So, it's been way too long since anyone posted. And luckily there's stuff to post about.

1st and foremost, our CD is out. You can check it out on the site, or go directly to our CDbaby.com page and buy it. http://cdbaby.com/cd/stripped

2nd, I haven't sent out a newsletter in a while cause I had a computer virus, and then got to take a trip to the hospital.

Yes, that's right. I was super sick for a good week or so before they admitted me, but once I was in they told me that I had gallstones, and needed to have surgery to remove my gallbladder. First I had an MRI which found there was a stone lodged in my bile duct. The next day I was scheduled for an ERCP which is where they go down your esophagus with a scope. The thought was that they wanted to get rid of the stone before they took out my gallbladder because the stone was the thing that had been making me nauseous for the past week. Being a singer, I'm leery of stuff going down my throat, so I spent the whole day meditating on passing the stone. Which about an hour before the procedure I think I did, because I had diahrrea, and since I hadn't eaten anything of note for about three days, the doctor said that's probably what happened.

They did the procedure anyway. *sigh*

So, they go in, and later tell me that while I did indeed pass the stone (hooray for control of your bodily systems) I still had what they called "sludge" in my duct which they flushed out. Meaning that the procedure was a good thing even if my throat was a bit sore.

Next day was the surgery. I went down at 10:15, was in surgery by 11, and around 4:30 or so, I was back in my room. The surgeon came up later and said that it was way harder than he was expecting. He said that my gallbladder was so filled with stones that it was hard to get it out of the holes they had made. Since it was laproscopic, they only make four small holes to get their scopes and tools in, and apparently this thing was just huge with stones. The older of the two surgeons came in the next day and said, "I could have built a garage with the stones you had in there!"

Other fun was that because of the severity of it, I had to have a drain in my side for the next half day or so. The surgeon told me the next day that my jobs were to 1. pass gas, and 2. walk down the hall. So I did that. Shuffling like I was 90 with my I-V pole to lean on. On the way back, he tells me that he's going to take my drain out, and that it's going to hurt...a lot. So he gives me a little extra dope, and waits a half hour, and then comes in to take out this tube that's been hanging out of my side collecting the blood from where they took my organ. Madi was there, so she might supplement this part of the story with what she saw, but basically it was super painful, despite the drugs, and he took about two feet of tubing out from under my ribcage. Craziness.

And after that, they fed me twice and then threw me out. Madi and my friend, Cara, took me home and got me upstairs. The walk up the 3 flights of stairs to my apartment was the slowest trip I've taken in a long time. Every day I found myself able to do more, and felt less pain. For about a week, I had friends dropping by to bring food, and smiles, and care to my door, or call on the phone to make sure I was cool and didn't need anything. I won't embarrass you all here, but you know who you are, and you're all wonderful, and I can't possibly thank you enough, so I'll do my best to follow your example when such a need shows up that I can treat with the kindness and caring that you showed to me.

So, here I am, feeling a ton better, and really excited to be getting back to rehearsal tomorrow night. I don't know that I'll be able to sing very loud, but that might actually be refreshing for my cohorts. I look forward to more shows, and soon, and if you ask nice the next time you see me, I'll even show you my holes. Heheh, now me and Les are a matching pair.

Ok. Now I go to do the mailer that I wasn't able to do. Buy a CD. Love them, buy them for friends. If you buy it online and bring it to a show, we'll sign 'em if you want. Just get this disc. It's a lot of love and devotion put on a little circle of plastic. We hope you'll enjoy it.

Love to all,
Sean

We played Wise Fool Pub this week, and it was such a great experience. And I was reminded of an email I got a while ago. I was asking a friend if he might want Stripped to open for his band. The thought was that his band is an acoustic type deal with good harmony and they would be a good fit for us, with a crowd that would likely be hip enough to dig what we're trying to do with our voices and our direction. This is an excerpt from the response I got.

"To be honest, I've never seen an a cappella group perform at a rock club, and I don't think I will. While you're right, both of our groups focus on vocal harmony, rock clubs want rock 'n roll. It's hard enough for me sometimes to convince bookers that we'll be "rockin'" enough to play their clubs, let alone a group with no instruments at all."

