NEWS AND REVIEWS

 

Breaking In On Broadway

(This is an excerpt of an article profiling Berklee Alumni Stephen Oremus, Alex Lacamoire, Zach Borovay, Sal Spicola & Anders Bostom. To read the full article, click here: http://www.berklee.edu/bt/204/broadway.html)

New York alumni have made their mark in different quarters of the theater industry.
By Mark Small

Fringe Benefits
Brooke Fox '98 was a songwriting major at Berklee and moved to Nashville after graduating. "I spent two years there, but it was hard to get around because I'm legally blind," Fox says over lunch at a Brooklyn diner. Due to albinism, Fox is visually impaired and doesn't drive. Both the energy of New York and its public-transportation system seemed like a better fit for Fox. Berklee alumnus and friend Joe Drymala '98 offered to rent her a room in his Brooklyn apartment, and Fox made the move. "I was still in the singer/songwriter world when I got to New York," she says. "Joe was a playwright and opened the theater world up to me. I hadn't anticipated that." Currently, White Noise, a show for which Drymala wrote the music and lyrics, is in development in New Orleans preparing to open on Broadway in September.

Through networking with theater professionals, Fox met her future husband, Kurt Gellersted, a fellow musician. Gellersted, Fox, and cowriter Will Brumley began writing a musical called Punk in 2002. As they worked at developing the show, a friend suggested they enter it into the New York International Fringe Festival, an annual event for emerging theater talent that features 200 companies for 16 days of performances in Lower Manhattan. "I thought Punk was too grand and serious for that festival," says Fox. "Fringe is more about comedy, so we thought about entering Williamsburg! The Musical, which was just a concept at the time."

The story is based on a range of comedic characters Gellersted, Fox, and Brumley had observed in their diverse Brooklyn neighborhood, Williamsburg. They submitted one song and a 20-page script in February and learned in May that the festival wanted to stage their show July 15. For Fox and company it was a golden opportunity to get their work in front of movers and shakers in the theater business. They worked feverishly to finish writing the script and songs, assemble a cast of 14, hire a set designer, and more.

"We flew by the seats of our pants," Fox says. "We raised money from friends and investors and used our credit cards. It ended up costing about $15,000." Fox and Gellersted played guitar and keyboards parts and hired a bass player and drummer for their satirical rock score that included traditional Jewish sounds as well as a nod to the blues, Queen, and Gwen Stefani. Somehow, everything came together, and the show really connected with audiences and critics.

"It was the hit of the festival," says Fox. "We got 30 or 40 reviews including reviews in the New York Post and Variety. It was treated like an off-Broadway show." This step is just the beginning of the process that shows follow enroute to Broadway. It generally takes several years. Fox and her team are still working on the show. They are planning a CD release party for the cast recording this spring (visit www.williamsburgthemusical.com).

Fox is still new to the scene and is keeping things going on several fronts. She and her cowriters plan to showcase songs from Punk at the New York Theater Barn soon. And Fox's song "O City" is part of actress Eden Espinosa's one-woman show Me that will play at Joe's Pub in New York and the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

"You have to keep the momentum going," she says. "Once you've done everything it takes to get one show up, you know you're going to get asked, 'What else do you have?"

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Untitled 3D: What Do You See? Marks NYTB 2nd Anniversary 5/11

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

by BWW News Desk

Link to Original Article

On Monday May 11, 2009, New York Theatre Barn will celebrate its second anniversary with Untitled 3D: What Do You See? which explores the process, product, and perspective of three different new musicals currently in development. Through live performances and behind the scenes video footage, Untitled 3D will take he audience on a journey from the rehearsal process into the evening's presentation, showcasing three composing teams (a total of seven writers) and their eclectic new works. The one-night only event will be performed at The Players Theatre.

The three new musicals being featured during the evening are Punk (book by Will Brumley, music & lyrics by Brooke Fox & Kurt Gellersted), Group Therapy (book by Rebekah Melocik & Christy Hall, music & lyrics by Rebekah Melocik) and Like You Like It (book & lyrics by Sammy Buck, music by Daniel Acquisto).

The evening will feature direction by Michael Schwartz, Christy Hall and Keith Andrews, musical direction by Aaron Jodoin, Brooke Fox and Kurt Gellersted, and will feature the talents of Tony-nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q), Celina Carvajal (Rooms, 42nd Street, Cats), Curt Hansen (Hairspray), Marja Harmon (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Jeff Barba, Wilson Bridges, Trey Compton, Rich Connelly, Gavin Davis, Rebecca Dealy, Tom Hennes, Aaron Lavigne, Alison Luff, Matt Lutz, Caitlin Lee Reid Hollis Scarborough, and Carly Vernon.

New York Theatre Barn (Joe Barros, Producing Artistic Director; Reed Prescott, Executive Director) is a not-for-profit theatre company dedicated to the investigation, development, and advancement of new evocative works. In just two years, the company has introduced a monthly springboard event for writers and performers (NYTB at The Duplex), presented Equity Staged Readings (including the musical I Married Wyatt Earp with Tovah Feldshuh and directed by Tony-nominee Graciela Daniele) and produced a fully realized production (Wood at NYMF with Cady Huffman). NYTB continues to develop and nurture new work and most recently produced a concert of the new musical parody Hey, You Know What Movie Would Make a Good Musical? with Cady Huffman, Elizabeth Stanley and Celina Carvajal, and written by Jason Michael Snow, Ryan Bogner, Mishaela Faucher and Robert Bastron.

The performance will begin at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre (115 Macdougal Street). Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at: www.theatermania.com or at the door.

