Alison Donahue

Mr. Seley's Songs for Kids

2010-04-06T05:03:00.001-07:00

This week I'll be in the recording studio contributing cello tracks to a CD produced by children's entertainer "Mr. Seley". The album is called "Cupcakeasaurus" and it's got some great songs for kids. Some are funny, some serious and thought-provoking. Tom Seley is an elementary school teacher in Birmingham MI. He leads kids in sing-a-long programs after school. When he had a hard time finding songs for kids in the upper elementary grades, he started writing his own. This is his second CD of songs for kids. The first one is called "Eat Your Books (and Read Your Vegetables)". For more info, check out www.mrseley.com.

Sunday Show at the Goldfish

2010-03-03T13:56:00.000-08:00

I am really looking forward to my show at the Goldfish Tea Room this Sunday 3/7 “Cello-bella and Friends”. I was invited to do a 2 hour set, and I decided to ask some of the best local talent I’ve met around town to join me. I will have 3 poets and another musician sharing the time. Mike can’t make the date, but he will be there in spirit, as he’s providing me with a guitar track for one of my songs.

The line-up for the evening includes Patrick O’Leary (http://web.mac.com/paddybon/Site/Patrick_O%E2%80%99Leary_-_Books.html ), a nationally recognized poet/author who will be reading his work and playing guitar on a couple of tunes with me. Carmel (www.youtube.com/carmelon721), is a young singer/songwriter who is only in high school, but with a musical sensibility beyond her years. She will do a short set of original songs. Sparrow is a local poet who has a wonderful wry wit and great way of communicating her unique observations about life. Poet/musician Cat Listening (http://www.myspace.com/catlistening) has been active and popular on the local scene for a number of years, will make his contribution through music and poetry. We will do a duet where he recites a poem about his cat (coincidentally named Schubert) as I play Schubert’s Ave Maria on the cello. To this mix, I’ll be adding my cello jazz and vocals for a short sets in between the others. All in all, it should be an entertaining evening with something for everyone.

Throughout the week leading up to the show, I will be posting videos of each performer on my Facebook page, so feel free to check them out. These videos are also posted at www.youtube.com/cellobelladotcom .

Recording with the Candy Band

2010-02-04T08:39:00.000-08:00

I am looking forward to contributing a few cello tracks on the Candy Band's new CD, due out this year. The Candy Band is four Detroit moms who live in my neighborhood. Back in 2003, they were "sick to death of wimpy music for children" so they formed their own band and they play music that really rocks--punk versions of kid's nursery rhymes, movie themes and other fun songs. They have appeared on the NBC Today Show, and even got a spread in People Magazine...and here they are right in my zip code! Lucky for me, they managed to fit a cello into the mix for a few of these songs--including a rockin' version of "Ode to Joy"--with a string section--that's where I come in...

Recording for Tracy Kash Thomas' CD

2010-01-06T14:49:00.001-08:00

Over the holidays I had great fun recording cello tracks for Tracy Kash Thomas' new CD. She wrote a song about a lover running off with a cellist ("If You'd Only Picked Me"), so I got to do a little cello riff on that (Homage to "The Swan"), plus another song that has a wonderful violin/cello duo. (Violin tracks were added later). Tracy won the Detroit Music Award for Best Jazz Singer last year. She is an amazingly talented musician who can compose, arrange, and perform as vocalist, flutist and pianist. She also engineers the recording on the CD (prior to mastering). It was an honor to play on her album and I can't wait to hear the final mix. Happy New Year everyone!

Alison

Cello-bella New Song for Sale on itunes!

2009-12-16T13:42:00.000-08:00

Our 10-song digital CD is finally available on itunes, Amazon.com, and other online retailers. I took some time today writing emails to everyone who sent us a request for info on the CD release date. We received some wonderful support and great encouragement in those CD request emails. I made an attempt to answer many of them with a personal touch, but I am just learning our email management program, so I hope those who receive them will forgive any mis-steps in terms of name spelling, etc. Or, for example, if you are Dave, and I called you Cheryl, please blame it on the email software :)! The software I'm using is set-up to do email blasts to thousands of fans, and we are trying to write personal notes to around 100. Not quite ready for the arena scene yet!