To be fair to this guy I'm not saying his name, because I'm really not ragging on him. I'm just ragging on this mentality. It's the same mentality that says, "People don't like jazz," or, "You can't make money in music unless you're Britney Spears." It's all varying degrees of arguing for your own limitations. He was willing to feed me this line about how he's never seen an a cappella group at a rock club, and therefore, it'll never happen. To which I'll say, 'Suck it, Trebek," one club at a time. All the love in the world to the friend who said it. I think he's a great guy and I'd still love to do a show with his group, because they're all wonderful musicians and wonderful people. But this week, Do No Dawn and Stripped proved that you can play a rock club, and you can have it pretty well filled with people who are there to see you. THEN you can be so slamming that the people who aren't there to see you start pouring in from the bar to see what you're really about. You can do that as a progressive jazz vocal band and a progressive jazz trio. I'm not saying we have a big enough following to go out and play the Metro tomorrow, but I am saying that I'll see that happen.

We had folks who'd come out on a Monday night to hear us, and they were happy in the front row. Then we had folks who were drinking at the bar, and decided that they liked what they heard and wanted to hear more so they started filling in the back of the room. THEN we had folks who were initially griping about a vocal group start standing in the doorway of the bar and cheering at certain numbers (notably Dump Your Boyfriend) and saying, "Man, it's so TRUE!!" (I think they were talking about the line about girls really wanting a guy in Chuck Taylors).

I'm not saying that there isn't a grain of truth to what my friend said. It likely will be a hard sell to some clubs in town. But who the hell said that we're supposed to give up just because something isn't easy. I mean, if Oprah (and my father will hate this example) gave up just because fifty people told her that getting her own talk show would never happen, she would still be a local anchor in Baltimore. Thing is, she didn't give up, and I know there were tons of people there to tell her it was never gonna happen.

I'm just glad that there's this group of people with a vision that are in this for making some great music and touching some lives. And I'm glad to be with them.

L8r,
Sean

Happy New Year to all who may come across this.

Stripped is VERY close to having our album done, and we're chomping at the bit to get it out there for mass consumption. We've got half of it mixed, and the other half is getting mixed on Friday. So, know that we're not just sitting on our butts-our heavily padded butts, after the holidays-but we are in fact hard at work to make a product that is going to knock your socks off.

So, get those socks ready. You're gonna lose 'em soon.

Hope everyone's holiday season was full of joy and that you were able to see family if seeing family is the kind of thing you enjoy doing. I saw mine and was happy to spend some quality time with my dad. He's recovering from a hip replacement, so we mostly sat around and watched movies and talked, but I was able to get him out to Georgetown for some tea at our favorite tea place, and out to Baltimore to visit my uncles, aunt, and grandmother.

All that, and I got "Hulk: Ultimate Destruction" for X-Box, which allows one to take out aggressions on buildings and throw cows at a helicopter. And if there's something I've always wanted to do, it's throw a cow at a helicopter.

Ooooh, and I just got a PowerBook, which is gonna be here tomorrow. ROCK!

ok. Have a good day, whether or not you get to throw a cow at a helicopter.
s

Hey all,

I just wanted to say thanks for those who have supported us in the past year. We're going into the studio in a little over an hour and I'm so excited I could exxplode. Hopefully we can do the explodo on the record and you can all hear it. We've rehearsed really hard and today we're hoping all that rehearsal will pay off in being able to just concentrate and have a good time. Anybody that wants to think good thoughts, and send your vibes our way is much appreciated. We're recording with Jim Reeves who has been in the business for a long time and recorded people like Ray Charles and Manhattan Transfer back in the day. You should check out his website and see all the people he's worked with. www.reevesaudio.com Very sweet and cool guy. So, that's it. I'm off to warm up, take a shower, and then make like a baby and head out. Have a wonderful weekend. I know I will.

Sean

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all that happen to drop by the page.

I'll be making the stuffing and peeling some potato-y type things. Hope everybody gets turkey and cranberry sauce if they want it. Personally I'd rather yak than eat cranberry sauce, but I'll probably end up making that as well, cause my mom and little sister love it. blech.

Anyhoo, here's me being thankful for a group that continues to suprise me every time we rehearse, and continues to make me happy to be alive every time we perform. Love you folks. Even if you're crappy about posting to the journal. (I know, you do Madi. You get a star. Everyone else gets coal in their stockings for not posting. But they get turkey and trimmings for being the best 'progressive jazz vocal band' that ever sang a note).

