shannon butcher sings

Holiday Special

I don't know about you but I have a real soft spot for tv this time of year.  There are just so many holiday specials to warm me during these chilly days.  Ah, the cute cartoons, the stop motion masterpieces and the sweet little songs.  I just can't wait for a mug of hot chocolate and some good ol' fashion couch-potato-ness.

By the way, I hear there's a new Muppet holiday show - if any of you have seen it please give me a report.  The Henson clan know how to make a good special.  Remember Emmet the Otter?  Years before that viral YouTube clip, Jim H. was bringing on the cuteness.

 

It's a Wonderful Life, Saturday Night Live's Christmas Special, Jack Frost, A Very Brady Christmas....they all led me to a Christmas question:  Can there be room for more holiday cheer filmed and edited on my very own MacBook?  Conclusion:  Yes. 

And thus I give you:

Shannon & Ross' Christmas Special '09 scene 1 featuring You're Getting Nothing for Christmas But My Love

Calling for Backup

Tonight I'll be singing backup for the talented singer-songwriter Courtney Farquhar!  Courtney's new album Nowhere I'd Rather Be is jam packed with beautiful songs and it has been a real treat to spend time learning them for the CD release.

Here's some words about Courtney:

Although hard to pigeonhole and place into one specific genre, Courtney Farquhar's sultry and sophisticated vocals tread the lines of both jazz classics and traditional country music.
Toronto-based singer/songwriter Courtney Farquhar broke on to the scene in 2004 when her song, “That’s What Happens” made it onto Warner Music’s Women and Songs 7. Since that time Courtney has released a six-song EP and toured across Canada and Europe.

Courtney’s debut album, Nowhere I’d Rather Be, was co-produced by Ben Riley and Dylan Heming and features an A list of musicians adding their talents including Mary Margaret O’Hara and Ron Sexsmith.

Musically rustic with contemporary undertones combined with Farquhar’s unique and dark-hued voice, Nowhere I’d Rather Be is a solid debut.

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

On this occasion of your 40th birthday, I would like to personally thank you Sesame Street for all the fabulous music you have brought to children and to the young at heart!

Of course there are the classics - Doin' the Pigeon, C is for Cookie and The People in Your Neighborhood - but I also remember the little songs that would show up in sketches like Letter B and What Does a Dreaming Dragon Dream Of?  So good!  This could be source material for a whole new album.

To think what it must be like to be a songwriter for Sesame Street.  To find that perfect combination of sophistication and imagination.  Really impressive.  I've found a list on good ol' Wikipedia of songs from over the years.  The composers are not always listed but I see that Joe Raposo, Christopher Cerf and Jeff Moss are responsible for most of the greatest hits.  I would love to have met them and asked about their writing process.  How were they able to craft such perfect messages and melodies within the limits of a 60 second attention span?

I think I now have a new personal goal to get a song on Sesame Street one day.  Joy in My Heart maybe?  I'll have to book some meetings with the children in my life and get brainstorming on some new tunes!

Pink for October

As is the custom in the blogosphere shannon butcher sings is going pink for October to show my support of breast cancer awareness. 

A couple of years ago I went to an amazing evening of music called Babes for Breasts.  Here is their mission statement I pulled from their website:

BABES FOR BREASTS (BFB) is a collective of female singer/songwriters taking on the human side of breast cancer one song at a time. Volunteering their voices and skills to raise awareness and funds, all proceeds are donated to charities helping women and men who are living with breast cancer from diagnosis to remission and beyond.

I just discovered that Babes for Breasts will be bringing their music and message to Loplops in Sault Ste. Marie on November 28.  This is the same venue where Ross and I will be performing next Wednesday night October 14th.  I've heard it's the best music spot in town, so I'm thrilled to be playing there and excited to learn that they also support great causes.   Be sure to visit the BFB website for a concert near you!

How to Spend Your Day Off in San Francisco

1)  Settle in to your new "office" for the next two days.  Get used to the view.

Not quite as breathtaking as the Laguna Beach view but you can still see the mountains!

2)  Shop at Forever 21 for cute accessories that are $5 or less that you could use on a gig.  (Fortunately you don't have to be anywhere near 21 to buy stuff there!)

You can take the girl out of the Swing Rosie but you can't take the Swing Rosie out of the girl!

3)  Spend the night watching one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, Cleo Laine!! 

When I visited the website for Hotel Nikko, aka my new office, I was so excited to see that it housed one of San Francisco's premiere jazz and cabaret clubs, The Rrazz Room.  I was blown away when I found out that Dame Cleo Laine and her husband Sir John Dankworth with the scheduled performers.  What???  The last time I saw them perform was in Roy Thomson Hall.  This time I was about 10 feet from the stage with only 60 fellow audience members.  She was memorizing!  Her voice is a treasure that still shines as she is about to celebrate her eighty-second birthday.  Seriously.  I loved every song she sang.  I almost started weeping three times.  Her presence is just that powerful.  So I say a thank you to the fates for bringing me and Cleo to San Fran at the same time!!

