First, a quick link to the song because I don't want you to miss Charlie Viehl's gorgeous violin work on this new release.
"The Oak and the Willow" featuring Charlie Viehl on violin. (Story below.)
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/track/6Zku8cyA2VynLH1P6cDt4j?si=09d49508f3f84b2b
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA22QcOd430
Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-oak-the-willow-feat-bonus-round-band/1785369242?i=1785369243
Amazon Music:
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0DQ6DGN93?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_LiP0ZiKjvmkfuC9FThKO5xhyL&trackAsin=B0DQ6DHWPL
Now to all the news.
1. Personal note. My Dad.
I am in Arkansas at my brother David's home. I'm here to help him pack up my 95 year old dad's belongings and drive dad by truck down to Austin to his new forever home with my brother, Scott and his wife, Annette. An eight hour trip.
I knew my dad was in declining health, both physically and mentally, but until yesterday at the assisted living facility, I didn't realize how dramatic the change had been. He was truly a great dad when I was a kid. I always felt loved and protected.
Since Dave is the primary care giver, I decided that I would try to take care of him with good cooking. First we went to the most gigantic grocery store I've ever seen in my life. I'm so used to the tiny NYC grocery stores where you buy what you need for the day.
Sunday night, I made chicken vegetable soup -- with onions, garlic, carrots, celery, green beans and peas. He said, "When I open a restaurant, this will be on the menu."
Monday night, I made pan roasted salmon and zucchini slices, caramelized onions and baked sweet potato. He asked me, "Do you eat like this every night?"
I cook like that every night. Being diabetic and wanting to help Jim with his health, I only learned it a couple years ago off YouTube -- and I went to one cooking class on a ship.
On Saturday, we will drive the eight hours to Austin in a U-Haul. Yes, I have my camera and yes, I'm going to document it. Maybe write a song or make a movie or both.
We will have a family Christmas on the 23rd. My dad will be meeting some of his great grand kids for the first time. I hate that I lost so many years of "family" during my self-imposed exile away from them.
Fly home on Christmas Day.
2. The Story of The Oak and the Willow and Charlie Viehl, violinist.
I met Charlie Viehl barely a month ago. He was referred to me by a mutual friend, Alicia Irving -- a great actress Jim once directed back in Los Angeles and is now here in my acting class with Andy Gale -- that he was young, new in town with a degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Boston College and looking to connect with the music theater scene as both a musical director, harmony singer and violinist. He also plays guitar.
Here's his resume. https://charlieviehlmusic.com/resume
I was recording this new medium tempo country folk song called The Oak and the Willow," about -- well, two trees in love -- and I had a space in the arrangement for an instrumental solo.
I said, "Wanna be on a record?"
We made a deal. I'd trade studio time and engineering to him and he'll play violin for me.
I brought him into the studio, set the mics and as soon as he played the first note, I knew he was amazing. Clean, tasteful, with chops and an ability to self-arrange around the vocal. When the solo happened, he soared.
He said he was eager to do stuff, anything. I asked him if he knew any Beatles songs, and he said he actually took a class on Beatles music at Boston College. Very popular course! So I said come down to Strawberry Fields and play "Eleanor Rigby" with Gavin and me. (It got too cold that week, so it's still on our ToDo List, but he came and met Blake Zolfo there and they bonded.)
3. Winter Rhythms at Urban Stages
Then, I got a call from Sue Matsuki and Frances Hill at a theatre called Urban Stages, that they wanted me to perform at the opening night gala with NYC cabaret legend, KT Sullivan. She would be the headliner, but she'd go first. I love being a closing act!
It would be a test. A new set of people. I love my ship people, but New Yorkers? They've heard it all, seen it all and will let you know if you're lousy.
After having done it onboard the ships several times this past year, I had a running order. Knew what worked and didn't work. This show is socko stuff, I told myself. Can't miss! But I needed to assemble my Bonus Round Band, which over the years, always consists whoever shows up to the gig.
I asked Charlie if he wanted to be in the Bonus Round Band and play his violin solo on "The Oak & The Willow."
I also called Blake Zolfo and Bill Goffi, because it was so last minute, they weren't available.
Then, Carl Draper, our friend who sings lead and dances on the Crystal Cruise lines, had arrived in town looking for something to do. So I said, how about learning and singing a new solo I wrote about being on the ships?
Here's a rough video of Carl singing "All That and More" at the show:
https://youtu.be/RgUnIdogT8U
He said yes, so now it's a week away and i have two new members, neither of whom know these songs.
