They painted it international orange...
The new single, inside its creation, and my daytime TV debut (!!!)
International Orange release day!
Today is the day !! What a week it has been. From the beginning, I had a feeling this song (International Orange, now streamable everywhere, plug done) was going to turn some interesting moments out, and it surely has. We are going to take a look inside the song and how it came ! to ! be ! (cue VH1’s Behind the Music theme song).
The genesis of a song…from one word
I want to acknowledge Leigh Anne O'Connor, who hosts the East Village Wordsmiths Literary Salon in New York. Last fall, when I was in New York, I was interested in participating in an event that integrated literary arts and music. I signed up to be a part of the October event and the one criteria was that your work had to have the word “Orange” in it. I thought it would be fun to write a song inspired by this, and instantly heard “They painted it international orange…” also known as the official color of the Golden Gate Bridge. So thank you, Leigh Anne, for deciding that “orange” would be the word for October. What a chain of events it has caused!
I wanted to use this theme of wanting to take someone to my hometown because I loved them, show them the natural sights, architectural icons, etc – and it ended up being a story about not wanting to tag along with someone’s elusive tendencies anymore. When someone is stringing you along, its like you are being led through fog. And if you are the strong “steel” in the situation, holding out for the best (aka the Bridge being covered by the fog) you will rust over time. You will get scars in the pursuit of love, it is unavoidable. It’s up to you to walk away when you know it can’t go further. But you won’t get knocked down, maybe just a little more character.
It’s a song that also cued a return home, physically, that has been incredibly beneficial for my creative practice. In every city I have visited, I seek elements of SF, and in a way, its very easy to do– but there is nothing like the real thing. And writing about an icon like the GGB felt like something a hometown person should do, right?
I want to give a massive thank you to Phillip Greenlief, the saxophone master who has mentored my music journey since my teens, Scott Greenberg, the guitar wizard, and Kristen Heritage, the ethereal siren who sings additional backup vocals (her part during the bridge gives me goosebumps!!). This group of genuinely talented and wonderful people who added their gifts to this track. They are all such creative musicians and artists in their own right, so go check them out as well. A big thank you to my family and friends as well for supporting this song, and also to Zoe Obadia and Kevin Oliver, Jr. who played sax in its first couple of live performances, and to you, reader, for reading this.
I’ll let the song speak for itself right now. I hope you enjoy it!
Look, mom, I’m on TV!
In another turn of events, I made my daytime TV debut on Wednesday, singing International Orange on KRON4’s Live in the Bay! (albeit an abridged version for TV time). It felt very surreal, but it happened!
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Many thanks to the crew (Host Jess, producer Johanna, Matteo, Gil) and Lost Church founders Elizabeth and Brett for promoting my show – which will happen at their amazing venue next Saturday, May 25th! And many thanks to my family for keeping my nerves at bay and maintaining positive energy.
I walked to the San Francisco ABC studios on the day of (I usually do this before gigs also as it calms my nerves). I had my guitar in tow, and as I was walking down Broadway towards the studios, I thought back to my 15 year old self who was just starting to learn how to play. I used to lug my axe (lol) everywhere due to lessons, but also because it was COOL. And I did this somewhat laborious task while also taking the bus and train and walking all over the city, to practice, to poetry readings, to school, etc. And it felt great to do that again, but this time, I was walking towards a moment that perhaps, I will look back at fondly as a milestone in my life.
It’s all cool, it’s all wild, and it’s all wonderful. The best part is making the music and it’s wonderful that people want to expand the audience to it :) I am super grateful to everyone who supports my journey and it’s very very humbling to receive these kinds of opportunities as well.
Last but definitely not least – a big shoutout to my uncle Chris Lane, a supremely talented singer and songwriter, who gave me the guitar I am holding in the picture above. He always was a champion of mine and gave me some of the coolest CDs, merch and magazines on music when I was growing up. Listen to his songs here!
Looking ahead…
BAY AREA PEOPLE!! If you want to come to the show at the Lost Church next week (with the awesome Steve Ward Moore as my co-bill), please use earlybird8 (valid until May 19th) when you are buying tix (link here). It’s saves you some $$.
Buy tickets here and come see me possibly cover a Journey song during the set wohooo
Next week, we’ll be talking about Through the Deluge and the other songs on the EP. They are definitely the moodier siblings of “Orange.” It’s gonna be an interesting newsletter, I’ll just leave it at that.
THANK YOUUUUU for reading all this mwah!
X DMS
So very very proud of your talent and perseverance!