California Dreamin'

Once again I'm heading out of town to promote Toronto to our friends to the south.   Singing and seeing the world - what a dream come true.

Here's where I was this morning:

Five hours later I was here:

And then, one Night at the Museum 2 and The Proposal later, I arrived at my new office.  Check out this view:

Besides the travel, one of the best things about this job is the opportunity it affords me to reflect on the people and places I love in Toronto & the GTA.  The musicians, the artists, the writers, Harbourfront, High Park, Niagara on the Lake, Easy on Queen Street West.  I could go on and on.  What I'm dying to know now is what you love about our creative and diverse city.   Let me know!  I just might work it in to my speech for the Californians!

Inside the Jazzers Studio - Ben Riley

Ben Riley has had the great fortune of having been brought up in an intensely jazz/classical family. From the age of 3 he was jamming in the basement with the late great pianist, Bill Evans (a regular family guest at the time), who had already taught him how to play brushes and keep time.  You know, the typical life of a toddler.  When we were teenagers I remember going to see Ben perform in a quartet with another child of a musical family, Emilie-Claire Barlow.  It is pretty impressive how every member of that quartet has gone on to an outstanding career in music.  The pianist, Mark Camilleri, can now be found music directing Toronto's best musicals or recording the country's top talents at his studio Imagine Sound.   The bass player was Ross MacIntyre and if you read this blog you already know how great Ross is.  Do I really need to brag about him again?

Over the past two decades, Ben has recorded and performed alongside many luminaries such as Bruce Cockburn, Holly Cole, Michael Burgess, Molly Johnson, Joe Sealy, Jackie Richardson, Doug Riley (Ben's dad, aka Dr. Music), Adele Armin (his mom, violinist with the TSO), Marc Jordan, Amy Sky, Moe Koffman, Michael Kaeshammer and Bowfire among others. If you check out Bowfire's website you can see Ben playing with them on NBC's Today Show.  I wonder if Ben got to meet Al Roker?  On top of all those sidemen gigs, Ben co-leads an original soul/R&B project in Toronto, Planet Earth.

Having played on dozens of albums and hundreds of commercials, Ben also composes in many genres including classical, jazz, singer/songwriter and R&B.  That's What Happens, a song co-written by Ben with Courtney Farquhar, was included on Warner's platinum selling 'Women and Songs 7' compilation CD.  Courtney also happens to be Ben's beautiful wife. Seriously, they make such a handsome couple that they are giving Brad and Angelina a run for their money.  Ben and Courtney have been working on her new album which should be released this fall.  I hear there are some amazing special guests on the CD including Ron Sexsmith!

Okay, now to my insider info about Ben:

1. What is your favorite word? funk & poignant
2. What is your least favorite word? ya da ya da
3. What turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]? spontaneity
4. What turns you off?  insecurity
5. What sound or noise do you love? hollow wood being struck, like a woodpecker on a tree 
6. What sound or noise do you hate? scraping of cutlery on a plate
7. What is your favorite curse word? Jesus H Fucking Christ
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? poet
9. What profession would you not like to do? surgeon
10. If Heaven exists, who's the first person you want to see in concert when you arrive? Doug Riley, my dad

Ben will be joining my quartet for the last two Sundays at the Rex this month.   Come on down to 194 Queen Street West August 23rd or 30th from 7-9 to hear Ben in person!  (And remind me to ask Ben about Al.)

The Riveting Riffs Review is in

Last night at the Rex I met Joe Montague, Publisher and Editor of Riveting Riffs Magazine.  The online music magazine was created in 2003 as a living legacy to Kent David Montague.  Not just for jazz fans, the magazine and it's variety of content and contributors will appeal to all music lovers.
 
Joe had come down to the club midst all of the weather storm warnings to review my quartet gig. 
Seriously.  The thunderstorm was amazing.  During our second set it was like Mother Nature decided to join Ethan on percussion!  Check out this stunning photo:

To see more amazing pictures visit blogto.com

Just moments ago Joe sent me the link to his flattering and detailed review.  It's such a treat to get a live review. (I honestly can't remember being reviewed since I "opened" for Oscar Peterson at his school fundraiser in Mississauga.)  And to top it all off Joe made us the "Gig of the Month".  Hopefully this will help spread the "Words We Both Could Say" to more people online!

I won't reprint the entire review here, but I will leave you with a favourite quote about one of our new tunes. 

"Her ability to continually ‘be in the moment,’ and Butcher’s emotive vocals made this tune work well, and sent an electric current through the crowd..."

Please click on over to the Riveting Riffs website to read the full article.

Shannon-ology

Once again facebook saves the day with fun post fodder!  Kellylee Evans posted this fun getting-to-know-you survey and I thought I would respond via "shannon butcher sings" - not everyone has a facebook account right? 

1) What is your salad dressing of choice? homemade olive oil & balsamic vinegar

2) What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Scaramouche

3) What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it? chocolate covered almonds

4) What are your pizza toppings of choice? pepperoni and mushroom

5) What do you like to put on your toast? butter & strawberry jam

6) How many televisions are in your house? one

7) What colour cell phone do you have? pink

8) Are you right-handed or left-handed? I'm a rightie!