See you guys Sunday, and hopefully by then I'll be able to sing the last three notes of 'I Don't Wanna Be Kissed.' Is it too late to trade in my brain for one that works most of the time?

Gobble gobble.
s

Saw 'Walk the Line' this weekend, with Mads and Manders (and Mads' boy) after a rehearsal. A good rehearsal I might add. I think we're going to be very productive in the studio. Hopefully we can get the most done in the least amount of time. The most important thing for us I think is going to be the act of getting super concentrated, while not losing that sense of fun that one needs in order to have the musical ideas come across.

Anyway, 'Walk the Line'...

I was thinking to myself, do all the greats have that crazy horrible time of it? I mean, is there anybody that we consider an innovator and a genius in their art that had a pretty okay childhood, with not much terrible that happened to them as they were coming up? Madi was drawing parallels with Ray Charles after the flick, (drowned brother, felt guilty, did drugs, cheated on his wife) and I was thinking of Miles Davis, who had well to do parents, but grew up in St. Louis which was HORRIBLY racist, and who had a hard time with drugs as well.

Maybe it's all relative, and we ALL have rough stuff that we put into our art, but I just wonder if anybody can give me an example of somebody who changed the face of what they do, but had a really easy childhood, and never really got off track because of their fame and/or drugs/alchohol/women/men/sheep.

I'm sure it exists, but I'm drawing a blank right now. My buddy John once said to me that he doesn't understand how I turned out to be as well adjusted as I am, considering the crazy stuff that I've dealt with in my life, and the convoluted craziness of my family. My response was that while my family is jacked up, I'm really lucky in that even with all the upheaval that divorces cause, I ended up with even MORE people that told me I was loved. Even more people that told me in every way possible that I could do anything I set my mind to. Granted, they may be wrong, because half of them are bats, but hey, what's fun about a story that goes the way you think it should? I like the turns and twisty parts myself.

Be well, and don't let the fish have its way with your mind.
S

I'm going to the dentist today.

No, really. I am.

If I happen to die there, somebody look after my cat.

Hate medicine of any kind. They're all just witch doctors anyway.
Give me a poultice and call it a day. Don't take that crazy sharp hook and jam it in my gums.
Don't floss me till I've lost the will to live, nice hygenist lady.
Just look in there, tell me if stuff's going to start falling out soon, and then be done with me.

I have a friend who used to work for a dentist, and she saw all sorts of crazy stuff.
She once saw a guy who'd made his own dentures because he hated going to the dentist so much.
Made them out of a plastic chewing tobacco container with some pieces of plastic hotglued on for teeth.

I don't know that I hate going to the dentist THAT much, because I'm obviously going today, but it's about that much.

I just don't like sharp things in my mouth, regardless of how skilled the person on the unpointy end is.

Wish me luck, and a happy, non-jabby, visit.

s

Just a few things to mention, seeing as how I have a few seconds in which to mention them.

* We went to see Jim Reeves this Sunday and hung out with him for a bit. Singing and chatting. He's the engineer who's going to be recording us in a few weeks, and he invited us out. It was really nice to hang out with him, and just hear more stories, while also getting to have a feel for the different rooms he's got in his studio. I have a really good feeling about this whole thing. Jim is a great guy and has worked with groups like Manhattan Transfer, Ray Charles, and The Arbors, among countless others. Check out his site, www.reevesaudio.com to see some of the cats he's recorded. Very cool stuff, along with some really neat photos of his history in the field.

* I changed the look of the journal page, as you can see. I like the little sun-guy better than the alien, and I think the new color scheme fits better with our main site.

* Madi and I went to a workshop for grants last night and, holy chow, there were some seriously ADD people there. I mean, the lady that was leading the workshop spelled out exactly what you could be funded for, and in the great majority of cases, the after-questions were just batty. They completely disregarded what she had said, and rambled on with questions that had been covered for anyone who bothered to listen. My favorite was a guy who started with "20 years ago..." and then proceeded to tell a tale of woe about how a ton of other people were funded for projects which were all his idea. Gives me newfound respect for the people who run these things. Cheers to them for kindness in the face of inanity.

* Also, if you have yahoo, you can check us out in that venue, since I put up a yahoo 360 page. the id is ironvox77 (which is also the YIM I'm using if you want to ask a question of me personally). I'm pretty open about contact. If people abuse it, that might change, but I like talking to people, so feel free to drop a line. (Incidentally that's also my AIM screenname).

