my brother and his girlfriend all came from DE to support the show,..which in many ways was an awesome thing, albeit a little nerve-racking as my parents haven't been in the same room in months.
I also