I have been having a great time playing with poets and storytellers in the last couple of months, and I hope to continue that work next year, in addition to continuing gigs with Cello-bella.

Hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Best wishes,
Alison

Jazz Cafe at the Music Hall

2009-11-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great time playing at the Jazz Cafe in the Music Hall in Detroit recently. There was another band in the line-up (Bogden Vasquaf) and we sat in on each other's sets. This is what I love about music, you meet people for the first time, you already have a common language.

The lead singer in the band was a mailman by day and inventor by night. He has created an upright string bass made out of a cardboard box! This is serious business! He collaborated with engineers to come up with a great sounding, affordable solution for those who don't have ready cash for the real thing. In fact he has sold over 1000 of these world-wide in stores and on the Internet! There is a thriving cottage industry out there of folkie musicians who make instruments out of everything from cigar boxes to gourds. It's amazing what they come up with. This is the kind of ingenuity we need to see more of to combat this brutal economy! You can find out more about the "box bass" at http://www.edencompanies.com/bogdon/.

Music for the last journey

2009-10-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

I did something earlier this week that I’ve done before, but this time it finally had a different meaning. First, here’s a little background. I play the cello for patients in the “No One Dies Alone” program at St. Joe’s Hospital in Pontiac MI. I learned from the staff at the hospital that death, like birth, can be a process with stages. When someone is dying naturally, it takes time for the body to shut down. Most of the people I visit are very old and are “actively dying”, meaning they only have a little time left--maybe days or hours. They have no family or friends to be at bedside, so volunteers come to sit with them. We are trying to help them travel through the last stages of life comfortably and peacefully. That’s where music comes in.

The patients are always lying there unconscious, but I’m told they can still hear. That’s one of the last senses to go. I quietly set up my cello next to the bed and start playing. No songs, just bowing the low strings of the cello at first. These low strings really vibrate, and the sound fills the room. After a little time passes, I start playing simple folk songs or hymns. I watch the person lying in bed to see how they are breathing. Sometimes when I first come into the room, the person’s breathing is very labored and shallow. I have learned that this is a sign of stress. I keep playing these simple, soothing melodies and after a while, I notice that the person lying there is breathing more calmly and deeply. Sometimes I hear quiet snoring. They’ve fallen asleep and gotten a little respite from the work of dying.

Those who are out on the floor often stop in to say hi and chat with me. They hear the music in the hall and it draws them in. There’s always a story about a relative who plays the cello, or just gratitude for the music. Somehow, those mellow sounds of the cello have a way of softening the rough edges of their day. In the past, these were the people who motivated me to come and play. I liked the encouragement, compliments, etc. from the people who were walking around (and talking to me!). The person I came to see would “just lie there”. But with more experience, I’ve gotten better at noticing the subtle reactions of the dying person. When I left, the man was breathing so softly and calmly. Completely different from when I came in. Noticing this change made me feel that the music had made a difference.

Music makes life so much richer. How many people can say, “Today I helped make someone’s last journey a little easier”. I’m glad I have this gift to give.

Playing for these patients also reminds me to reflect on the decisions I make in my own life. Why are they dying alone? Is it because they’ve driven away everyone who tried to love them, or just have the bad luck of outliving those who cared. I don’t know the answer and it doesn’t matter. I’m there to give, not to judge. If life is made up of small gestures, let me take time to consider my own actions, while I still can.

Cello-bella music video

2009-09-12T10:23:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend. We lucked out in that my brother Shaun was in town to show his film in the 1st Annual Ferndale Film Festival. He has a film about his family's trip to Africa in the festival. Shaun is a professional photographer, so we grabbed a camera (courtesy of my brother Darin) and shot a music video for Cello-bella.