That's it for now. Got a few more contacts to add to our mailing list this week. If you think you should be on there too, because you like vocal bands, or jazz, or just really hot people who are also musicians, drop us a line and we'll get you set up with the newsletter. Otherwise, we'll catch you on the flipside, and see you at a show. Wish us luck in the studio.

Best,
Sean

"Nobody listens to modern jazz," sang Sheryl Crow in 1993. I can take it a step further, y'all-no one even knows what vocal jazz is. I was trolling internet radio stations on Sunday, trying to find a mix of vocalists to listen to while I did the dishes. I don't know why I didn't expect it, but every station I clicked on that purported to play jazz vocals was either *shudder* smooth jazz (sorry smoovjazz fans) or cabaret or instrumental jazz. WTF? I ended up popping LH&R Everybody's Bopping into my system. What is so obscure about jazz vocals?

I know that there are popular vocalists in the public eye. I get that there's a big grey area for most folks, who lump Norah Jones and Jane Monheit into the jazz genre. For them, if a singer sings a standard from the American Songbook with a rhythm section, it's jazzy. To me, if they cain't improvise, t'aint jazz. Pretty girls singing pretty lyrics in a pretty way may sell lots of records, but what about that element of ugly that makes jazz real? The bead of sweat tracing down Ella's cheek. The passionate groaning during Keith Jarrett's piano solo. The scatting that leaps sometimes too far in its dance of originality. Dizzy's distended cheeks. At some point, somebody's gotta do something that says, this music is pouring out of my soul, my body, and in that body is blood, salt, tears, sinew, and all manner of hot and slimy mess that keeps me alive. That's jazz.

So what is it about vocal jazz that keeps it from getting out there? Why are Backstreet Boys for everyone and Singers Unlimited only for the initiated? What's so unappealing about a singer on a microphone who knows what she's doing with a whole bunch of cats who know what they're doing? I worry that, living in Chicago, I'm in touch with the largest population of folks who dig jazz vocalists to be found in the US (besides NY and LA), and that's a small number of folk. I guess I ask these questions because even the most limited interests can be spaded up from the underground by a quick Google, but I still don't turn up a big vocal jazz community outside of educational institutions. I can while away my weekend reading Vehicle Voltron fan fic, but I can't find one radio station that will play just jazz vocalists on my itunes. Sigh. Don't tell me I have to start podcasting Karrin Allyson, Kurt Elling, Luciana Souza, Nancy King, Joe Williams, Shirley Horn, and all those other hard-workin', everlovin' singers, living and otherwise, if I want to hear them. I've got too much to do as it is!

Intending to do more writing in here, just because it's a nice place to write and I know that likely very few are reading it. So, really I can say anything I want.

look:

"Purple monkey dishwasher"

And there it is. No one saw me write "purple monkey dishwasher" so you can't be upset about it. It didn't happen. nyah nyah.

What I DID write instead was a short, rather blissful review of the Jamiroquai concert that Tim and Amanda and I went to on Sunday night. Pretty much I'll leave it at saying that the show was amazing. The band jammed hard, and I got a workout dancing like a madman.

no. I won't leave it at that, actually.

I haven't seen this band since 1998 and didn't really realize until Jay said it onstage that it was the last time they were even in town. I just thought I'd missed them in the years since. Last I saw them I was with a bunch of rowdy friends and it was at the Riviera, and one friend in particular thought he could start a fight with Jay Kay from the back of the Riv amid the fumes of far too much alchohol that gathered like a mob whenever he opened his mouth to yell something stupid like, "WTF man!! Why don't you play anything off of Space Cowboy!!?? I din't come here to hear you play digeri-effing-doo!!"

This time I was just hanging with Amanda, and we chose a place a bit farther back on the incline (my thinking was that she might be able to see over heads better if she was a bit higher up than the mass at the front of the hall). Tim was hanging with friends up toward the front, and I'm sure he'll fill you in on the scene up there if he decides to check the journal page sometime soon. But for our parts Amanda and I danced like crazy, and even though she didn't know many of the tunes, she was having a great time. The quality of their stuff is just so apparent. Maybe it has something to do with Chicago crowds, but I think it may just be that so many of the people there are so into this music. You can feel it in the musicians onstage, and you can definitely feel it in the crowd itself.