New York Theatre Barn also welcomes its new Executive Director Reed Prescott, who will be taking over for David Rigler (a founding member of the company). NYTB has also undergone exciting additions to its team; the Board of Directors now includes Pamela Koslow, John LaRossa, Sheilah Rae, Kerry Watterson, Keola Whittaker and Joe Barros. The Advisory Board includes Tony-Award winning set designer John Arnone, Thomas Caruso, Matt Cavenaugh, Tony-nominated director and choreographer Graciela Daniele, Brian Feinstein, Christopher Gattelli, Rob Hartmann, Tony-Award winning costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, Thom Sesma, Tara Smith, and Barry Z.

For more information, please visit New York Theatre Barn's website at www.NYTheatreBarn.org.

  

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Northeast In-Tune Magazine

Vol. 2 No. 8, August 15th - September 14th Issue

Vacaville, California. Unsigned, Pop/Acoustic

View the original review here:

http://www.northeastintune.com/index.php?bd=reg&sb=land&article=08064

By: Angie Mowery

Brooke Fox is a multi-talented, highly accomplished singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. She performs on her own, with her husband (Kurt Gellersted, electric guitar and background vocals), or in the company of an entire band (Kurt Gellersted; Jeremy Bletterman, bass; Andrew Potenza, drums). At 28 years old with two self-released albums under her belt, over 200 performances, and many awards to her credit, Brooke Fox has gained quite a following.

Fox graduated from Vacaville High School in 1994, and attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in songwriting. Over the next six years Fox moved to Nashville, got an assistant job in a record studio, came out with her first album (Nightlight, 1999), decided Nashville wasn’t the place for her, moved to New York, and produced her second album (Breathe the Same Air, 2005) from the basement of her Brooklyn apartment building. And she did it all while playing multitudes of shows on the side. It was emotionally exhausting, but she did it. Let’s just say that gave her six years of songwriting fuel to work with.

Both of Fox’s albums have the same main themes coursing through them (love and falling in love), but they are quite different in the way they are written. While Nightlight was a solo release, Breathe the Same Air was a collaboration. And while all the songs on both albums stem from personal experiences or feelings, Breathe the Same Air incorporates the feelings and emotions of the newly married Fox and her husband, Gellersted. The result is dynamic. The lyrics are wholeheartedly beautiful, the instrumentation is simple and compliments the way the songs are written, eliminating the need for overpowering guitar solos. The lyrics leave you wanting more! Fox’s voice is the glue that holds everything together. Her music has a gorgeous, mystifying quality that makes you say “Wow! That’s an amazing way to describe how love feels.”

Brooke Fox is one of those rare talents that you come across every so often. She makes the music you can’t stop listening to because you like it so much. She finds the words to make you wish you were the lucky one in her song. Brooke Fox is a marvelous musician.

     

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"FILL THE SKIES WITH MUSIC: SEPTEMBER CONCERT" / CLIP (MOV)

Fox 5 News, New York

August 4th, 2006, 5 and 10PM Broadcasts

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"ALBINOS VS. HOLLYWOOD - YOUR WORLD WITH NEIL CAVUTO" / VIEW CLIP

FOX NEWS

\March 23rd, 2006

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By Ellis Henican

Catholics and movie critics aren't the only ones denouncing "The Da Vinci Code."

Add albinos to the list of those less than thrilled about the church-based Tom Hanks thriller, which hits theaters today.

The villain of all villains in the big-budget instant-blockbuster film? Silas, the albino monk-executioner.

Well, it figures.

"Yet another evil albino in a big Hollywood movie," Michael McGowan, president of the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, sighed yesterday. "By our count, it's the 68th film since 1960 to feature an evil albino."

And not one real albino hero out of Hollywood in all those years.

So this is how some Italians feel every time a new Mafia movie comes out?

"At least the Italians have 'Everybody Loves Raymond,'" McGowan said. "The albino character never gets to be the normal next-door neighbor or the guy sitting two stools down the bar."

Albino activists aren't calling for "Da Vinci Code" boycotts the way some Vatican officials are. They aren't signing the Catholic League's demand for an on-screen disclaimer. They certainly aren't joining forces with the outraged members of Opus Dei, the devout Catholic group depicted in "The Da Vinci Code" as a secretive and creepy cult.

They just want the world to know that pale-white skin and colorless hair don't add up to automatic villainy - whatever hackish book and movie writers might think.

"Albinism is such a rare condition," said Brooklyn singer-songwriter Brooke Fox, who has the condition. "We're talking about just 1 in 18,000 people in the United States. Most people don't know anyone with albinism. What people know comes from the movies and TV."

And what a scary crew of characters that adds up to.

There was the sadistic albino killer in "Cold Mountain" and the white-haired hit man in "Foul Play" with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. There were the vicious dreadlocked albino twins in "The Matrix: Reloaded." Even "The Princess Bride" made room for a wicked albino executioner.

The stereotype has no basis in medical fact.

"Albinism has absolutely no association with increased violence or anything like that," said Dr. Vail Reese, a San Francisco dermatologist and one of the nation's leading experts on the pigment-suppressing genetic condition.

In fact, Reese added, many albinos suffer from poor eyesight, which makes them especially unsuited for the role of sharpshooting assassin.

And yet here we go again.

The Silas character in "Da Vinci" is played by British actor (and non-albino Brooklyn resident) Paul Bettany. In the Ron Howard film, as in Dan Brown's novel, the monk-assassin carries out a series of murders in an attempt to hide a secret trove of lost Christian documents that could prove Jesus was a husband and father.

Actor Bettany, who got his white skin for the film with heavy makeup, said he intended no offense to the world's albinos. His evil Silas character, he said, should be seen as a victim of his own youthful mistreatment.

"I thought, 'This man's a psychopath, and he's not a psychopath because he's an albino,'" the actor told The Daily Telegraph in London. "He's an amalgamation of everything that happened to him in his life. It's no more a comment on albinos than it is on monks, and no more a comment on monks than it is on people who wear sandals."

