charlene kaye

FIRST SHOW RECAP/BAND NAME EXTRAVAGANZA

Aahhhhhh

Thanks to everyone who came out to Matchless last night and gave my band and the Dirty Birds such a warm welcome at our NYC debut!! It was truly special - the place was packed and I can honestly say I’ve never had a better time sharing the stage with some of the most talented performers/musicians I know, and with my spankin’ new band (Megan Cox on violin and vox, Toby Singer on Rhodes, trumpet and vox, Tomek Miernowski on bass, and Jared Saltiel on percussion/drummzzzzz.) We had a great set, some highlights being our cover of this song from Grease I’ve loved for my whole life that I finally got around to creating a full-band arrangement for, 3-part oohs on our neo-soul reworking of “Different Colored Eyes” (with Jared unleashing his inner ?uestlove) and opening the show by premiering a new song on my loop. Our next full-band show will be Saturday, December 5 at Rockwood Music Hallat 5 pm. Don’t miss it!

The Dirty Birds impressed everybody in their new NYC skins - they were the most cohesive, dynamic and energetic I’ve ever heard them (and I’ve been to a lot of DBs shows, people), Greg Hornby is one of the most spirited and unique guitar players I know and to hear him ripping it onstage with the Birds is always a pleasure. New drummer Dustin Kaufman is a badass and for all anyone knew, he could have been playing with them for years. When he accidentally launched his stick into the crowd during “Purple Rain,” Toby threw it back to him, and Dustin caught the motherfucker in the air without losing a beat. I guess Jared and Dave were pretty good, too. My Dear Disco of course put on a smashing show, playing an epic 90 minute set, complete with a breakdown in their “Wild Wild West” cover in which drummer Mike rapped into the mic with one hand and held down the beat with the other. Will Smith fans say what!!

Finally, it’s common knowledge to those that know me that I go through band names (Charlene and the ______ ) like a druggie with ADD…I impulsively pick one that I think is cool, run with it for a few months, then get sick of it and toss it in lieu of the next cheap thrill. But I’ve been brainstorming for real, because although I’m comfortable being acknowledged by my given name as a solo artist, with this new lineup my live show is absolutely a group effort, and I’ve been feeling the desire more and more to recognize them when we play together onstage. I’m looking for an investment. That said, here are some names I’m throwing around, a list I’ve compiled with the help of the infamous Grime Master and other friends.

Charlene Kaye and the Cagedbabies
Charlene Kaye’s Frozen Eyelash
Charlene Kaye and Groovatron
Charlene Kaye/Valiant Thor
Charlene, Keep it in Your Pants
Charlene Kaye and the Blobs and the Gobs and the Globs and the Bogs and the BLOGS (-Dave Koenig)
Charlene Kaye and Her Stinkbombs
Charlene Can’t
Charlene Kaye and the Way
Charlene Kaye, Slightly Too Astray

More suggestions, additions and revisions are highly encouraged.

CHARLENE OUT

dirty birds album teaser video

check out this little featurette I made for the dirty birds - their album comes out August 8. oh, and FOUR NEW TRACKS from their album are up at www.myspace.com/dirtydirtybirds. ready, go!!

The Dirty Birds album teaser - How the Cause Became the Cure from Charlene Kaye on Vimeo.

dirty birds album!!

yeah, i’m way too excited about this…my favoritest ann arbor band the DIRTY BIRDS are coming out with their debut album, How the Cause Became the Cure, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’m basically going to push their CD in your face as if it’s my own, because i’ve been with them in the studio watching the whole process happen (shamelessly living vicariously through them, of course) and the results are damn beautiful - there’s old school rock and roll and gut wrenching ballads and swinging, jazzy pop, all with killer lyrics and soul….so if you haven’t checked them out, consider this your freaking written invitation. no tracks are up on their myspace yet (but boy howdy, you’ll know when they are) but read their blog to find out what they’re up to now and the steps leading up to the release - which, by the way, is at VITOSHA in Ann Arbor on Saturday, August 8. Yours truly is opening the show. For all of us, it’ll be our LAST gig in A2 before packing up and caravanning to NYC…so for goodness sake, if you love me at all, come to this show. both my band and theirs are going to go the whole nine yards, and I promise it’ll be a night to remember.

love, Charlene

so nice.

TOUR VIDEOS! NEWS!!

OHMYGOD YOU GUYS!! TOUR VIDEOS ARE HEREEEEE

Let me say first, that it was truly a challenge to condense the hour and a half of footage we had into these four 7ish minute long videos. The camera went from being a leering 5th eye, to a welcome spectator, to a newfound friend and then ultimately the chummiest of chums, eventually following us not only at sound checks but at breakfast, in bed, and up our nostrils.