Jay picked a good mix of old and new stuff. Cosmic Girl was one of the first numbers, and the place erupted. Dynamite, the title track off the new album, was fantastic and had been tweaked already just a bit different from the album version. I love the evolution of songs after they've been recorded. That's something that I hope we continue to do. I love the new beginning we've added to Strip it Down, and I'd even be up for changing it further once we've recorded it. It's something that most of my favorite groups do. 'Use the Force' was a favorite of mine in this show. He just had a great vibe onstage and seemed to be connecting well with the audience.

One criticism I have of Jay is that he sometimes peters out toward the end of a song. It's something that I remember doing when I was singing a lot of rock shows. You just lose gas after singing the chorus for the fifteenth time in a song. It didn't happen a lot in the show, but enough that I noticed. I think one thing that made it more apparent to me was having seen Prince this year. That man didn't once lose a bit of energy in an entire two hour set. So, considering the closeness of the styles, it may have seemed less excusable to me in Jay.

That said, he's got voice enough for the whole show, and he didn't rely on a lot of ballads or overly long solos from his band. Most of the songs were jams, but they were jams that he took part in.

HAHAHAHAH I just realized that I said I'd keep it brief. Well, I lied. DEAL WIDDIT!! :P

Twas a good show. And now I go to find someone to dance with.

Later,
S

Hey all,
Just wanted to post about the gig we just had.

We played Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall with the two vocal jazz groups from the Chicago College of Performing Arts, and it was a great show.
Pretty packed house, and lots of people there to see Stripped. We only did about 25 minutes, but I think it was the most energy filled 25 minutes we've ever done. I'm still waiting to hear the recording, because I'm not able to remember things very exactly. It was kind of dream-like, for some reason. We did a free improv (coming to be one of my favorite parts of our set) and I can tell you only a few things about it, because we were so into it and flowing. We made at least three changes of feel (probably more like 5) and it seemed like everybody got in there at least once and really tore something new out of the sky. At one point I remember doing something between Louis Armstrong and rock guitar, and I remember Amanda changing things to a reggae beat. There was a point where Tim and I took it to a fast bop feel, with the ladies all doing some scatting over top, and I remember doing a bit of vocal percussion that was so fast, I was surprised that I wasn't screwing up all over the place.

Now, with that said, I could have imagined it all. Might have sucked. But I don't think so.

It felt good, if nothing else, and the audience response was fantastic.

And to all of that, I say, "Yes, please. More of that. Another round when you get a chance."

Studio-ing soon. Rehearsal first. Talk later,
Sean

Something I hope we can remember when we're in the studio:

Taken from Neil Gaiman's blog today-
"From UNCUT Magazine, which arrived today, a quote from an article about the recording of Springsteen's BORN TO RUN.

He hurled one tape out of the window. "It was the worst piece of garbage I'd ever heard," he [Springsteen] snarled of even the final version. "We walked out of that studio and I wanted to kill somebody." He tried to force Columbia to scrap it and record the songs live at the Bottom Line club instead. It took [producer and Rolling Stone journalist Jon] Landau to ease him back into reality. "Look, you're not supposed to like it," he said. "You think Chuck Berry sits around listening to Maybellene? And when he does hear it, don't you think that he wishes a few things could be changed? Now come on. It's time to put the record out."

Or as Sondheim said, You have to move on.

Always good to remember when you're making art. You don't have to like it, just be ready to do the next thing."

Righton Righton,
Have a good day, and come see the show tomorrow if you're reading this on Oct. 20th. If you're reading it on any other day, then maybe invent a time machine so you can go back and see the show tomorrow. It'll be that good. I'm tellin' ya. Amanda's first show with us off book. Very exciting. And how about that picture of that group on the main page, huh? Where the heck did we get that group of hotties? I mean, you cut that guy with the shaved head out, and you really got something there.

Anyway, what Neil posted is what we need to remember when we're talking about that chiff that no one but us can hear on the third take of "I Don't Wanna Be Kissed,"

Exeunt Stage Left holding a massive thrashing trout.
Sean

Just a quickie to tell people there is an ad for breakingboundaries in rotation at www.telepathine.net

It's just something I did because I heard about it on Warren Ellis' site. He's big on artistic expression on the internet and put out a call for people to submit images of a certain size that say something, and to put your website URL at the bottom. The submissions that he digs are then put into rotation and are on the righthand side of the screen whenever someone visits. If you go there and click your refresh button a bunch, you'll probably get through the rotation and see it.