To round out the sound, we asked our friends Ron Ellman (violin) and Craig Strain (electric bass) to join us. Another lucky stroke was that Craig's home studio wasn't booked since it was a holiday weekend, so we had a space to play in and record a good audio track. We decided to do the song Sugar Moon, since it's good for strings, and we know it well. Ron was playing with us for the 1st time, but he's an experienced jazz violinist so he just jumped in, and did a great job. Our friend Keith Nelson engineered the record, so Craig could be freed up to play the bass.

I posted the video on youtube, and I've embedded it here. Still waiting for my order to be processed for our digital album, but it should be ready next month.

Best,
Alison

Cello-bella CD coming...

2009-08-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I submitted 10 of our song files to a distribution company so, if everything goes as planned, we should have our songs available for sale as digital downloads in 6-8 weeks. Last night we ran through some tunes with our violinist friend Ron Ellman. It was really fun jamming with him and the violin was a nice enhancement on swing tunes, like "Sugar Moon" and Pennies from Heaven. He's going to join us for a few songs on our next gig.

Best,
Alison

The Story re-broadcast

2009-08-23T07:02:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has written to us since our interview on Dick Gordon's radio program "the story" was re-broadcast last week. It is so exciting to see more listeners touched by our music. We continue to have so much fun doing it, and it's just wonderful making connections with people from all over the country!

As I mentioned earlier, we are in the process of releasing a 10 song CD. In fact, I was ready to upload the songs to CD Baby, but I have since found out that the company was recently sold. They are going through a transition period, and not providing their usual quality of service. So now I am on the lookout for a new distributer for our songs. I expect to have this situation resolved within the week, though, and we will send out an email with the scoop on where to get our songs to all who have inquired. In the meantime, if you would like to sign up to be on our email list (see the box on our myspace site www.myspace.com/alisondonahue , we will get you that info as soon as possible.

Best,
Alison

2009-08-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

Just want to let everyone know that Mike and I are getting very close to releasing our 1st CD! We have all the tunes and are working on the CD cover art. Just have to upload the songs to CD Baby and we're ready to go. Thanks to everyone who requested info on our CD, and we will notify you via email when it is available. In the meantime, we continue to play live in restaurants, stores, coffee houses, on the street and anywhere else we are welcomed.

2009-08-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

From Mike - Spent the last few days in Chicago visiting (among other people) six month old grand-daughter Marlow. She got a private concert and seemed to really enjoy the music, if sleeping through it is any indication. Chicago - what a town for a bike rider like me! Bike lanes going everywhere, and riding a bike gets you from point A to point B faster than driving. Especially with all of the road repair going on there. Ah, but there's no place like Detroit, either. Especially since Alison lives here.

2009-06-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

Next week we will be in a concert in the beautiful garden of the Whitney restaurant in Detroit.

Update from Alison

2009-06-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

Mike and I did some recording this weekend in his home studio. We re-did the tracks for his original song "Little White Bird", so I could try a few new things on the cello. We also tried out our version of the old swing tune "Let's Fall in Love". It's in a nice brisk tempo, and I added some scatting, which we don't have in any of our recorded songs so far. I have a lot of fun doing that song, so I hope our listeners catch my vibe. Lastly, we recorded Mike's next original tune, called Just Take Your Time. This is a wonderful, easy going song, with lyrics that remind us to stop and remember everything life has to offer. This is a great tonic for the tough economic times we are going through here.
This week we are going to go out and play on the street in my hometown of Royal Oak. We did this last year in a neighboring town, and it was fun. Gives us a chance to give some of our songs a reality check!
All this is leading up to the fact that we will soon have the 10 songs we need to issue our full CD as a digital download. So watch for more details to come soon on that subject...