The tour as a whole was awesome and unforgettable. For all of us, this was our virgin tour, which is why everything you’re about to see is probably infinitely more amusing to us than to anyone else. So please, watch and enjoy at your leisure, if you have a lot of time on your hands and feel like spending some quality time with the nutcases in my band. They’re all good (well, I think so anyway) but I’ve included little synopses anyway for the short-attention-spanned like me.

Episode 1: We head out to our first gig in Muncie, IN and practice in the back room of Village Green Records. We played with folk troubador Eric Alexander and another Muncie band called Bonesetters who I didn’t manage to catch on tape. Thanks to the host with the most, Travis, for putting us up and letting us sleep on his couch in the record store and taking us out for some good, old fashioned, heart-attack food - deathly syrupy sweet waffles, 5-egg omelets and the like.




Episode 2: Pittsburgh!! We play in an old warehouse-turned-practice space called Ed’s with the band Sleep Experiments. Dave plays one of Emily’s violin riffs on his bass during our sound check, prompting Emily to retort, “Don’t steal my thunder, bitch!” This then turns into a full-fledged, white-girl ‘tude dance (“NO! UH-UH!!!”). At 1:57 I’ve lost all grasp of what she’s saying, and then she just starts screaming because, why not? Later, we get back to the house and Emily gets her Marlon Brando on.



Episode 3: Our DC breakfast concludes with a full band a capella rendition of “Menomena,” or the muppet song. We each take a verse - Jared definitely took the cake on that one, and Dave makes a convincing gorilla in his. No gig footage, but what ensues is the rap explosion in the car that’s based on Clone, Jared’s alter ego, morphing into a 10-foot-tall warlord and fighting 9-foot-tall giants in the main square. Emily and I take it upon ourselves to sing the hook of the song, now called “The Day that Clone Died.” The next day in the car, Emily and I explore the joys of iFart on my phone. Business as usual.



Episode 4: GRATUITOUS NEW YORK CITY MONTAGE!!! We play at the Living Room, then head out to the bar for some drinks and some shakeyface. We recap the tour by interviewing each other in dark glasses and asking each other such questions as, “Emily, what is your favorite face that you have made on this tour?” and “Dave, which note is better - D or E, and why?” This one is my personal favorite.




And now for some exciting news - I have picked a coast!! I will be moving to Brooklyn, New York in September, along with Cesspool, the Dirty Birds, their girlfriends, some high school friends, their girlfriends, and everyone else in the world that I’ve had some random connection with that happens to be moving there/living there. I’m so excited because i’m already planning on stalking Bret and Jemaine, Michel Gondry and Kaki King.

More news - two of the aforementioned bands, Cesspool and The Dirty Birds, are both recording right now and their new albums are going to be AHHHHSOME. The Dirty Birds album (“How the Cause Became the Cure”) comes out on August 7 and seriously you guys, I’ve been in there for a few sessions and the stuff they’ve done so far will melt your heart and make you want to dance and sing and jump around and go for long scenic drives and kiss babies. And speaking of kissing, I was in the studio with Cesspool yesterday recording some kissy sounds and mmm mmms.

Last bit of news - MY LAST SHOW IN ANN ARBOR will be opening for the Dirty Birds at their CD release show on August 7. So mark your calendars, (time and location TBA), I hope to see your smiling faces one last time before I head out into the big bad world forever and ever.

LOOOOOOOVE AND twinkies

Charlene

BELIEVE! EP! FREE!

Hey guys!

I have recorded a small EP of sorts- 5 songs with just me solo on piano (3 new originals and 2 covers). And the best part is, it’s freeeeeeee, available for download at the bottom of this post.

here’s what the physical copies i gave out at last night’s show looked like-



And speaking of last night, thanks to everyone that came out to the Pig for our superwomen show!! Our Fleetwood Mac collaborative 3-part harmony explosive extravaganza was a definite success and was captured on video by the one and only Mark Arnold (of Paper Frame Productions!) so when that becomes available, I’ll promptly put it up on here. Other highlights include an acoustic/male choir-supported “Strike a Chord,” and my attempts to breakdance during Laurel’s set for which I was rewarded with a big fat shiner on my knee.

Okay enough babbling, here’s the CD already. Click on the CD cover art below to download it. Did I mention it’s free?




Special thanks to Chris Conover, who recorded, mixed, and mastered it!

track listing:

1) The Doormat Song
2) Pilgrims
3) Hemisphere
4) The Maker Makes (Rufus Wainwright)
5) Ex-Girlfriend (No Doubt)

much love, everyone!

charlene

me + andrew bird

I’ve been geeking out over the new Andrew Bird album this week. It’s so delicious. Favorites - “Anonanimal” and “Fitz and the Dizzyspells”.

I'm gonna tumble all over you

Oh hello.