Which would be easy enough to believe if the monk-assassin Silas were Hollywood's first albino bad guy.

Easy enough to believe if for every frightful Silas, there was an albino who saved the day.

But it's 68 and counting. How do the 67 albino characters explain themselves? 

 

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Unsigned Music Magazine, February 2006

www.unsignedmusicmag.com 

New Style Music Reviews

Artist: Brooke Fox

Album: Breathe the Same Air

Avg: 3.4 out of 5.

Brooke's voice has a certain childish innocence to it, and when you hear it up close and personal as in the track Breathe The Same Air, you feel the maturity and intimacy in her delivery. This track is Brooke and guitars and it works. The lyrics are, well very nice, well written yet simple. The opening string section on track one Cinematic will draw you in and have you asking yourself, "What's next?" The track that shows off her vocals the least is probably The You in Me. I think the pace of this song is too fast for Brooke's soft, intimate vocal style. Her voice is made for being close to the mic, not screaming at it from a far. Musically all of the tracks are good and produced well, but my favorite is the Rhodes piano tinged Bend. Again, this track doesn't show off her vocals as well as some of her other material, but it has a classic 80s Richard Marx sound to it and we all love Richard Marx!

Production: 3.4

Lyrics: 3.3

Music: 3.5

Vocals: 2.8

Musicianship: 4.0

 

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Brooke Fox in Vacaville to introduce her new recording

The Daily Republic

Fairfield, CA

July 9th, 2005

By Amy Maginnis-Honey

 

VACAVILLE - Brooke Fox loves her hometown crowd.

 

"My Vacaville shows are always packed or close to packed," Fox said, during a phone interview from Los Angeles. "My mom's family is still in Vacaville so they're always shouting out requests. They request things I did in high school because they know the history. And they're always cracking jokes."

 

Fox, 28, left town after graduating from Vacaville High School in 1994. She then went on to earn her bachelor's degree in songwriting at Boston's Berklee College of Music and settled in Nashville after graduation, releasing her first album, "NightLight" in 1999.

 

She's out on tour promoting her new self-released CD, "Breathe the Same Air," a 10-track recording done in her New York apartment basement and fine-tuned in Nashville.

 

Many residents likely remember the girl who made her debut at the Vacaville Fiesta Days competition when she was 5. Her grandmother Carol Zadnik was a professional musician who enjoyed writing melodramas with fellow Vacaville resident, Alice McDonald. (Both are deceased.) "She (Zadnik) would take me to talent shows and play the piano while I sang. She would write novelty lyrics to a pre-existing song so a 6-year-old could sing them," Fox recalled.

 

Fox and her husband, Kurt Gellersted, share the songwriting duties on a few of the new album's songs. She often begins the songwriting process with a title. "Then I think of all the possibilities the title could mean," she said. "From there I decide the rest of the song."

 

"Change Me," from the newest release, is about the ghost of Christina Olsen featured in Andrew Wyeth's painting "Christina's World." "It was tough," Fox admitted. "I was writing about a woman with degenerative disorder. It was tricky to spin in a positive way. You don't want the sympathy vote. You want people to feel her strength." It was the first time Fox broached the topic of disability in her music. She has albinism, a rare genetic trait that causes legal blindness and very fair skin. 

 

She was often stared at and teased in elementary and high school. "When I went away to college and got out in the real world, I saw how things worked. It tempered me in terms of understanding," she said. "People are curious and they stop and ask me all kinds of questions. I simply answer them just because they are curious. But it kind of gives me an opportunity to educate them. They might not have heard about it (albinism) otherwise." Music, she said, has been her saving grace all the years. "I knew I could go out in front of hundreds of people and they would clap for me and give me instant approval," she said.

 

Fox's CD will be available at her performances and on CDBaby.com, a Web site for which she has nothing but praise. "The guy who runs it has a great attitude and he's artist friendly," Fox explained. People can get the physical copy of the recording or just download it. "This reaches people from all over the world, people I can't reach," she said, adding that copies of her first CD went as far as China and Italy.

 

As for the money, Fox said her father, Jay Fox, is basically the executive producer of "Breathe the Same Air." "This is something that takes a village," she said. "We managed to save up a little money and my family is really helpful."

 

Fox and Gellersted wed July 10, 2004, at the Green Valley Country Club. He is a musician who plays electric guitar on her current tour. They met through a mutual friend. Personally and professionally they are in synch. "Kurt is a very instinctual player and writer. I like to over think things a lot. He taught me to go to the gut on a lot of things," she said. "He's definitely grounded me in songwriting and playing. He amazes me with the stuff he can come up with."

 

Gellersted received his master's in music composition from New York University. But he's also played in punk bands.

 

Fox would love to share the stage with Sheryl Crow. "She's an amazing singer. I like what she does," she said. And, she would also like to play with Jeffrey Gaines, a singer-songwriter out of Philadelphia. "I've been a fan of his for a long time," Fox said.

 

 

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Mind in the Middle - March, 2005

The Berkeley Carroll School, Brooklyn, NY 

THE MUSIC PAGE by FRANCESCA PERLOV

****** (five stars) "Nightlight" by Brooke Fox

Okay, this album is amazing. I can't talk now, it's that good. Seriously, every song contributes a different emotion and feel to this album. I love every moment of it. I can't even describe it. After a week of listening to this album, I knew all the words and now, I still listen to it every day. THe chorus of each song is full of melody and Brooke's range is insane. If I could give this album six stars, I would. In my opinion, this album is ten times greater than Alicia Keys' Diary of Alicia Keys. This is literally the best album I have ever heard in my life. I'm not kidding. I can't wait until her next album. Whew. 