I did a white mask holding a microphone on a black background.

Anyway, it's just a little something and might bring some people who may not have heard of us.

lateron,
s

"We should not have a tin cup out for something as important as the arts in this country, the richest in the world. Creative artists are always begging, but always being used when it's time to show us at our best." Leontyne Price, from I Dream a World.

Stripped has the month of June off, and I've been using my time to do research. I've been compiling all kinds of info for Breaking Boundaries and about jazz and Latin music. The thread that I've found running through my work has been unsettling evidence that individual artists in the U.S. are still undervalued and underpaid. Jazz artists in the late 60s/early 70s called for musicians to take charge of their work by starting record and publishing companies, by opening their own venues. Ron Carter said (in Art Taylor's Notes and Tones), "To reach the top level of creativity, you have to be able to control the business end. If you control the press, booking agencies, record dates, publishing companies, music, record royalties, television and radio royalties, you know when you can afford not to work." He said it in 1969, yet today I know so many talented musicians who are exhausted from overwork, who are losing their passion for music because they cannot afford not to work. We play and sing at the mercy of businessmen, live music venues struggle for mere existence, small record companies get swallowed up by giant conglomerates or go under, yet the demand for new music grows greater each year. Who takes in the money for supplying the music? The days of sponsorship are still here, but who is being sponsored - teenagers with little (if any) music training who look pretty and dance seductively and sing other people's words; bands who go from the garage to stratospheric fame to obscurity in the space of two years; rappers plucked directly from gangs who bring messages of violence and hate to the masses through their actions and lyrics. I'm not saying that there aren't well-paid, hardworking, self-made, worthwhile musicians out there; I'm simply saying that the majority of money and publicity in the business goes to fostering some scary trends.

I've had some big dreams since I was 16. I can see myself building a living and working space for musicians. I see an organization of apprenticeships, with children learning from young musicians who are learning from old musicians. I see a community of artists working together to promote each other's work, to infect others with their love of music, increasing their audiences, to create a neighborhood known for its rich culture. I see myself directing wages and benefits to musicians. I don't care how hard it is to do. I'm not tired. I'm wide awake and full of love and work. I want to be paid to give my gift of music - paid enough so that I'm not struggling, and I want my fellow musicians to be paid, too. We are keepers of the best that has come out of this country. We are so deserving, have so much to give, and I'm so excited to serve.

"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your...khakis." - Tyler Durden

I just watched Fight Club. No I don't feel like going out and starting fights. I do however feel like going out and reminding people why I'm here. I feel like singing it, and reminding myself over and over. I am not special, and neither are you. But the thing is, in our complete unspecial-ness, lies our true power. Every single person you meet today has something to teach you, and as long as you remember that, you can grow, and learn, and maybe remind them something in the process. You aren't special, and that's why you're special. Get it? No? It's a paradox. Get used to them, because they're everywhere.

Know you're unspecial. Know you're just a facet in a diamond, and you'll realize that the fact that no two snowflakes are alike, doesn't make each snowflake special. What makes a snowflake special is the meaning that's applied to it. Two snowflakes sit on a window, being snowflakes. They're six sided, and they are made of frozen water. Some jerk comes along and sees them sitting, just being snowflakes, doing what they do, and he proclaims, "how special, they're comepletely special things. No one snowflake will ever look exactly like another snowflake." And to him, it's true. to another jerk, a snowflake is a snowflake, and who has time to think about special when you're starving, and that jerk over there is driving a BMW. Who does he think he is? Special?

What's the point? Don't worry about special. Yes, you're a flippin' snowflake. You're unique and you're special. And so is everybody else. And if EVERYbody's special, then nobody is. Right, "Incredibles" fans? Right. So what's the point?

The point is, class, be as unspecial as you can possibly be. Be unspecial in that way that makes you hum. Be unspecial in that unique way that comes from that place inside you that says, "THIS is what I love to do." And if you haven't found that way yet, then get looking. I mean it. Right now. go outside and sit for a while. Don't watch reruns of Everybody Hates Raymond. Don't go to the mall. go, sit, and ask yourself what it is that makes you flow. If what makes you hum is putting together models of WWI airplanes, then do it. Every chance you get. I know you gotta work to eat, but GAWD, WWI airplanes get your motor running, so revel in it. Go do something you think you might hate, too. Just to see if you hate it as much as you thought. FIND OUT!

