Wendy Proulx: News

I spent Earth Day in my Earth shoes playing for the Woodstock Folk Festival Earth Day Celebration and Fundraiser. It was a gorgeous day to be out in the country, and I was privileged to hear a lot of great players. I was really glad to be part of the day's festivities. Thanks to Annemarie Serra for inviting me to join in the fun!

On a sad note, I received a message on my Guestbook this morning that jazz pianist/saxophonist Jack Hubal passed away last night.

About 18 years ago, I walked into Jack's house to learn how to play jazz piano. What followed was a two-year oddyssey of being dragged through the mud of music theory -- but at the other side of it I walked into a bar and landed a 5-nighter playing piano and singing, a job I held for a year and a half. Jack's teaching was the pivotal element that transformed me into a full-time musician. And the really incredible thing is that I know he did the same for so many other players around town.

Rest in peace old friend. The big jam session in the sky just got one star brighter.

No, I didn't drop off the face of the earth after my Bill's show on March 11. But I DID get pretty busy at my day job, and had some family commtments on the weekends that kept me from doing much music.

However, April is here -- although you wouldn't know it from the silly snowstorm we are experiencing in Chicago -- and I have some fun dates coming up. Make sure to check out my Calendar page for more details!!!

Thanks for visiting.

It was a great weekend for playing!

Saturday night I journeyed to Woodstock to play a show with Mark Lyons at the Stage Left Cafe (thanks, Mark!). It was great to see some old friends, including Tom and Jennie Dincecco, Roger Schiller, and Barb & Brittany Evans. Also great to see a lot of familiar faces from the Masthouse. Stage Left is such a nice room to play in - perfect size and nice folks, too!

Sunday night we had a wonderful time at Bill's Blues Bar. I split sets with "Vintage Folk / Classic Country" artist Jeff Justman. Special thanks to all the folks who came out to support us on a work night, including: Deb Pekin, April Peterson, Al Grieshaber, Gretchen Goode, Harold Morrison, and Deb's friend Jerry (who must have a perfectly good last name but I sure don't know it). Also, my warmest thanks to Nancy Emrich for giving us the booking, to Norm Siegel for his stellar soundboard work, and to Bill & Debbie Gibson for doing what they do and having a nice bar for us to play in!

Thanks to all for a great weekend - I'm looking forward to many more!!!

Oops, wrong show. It's been my birthday and other things over the last couple weeks, so I haven't been able to make it over to Bill's for the Open Mic. So I hope lots of you can come by on Sunday, March 11 for the Lilfest Selects show with Steve Justman!

CD sales are still encouraging. Looks like the kids at North Central College in Naperville are getting tuned in to STARSTRUCK, thanks to my niece, Melissa - who will be playing fiddle with me in future shows, so stay tuned!

Hey, it's official! I saw Nancy Emrich over at Bill's this afternoon and we finalized details for a split show with guitarist/vocalist Steve Justman. Check out my calendar for the details - March 11 is the date. PLEASE come out if you can -- Nancy, Bill and Debbie have been great to me over the last couple of months and I definitely want to support the club. Steve is an amazing musician and it will be a GREAT SHOW!!

I shared the stage with some great performers this afternoon! If you ever get the opportunity to hear 12-year-old folk prodigy Macyn Taylor, do not hesitate, do not pass Go -- this little girl picks like a monster and has a very, very BIG and beautiful voice. Catch her now because someday you'll be watching her accept Grammys alongside the Dixie Chicks. Like, WOW.

Thanks again to friend Gretchen for coming out to hear me -- she is becoming a regular groupie. It's a nice way to spend your Sunday evening, isn't it GG??

See ya soon!

Thanks to everyone who made the trip to Bill's for the open mic this afternoon, especially my friends Deb, Derese, Gretchen, Sandy, Donna, and Al. Also nice to see Mark Lyons and Jean Adaskevich, who played a nice set.

OK, so the sound system was a little buggy -- I blame the cold, bad cords and gremlins -- but hey, I haven't had a reason to use my "belt" voice for a long time, so what da heck!

Thanks to all these open mics I have nearly enough material ready for a set, and I am working to get at least a half-night booking somewhere (maybe Bill's??) in March. Stay tuned ...

Once again, thanks to all of you who picked up CDs, especially my friend Al -- good God, man, you have singlehandedly become my best customer. The dude has at least 8 of them. God only knows what he's doing with 'em -- kinda expensive for coasters, I'd say ...

See y'all out there!

When one has schlepped out to Woodstock, Illinois from Evanston, Illinois in 3-degree weather to sing, one can truly say that she has suffered for her art.

Despite Mother Nature's best efforts to compensate for global warming, we had a great time at the Masthouse on Saturday night. The open mic was well attended, and most folks kept their puffy coats on while the wood stoves worked overtime trying to heat up the Eunice Mast Music Room. But we perservered, and in the end it was a great time. Cold weather builds character -- and it makes you really work when your hands just don't want to play that C# diminished chord.

Of note was some very nice impromptu upright bass playing from Dean Milano, who I've run into several times of late as I've been out and about at the open mics. And it was lots of fun to play Mark Lyons' song, "Hold On Tight." (People love that song, Mark!)

A special thanks to all the friends who ventured out in the cold to be the best audience imaginable. Oh and of course, thanks to everyone who picked up a CD -- I sold all that I brought with me. Woodstock folks do like to buy my record!!!

Well, here's a first. Yesterday when I walked into Bill's for the Lilfest Open Mic, the place was filled with AU PAIRS. Now, these are not exotic fruit; actually they are 20-something young ladies, and it seems that there was some kind of au pair convention meeting at the club. Kinda different. My friend Gretchen told me after my set that I must have something going on because I even shut up the au pairs!