Key tracks: 1. "TimeFool"; 4. "Switch It Off"; 7. "Seamless"; 10. "Kiss of Me"

 

 

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Singer Magazine

We’re all in this Together
A Real World Real Music Awards Show

By Marian Fitz

Each year there are over 35,000 albums commercially released in the United States. Only a tiny sliver of that music ever gets radio play, is featured on a music video channel or is considered by the televised music awards shows. But thanks to the Just Plain Folks Music Awards, it’s no longer ignored and forgotten. In just four awards cycles, the Just Plain Folks Music Organization’s (JPF) awards process has become the largest in the world.

What started as a casual way to recognize the best albums and songs sent in by members of the JPF organization is now a grassroots phenomena that includes over 10,000 albums and 140,000 songs from 85 countries in over 60 different genres of music. Reflecting on its humble beginnings, Brian Austin Whitney (JPF founder) said, “I was getting a couple CDs a day from members who just wanted me to check out what they were doing. 

Jazz Vocalist Winner Brooke Fox moves the crowd with a stirring performance. Photo by David Sobel

As we neared the end of 1999, I realized that there was some great stuff that no one had probably ever heard of before. There were a myriad of music contests and awards shows out there so I figured our community of artists and songwriters deserved recognition as well.” The first awards were held during one of the organizations “Roadtrips” where they travel to cities around North America and host networking events and showcases to feature area members.

 

Welcome All

The interest level the second year shocked the staff as 2,400 albums and 35,000 songs were sent in. Thinking the members had exhausted their libraries, JPF agreed on a third awards. As the 7,880 albums and 102,000 songs rolled in, it was clear there was a real need for someone to screen and recognize the work that the other 98% of the world was creating. According to Linda Berger, the organization’s projects director, “No one had ever done anything like the JPF awards before. It was larger in scale and diversity than any of the awards contests and unlike most awards shows, all the music involved was actually listened to and judged one song at a time on merit rather than by the popularity or public and industry awareness of the artists and writers involved.”

 

Diversity is one of the signatures of the JPF Awards for which the staff is most proud. “There’s a lot of great music in smaller niche genres that get completely bypassed by the major awards programs. This year we added categories like: Celtic Instrumental, Cajun, Jewish, Bluegrass, Techno, and a host of ethnic and foreign language categories which truly made our awards an international and all-inclusive affair,” said Brian. “That diversity was especially illustrated at our awards show this year, which featured a worldwide collection of artists and genres.”

 

With 85 countries represented among the entries, the JPF staff wanted to make sure the world was represented at the live awards show. Led by Lithuanian band SKAMP and Japanese band Mother of Soul, the performance lineup boasted performers from all continents. “We even sent judging discs to a weather and scientific research station crew on Antarctica this year,” said Linda Berger, “With representatives from every racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural background, performing songs from over half of the 60 nominated genres, the show was living proof that the JPF awards are not only the largest in the world, but the most diverse and inclusive as well. It also provided a living demonstration of our organization’s motto: We’re All in This Together! It was a night filled with world class talent from above, below, and beyond the mainstream music industry radar.”

 

“Looking around that room, I really felt I was in the midst of a revolution.”

–Bob Malone, award-winning singer-songwriter.

 

International Stars

Music legend Taj Mahal, who was blown away by the caliber of talent and professionalism presented, commented, “The artists who performed at the award show renewed my faith in the continual regeneration of music. All is not lost—big business has not taken over the music…and these folks are still making great music! It’s nice to see attention given to artists that are usually ‘off the radar’ to the entertainment industry. Normally, you wouldn’t have access to the wealth of creativity that we saw at the 2004 Just Plain Folks Music Awards.” Taj was at the awards show supporting his late sister Carole Fredericks, who won two Gospel awards for Best Song and Album.

 

That diversity helped bring in artists who are famous superstars in their corner of the world, but who have had little exposure to the North American music industry. SKAMP, who set a record with 12 nominations, outsells Britney Spears and Madonna in their home country of Lithuania. Posters of SKAMP vocalist Erica Jennings are far more popular than those of her U.S. superstar peers. “SKAMP is one of the biggest discoveries we’ve made in the years we’ve done the awards. Not only are they great writers and recording artists but they have a multinational lineup that incorporates pop, alternative, rap, dance and Electronica into some of the most commercially exciting music we’ve heard since we started—and they’re really nice and humble people, which is always a bonus,” said Brian. A well-known producer at the awards show immediately took interest in SKAMP and met with them the next day to discuss recording some tracks to shop to U.S. labels. Brian adds, “I think it’s great that we embrace the smaller niches and still represent mainstream commercial music made by our members as well. We really do have it all.”

An indication of the breadth of music recognized is illustrated by the genres of the Album of the Year winners. “The last four winners were Melody Guy’s Country Album Ready For Sunshine, Noelle Hampton’s Pop/Rock Singer-Songwriter Album Under These Skies, Tammy Edwards’s Contemporary Christian Album Widows Mite and this year’s winner, Celldweller, who’s self titled album was a mix of hardcore industrial, metal, rock, and electronica.The Brooke Fox Band for JPFolks Awards nite 2004. 

From L-R: Kurt Gellersted, Brooke Fox, Brandon Schott and Martin McSweeney. Photo by Richard Carr.

 

“These albums couldn’t be more different, yet all of them are brilliant efforts in their genres. The mainstream media didn’t pick up on it but our voters did,” said Brian. “In the case of Celldweller, a lot of people have heard the music (every song on the album has been licensed by a major motion picture), but for some reason this album isn’t in every record store in the U.S. and people don’t know who is behind that amazing music they hear on the movie screens.” .

 

“That was like an interior lineman winning the Heisman Trophy Award”

– Multi-Platinum Harold Payne on children’s artist Zak Morgan winning 2004 Male Artist of the Year.