When you've asked yourself what it is that makes you not wake up crying every morning, ask yourself again why you're not doing it more. And if you still haven't found something after asking yourself every day for a month, then go on asking. Ask other people what they do that they love. Maybe you'll get answers you didn't expect. Answers like "helping people paint their houses," or "reading to the elderly," or maybe you'll find out that it's something like,"moving to Haiti and helping to heal hurt," or "leaving my favorite book in places where people might read it and be inspired by it."

the point is, my very unspecial-but increasingly unique-snowflake, I don't know what the point is for you. I can't even be sure that the thing it is for me today will continue to be the thing for me tomorrow. All I can say is, "You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive." It's good advice. You aren't your khakis, and as snowflake-y as you are sometimes, you're only as special as the next guy. Revel in it. Go take a walk. Go write a book. And when you've done it (whatever it is) then go do it again. Only different this time. rinse. Repeat.

Exeunt stage left with a big floppy fish singing about how he doesn't know why he writes, and he doesn't know who reads. Doesn't matter, cause he don't write for you, he writes for me. (thing is, the fish thinks you and me are one and the same, so what's the difference)

Note to self: Make less sense. Being out of one's head is preferable to being in it.

Just a reminder to anybody who's trolling around and looking for something to do on Saturday the 26th of March.
We're singing in the Harmony Sweeps, and if you dig a cappella, you should come.

Other thoughts at the moment include...

...I've been thinking about having Stripped do a few ringtones for folks that have the capability of downloading mp3s to their phones. Any interest there? Wanna have Stripped on your phone? We could make your calls that much more exciting.

...what other ideas could we adopt to create a subculture. I've always said that I don't want Britney fame, I just want a cult following. So what else do we need to do (aside from gigging more) to create that cult following? I'm not talking David Koresh cult following, I'm talking Rocky Horror Cult following, but without so much hairy men in tights and corsets. (no offence to Tim Curry).

...some members of any given audience tune out when improvisation enters a performance. We're all jazz musicians in Stripped, so that's something we tend to enjoy doing in our shows. Maybe if we involve the audience in our improvisation early on in the show, we can bring it back and not lose quite so many people who seem to be thinking, "Bleh, this is jazz. I don't understand jazz. This isn't for me." I have a buddy who listens to Coltrane and just throws up his hands and says, "Too many notes." He loses interest. What is it about ANY given form of expression that leads people to think, "There's nothing here for me." Accessibility. Without catering, or speaking down to people, and without watering down what we really want to do. Maybe I need to listen to more Country music and think about what it is that I find so uninviting there.

Just a few thoughts on a Thursday before the Sweeps. Have a great day.
Sean

I just watched WifeSwap for the first time, because it was on after Alias. mmmm Jennifer Garner.

Now, the reason I kept it on was because they were swapping a religious conservative black woman with a lesbian, and I was hoping that I'd see some Christian values shown. You know, Love, tolerance, patience and well, Love, cause that's what the Man was about, right? I mean, Love thy neighbor?

...anybody?...Bueller?

The lesbian mom tried to bring some fun to the conservative house, and she was successful. The kids were happy at the relaxation of some of their strict rules, and the dad even seemed to get into it a bit. She took the dad to a gay bar and made him take dancing lessons and he wasn't all that put off by it. He seemed like he thought it was a good experience and he seemed to take some good away from it all.

The conservative mom came in and made like a drill sargent with the liberal house. She treated the other mom like a servant and she basically called her sinful and told her if she would "not act like a lesbian" she'd get the same treatment as anyone else. Implying that there is no civil rights issue when it comes to sexual orientation, and that it's only a "financial thing." She had a good effect on the household in that she taught the family that it's important for the daughter to feel like she's important and to have a special time set aside for a 'princess day' to use her words. This was positive, along with the fact that the partner felt she was maybe a bit too bossy with her wife(this from the fact that she was now the one getting bossed around and saw how it felt).

