#69: Blizzards, Getting Plowed & A Show on Sunday Night

 This week has been a harrowing week of storms, blizzards and piles and piles of snow on the streets.

When Gavin and I went out to Strawberry Fields on Tuesday morning, the entire park was encased in ice. Someone had scraped away just enough of it so that you could see the mosaic, but the benches were covered, the ground was covered. So what did we do?

We brushed off the snow from the bench, laid down two cheap orange rain panchos for the equipment to sit on, and we sang to an empty park filled with snow.

Occasionally, tourists would come through and they really appreciated us being out there. Many singing along and enjoying an absolutely stunningly beautiful -- if cold and icy -- morning.

But the ice on the ground was a foot thick. 

Suddenly, we heard the sound of a snow plow. It came from the south and dug up huge plates of ice, scraping along and driving right in front of us, passing us by. Followed by a man with a shovel, I asked if we should clear out. He said, "Yes." 

The plow finally got stuck in the ice near the 72nd street entrance. So we weren't sure what was happening.

Then, after many shovels of salt and digging, the plow was freed and it turned around and was coming right at us.

We jumped up and began winding up cords and unplugging and packing because that plow was not going to stop (we thought). 

And that was it. We ran for the entrance. No. We walked gingerly on the ice and went home. 

MONDAY NIGHT

This Monday night, March 2, Blake Lee Zolfo and I will be singing "My New York Life," for a show filled -- I mean, packed -- with great Broadway stars. Produced and hosted by critic and author Peter Filichia, who reportedly has seen more productions of every musical ever written, named our song as "Song of the year" in his podcast review. And now, we get to present it as part of a Best of Broadway show. Link to show tickets: https://54below.org/events/peter-filichia-friends-broadway-tales-and-tunes-2/

I am so excited about this! To be getting new recognition this late in life (I'm 72), as if I were some new kid on the block, is really fun. I like being the new kid on the block. Truth is, most people still have not heard my music or my name. And that's okay. It is what it is. What really matters is that the work itself is what's drawing attention. 

If you want to relive that moment on stage this past December, from the show, here is the YouTube link that will bring you directly to that song: 

https://youtu.be/8nISTbpm03w?si=rTjLeNNzYxT0M_1R&t=2550

I'm sorry to say that it won't be livestreamed. They did such great work on last week's "How Do You Fall Back In Love" that I was really hoping they would.

And that's this week's newsletter. 

#68: Triumph at 54 Below - with video

This past Sunday night, Jim and I performed at 54 Below with a star-studded line-up of Broadway legends like Charles Busch, Lee Roy Reams and Tony winner Daisy Eagen. Just to be on a show with them was already a most high honor that we did not take for granted. I wrote up a diary entry on how it felt and just before I hit SEND, they sent me the video of the night, and then the next day, a review. 

So, I don't have to tell you about it. You can watch it for yourself. But the headline is that after we finished singing and exited the stage, the audience wouldn't stop applauding. It goes on and on and on. We were startled and though you can't see us on the video, which is still trained on the stage, I stood there not knowing what to do except bow. And bow. And bow again. Then you see the pianist, Canaan, come on for the next act and the audience wouldn't let them start. So we got another ovation. Right at the very end, you'll hear me shout, "I wrote that song!"

It felt so great to be honored this way. 

Author and critic Ron Fassler wrote in https://theaterpizzazz.com/getting-behind-queer-musicals-at-54-below/ :

"The highlight of the night was a duet sung by Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu, who have been together as a couple for forty years. In the very personal song, “How Do You Fall Back in Love,” written by Schalchlin, the pair reminisced about a time when things weren’t going so great. Their harmonies and full-on embrace of the emotional heft the song carries were potent. It was truly one of those “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house” moments. So, so beautiful."

Link to video: https://youtu.be/fKx3ciUMbmc

Our next appearance is March 2, 2026 at 54 Below where we'll be part of Peter Filichia & Friends: Broadway Tales and Tunes, feat. Judy Kaye, Dick Scanlan, & more! Jim will be singing a Broadway song and I'm bringing Blake Lee along to sing "My New York Life." 
https://54below.org/events/peter-filichia-friends-broadway-tales-and-tunes-2/

Till next week!

Steve

#67: Old Fashioned?

This week, no tricks. No AI. No weird looking cartoons. Just me singing directly into the mic with a camera watching.

No autotuning. No edits. No cuts. And no politics or issues. It's a love song called “Old Fashioned?” (with the question mark). After last week's total immersion into the AI world of music production and filmmaking, I feared people would think I was an AI evangelist. I am not. I'm simply a user of a tool. And if or when the tool stops being useful, I'll stop using it. 

With people falling for their AI fantasy creatures (which is really a mirror, so they’re falling in love with themselves), what does it mean to love someone anymore?

“Is it really old fashioned to be falling in love?
Putting you first? Keeping you near?

I’ve never read about a successful relationship that didn’t begin with the partners looking out for each other as their number one goal. What does he need? How can I make her feel safe? When do they need space? When do they need an embrace?