9) Have you ever had anything removed from your body? no

10) What is the last heavy item you lifted? Yamaha keyboard

11) Have you ever been knocked unconscious? nope

12) If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? nah, don't think so

13) If you could change your name, what would you change it to? I like my middle name - Cara

14) Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? anything to help finance my next album

15) How many pairs of flip flops do you own? two - yes, Liz Lemon, I wear flip flops!

16) What’s your goal for the year? Oh, so many goals.  Two CDs.  Traveling Canada.  Singing in Japan.

17) Last person you talked to? My mom

18) Last person you hugged? My new "day job" boss (Anything to help finance the next album.  Just kidding, she's awesome!)

19) Favorite Season? Summer

20) Favorite Holiday? I really enjoy being with my family at Christmas

21) Favorite day of the week? I like a nice, lazy Sunday

22) Favorite Month? July

23) First place you went this morning? West End YMCA to meet Lisa for some time on the elliptical

24) What's the last movie you saw? Julie & Julia (Meryl was amazing!)

25) Do you smile often? Oh yes.  They don't call me Sunshine Skittle for nothin'

26) Do you always answer your phone? I've started to ignore the long distance rings midday.  Hello telemarketers. I'm on to you!

27) It's four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?  My sister

28) If you could change your eye color what would it be? green

29) What do you usually get at Tim Hortons? tea with milk and two chocolate timbits

30) Have you ever had a pet fish? yep

31) Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night

32) What's on your wish list for your birthday? I just celebrate the b-day so the list is pretty empty

33) Can you do push ups? yes, I think 12 is my limit in one go

34) Can you do a chin up? Hmm...haven't tried in a while so probably not

35) Does the future make you more nervous or excited? it depends on the day, right now I'm fortunately on the excited side.

36) Do you have any saved texts? nope

37) Ever been in a car wreck? no, thank goodness

38) Do you have an accent? I wish.  I try to imitate many.

39) What is the last song to make you cry?  Kate Bush's Woman's Work

40) Plans tonight? Working on my blog while watching Sex & the City

41) Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? I've never felt like I've been truly at the bottom because I've always had an amazing group of family and friends to pick me up

42) Name 3 things you bought yesterday. running socks, face cream, gin & tonic

43) Have you ever been given roses? yes

44) Current hate right now? there should never be hate

45) Met someone who changed your life? Someone?  How about someones!

46) How did you spend this past New Year?  I can't remember....is that bad?

47) What were you doing 12 AM last night?  sleeping, I was at the gym for 7 this morning!

48) Coke or Pepsi?  There are mini-cans of Diet Coke in my fridge right now although my grandma and aunt swear by Pepsi.

There you go. All the pressing questions answered.

Live Recording at CIUT

At 11:00 on Thursday, July 23rd my quartet ducked our heads and made our way down to CIUT's basement recording studio.  We would have been playing out on the lawn of 91 St. George had there not been a "prepare the ark" rainstorm happening.  Swing Rosie had recorded for CIUT in that same studio four or five years ago.  It was fun to return to CIUT's university vibe - I suddenly had the urge for Mr. Noodles.  (In the end, I settled for a hot dog from the cart across the street.)

Marc Rogers and Michael Shand set up.

Max Roach gets the green monster kit ready.

With JD smiling at us how could anything go wrong?

Given the limited resources I thought Dan, the sound engineer, did an amazing job capturing our live sound and mixing on the fly.  Dan volunteers his skills to CIUT so that their morning show, Take 5, can play all of greater Toronto local live music every day.  EVERY DAY.  Isn't that amazing?  You just have to love university radio. If you missed hearing Take 5 on 89.5FM Friday morning, I'm going to try to upload some of the tracks to my Facebook page.

Dan in the booth!

And the band is good to go!!

After we had finished our five song set the recording studio suddenly reminded me of a clown car skit at the circus, except I was inside the car and most of the clowns were young, cute Italian musicians.  The Daniel Panetta Project and his posse had arrived for the second recording session.  Yes, Daniel has a project and a posse.  It's all very Entourage.

The weekend before at the Beaches Jazz Festival following my set on the New Generation Stage my friend Martina and I wandered over to the Woodbine Park Stage.  Were we seeing Kevin Jonas sound check before our very eyes?  No, it was 16 year old singing sensation Daniel Panetta.*  Having now met Daniel in the close quarters of CIUT, I can safely say that although he shares the black curly mop-top of a Jonas Brother, his voice is so beautiful that there's no way he could share any relation.  Daniel also seems to be extremely hard working so I'm sure we're going to hear great (Josh Groban-esque) things from him in the future.  

* I'd just like to note how funny it is that my band was on the New Generation Stage instead of the band of 16 year olds.  Maybe it was meant more like a Pepsi thing - Shannon Butcher is the choice of a New Generation.  I'll have to check in with Bill King on that one.