Calpernia’s Blue Glass Demos

Ok, Kids, so as you may know my musical exposure was limited pretty much to Bluegrass gospel and folk during my most formative years. Most everything since then has had a breathless sensation of “catching up on something from the past”, a discovered treasure, but one to which I had no connection in my history.

We were allowed to watch old black and white movies, though, and I’ve really been enjoying coming back around to the music of Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe and then related artists (in my mind) like Peggy Lee. I’m probably using the words slightly wrong, but I’ve been using the word “cabaret” to describe my one-person club performances of these high-character, high-camp songs that usually sit somewhere in a cinematic narrative. I know there’s a long Broadway history of this kind of thing, but I’ve always been strangely put off by the “Broadway scene” as I perceive it. Current Broadway music doesn’t have the rich, classic Jazzy, Bluesy or Big Band feel of the movie versions I like. It’s pop-y, overly modern and has the ugly tinge of reality singing competition feel to it: singing as a way to “crush the competition” and build one’s self up rather than bring a character to life or entertain the audience.

I feel something in a lot of Broadway music, and music in general now, that seems to have forgotten that the artist is there in service of the audience. To entertain, enchant and please them. I feel so much ego and self aggrandizement in performance nowadays.

Which is why I love going back to my own personally cherished goddesses and their canons. This summer, I hope to record my first real album in London with Patrick Wolf, a wonderful friend and inspiration. For now, I’m posting some of the “fourth wave” of my music on Soundcloud and Bandcamp and iTunes. The previous waves were: Childhood Folk Gospel, 90′s Amateur Remixes and Early LA Tracks. I’m excited about this next chapter!