Thursday, April 28, 2011

NYC

Only a few days left in NYC.

I'm gonna miss the quietness of walking back to my apartment late at night when not too many other people are around.

I'm gonna miss the sounds of trash trucks coming through my opened bedroom window, which let's in the coolest and sweetest of breezes at night.

I'm gonna miss the crepes.

I'm gonna miss walking aimlessly around the island and building some serious buns of steel.

I'm gonna miss my careless life here.

I'm gonna miss the exhilarating people-watching.

I'm gonna miss the energy and great ambition of the city.

I'm gonna miss my drunk neighbors who argue relentlessly one floor up.

I'm gonna miss the kind, rude, impatient, generous, pissed off, too-busy-for-me, good people of NYC.

I'm gonna miss NYC



Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Man from Kosovo

Went into a pizza place today on 2nd avenue and chatted for a bit with the owner of the place, who was a really sweet man from Kosovo who's been in NYC for 25 years now. A young, blonde and very obviously homeless girl, who couldn't have been any older than 30 walked in with filthy skin and ripped clothes. The owner gave her a free soda and pizza. I thought that was really nice. Something about him and what he did will stay with me. Going to write a song about him. Already have some lyrics written down. I think he is a really kind man who did what not many struggling restaurant owners would have done.


What's been going on!!

Ok. Here we are. April 27th, 2011.

I'm sitting here peacefully in my East Village apartment. Even though my bedroom window is open and I can hear all-too-well the sounds of cars, trash trucks, & motorcycles zooming by, tires squeaking, constant sirens, random shrieks coming from the mouths of random cranky pedestrians, I still feel a sense peace this morning. These otherwise obnoxious sounds have come to replace the bird chirping and breezy trees in Pennsylvania as my sounds of serenity.

Only a few days remain in my stay here in NYC.

I know I had promised to blog everyday about my experiences in the city as well as the adventures that would be inspire my songwriting.

Well, promises aren't always meant to be kept. Blame the city though, not me.

As you might be aware, Manhattan is quite a large island (or peninsula to be accurate). My stay here has been my most lovely and exciting sojourn in my recent memory, not too mention a spectacular distraction, hence the non-blogging.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you a little bit about what's been going on in my career.

Earlier this month I signed with my very first manager, Cindy DaSilva.

I'm SO truly excited about this partnership. Cindy is one AWESOME lady with so many fresh ideas. I absolutely adore her. A GOOD manager is VERY hard to find, so I feel so fortunate to be managed by daSilva Artists.

We have many things in the works right now, including an Americana/AAA radio campaign, for which we've partnered with Serious Bob Promotions, who has been around a very long time in the business, and has been successful at helping artists crossover into the realm of Americana/Rock/AAA.

The new CD, "Can't Control Myself" was sent to 150 stations, and I've already gotten several adds this week, with hopefully more to be added in the coming weeks.

Let's see. What else?

Well, in the first half of this month, around the time I performed at the renowned Berks Jazz Festival, my original song "Gimme a Simple Song" reached as high as #94 of over 15 MILLION mp3's available for download on Amazon.com...I think that's pretty cool.

I've also gotten some great reviews on the new CD, including a killer review from About.com, which you can read here: http://blues.about.com/od/cddvdreview1/fr/Gina-Sicilia-Cant-Control-Myself-2011.htm

Yep. It's been a GREAT April.

Coming up: I'll be attending the 2011 Blues Music Awards on May 5th in Memphis, Tennessee, and I'm incredibly excited to return to Memphis and reunite with some of my best musical friends. The BMAs are ALWAYS a blast.

Following the Blues Music Awards, I will be performing at the 25th Annual Carolina Blues Festival in Greensboro, NC. I'll be performing with Bob Margolin's band, which includes my good friend and former band mate Matt Hill.

I will be filling in on that day for the talented Ann Rabson, who's had some health issues arise, and wont be able to perform at the festival. I send her my love and best wishes.

On May 20th, I'll be opening for the great John Hammond at the Sellersville Theatre in Sellersville, PA. I love this venue and am super excited about the gig.

Exciting things are happening and hopefully more exciting things are to come!

I feel very proud for being 26 years old and having 3 studio albums under my belt, all of which have been welcomed with open arms by the blues community.

I'm very lucky.

My songwriting is an ongoing process, one I absolutely love and cherish.

I gotta say...I love songwriting almost as much as I love singing and I really, really, REALLY LOVE singing :)

As for new tunes, I've got some great ideas for future albums, and my songwriting seems to have naturally progressed into something a bit more edgy and in-your-face. Really excited about some of the new songs I've written.

And there you have it...a little update on what's been going on.

And something's definitely going on :)

Now I'm off...into the city...to be inspired, to snap some mobile photos, and to breath in the excitement of one of the greatest cities in the world.

A presto,

Gina

xoxo

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Inspired

Over the past two days the city of New York has inspired me immensely.

Wrote half of a song tonight inspired by water in the city. Will finish that one tomorrow. I think it's pretty catchy! Time will determine it's fate ;) ;)

Well too late in the night now to give you a play-by-play of all that happened today.

Tomorrow I'll fill you in on all the juicy details of what Manhattan had brought to my life
over the past two days since I last blogged.

In the meantime, check out these precious, and I'm assuming edible, cupcake creatures that I spotted in Chelsea Market today:




I do believe they are just TOO cute and TOO sweet to eat. Imagine being so cruel to take a bite off one of their adorable, innocent little smiles!!

Smile everyone. And be inspired.

G

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Gonna be a hot NYC night. But how could it not be?!? Here I am in my cab on my way to hotness.



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Water is starting to boil

...song ideas are brewing for 10 songs inspired by NYC in 10 days project....some particulary inspired by a vintage shop I dropped into this afternoon...and by my cellphone. Stay tuned.


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East Village

Home (for now)



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Ok here we go. Just 10 days remain in my NYC adventure. I truly hope those 10 days manage to crawl by gracefully with a snail-like slowness, as I'm enjoying my experience here in the East Village far too much to watch it slip away. However, just in case these days do happen to flash by in a dizzying blur like life tends to do, I figured I should make the absolute most of the remainder of my stay here by documenting everything that's worth documenting (e.g. putting on my socks in the morning is not worthy of documenting) in my favorite form of expression: Songwriting. And maybe I'll throw in a cell phone photo or two.

Just simply being in the city each day fills my head with great ponderings, laughter, and surprise.

Last night I was standing in the kitchen with my ear to the wall, listening in on a seemingly highly inebriated couple's absurd heated argument about cheating and their contempt for each other and how "DOUGLAS, I'M DONE WITH YOU...YOU'RE SUCH A #$@#%@ HYPOCRITE! JUST LET ME TAKE A BATH AND STOP TORTURING ME YOU $%&#@^!!"

Now that little episode between Douglas and whatever-her-name-is (I think he referred to her as $@$!#&, though I can't verify that) definitely deserves mention in a song (or more suitably in some alternative psychology textbook)

So. Please bookmark this blog and visit frequently over the next 10 days.
I want to share with you all my experiences in NYC, all that inspires me, and the process of turning these inspiring things into actual songs. I wont be posting the songs in video, audio, or text form, but maybe, just maybe, I'll record one of them someday. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a whole 10-track album out of this? Time will tell.

Now it's time for me to be on my way, to step out onto the endless-possibility-ridden-streets, and conduct some unconscious research on every single little thing that catches my curious eyes.

Yep. Ok here we go..