Holiday Concert at the Ferndale Public Library 12/11/14

December 2014 Cello-Bella Upcoming Holiday Gigs

We are especially excited about two of our gigs this holiday season.  First, we will be playing on Saturday 12/6 at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) in the Prentiss Court as part of Noel Night 2014, in Mid-town Detroit.  Performance times are 5:15-5:45pm, and 6:15-6:45.  Noel Night is a wonderful holiday tradition that has grown every year, along with the revitalization of Detroit.  Over 70 institutions will host more than 200 musical groups throughout the evening.  Here's a link to find out more:  http://midtowndetroitinc.org/events/noel-night/noel-night

Thursday December 11, 2014 at 6:30pm we will perform a fund raising holiday concert to help support  the Ferndale Public Library.  This event is being held at the library.   Growing up in Pleasant Ridge, and attending Ferndale schools, the library was always an integral part of my family's activities.  Please join us for this fun evening, with music for all ages. 

Upcoming gigs for Cello-Bella

Arts Beats and Eats-Royal Oak MI

Saturday August 31st 2pm

Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort Americana Stage

Mr. Seley's Songs for Kids

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

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

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

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