When we performed at Murphy’s – The “Snug” this past March, the Mayor of Sonoma came up to me at our break and invited me on his morning program. I’ve never done a “live” radio show before so I’m excited. Since it was a “Mostly Joni” show that we were playing, he had a special request that I perform Joni’s “Little Green” and I’m happy to oblige.
So if you’re in the greater Sonoma area and tooling about the house or on your way to work you can check it out!
May 23rd at 9:00 am
on SunFM 91.3
“Little Green” by Joni Mitchell
Recorded live on a beautiful spring morning April 12th, on Mt. Burdell in Novato, CA. This song and showcase the wildflowers and green hills that are abundant during this time of year.
With the help of my husband the goal was to capture a “live” performance along with all that goes with it whether it’s flying bugs, birds, crickets chirping and yes perhaps those little imperfections. Just as long as it conveys the heart of the song with a well executed performance. As an experiment we recorded it with simply a zoom H2 digital recorder and our 2 iphones. Manny mastered the audio to make it pleasing to the ear by dialing out things like car noise in the distance, while keeping the birds entact.
The next morning I journeyed back the hills with my phone in my pocket and found all sorts of wildflowers. Is amazing how many you can see if you get close to the ground and really “look.” Some of these are smaller than a pea. I also stumbled upon a whole hillside full of them that I’d never seen before and they only seemed to grow in one spot. The other hikers wondered what the heck I was doing on that steep hillside. It was a nice creative adventure.
I hope I was able to bottle a little of this up for you. I hope you enjoy the song, the performance and the beautiful scenary.
NEW VIDEO! “You Turn Me On”
Here’s is a brand new video just produced from my living room that I endearingly call, “live from the cozy.” This is a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “You Turn Me On (I’m a radio),” which is one of the tunes we perform in the “Mostly Joni” show. Robin Hildebrant plays the fretless to add that beautiful Jaco Pastorius flavor. We’re ironing out the particulars with doing these recordings and I’m learning as I go. This is definitely a punchy version of the song since I wasn’t able to really hear myself in the room.
“Mostly Joni” is perfect for classy affairs at wineries, art galleries, house concerts and intimate venues. It works well in larger venues as well. The vibe is personal and intimate and will engage an audience of any size. Joni’s music can add a special vibe to any occasion, including weddings.
Hey if you want to know about all the music ponds and frying pans I’m swirling in just subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll keep you posted. Go here to my CONTACT PAGE to input the email you’d wish me to send these to.
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JAIL HOUSE ROCK – My band’s last show for 2012 was on December 20th where we performed at the Marin County Jail for Bread and Roses. It was an interesting set of shows. We performed a 45 minute set in both the woman’s and then again in the mens pod. We hauled all our gear and sound system through various security checks, set it all up, broke it all down, then wheeled it down to the next pod and did it all over again. The anxiety I felt going into it melted away when I saw the look of warmth and appreciation in the inmates eyes. It went swimmingly well and was a great excerise in efficiency and team work. Peggy, the jail warden was quite an extraordinary lady. She resembled someone’s sweet grandmother who you’d find working at Ideal Stationary rather than in a jail. She has spent the past 28 consecutive Christmases with the inmates at the jail, wow. All I can say was when I got home that night, I felt a special kind of tired. A truely memorable way to muscially close out the year.
We had a great night at Rancho Nicasio on November 9th. I was very pleased with the turn out of Joni fans and Amy fans too! Thanks to all that joined us! With 3 guitars, 5 separate tunings, electric keyboard and dulcimer, it all went smashingly well! If you know Joni songs, you know she’s the queen of alternate tunings! I’m looking forward to doing this again so stay tuned for another “Mostly Joni” show in the near future!
Shows happening in September! Check out my CALENDAR
The release is official! Whew. It took a while and here it is if you want a sneak peak CLICK HERE TO LISTEN! It is now available to download on cdbaby, itunes and amazon.com!
For the backstory about why I wrote this song, check out my blog “Indie Music Mom.”
MY HEARTFELT THANKS!
I am fortunate to have the collaboration of such a loving and supportive band mates Dave Tavel, Robin Hildebrant and Peter Axtell. Their thoughtful and beautifully executed musical effort made this possible – thanks guys, you rock! Thank you to Tom Duarte for the additional tasty guitar track. And as always, I am so very grateful to my awesome husband Manny LaCarrubba who’s stellar mixing, love, support and guidance makes this all possible.
CREDITS
Lyrics and music by Amy Wigton ©2012
Produced and engineered by Amy Wigton and Manny LaCarrubba
Mixed and mastered by Manny LaCarrubba at the Lab
Rhythm tracks recorded at Laughing Tiger Studios w/Ari Rios
Vocal, guitar, keyboards recorded and engineered by Amy Wigton and LapCat Studio
Cover Art-Amy as well.
Dave Tavel-Drums
Robin Hildebrant-Bass and vocals
Peter Axtell-guitar and vocals
Tom Duarte-guitar
Amy Wigton-vocals, guitar, keyboard
In memory of Coco the dog. We’ll never forget the support she provided by leaning against Robin’s leg during the recording of those arduous high notes. She kept us in good spirits.
Fundraiser to help support opening Novato’s downtown theater AUGUST 26th!