All of this is incidental to the reason I'm writing this. All the things that happened when the wives were swapped were fine and did serve to teach both families something. The point I want to make comes from what happened when the two couples met to talk about their experiences. They never actually got to talk about them because "Right" out of the gate, the conservative wife says she was afraid to leave her 14-year-old daughter with a lesbian because of the possibility of abuse. Effectively she said, 'Because you're a lesbian, I'm afraid you're a sexual predator.' And here come the lesbians with a figure, 'Do you realize that [such and such] percent of all sexual predators are white heterosexual males? Do you realize that ONE percent of all sexual predators are lesbians?" And here's the telling thing for me. They're ready with that statistic because they have to be. They have to be because this isnt' the first time they've had this conversation with someone. This woman turned a learning experience into a reason to hold another person in judgement. And her husband, who was very tolerant and even saw the good that came from the experience sat back and let her do it. Because sometimes tolerance comes along with the tendancy to let people walk over you. Tolerance allows and consequently it sometimes comes with passivity.

The danger is, intolerance is loud. Intolerance is mob ruled. Intolerance is fear ruled. She was afraid of her daughter being exposed to 'depravity,' to use her word. Tolerance must be louder. Tolerance must be the norm. It must be something that we always hold up in the mirror with us and see if we have reflected it in our day.

That conservative mother has every right to her fear. She can have that fear and hold it tight and pray to a God that's separate from her, and I have nothing to say about it. She can rail against sin, and depravity just like the man who stands outside the Old Navy with his megaphone and tracts. I defend his right to do so with my very being. I defend her right to feel the way she does about lesbians. I defend her right to her sense of self-righteousness. I defend these things as vigorously as I would defend her right to be married to a white man, or her right to sit wherever she pleased on a city bus. I defend her choice to act the way she's acting, and I send her love.

And having said that. I choose different. I choose to be something else. I choose for myself a road that is paved in love instead of fear. I choose to every day be better than I was yesterday. To be more tolerant, more giving, and less judgemental. I don't judge that lady because having grown up under her exact circumstances I would think exactly as she does, and at the same time I hope that someday she finds a set of circumstances that shows her a different way of looking at things.

I choose love, and I choose a silent prayer tonight for every person who feels that they do not belong. I choose a prayer for every person who feels that they are not worthy of love or persecuted by others. I choose also a prayer for every person who feels that they need to exclude another, and for those who feel that their fear is so great that they must ridicule and villify the way another person exists. Maybe you choose to pray or meditate with me. Maybe you don't. There's the beauty of the system. The choice is yours.

Be who you want to be, and sing the song you hear in your heart. Let no person drown it out if it speaks the truth you hear in your soul, but please, pause every now and then to listen to the songs of others. In that pause you might hear a phrase that you want to add to your own song, and at the very least you can say you heard it. Something you can't say if you're screaming your song at the top of your lungs with earplugs in. Sing your song, but realize we're all just singing variations on a theme, and that it's a theme we're only half hearing down the hallway of eternity. Be careful when you tell somebody their variation is 'perverse,' as they may know the composer better than you do.

Or they may not.




mmmmm. Jennifer Garner. I'd like to make a variation on her theme. (sorry. It's my job to set up a mood and then spoil it with crassness. See? I just farted too. *burp*) :)

Sean here,

Just wanted to announce a few things.

Stripped will be performing at Uncommon Ground on February 24th as part of the Singer Spotlight Unplugged show there. Seating is usually limited, so you're encouraged to make reservations ahead of time, although they have added on and I'm not sure if it's still in the small room or not.

We'll also be performing again this year at the Harmony Sweepstakes Chicago Regional Competition on March 26th. This is another show that sells out every year, so your best bet is to get tickets ahead of time. You can click the link on our main page that'll take you where you need to go.

The last announcement for the moment is that we've got a gig set up on April 10th at the Green Mill, which we're so excited about. It's in conjunction with an organization called Accessible Contemporary Music and it's FREE, so you're a dope if you don't make it out for that. I for one have never sung at the Mill, so I'm stoked.

That's all the news that's fit to print as of now, but we're working on booking a bunch of stuff, so we can get out and show the world this new and amazing group. Having a kickin' bass in rehearsal every week makes all the difference.

So, more when we know it.
Later,
Sean

Comin out of a cold - it's a good feeling. Damn this winter stuff, I say. It can surely be a drag when the body gets caught up and tossed down.

ugh - but hey, getting better makes the bad all seem worth it sometimes, right?

Here's the group. We're whole and we're ready to take on the world. Well, as soon as Madi wipes that look off her face. Sassy!!!