2009-06-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Cello-Bella played at an American Cancer Society event at Ferndale High School today. They had a real nice set up, one of those trailers that opens up to a stage. They had the stage facing the athletic field where a lot of volunteers were rolling up miles around the running track. So they got to hear 30 seconds or so of Cello-Bella as they went by. The best part was the half dozen or so high school guys who dressed up in drag to solicit donations. The biggest money "girl" was crowned with a purple foam rubber crown. "She" brought in over a hundred bucks. Only in Ferndale!

And congratulations to Rachael Grace (aka Wojta), who was awarded first prize at the Hamburg Michigan Idol Contest today.

2009-05-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Mike and I completed two songs-Georgia on My Mind, and Tangerine, and I posted them to myspace.com/alisondonahue and our cello-bella.com web site. We produced these ourselves, so we are hoping to make these available as free downloads from this site soon. Look for the links to download coming soon...!

2009-05-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today, Alison and I reworked some tracks and mixed down "Georgia On My Mind" and "Tangerine". Best of all we did it in CuBase, so it's DIGITAL. Watch this space (and our web page) for availability.

Down in the basement

2009-05-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Alison came over to my house and we spent about 4 hours in my basement studio. We used my (obsolete) Tascam 4 track tape studio, just for practice. I also have a Lexicon Omega with CuBase down there hooked to a PC, but I'm still getting used to using it, no easy task. Rather than make Alison sit there and watch me struggle, we just went to the old-fashioned tape machine.

I was once again struck by her interesting approach to music. When we start work on a new song, she can always come up with something musical "off the cuff" that improves each time we practice it. After just a few times, she is amazing me with something so original and imaginative. So, she was laying down a cello track and I was suddenly keenly aware of how lucky I am to be working with her making music. We recorded "Tangerine" and "Georgia On My Mind". As we worked on Georgia, I kept hearing mandolin, so after she left, I added some. I really like the result.

2009-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

One of our great fans said our sound is a combination of "Django and Bob Wills". I looked up Bob and found his site--Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, http://www.texasplayboys.net/ and decided to morph that moniker to fit us. How about Cello-bella! and her Texas Playboy!

Here's a link to a Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys track I found that's scored to a Three Stooges video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGKvobvlnMU

It was posted on Youtube by Jaxom98125

Alison

2009-05-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

Alison:
Hope all moms got a nice break yesterday. I spent part of mine at my son's soccer tournament, and it was a great day here in MI to be sitting in the sun. Thanks to everyone who sent us emails requesting a CD of our music. We have one in the works and will let you know as soon as it's available. Some of the emails we got as a result of the radio interview on "The Story with Dick Gordon" were really touching. It has been very exciting knowing that our music connects with others. I can't bear to watch the news anymore, it's so dreary. We do find refuge in what we are doing musically. I'm not looking for a big escape, just a temporary "emotional shelter" from the economic tsunami blowing through here. Hopefully we can be a port in the storm for others too.

2009-05-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

I visited with my family out in South Lyon today after a gig in Harrison Township, basically driving from one end of SE Michigan to the other. Showed off our appearance on "The Story" yesterday. Especially cool was the fact that my aunt Suzie, who was mentioned in the interview as the bobby-soxer (look it up), was there, so we got to reminisce about the good old days when I was three.

New Directions Cello Association

2009-05-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a member of the New Directions Cello Association. It's a group of cellists that are exploring alternative ways of performing on the cello. They have a workshop coming up in June 5-7 in Ithaca NY that includes some great artists: Jody Redhage, Corbin Keep, Rufus Cappadocia, Jody Redhage, Stephen Katz, Claude Lamonthe, and Abby Newton. There will be some sessions on playing and singing at the same time, which is something I'm working on developing. For more info, visit their web site at http://www.newdirectionscello.com/

Cello-Bella

2009-05-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday afternoon 5/2, we had a great time at the Detroit Zoo playing in the MamapaZooza Festival with 2 other bands, Girls Night Out and The Mydols. We played a lot of our favorite "old songs for the New Depression" as well as some newer ones that were kid favorites. It was fun watching all the kid jumping around and dancing. Our friend Craig Strain joined us on electric bass.