 

Moved by the Music

With the inclusion of not only grassroots stars, but also successful mainstream writers and artists, anonymity for the winners will be harder to come by. With 7 No. 1 country songs, singer-songwriter Steve Seskin won the overall “Song of the Year” along with Chuck Jones for their song “Pictures.” “Just Plain Folks is a tribute to why we all make music, celebrating creativity and the joy of writing a song and sharing it with the whole world. I’m flattered to have been chosen for Song of the Year by Just Plain Folks, the coolest group of songwriters on the planet, where everyone is welcome and creativity is celebrated and honored,” said Steve Seskin, who also gives back to the organization as a mentor, sharing his knowledge and experience with the rest of the community.

 

Even industry veterans like Andrew Gold, who have had enormous successes over their career, appreciate the recognition. “I was honored to receive my award for best singer-songwriter album at an event with such a diverse and talented representation of music from around the globe. JPF’s support of independent artists is inspiring. Seeing groups from around the world that were so amazing was terrific and I am hopeful that these groups will garner more success and fame due to the work of Brian and JPF,” said Gold, who did a special performance of “Lonely Boy,” one of his hits that had special meaning to the organization’s founder. “That song was a big part of what got me interested in music as a kid and the fact that Andrew is still making music at such a high level and his peers chose to recognize it via the JPF awards was quite rewarding to us as well.”

 

Rewarding great music based on its merit is what the JPF awards are all about. Using a mix of industry professionals, songwriters, and artist peers, JPF staff members and music fans, judges are given only one criterion to judge the music: Does it move you? It sounds like a simple thing, but the freedom behind choosing music that moves you, without commercial or PR pressures and limitations can be a shock to those industry judges especially. “Each year we get these long letters of apology from A&R reps or publisher judges who say, “I am sorry that I chose song X because I know it won’t get radio airplay or cut by a major artist, but I just really loved the song,” said Linda Berger. “We let them know they did their job correctly. We want folks to chose based on what they actually like, not what they’ve been told they’re supposed to look for to meet current commercial industry demands.”

 

So what does the future hold for the explosive success of the JPF Music Awards? “Well, we’ve learned to stop underestimating the demand for fair and honest recognition based on merit. In a way, we’re victims of our success. Each year we have to reinvent our processes for screening and voting because of the growth and diversity of the entry pool. It’s not always easy to find judges who speak a language from the other side of the world or who understand experimental performance art music that defies comparison to anything anyone has ever heard before. But the challenge is also part of the fun. And we never forget that making, performing and listening to music is first and foremost supposed to be fun,” said Brian. “We’ll let the mainstream awards focus on rewarding the business successes in music. We’ll focus on the music that moves us.” 

 

For more information on Just Plain Folks and their Music Awards program, please visit www.justplainfolks.org.

  

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The Braille Monitor

National Federation of the Blind - National Newsletter

March 2004 Issue

THE ART OF ALBINISM / VIEW PDF

BY BROOKE FOX

NOTE: This article is a reprint of the article listed directly below.

 

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THE ART OF ALBINISM / VIEW PDF

BY BROOKE FOX

As a Singer/Songwriter, I have always felt the need to make a connection with others through my life and the lives around me. My experiences with legal blindness and albinism have undoubtedly shaped the way I make music and in turn, making music has shaped the way I live with albinism. I wanted to share some of my life in this article and open the door to more artists of all kinds from the NOAH community to come forward and tell their own story as a creative being when albinism and the art collide.

Here’s my take:

I have to say, I love my paleness! It's decidedly different. It turns heads. As an up-and-coming Singer/Songwriter currently living in New York City, it’s good to get noticed.

Music became a life support for me early on. I started performing young (age 5) around my Northern California hometown with the help of my grandmother, a professional musician and songwriter. I won a few talent show trophies and gained confidence in singing as something I could do well. As a child with albinism, music helped to keep me going when the kids at school got me down.

In the student band, I played clarinet through middle school and somehow learned to memorize my sheet music. It was just easier that way, rather than squinting at the notes. I’d just listen to the person next to me and copy them. My teacher at the time printed the music on large paper for me, but I think the difficulty with reading actually helped my musical ear develop.

Somewhere around age 10, I began to work out my own songs on the piano. Songwriting gave me a way to further develop my own voice and deal with life through journaling. My earliest songs were fictional tales about animals, people and eventually love. However, one of those first songs, called “Hold Your Head High”, became a favorite among those who heard it for it’s positive lyrics. My theory now is that it was my attempt at giving back the encouraging words people had given to me: “Your life can be decided by only you / Listen close here’s what you must do / Hold your head high / Reach for the sky”.

After High School, I went on to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Berklee is the only place to get an actual degree in the craft of songwriting. I thrived there, sharpening my vocal and acoustic guitar skills, finding my own sound and strengthening my lyric writing. I graduated with honors and was awarded a Songwriting Achievement Award.

Upon graduation, I relocated to Nashville, TN to be a part of the songwriting movement there. Arriving in Nashville, where they drive to get their mail, was the first real test of my resolve. I walked everywhere there. A stranger at the grocery once stopped and proclaimed, “I know you! You’re that girl that walks everywhere!” When I tried to hail a cab downtown, the driver picked me up and snickered, “Where are you from? New York? No one hails a cab in Nashville”

Meanwhile, my music career began to take shape. I recorded my first CD, got a band together, had some solid mentions in the press and played a ton of shows. I worked in a recording studio for a year as an assistant where I met all kinds of great people. I was making strides professionally, but I was struggling to get around in Nashville. Once, I caught a ride home from one of my shows with a complete stranger when my ride fell through. I had a meltdown one morning when the cab that usually took me to the studio was a no show. It felt like life was out of my control and I was having trouble staying “up” about it. I asked myself: ”Why Nashville?”

Then a friend of mine called. He had a room for rent in his Brooklyn apartment. I was determined not to make a “life decision” based on my albinism, but it was my pride versus my quality of life. So, I made the move to New York. It was nothing but freedom for me. Finally, I could get myself to shows and meetings without hassle.