It was another good time; great to see friends Gretchen and Sandy; Mike and Peggy; and Peter. Sorry some of you who had to come late missed my set. I will try to get on a bit later next time.

It was also great to catch Mark Dvorak's first set after the Open Mic. I did a concert with Mark many years ago -- it was an Off the Square concert up in Woodstock, Illinois, featuring Hartland Express, Small Potatoes and Mark. What a great time that was -- it's good to see that Mark is still out and about and making great music.

Thanks to everyone for coming and to the folks who picked up copies of STARSTRUCK -- sales are still going strong, and I really appreciate all of you!!!

Hey everybody -- if you were waiting for a backordered copy of STARSTRUCK, CDBaby is restocked now and you should have yours shortly. Thanks for waiting!

Well, you guys managed to clean out CDBaby's stock in all of 3 weeks. Never fear, if your CD is on backorder it will be restocked and on its way to you shortly. Still, it sure is nice!!! Thanks, everybody!

Some weeks are about performing, some are about listening. This week I was lucky enough to be in the audience at the Lyle Lovett / John Hiatt /Joe Ely / Guy Clark concert at the Chicago Theatre. The format was the four guys sitting in a line with nothing but their acousitc guitars, mics and tables-full of bottled water. Guy Clark led off with a song I'd heard done by Eric Bibb, then Joe Ely took one, then John Hiatt and finally Lyle Lovett. And without any breaks, they did that for about an hour and a half. I alternated between being completely humbled -- as in, "why am I even TRYING to be a songwriter" -- to being inspired to go home and scratch out a few ideas. I had never seen Lyle Lovett perform live before. Rarely have I seen someone command such a presence from the first note of a song to the very last. Even the drunks were quiet!

In other news, I skipped the open mic at Bill's Blues Bar on Sunday so I could watch this little important football game that was going on at the mothership, Soldier Field. But I do plan to be ther on the 28th, God willin' and the creek don't rise.

Thanks, everybody, for the continued sales through CDBaby and the nice comments that keep coming in.

My friends Sue and John Garlisch are the proud owners of the first two copies of STARSTRUCK ever to be purchased on CDBaby. Now we get to test their customer service (as well as their payment process to ME). Thanks you two, and congrats on being the FIRST!!!

I had a great time at the open mic this afternoon at Bill's Blues Bar in Evanston. It's always nice to see Bill and Debbie, and what a nice bunch of folks play at that open mic! I will never forget the performance of Led Zeppelin's "Cashmere" on fiddle, although I did not catch the performer's name. (I will try to at a future date!)

It was great to see my old friend Amber and to meet my new friend Jeanine. Thanks for coming out to support me, ladies -- you're the best!

It was also nice to meet Janet McFee, who tells me she knows about some women performers who would like some of my stuff. I appreciate the plug, Janet; many thanks!

Finally, thanks to Nancy Emrich (who does the folk booking at Bill's) for the nice comments about "Not Tryin'." Nancy hears a lot of artists so when she gives a compliment it's coming from a very broad perspective, and I really do appreciate it!

What a nice little giglet this was -- I am definitely looking forward to coming back!

The CDBaby site is set up and rarin' to go! Even if you already have your copy, check out the site and post a review! Be part of the BUZZZZ!!

Thanks!

I hear rumblings from CDBaby that my page will be up on their website any minute now. If you're waiting until you can slap that $15 charge on your credit card, stay tuned, it shouldn't be long now.

Also had a nice chat with old friend Mike Graff, who has his finger on the veritable PULSE of the folk music scene from his job at the Old Town School of Folk Music. He gave me a lot of great venue ideas.

My Marketing Director is making me do something called a "Business Plan." Hey man, I'm an ARTIST, okaaay??! Jeeez ....!!

Finally, thanks and more thanks to all you folks who keep buying copies of STARSTRUCK. It's really gratifying to be selling so many when I'm still kind of in pre-release mode. You guys are THE BEST!

So -- I sent a copy of STARSTRUCK to Rev. Patti Pipia at Unity Nortwest Church in Des Plaines, where I sang some years back. Turns out her new Music Director, Lisa Steinman, is a woman I sang with a LOT at Unity in Evanston, oh, about TWENTY years ago--! (Yikes, Lisa, are we that old?!) So she e-mails me today to say nice things about the record (thanks hon), and you bet your sweet bippy I'll sing at Rev. Patti's church!!!

Watch the calendar for the date ... Woo hoo!

I had a great time singing at the Masthouse in Woodstock, IL. It was great to see some old friends and hear all the performers. Oh, and a big THANK YOU to everyone who picked up a copy of STARSTRUCK!! I sold a bunch and had a good time to boot!

Also, a special thank you to hostess Annemarie Serra for the nice words and plug for my record.

Another big thanks goes out to Mark Lyons, who invited me to sing with him and his partner, Jean Adaskevich at Stage Left in March. It'll be a great time, I'm sure - thanks, guys!

My "Marketing Director" Bub is busy with lots of ideas for filling in the next few months, so check back often for the latest!

Well, the biggest news these days is that "the CD" is OUT! A great big THANKS to all of you who have purchased advance copies. I haven't even had my release party yet and between pre-sales and sending out comps I've already nearly emptied a whole case!

Speaking of which, many of you have asked about a release party, and that is in the works. The idea at this point is to have one up in Woodstock, where I performed a lot with Hartland Express, and another closer in. I've got "my people" workin' on it ... if anyone has ideas for a venue, please send them to me.

Once again, thanks to everybody for your support and I am looking forward to a great 2007!