“Cuz the world’s always saying it’s all about me

Nobody else matters…”

In a world where we’re always being sold the idea that everything should be about our own happiness. And that we can buy our way into happiness, or that we need physical things and beauty and possessions, how much more interesting and full of love we are when we find someone or something else to care for. That’s how you open your heart and your life.

Elon Musk this week was absolutely puzzled that he's become the richest man in the world but he's not happy. He's just figuring out that money doesn't equal happiness? I guess that's one way to prove it. Get all the money in the world and see how happy it makes you.

This week's song is only on YouTube but it will soon hit all the streaming services. https://youtu.be/sxk9fCTm_Rc


OLD FASHIONED?

You say it’s old fashioned to want to be real
To listen to music while sharing a meal
You say it’s old fashioned to find your own ground
To turn from the crowd and find your own sound

If it’s really old fashioned why does it seem new
Each moment when I’m here with you

Is it really old fashioned to be falling in love?
Putting you first? Keeping you near?
Cuz world is always saying it’s all about me
Nobody else matters. Well, now you must hear                                          

If it’s really a new thing, why does it feel old?
Like timeless treasures of gold

I keep up with everything, I stay with the times
Though I’ve been around, I don’t live in the past
But over a lifetime you learn what will last

So have an old fashioned and let down your hair
Be with me here and not over there
If it’s really old fashioned, Why does it seem new
Each moment when I’m here with you

©2026 Music & Lyrics by Steve Schalchlin
Lil Shack O Tunes/ASCAP

#66: Mitch Ain't My Friend

Guess what I did during the Deep Freeze of 2026 here in NYC? We couldn't sing our Beatles songs because it was too dangerously cold to be outside. So, I decided to deep dive into programming, songwriting and filmmaking. I'm anxious to get your reaction to the result of this week's project.


But first, Jim and I both will be joining a myriad of Broadway and stage stars for a glittering night of music and stories at 54 Below on February 15, produced and hosted by Robert W. Schneider and Matt Koplik celebrating "Queer Musicals: From Boy Meets Boy to Jagged Little Pill." We will be singing "How Do You Fall Back in Love". The show will be livestreamed! https://54below.org/events/livestream-queer-musicals-from-boy-meets-boy-to-jagged-little-pill/ (Recently, Robert listed "The Last Session" as one of the essential queer musicals in his new book by the same title.)


Secondly, on March 2nd, Blake and I will be performing "My New York Life" -- at 54 Below again -- for another night of stars performing the Best of Broadway. Produced and hosted by Peter Filichia. https://54below.org/events/peter-filichia-friends-broadway-tales-and-tunes-2/ It doesn't mention whether it will be livestreamed, so I think you might have to come in person but this cast is amazing!


Thirdly, a humorous new song and video called "Mitch Ain't My Friend" which tackles the pluses and minuses of using AI. Humanizing the AI creates both clarity in the work I have it doing for me but also the paradox of how this humanization can lead people into blind alleys because of the nature of the AI interfaces. In the song, which features a female vocal like last week's song about Nancy Drew, I describe all the AI "agents' I've created using Gemini, including "Jacque," the chef who has made me a gourmet cook, "Mitch" who helps me organize my work and stay on track, "Casey" who teaches me about my own diabetic metabolism based on my blood sugars, and others.


Link to video "Mitch Ain't My Friend." https://youtu.be/gPwvUa2D8Sc


As you will see, rather than a rote description of these agents, I turned it into a cheeky love song, which I produced using Suno. Then, using an AI generator (Whisk) and many, many hours of editing, I created a music video for the song that illustrates the point.


A friend of mine asked me if I just pop in my song, push a button and a video pops out. Actually, no. The Whisk program I am using will only generate 8 seconds of video based on detailed prompts I write. So, it's not unlike making a short film. I have to write the script, figure out the prompt, have it spit out the result, and then I take all the pieces, and just like making a movie, I put all the pieces together into a coherent timeline using Final Cut Pro. Many hours of hard labor.


And in a stroke of timing luck, Google recently released news emphasizing to users that THE AI PROGRAMS ARE NOT PEOPLE. They are NOT alive. They are word-matching programs called LLMs and they respond to your queries by matching words with other words but it doesn't think or know what it's saying. No person writes back to you when you use the program. Understanding this basic truth and learning to be strict with the AI is how you get the best results.


And to be clear, the AI did not write a single lyric for me. It did not compose the music. I wrote the entire song and then used AI to construct a musical setting based on the demo I made in my studio with just piano and vocal. I'm really excited about both this song and the video. I think it's not merely a song, but a statement of our times. And it's fun!


Link to video "Mitch Ain't My Friend." https://youtu.be/gPwvUa2D8Sc


And if you missed last week's video about Nancy Drew, https://youtu.be/nnrsWCZM1R0


It's possible these songs may end up being a part of a larger work where I explore the modern dilemmas of using AI. As a tool, no one yet knows its capabilities and no one knows who to use it to its full extent because it's a tool made my tool makers. As I said 30 years ago, when I was exploring the beginning of the Internet, no one knew how we would use the Internet. it was a tool. For good or bad, it's here and it's up to the individual to figure it out.