Now, after a few years here, I am enjoying some professional success. I tour regionally with my band, I’ve secured a booking agent, and I am currently working on my second record, which will include “Change Me”, a song inspired by the life of Christina Olsen (subject of painter Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World”). She lived an amazing life as a disabled woman in Maine around the turn of the century. Through her, I was finally able to communicate my feelings about albinism in song: “Hey if you want to hold my hand / You’ve got to take me as I am / Because you can’t change me”

Albinism continues to shape my world and surprise me every day. When I get stopped on the street these days, my years as an entertainer kick in and help make it possible for me to be a positive force for albinism. I love dissolving the albinism myth for people out there, on the street or on stage, one person at a time.

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Acoustic Live, New York, NY - February 2003

Visit www.AcousticLive.com for more artists and open mic listings!  

BROOKE FOX - CHOOSING THE ARTISTS' PATH by RICHARD CUCCARO  / VIEW PDF

At Brooke Fox's apartment, I'm listening to her sing "Don't Fall Back." In her mid-twenties, her deceptively young face and youthful corn-silk hair belie a maturity that runs deeps in talent and artistic credentials. Her boyfriend, Kurt Gellersted, in the next room, is putting together a score on a computer screen with musical notation software. He's surrounded by the hardware he and Brooke use to make demos. Between his M.A. in Music Composition from NYU and her Berklee College of Music education, they form a juggernaut ready to scale the formidable competitive barriers of the New York singer/songwriter arena.

 

Her crystal clear voice soars and plummets with uncanny ease. The lyrics to her songs show a propensity for observing the world around her, rather than the myopic introspection that afflicts so many younger (and older) songwriters. In "Don't Fall Back," she counsels a friend who's had a wrenching departure from a relationship:

 

You pushed back
Laid your napkin on the table
And swiveled out the door.
Something she said
Pulled the trigger in your head

Left a love lying dead on the floor.
Now nobody owns you
No one controls you
But nobody holds you high
Don't fall back
It'll be all right
And there's a force deeper than the ocean

Rolling through your soul tonight

 

Vacaville, USA, Maker of Stars

This is all rendered with a poetic grace and skill that commands the listener's attention and provokes a curiosity to know where all this talent comes form.

 

Brooke's Credentials began taking shape at the age of five, in the town of Vacaville, California, about an hour outside of San Francisco. Her grandmother was a musician who'd traveled around in the 1940's, playing accordion and piano. She perceived that Brooke was able to pick out melodies on the piano, and began writing parodies of show tuned for Brooke to play. There parodies were then put to use in the big talent show during the annual weeklong "Fiesta Days." Brooke won first prize at the age of six.

 

Her Mother promptly used the prize money to enroll her in a local children's theater company. They did musical productions of "Annie", "Willy Wonka" and "Carousel." In addition, her grandmother, who had a writing partner, would write music for melodrama's that would be presented during "Fiesta Days."

 

Brooke participated in the talent shw and the melodramas every year up until she finished high school.

 

She started writing her own material on the piano at the age of 10, but didn't start performing them until age 13. She wrote a song called "Hold your head high," and would write entire children's musicals.

 

At seven or eight years old she used to write little twenty-page books. She said they'd go something like: "Cory walked down to the corner with her cat, Molly, and then they went to the store..." Then she recounted, "I'd take them to my parents' friends and might sell them for a quarter apiece. I had this little business, you know? I was very industrious," she said, laughing. "When people asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I'd say, 'I want to be a singer and a writer.' That's pretty much all that ever crossed my mind. That I wanted to be in music."

 

Not All Roses

Brooke's early days in school were not without their emotional hurdles. First off, she states, "I'm an albino, and that comes with a package. My distance eyesight is not good. In fact, I'm legally blind." After being teased in school, she'd go to a rehearsal, or go home and practice her music. She said, "I'd think, Well, I have my own secret thing."

 

In high school, she became sort of a "golden child of choir," for a couple of years, holding the post of president of the choral club. She said. "I started performing my own stuff. It was all piano-based. I'd play my songs in talent contests, but I wouldn't win. Someone else who'd sing something like "The greatest love of all" would win. I'd come in, like, third. I learned very early about the way that, for the average listener, entertainment value will generally take precedence over artistic expression. The average person will tend to say, 'Play me a song that I know.' My Mom would ask me to 'play one of those covers...the Fleetwood Mac song that I like.'"

 

Mozart Strikes Out

Brooke's life almost diverted down a more rigid path. As she states: "In high school, I was very classically trained, as a vocalist. My choral teacher took me under her wing and I had private teachers, I was singing Mozart and Aaron Copland. I used to do these honor choir things. A hundred singers would get together on a Friday and we'd rehearse for tow days straight for ten hours a day. Then we'd give a concert on Sunday."

 

However, the acoustic songwriter in Brooke kept pulling at her. She remembers: "I started playing guitar when I was in high school. There was an old guitar around the house and I just picked it up. I took a few lessons, not very many. I'd start playing along with the radio, picking up songs."

 

The time came form Brooke to make a decision about which direction she would take. It went like this: "I was looking at all these colleges, there was a college in California that was going to give me a huge scholarship. I'd taken the audition and they really loved me. I came very close to going down that path. I was going to study opera sn composition, a double major." Citing an urge to experience something new, she said, "I wanted to see Boston, and when I found out that I could major in Songwriting at Berklee College of Music, there was really no choice. I realized that, even if I became an opera star, at the end of the day I'd still be writing pop songs."

 

From Berklee To Nashville

Berklee gave Brooke the infusion she craved. She says. "I loved Berklee. I loved Boston much more than I thought I would." One of her favorite experiences was the lyric songwriting course taught by Pat Pattison focusing on the craft and poetry of songwriting. She also took course electives like "Music Business" and "Private Studio Instructor." She was awarded a Berklee Songwriting Achievement Award and held annual slots in the college's songwriting showcases. Then, Berklee's yearly "Inside Nashville' trip gave Brooke an opportunity to discover its songwriting and creative community. She moved there after graduation in 1998. After recording her first CD NightLight, she was offered a job at the same studio and accepted.

 

In The Core of the Apple

After spending two years in Nashville, a friend in New York City asked her to share an apartment here. Seeing a better fit for herself, she said "yes." She's performed at The Cutting Room, The Bitter End, and the Living Room, and earned slots in the BMI Acoustic Roundup series and the ASCAP Pop Songwriters Workshop. She's forming a band these days, but says. "I've always been about the song standing on it's own in an acoustic setting." She says, "If it doesn't move people in it's purest form, I know I need to dig deeper."

 

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The Reporter

Vacaville, CA

August 3, 2002

Homecoming Concert for Brooke Fox

By Reporter Arts Staff

New York City singer-songwriter Brooke Fox will perform Friday at Caffe Baci, 547 Main St., in downtown Vacaville. The music, Fox's blend of moody jazz, pop and rock 'n' roll, begins at 9 p.m. Admission is free.

 

The show is a homecoming for Fox, who grew up in Vacaville. After leaving Solano County, she studied music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduation, she moved to Nashville. There, she recorded a full-length album, the 11-song "NightLight," and formed a live band before returning to the East Coast.

 

Since living and working in New York, she has performed at The Living Room, The Bitter End and The Gaslight.

 

Besides the Vacaville performances, Fox will perform at two showcases in Los Angeles and a set as part of the National Organization of Albinism and Hypopigmentation conference in Concord where she plans to share her experiences as a musician with albinism.

   

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Talent in Motion

New York, NY

Summer 2002 Issue / VIEW PDF

Hosted by Tino's Restaurant, the piano ladies came out to play and it was something to remember. It's not so unusual a thing to visit a Manhattan midtown piano bar/restaurant to check the venue's musical showcase while dining, but it is highly unusual when all of them are female, one of them has blue hair, one is albino and all are playing alternative music. Not the normal laid-back, staid lyrics or soft sounding backgrounds, these girls rocked the house.

 

 

"Designed with a certain nostalgia for Europe, from the fresh Mediterranean feel of the open French doors and wicker chairs and green marble tables, to the elegant dining area with soft yellow walls and antique furniture, Tino's Restaurant will transport you to a care free vacationing place." 

 

TINO’S is located at 40 West 56th Street, NYC. 212-262-930

    

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Sensored Magazine

Nashville, TN

June 2000 Issue

FOXWORTHY – by laurel boland

Have you heard about Brooke Fox? "NightLight," Brooke's debut album on her own independent record label. Babbling Brooke Records, features eleven intensely personal songs. This young woman is a poet on fire. She writes intricate, soaring melodies that rise and fall over grooves both deep and wide. From an intimate whisper to a full-on wail, she sings with thoughtful purpose because she is living these songs as she sings them.

 

Brooke's career began at age five in Vacaville, CA. Relatives say she was born to perform. She started creating her own songs on the family piano. At age twelve, she played one of them at a school talent show. "It was quite a rush", Brooke said.

 

After high school, she devoted her time to studying songwriting at Berklee College of Music. As she strengthened her emotional vocals and piano skills, she started playing the acoustic guitar. She often plays an annual spot at Berklee's songwriting showcases. It was on Berklee's yearly Nashville Spring Break trip that Brooke was exposed to the professional songwriting community in Nashville. After graduation, she relocated to Nashville.

 

"NightLight" was recorded locally at New Reflections Studio and produced by Brooke and Jim Lightman. The record features her band: Curtis Barkley on electric guitar and piano, Frank De Bretti on electric guitar, Luis Espaillat on bass and Kory Knipp on the skins.

 

The opening acoustic riff of "TimeFool" sets the mood perfectly as Brooke takes you with her on a frustrating journey through life at the hands of time. "Time has made a fool of me/Un-knitted and unraveled the spool of me".  

 

"Eclipse" tells the story of a couple so lost in love that they lose touch with the world. Well "Isn't love supposed to be that way?" "Interplanetary lover, you have been eclipsed."

 

We can all relate to the painful confusion felt when the rug of a relationship is ripped out from underneath our feet, as happens in "Switch It Off": "Everybody deals in different ways/I need time to fade to black."

 

Brooke Fox is a very illustrative singer/songwriter. Her debut album is very diverse in style, with everything from folk, blues, jazz, pop and rock. The end of each song leaves you with a craving of what you'll hear next."

 

Get hip to Sensored at www.sensored.com

   

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Nashville Music Guide

Nashville, TN - February 2000 Issue

Brooke Fox - Featured Artist

Brooke Fox (Pop/Rock) - Brooke, a Northern California native and Berklee College of Music in Boston graduate, came to Nashville to be a songwriter. Brooke was selected as one of the 20 local finalists for the 1999 Lilith Fair Acoustic Talent Search. Brooke's new album, NightLight, is an empowering adventure into songs of this artist's life. Her vocals go from wispy soft accents to sultry soft enchantments in her arrangements. This is an album that should be in your collection. My personal favorites are "TimeFool", "Eclipse" and "Seamless". The one that brings my soul to surface is "Here and Gone". Her album is available at Tower Records Nashville and Great Escape as well as her website, www.BrookeFox.com. CHECK IT OUT. - Barrye Cassell.

   

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Nashville, TN

January 27th 2000

Critics' Picks

BROOKE FOX. Fox, a striking vocalist whose features are set off by long strands of pale-blonde hair, is among the many Boston-based singer-songwriters (including Gillian Welch and Kami Lyle) to colonize the Nashville club scene in recent years. The best cuts on her self-released NightLight CD demonstrate a smoky, slightly slurred phrasing that calls Ricky Lee Jones to mind. Fox unveils a new acoustic three-piece lineup at Jody's Bar Car in a Sensored Magazine show with Vaughn Penn (The World's Alright) and Mindy Smith. - J.R.

   

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Nashville, TN - January 2000

Brooke Fox - Unique look, unique music.

In a business where image can be everything, one Nashville artist is making the most of her individuality. In reference to her striking appearance, Brooke Fox has a CD titled “Nightlight,” and her publishing company “Albina Music.” Brooke doesn’t need to rely on the novelty of her look, however. Her music is both haunting and engaging. Reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, her songs contain a pop sensibility that could also link her to artists like Alanis Morisette and Stevie Nicks. Her live shows, both solo and with her band, support the talented statement her music makes. A standout song, among many, is the complex and dramatic “Eclipse.” Its chorus has a lilting build that will come back to you over and over days after hearing her play.  - Widerman

Music: Alternative, Experimental, Folk, Jazz, Pop, Rock

PS: Want to speak your mind about Brooke Fox? Click here to add a comment to the "Your Ratings and Reviews" section of this article. Its OK. Let it all out.

   

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Nashville, TN - December 1999

Brooke Fox - "A"

Brooke impassions her audience as few singer/songwriters can. Her poignant lyrics and cool jazz and folk melodies have a way of grasping and surfacing dormant thoughts buried deep within you. She artfully uses her strong, beguiling, yet innocent voice and mastery of her acoustic guitar to meander into your spirit. Brooke will, in the end, light your night (as her newly released CD, NightLight so accurately suggests). Though Brooke occasionally plays with her band, her presence and talent make her a definite "must see" when she goes solo, accompanied by her soulful guitar. - Rebecca Malone Melo.....

 

Categories: Music Alternative, Music Folk, Music Jazz.

   

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Nashville, TN

June 9th, 1999

Today's Hot Spots - Our Picks

Brooke Fox has one of those voices that’s torchy, yet it still has some bite and earthiness. It's a voice which she applies to mod, folky rock on her song Time Fool, to dreamy, jazzy folk on Save Me, to Carly Simon-like pop on Here and Gone, and to feisty, Alanis Morissette-type rock on Switch It Off

Fox plays today at the Gibson Guitar Cafe & Gallery, 318 Broadway @ 8:30 p.m.

   

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Vacaville, CA (My Hometown)

June 27th 1999

Vacan Now Living in Nashville, Celebrates First CD

By Richard Bammer, Features Writer

 

If you're a singer-songwriter, where else to hang your hat but in Music City USA, good ol' Nashville? Which is exactly where Vacaville native Brooke Fox, an aspiring and talented singer-songwriter, lives. She relishes the creative environment there, especially the emerging pop-rock scene.

 

Fox, 22 and a 1998 Berklee College of Music graduate, said in a recent interview that she migrated to Nashville "for the songwriting more than anything else, for the community of songwriters."

 

And the soft-spoken amiable, young woman has not merely been content to hang out and hope and pray that someone notices her ability to craft sensitive, insightful songs about life, relationships and love.

 

Fox recently co-produced her debut CD, "NightLight," 11 original pop-rock songs with a crack four-piece backing unit on her own Babbling Brooke Records label. To celebrate her first songs on disc, Fox plans two concerts in Vacaville. The first will be from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday at Caffe Baci, 547 Main St. the second will begin at 7 p.m. July 11, a formal CD release party at Alberto's restaurant, 537 Main St., Vacaville.

 

"NightLight" was recorded where she works part-time, New Reflections studios, over two months. The decision to record came after nearly a year of recording dates in small Nashville clubs. She co-produced the project with engineer Jim Lightman.

 

Whether performing solo or fronting her band, Fox views herself in four ways: singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. Her sound - which could be likened to any number of today's biggest country crossover stars - possesses the lean stylings of Joni Mitchell mixed with the brittle edge of Alanis Morissette coupled with straight-ahead acoustic guitar licks.

 

The songs' tempos vary from quick-paced rockers to slow ballads, all driven by Curtis Barkley on electric guitar and piano, Frank De Bretti on electric guitar, Luis Espaillat on bass and Kory Knipp on drums.

 

The CD kicks off with "Time Fool," on which Fox describes the frustration of having too little time to accomplish important tasks and the vague yearning of wanting to change the past. "It's your basic angst song," said Fox.

 

A slower, reflective song, "Save Me," details a friendship with a woman beginning "to dabble in the dark side of paganism. I wrote the song to wake her up out of her dream. She was not in touch with the world."

 

Relationships, particularly those undergoing painful change, are the subject of several Fox tunes. A ballad, "Eclipse" tells the tale of three friends, two of whom are bonding while a third becomes estranged by the couple.

 

"Don't Fall Back" is advice to a friend about not being seduced by a longtime girlfriend after the relationship has ended.

 

For Fox, the process of songwriting - which she studied at Berklee under Professor Pat Pattison - begins with a title and a chorus with a "hook," or memorable refrain.

 

"I'll write the entire chorus and try to get it right. Then I'll work around it and recolor it and use it as the basis of everything - sort of like the thesis," said Fox, born an albino but not one to bemoan the condition.

 

Fox tries to write "accessible but also meaningful" lyrics for the average person, somewhere between the literary styles of, say, Gillian Welch and commercial-oriented musings of Britney Spears.

 

"It's kind of like bridging the gap between pop music accessibility and the sensitivity of the deeper lyric writer," said Fox, the daughter of Donna and Jay Fox of Vacaville. "The general public doesn't want to sift through it all."

 

Richard Bammer is a Reporter features writer. He has covered arts and entertainment for Northern California newspapers and magazines for 12 years. www.TheReporter.com 

 

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