I called Jane Goldman to see if we could rehearse at her place. Unfortunately, the piano was out of tune. So I got some tuning software, watched a few YouTubes and tuned it myself. I wrote out sheet music for all the backing vocals.
We rehearsed the day before the show.
I had planned on the violin only being on a couple of the songs. But it sounded so good, I told him to play on all the songs -- just make something up and stay out of the way of the vocals. He's so tasteful and non-showy, I had to coax him to blast off every once in awhile. He's a dream musician.
Rough video of us performing that night "I Only See You Young." https://youtu.be/w25cB_xdmME
Backstage, Charlie told Carl and me about how he learned to improvise as a good Catholic boy. Playing at Mass -- during the later verses of hymns that repeated over and over, he'd go off making up his own parts, just to be inventive and not get bored.
I told him I learned improv by trying to make the Baptist songs in my daddy's church sound like Credence. ("The church is not a rock group," my mother would scold.)
(In the mix of The Oak and The Willow, linked above, on the final chorus after his solo, I pulled out all the other instruments. All you hear is my voice and his violin. It's so haunting and yet joyous at the same time!)
THE SHOW WAS AMAZING.
The response was over the top. ESPECIALLY because, at the last minute I decided to bring Gavin Gold on stage, we changed into our Sgt. Pepper jackets, and the two of us led a singalong of "Eight Days A Week" complete with a bending-from-the-waist Beatle bow.
Now, listen. People sing along at Strawberry Fields when we busk, but they are shy. I have to usually coax them.
Not at Urban Stages. The whole crowd was LOUD and rocking that song. They knew all the verses, too.
I had an epiphany that Beatles songs are like hymns, in that everyone seems to know them and sing along to them -- and they heal the soul. Even when they don't know them, they still sing along to them because the hooks are fresh and catchy after all these years.
Whenever you sing a lot of new material to an audience, it's asking a lot. They have to do a lot of work, too, listening and concentrating. So, when they get something they know, they can finally relax and just have a release. It's so satisfying.
Now I knew we had something. A new show! Out of thin air!
With the addition of Gavin plus his bass player and singer, Jake Adams from the Rebel Nerds, who is a total genius of a musician, we're gonna combine forces, creating a new super group of the Bonus Round Band and Rebel Nerds, complete with a Beatles -- dressed in our Strawberry Feels NYC uniforms -- singalong at the end.
But now we needed was a place to play, So, I wrote Tanya.
4. Don't Tell Mama, March 7 at 7pm
I contacted Don't Tell Mama, Tanya immediately wrote back with a date. They are thrilled! Friday, March 7 at 7pm. 7@7.
I like that! The emoticon looks like someone looking up and to the right, just as Joan Crawford told Jim she was taught at MGM when posing for a photo.
I STRONGLY suggest making a reservation. It's a small room. Which I like even more because it will be an intimate show just like on the ship. Personal. And the music is going to be so good.
Reserations: https://shows.donttellmamanyc.com/8788-steve-schachlin-friends-3-7-25
And that's all the news, which is a lot for one week. Welcome to the Bonus Round.
If you need a violinist and you're a performer or producer in the NYC area, be sure to put Charlie Viehl on your list.
A very happy Hanukkah and Christmas season to all.
Steve
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You are free to stream the songs but purchasing them is the best way to support independent artists such as myself. Or if you have the means, you can make a small donation through PayPal or Venmo using my email address: steveshack@gmail.com.
And please share this with friends!
[This is the hand-crafted, no-AI, non-bot newsletter of Steve Schalchlin. If you wish to be removed from the list, send me an email. If someone sent you this and you want to be added, write me at steveshack@gmail.com]
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Steve Schalchlin
Living in the Bonus Round
Spotify Links
Love Songs by Steve Schalchlin Spotify Playlist https://tinyurl.com/stevelovesongs
Personal Songs by Steve Schalchlin Spotify Playlist https://tinyurl.com/stevepersonal
Comic/Humor Songs by Steve Schalchlin Spotify Playlist https://tinyurl.com/stevehumor
Inspirational Songs by Steve Schalchlin Spotify Playlist https://tinyurl.com/steveinspire
Meditation Music by Steve Schalchlin Spotify Playlist https://tinyurl.com/stevemeditate
Political Songs by Steve Schalchlin Spotify Playlist https://tinyurl.com/stevepolitics
Rebel Nerd Songs - lyrics by Steve Schalchlin
https://tinyurl.com/steverebelnerd
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