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Hi all! I thought I was due to add an update now as it has been about 4 months since I have joined here and much has happened and most of it is good.
I have been playing all over the place going to a lot of jams via meetup groups. I have now gotten compared to Lou Reed, with the people saying it always following it by saying it is meant as a compliment, literally more often than not when I perform or jam. I even got it in writing the last time because I mentioned in my patter that I am deaf and so I don't know what I sound like to the audience. She wrote some compliments to me along with his name and Iggy's and Velvet Underground! It is funny cuz I don't even do any of his music even though I bet people are expecting me to do his "Walk on the Wild Side".
I did my biggest gig yet a few weeks ago when I was invited to perform at a big benefit for a food bank. I had a little over a half hour to myself on stage doing nothing but my own music with some jokes and seques and patter. I had them swaying their arms in their seats and clapping time with me. A few times the bass and drums were able to jump in with me but it is hard to do and keep up with me if you never heard my music before. Still, as deaf as I am, it was pretty cool hearing/feeling that added oomph and depth in my own songs. One of the best parts was after it over and we were all packing up our gear. The rest of the musicians there were pretty experienced and it turned out that after I played my set, they were thinking that I too, was a seminal Boston rocker like them that played the Rat, and Chet's, and Channel and etc., all the hot, Boston clubs, way back in the day. lol I think once I played a VFW but that's it. lol It felt great to be appreciated and judged like that.
Another new thing is that I have hooked up with a group made of all pro songwriters. Heavy hitters that are members of ASCAP and BMI and etc. The kind that writes here and then go to Nashville and etc to get top session players to cut their stuff. We demo our own songs to each other and critique them. I have gotten incredible reactions from them for my songs. They called one of mine "gold" and "perfect". I did a demo at the last one a few weeks ago of my latest song expecting it to be my first flop but they went nuts over it. I played it out for the first time last night in a Boston nightclub right around the corner from the famous Berklee music school so it is always full of incredible musical talent. It got a lot of applause and nice comments to me after I got off the stage.
As of now, I have enough to do a solid 35 or 40 minute set of only my own original rock. Plus, lots more songs to finish and ideas. I can come up with beats at the drop of a hat.
Darn it, I wish I did this when I was young with perfect hearing. I never even knew that I could sing. Things are looking up in my primary artistic expression which is acting too. I am a SAGAFTRA member actress. I will direct a play in Feb, I have an invitation that I have accepted to audition for another play fest that is also interested in having me MC it and just tonight a playwright emailed me that she wants me in a new show.
I am also the director of a film fest, the Screaming Ostrich Filmmaker's Festival. See us at www.screamingostrich.com as we accept music videos. We started in Oct'19 with 3 days and nights in 4 venues in Boston to great success. We followed up with a one night one in Dec. We have 4 more in the pipeline for '20. The next will be an all lgbT one on April 24 in Boston, followed by one for teens, one in NH and our big one next Oct which will expand to 4 or 5 days from the original 3.
I have a friend now that wants to start a band or a music act and she, like me, is also a transgender woman and singer/guitarist. And this month a producer that loves my stuff is taking me into the studio to cut my song, "As Seen On TV", which will be my first record and the first time in a studio.
Lastly, I am a climate emergency activist and a member of an activist group called Extinct Rebellion, or XR, that is in 70 countries even though it started less than a year ago. We do music at demonstrations too. I hated the songs they wanted us to use and told them so they said to me to write something better and I did. They loved them so now my songs are what you will hear at demonstrations locally and possibly soon nationally and internationally.
That is about all I have going on right now that I can think of. Remember though, if you make music videos, see my film fest link above to submit them.
Hello my name is Hershel and I play bass guitar I’ve been playing since the early age of 13 I basically tought myself how to play when I was that young and I would be honored if I could have the pleasure of working with you if you’re interested you can email me atmcbrideaj5@gmail.com or you can call me at 859-457-3506 and again my name is Hershel I hope to hear from you.
| Musician |
| Favourite artists |
mostly classic rock and blues but really some of everything and almost everyone |
| https://www.facebook.com/toriclayactress |
| I play |
| Rhythm guitar |
| Other instrument |
Stupid set up above won't let me choose more than one. I wanted to check lead vocal and rhythm guitar and lead guitar and add percussion and some keys |
| Genre |
| Rock |
| Other Genre |
| blues, socially conscious original rock with a message and some covers |
| Music Gears |
"music gears"? If that means to list my gear, I decline to do so. I have a bunch of pro guitars and amps and keys and percussion and I am just starting into a bit of sax and horn but not enough to add it to my skills list yet. |
| Equipment |
See above |
| Map |
Tori Clay is a professional entertainer and multi faceted artist, primarily a SAGAFTRA member actress but also a graphic artist and author and the first transgender female art model to be signed to an agency contract. As a male actor, she came close to making it big more than once. When she started to transition to female, her agent dropped her and she has only had a couple plays in the interim. She was lauded for her work in the first one though. About 2 months ago, she got back to music. She had not played and sang for anyone since she was a kid with perfect hearing. Now she is old and deaf with hearing aids and so it is hard to have the confidence that is so crucial to performing because she is never sure that what she hears is what the listener hears. Her current musical journey started with a chance performance when a friend's band offered her the stage at the end of their first set during the break. She got a fantastic reaction to her original song and wound up doing 5. Emboldened by that, she did a talent show and some open mics followed by a 4th of July gig in the bandstand on historic Boston Common and then a week ago playing in the Boston Figment Festival which is a festival that happens all over the country for arts of all kinds. There has never been a bad response. The music is original, socially conscious rock sung and accompanied by her guitar.