Loop master extraordinaire!
It came to me one day when doing some musical contemplating what might others think?
So I thought why not ask?
And I reached out.
And they answered.
So starts the beginning of
THE INTERVIEW
– a series of questions –
next up – Valerie Vigoda
• How Do You Describe Your Music?
VV My solo violin/vocal/looping project is chamber pop with touches of rock, folk and theatre: Annie Lennox meets Lady Antebellum, with tons of layered electric violin and vocal harmonies. Fun with technology! Occasionally I’ll break away from the computer to just play and sing live, and that sounds like Sarah McLachlan having a duet with a fiddler.
• What’s Your Latest Project?
VV The two-person musical ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME, which I’ve co-written with my husband/collaborator Brendan Milburn and bookwriter Joe DiPietro (who won the Tony Award for MEMPHIS). In this show I play a video-game composer surrounded by all her gear – so I get to play a bunch of different instruments and it’s one of the biggest challenges of my life to date. I am incredibly excited about it! The show premieres in February 2014 in Seattle, and then the plan is to take it to Off Broadway.
• Do You Play More Then One Instrument? Do You Recommend That?
VV Yes! Yes! I would say that I’m a good violinist, and a mediocre everything-else-player. I wish I could play piano better…and there have been multiple instances where someone wanted to hire me for a gig, and being able to play guitar well would have clinched it. (I have played keys, and mandolin, on gigs before – neither all that well – and it was a little nerve-wracking.)
• Who Are Some Other Players You’ve Enjoyed Collaborating With?
VV My favorite collaborators have been my bandmates in GrooveLily: Brendan Milburn (keys/vocals) and Gene Lewin (drums/vocals). They are both amazing improvisers and musical multitaskers, and inspire me to improve.
• Who would you like to play with that you haven’t?
VV Peter Gabriel
Sting
James Taylor
• Where Has Been One of Your Favorite Places to Perform?
VV Portsmouth Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH
• Favorite Gear?
VV My brand new LiquidFoot Jr foot pedal!
• Fav Summer Camps or Educational Opportunities?
VV I had a great summer long ago at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. I wish Mark Wood’s Rock Orchestra Camp had been around when I was growing up!…and I also love Christian Howes’ online Creative Strings Academy.
• Who do you like to listen to?
VV Jonatha Brooke, Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole, James Taylor, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Zoe Keating, Joe Deninzon, Mark Wood, Christian Howes, Antonin Dvorak, Newton Faulkner, Stephen Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown, Annie Lennox, Mike Errico, Imogen Heap, Kyrstyn Pixton…
• What Do You Recommend to an aspiring Improviser?
VV Forgive yourself instantly. Don’t be timid. Be wrong and strong.
• How Do You Overcome Self-Conscious Playing?
VV I’m still working on that! As a daily practice, I put on a metronome and start soloing over simple chord changes, with my only rules being 1) don’t stop and 2) don’t judge. I think my favorite thing that I’ve learned from my bandmates Brendan and Gene is, if you make a “mistake” while soloing, it’s good to REPEAT it. Spin it into something intentional.
• Any Other Tips On Performance Practices?
VV If nervous before going onstage, try to remember that the audience is there because they WANT to have a fantastic time listening and watching – they’re *predisposed* to love you! So bask in that idea and give them the wonderful gift of you truly having a blast onstage.
• Final thought: philosophy, quote…anything at all…
VV “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint’, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh