I’ve been in Cali for almost two weeks now but I finally have settled in and had a chance to upload the photos from my camera and whittle down my pictures of the sky/clouds/sunsets to the very best!

Besides getting a LOT more long distance driving experience I learned that EVERYONE has to start somewhere. At Sun Studios in Memphis they showed us a program for Elvis’ High School talent show… where they spelled his name wrong. I can’t even tell you how many times I name has been spelled wrong by venues. Even the Bitter End where I have been performing for years still spells my name wrong sometimes - I get excited when they don’t!

Anyways, check out the slide show and all the captions by scrolling over the picture you’re interested in. Enjoy!

 

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to perform for the great folks at Sonicbids at their offices in Boston, MA. I know some of you were able to catch the show across the globe and I LOVED hearing your requests and even that the show was being shown in the lounge of my favorite MA schools! But, In case you missed it or want to get a little glimpse of their office you can check out this video a quick clip of bits of two songs from the show!


I definitely hope to be doing some more live streaming as the summer goes on. I have to talk to some of my awesome tech and audio friends to make sure I can get it to sound and look great but be on the lookout for that in a month or two.

For those of you who are not familiar with Sonicbids, they are a great recourse for independent musicians to apply for opportunities in the music industry. I have performed at a few festivals, conferences, venues, won songwriting contests and more because of them - I’ll actually be at the Plymouth Folk and Blues Festival this Labor Day weekend in Sept because I found it and applied on Sonicbids a few months ago!

They are definitely worth checking out no matter what style or music you create or perform. You can also hear it from the founder Panos in this recent Huffington Post article.

Thanks for stopping by!
Natalie

Innocent bystanders who found themselves in the midst of the Cape May Singer/songwriter festival this past weekend were probably happily surprised to see so much great regional and national talent come in to perform in all the venues at their hidden getaway spot.

I had a really fun evening showcase at the Pilot House on Sat night where some Facebook friends who didn’t even know I would be performing there were happily surprised and stuck around for the performance and to buy me a drink. It was so nice to run into people and see people really enjoying the live show. It is great to feel that what I’m doing is expanding and has been propelled in ways I can’t even imagine!

Heres two pictures from the very beginning of the festival for you.
Outside of the beautiful & historic Congress Hall...        & inside one of the actual bathroom stalls
                                                                                was an old fireplace or maybe part of a
                                                                                food elevator service system!!!
                                                                                Always be aware of your proximity. ;)
  

Getting to the festival Friday I was on the first panel about the new Paradigm in the music business and what artists can do to make it work for them. This business is so funny because there really is no one way and almost anything you swear by doing someone else will completely disagree with. I tried to give as much hard and true advice as I could and I think a lot of the artists there walked away with some good ideas. I think when its all said and done the two things anyone can agree on as far as taking your career to the next level and having success are:
1. Think outside the box, do it differently but do something and if it works for you, keep doing it.
2. Remember the humanity in this business, as in most, your greatest resource is other people. People like working with people that are easy to work with and that they LIKE. Be helpful, treat people with respect and more than ever your relationship with your fans is golden. They want and expect more of YOU than maybe ever before. So don’t be afraid to “Let it all hang out” as Brendan from Wheatus said.

Hope that helps someone and I just wanted to put it out there that I really enjoyed being on the panel, talking to other artists and hopefully helping them move forward and expand. If you have any questions or want advice please feel free to shoot me an email (Natalie [at] NatalieGelman [dot] com). Also, if I’m in your area I would love to meet you and help you decide what you should do next for your solo career or band. Sort of like a music career consultant but instead of charging all I’m asking is that you buy me lunch. I would just love to share what I know so I can help you and maybe you’ll end up with more time to do the things that matter like make music!

Hope everyone’s spring is getting colorful and great! There were lots of early spring bulbs poking through and some dapholils in bloom which wI spent some time walking down to the beach to watch the sunset at the festival with a PB&J but wasn’t thinking about how the 40 degree weather would feel much colder in the winds!! Still fun though…
  
Talk to you all soon!
Natalie

My winter tour is in full swing now. I just came back from a show in the mountains of North Carolina and this fun video was taken on the NC/TN border. It’s a little silly but I had a lot of fun at this “scenic outlook” and I even made a snow man and a snow dog there too!



So many shows are being added to the calendar and I couldn’t be happier. It has been a real treat to meet so many new and awesome people over the past few weeks. This tour has already taken me from my neck of the woods: NY, PA, CT, MA and VT to as far away as NC, UT and NE!!

I’ll put all the upcoming dates below and you can always find out more on the shows page too! All the college shows below are open to the public unless they have a “*” next to them so don’t be shy to come on out.

Stay tuned for more shows being added and if you see a round of dates I’ll be in your area but don’t have anything booked reach out because I would love your help setting something up! :) I’ll be doing street performing, performing at open mikes and generaly hanging out when I’m not playing set shows too so check out twitter for the very latest shenanigans.

Thanks for your support always!
-Natalie



Upcoming Shows - Winter/Spring
2/25/10 1:30 PM Flint, MI – University of Michigan - Flint

3/2/10 12:00 PM Chicago, IL - University of Illinois at Chicago
3/3/10 11:30 AM Fox Valley, WI - Fox Valley Technical College
3/5/10 9:00 PM Green Bay, WI - University of Wisconsin Green Bay
3/10/10 11:30 AM Godfrey, IL - Lewis and Clarke Community College
3/12/10 9:30 PM Urbana, IL - University of Illinois
3/17/10 8:30 PM Lebanon, IL - McKendree University
3/18/10 to 3/21/10 Austin, TX - SXSW tba / Street Performing
3/24/10 11:30 AM Newark, DE - University of Delaware
3/25/10 7:00 PM Chester, PA - Widener University
3/27/10 8:30 PM Cape May, NJ - Cape May Singer Songwriter Fest
3/29/10 12:00 PM Groton, CT - University of Connecticut Avery Point
3/30/10 12:00 PM Newark, NJ - Rutgers University Newark
3/31/10 12:00 PM Dover, DE - Wesley College
3/31/10 7:00 PM East Stroudsburg, PA - East Stroudsburg University*

4/6/10 12:00 PM Cape Cod, MA - Cape Cod Community College
4/6/10 5:00 PM Boston, MA - Sonicbids in-office performance*
4/7/10 9:00 PM Plattsburgh, NY - SUNY Plattsburgh
4/12/10 12:00 PM Crookston, MN - University of Minnesota Crookston
4/14/10 11:00 AM Fargo, ND - University of North Dakota Fargo
4/23/10 TBA Salem, OR - Willamette University

5/6/10 TBA Santa Monica, CA - BMI/Koffeehouse Showcase at Harvelle's
5/15/10 TBA Newport Beach, CA - Sons of American Legion Hall - Opening for Dave Mason
5/22/10 7:00 PM Las Cruses, NM - Las Alturas House Concert

A few weeks ago I found myself at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. I don’t often recommend that everyone I know go to some place or event (unless there is delicious food involved) but Sundance is one of those events that I think everyone should check out at least once in their lives.

It is full of so many creative people from all different disciplines and at all different levels of success. Besides their being many film makers, actors, set and costume designers there were a lot of performers there from artists and back up musicians to songwriters and film scorers.

I did have the opportunity to perform at the NY film lounge a few days. Here’s a video from that of me performing a new cover song. Its “Love is My Drug” originally by KeSha.


A huge thank you to everyone who made the NY Film lounge a really special place to retreat for some NY live music, NY cider and bagels and the opportunity to connect with other artists and creative people from NY state. They did a great job and they were volunteering the whole week long.

I even did some street performing while I was there! In 20-30 degree weather I have never felt like more of a trooper. But it was well worth it. I met some great people while I was street performing and actually has a really special moment while I sang Stevie Nicks “Landslide” looking out over the snowy mountains and all of Park City. There are a few pictures of my street performing too.

Check out my guitar up in the snow bank!

First photo by JL Cummings

The best part of the festival is by far going to see the movies! I only got to see one but it was really special to meet the directors, actors and other people involved in the making of the film and almost feel like I am a part of their creative process because there is this awesome feedback and Q&A part at the end of each screening.

I’m planning on going back to Sundance next January and I can’t wait!

xoxo
Natalie