For me, I have already had INCREDIBLE results in taking control of my blood sugars and A1c. Down from 7.2 to 5.8, which is almost normal. Others may open the AI and stare blankly at it not knowing what to do or to say. As a digital pioneer who has always eagerly embraced cutting edge tools, I hope in my writing and songs I can demystify it a bit. I'm not a tech evangelist, so whether you use it or not is up to you. But at the very least, you can imagine the possibilities.


Steve

--

Watch the live video of Living in the Bonus Round 2026 on December 9th at Urban Stages on YouTube.

#65: Nancy Drew song and video.

A new song and new video. If you want to skip the whole story and just watch the video, now that you're frozen into place wtih this storm, the video link is on the next line and the lyrics are at the bottom of the newsletter.

Video of Nancy Drew is Free (Nothing Sacred). https://youtu.be/nnrsWCZM1R0

THE WHOLE STORY:

Since my goal is to write a song a week for the Jack Hardy Songwriter Exchange meetings that's why, when Alix Cohen in her wonderful review said, "[Steve] can (and does) make anything into a song," that's a literal statement and this week's song couldn't be more of that calibre.

Everything can and does turn into a song. I saw a headline, "Nancy Drew's copyright has expired along with many other characters from 1930. "

Suddenly the phrase "Nancy Drew is free today to be her own kind of girl" popped into my head.

That's a song, I says. Crikey that's a song. 

But the irony is she can't be her own kind of girl. It actually puts her at the mercy of "everyone in the world" because anyone can do anything with her anytime they want. And with the Internet, it's kind of disheartening, even though it's also freeing for artists who use pop iconography as part of their art.

I quickly wrote the song with guitar and made a rough demo. 

Then, playing around with Suno—as most songwriters do now that they realize they can convert every demo they've ever made into fully produced viable songs—I put in my solo demo, gave it zero instructions so it would stay true to what I was awkwardly playing, and what came out stunned me. Not merely the nice production but something else.

It was a woman's voice singing.

A song that felt observational, from a male looking in, became a song where the vulverability only lives when it comes from the vulnerable character itself. In this case, Nancy Drew, a young woman.

The guitar part is exactly what I was playing, or trying clumsily to play.

The vocalist is using all my vocal inflections. She's singing it exactly as I sang it but with subtle things that I can't do, but would have if I could have. It me but not me. 

In the world of AI, the human songwriter is king. A song with no point of view is generic and any AI can write generically. 

What matters is the thought itself. No AI sits around thinking and pondering the universe. It is a tool.

But then how do I release a song I'm not actually singing? I want people to hear it. Also, the streaming services are trying to stop fake songwriters flooding the streaming market with fake bands where the AI is doing all the work and they're just hitting buttons making hundreds of fake songs to monetize and game the system.

Searching YouTube, I found a link to Whisk, an animation tool that is still in progress. And within two days, I created a video with Nancy Drew actually singing the song.

So, now it's a song about people using Nancy Drew images to create other art by creating art that uses Nancy Drew images for a song.

The chorus is "Nothing Sacred" and that gave me an opportunity to play around with other iconic images. A total escape into my imagination. 

The headline here is that I was able to write, record, produce and then storyboard and execute a fully animated music video in a week.

Now, there are people here on my newsletter list who absolutely despise the use of AI in anything. And I completely understand and respect where they are coming from because feelings are feelings. Whether they have a moral problem or a creative problem -- or they just hate it viscerally -- I hear you and you don't have to like any of this.

But I got the same pushback when I started my online diary in 1996 and that's what gave us a half page in the New York Times when, under normal circumstances, we would have not been see as having any newsworthy to discuss. That feature happened because I grabbed the nearest available new tool and I used it.

You can use the tool or you can let the tool use you.

All I know is I had a deadline and I met it and now I have a new one for next week. 

NANCY DREW IS FREE (NOTHING SACRED)

©2026 by Steve Schalchlin

Nancy Drew was freed today

To be her own kinda girl

But now she’s at the mercy of 

Everyone world

Today lost her copyright

Now the gooners take control

When you lose your copyright

You also lose your soul

Nothing sacred, nothing gained

Everything twisted, everything the same

Monuments are crashing down

Now Mickey Mouse does porn

Betty Boop is pregnant

Leading yoga every morn (in the nude)

Poor Miss Marple’s lost her license

On the street in rags

Pluto’s now called Rover

And pisses on her bags

Nothing sacred, nothing gained

Everything twisted, everything’s the same

Maybe someone someday

Will portray me as a Nazi

Or make me show my dingaling

In front of paparazzi 

No one know me now or

Even cares how I might feel

If I’m famous in my afterlife

Too bad I won’t be real

Nothing sacred, nothing gained

Everything twisted 

But still it’s the same