Bloggy Wog by Chrissy Coughlin

Cinco de Mayo

I can’t remember the last Cinco de Mayo where I was shrouded under so much rain. Then again, I can’t really remember any Cinco de Mayos. I mean I am sure I had fun whatever I was doing, but I just don’t remember what that was.  I actually do remember it when I was 9 or 10 running around the May Pole at school holding big ribbons that swirled around while my little buddies and I danced through a rehearsed and perfected process of intertwining ribbons. And I remember the music.

The result was the most colorful braid of beauty. And we made it. I mean we danced around like little elves and thought we were cool. We were even nervous because so many people like parents and stuff were watching us. They do it every year and today there are 9 or 10 year olds running around the same May Pole. It’s a good memory. I like thinking about that free and wild feeling we had as kids.  It’s key to keep that feeling alive and well as adults. There’s really no reason to stop.

I just hope it isn’t as icky in DC today as it is in NYC for the kids sake.

Rock on my friends!

Soaking up the Sun!

I am still in Florida and I just typed out a blog that somehow just got erased. Second times a charm!

I came down here for Easter and just can’t seem to get myself back up to NYC quite yet. I am loving the warm breezes, sunshine, and rest. And typing away here outside rather than in my dark apt!! Today is really windy. I love it!!

So, I had a great show at Rockwoods before I left. It was a lot of fun to play in the afternoon there. It was low-key and there was a terrific crowd there to support me. In fact, if you are reading this and you came out, THANK YOU! It was also fun to do a solo show. I debuted my new song, Safe to Stay, and I was happy how it was received. I am pretty psyched about the tune. I will get a copy of it up on my site very soon and would love to get your feedback.

Tomorrow, I am going to be taking part in a beach clean-up down here at this beach I really love to go to. It’s so pretty and I want to do my part to keep it that way! When I was swimming the other day, I came across a huge brown papery product of some sort that I thought was initially going to eat me up. I was happy it wasn’t a hungry animal but it was a bummer that it was trash. So, I will be busy as a beaver from 9-1 manana:)

Let me know if you are doing anything for Earth Day/week! I would love to hear about it!

Okay, I am going to take a walk now. Happy Spring everyone. For us, Northeasters, it is well deserved! Wow, that was a long winter!

xo

Chrissy

Morrissey last night

Hi there friends! Hope all is well with you. It is a beautiful much needed day here in NYC. I am going to get some work done and then head up to Central Park…maybe even hit up the Met. Yahoo!

So, as you can see from the title of my post, I saw Morrissey last night at Carnegie Hall. It was an amazing show.  I was in the fourth row and could see the lines in his face, his expressions, his pain, his concentration, his admiration for the audience and gratitude for playing at Carnegie Hall.  You could tell he was in awe of the place. It was pretty cool to see. And his band was phenomenal. So so good. It was a very choreographed set but only subtley and everything worked pretty much perfectly.

I grew up listening to the Smiths. I adored them. His voice sent me to a place as a teenager that was pretty special. Yeah, his songs are depressing but they are also beautiful and hold a special place in my heart.  They are raw and real. It was cool to see lots of people my age who clearly grew up listening to The Smiths as well as younger folks who know him as a solo career artist. Everyone was so psyched and that’s pretty infectious!

He came out in a full tuxedo (he changed out of that pretty quickly) but it was awesome.  And his voice sounds exactly the same. Okay, I could on and on…Okay I will say one more thing.

Something that kind of stuck with me last night was his comment to the audience that he can’t be loved. This was after he handed the microphone to someone in the audience who yelled out, “I love you, Morrissey!!” He had a full house of ADORING fans yet he was on stage saying that it’s not possible to love him.  We may all love him from a distance but that is still love and he is a lucky man that we all adore him after all of these years. It was as if the audience was roaring and clapping him out of that fatalistic state that we both love and dislike about him!!! And hey! He doesn’t have to worry about the recession when you are selling out Carnegie Hall!

I hope that you all have an amazing weekend. Do me a favor and smile to someone this weekend who you don’t know.  You can do it just once or all day, at night, in the morning…whatever…just do it.  You will be amazed not only how it makes you feel, but how it makes the other person feel. It’s a shit time in this world but we are all pretty lucky. More smiles help. :)  :)  :)

xo

Chrissy

Saturday in the City

I had an amazing show on Wednesday and I woke up today for the first time since the show, feeling a little off.  I got up anyways, of course,  because it was time and because it is Saturday and because it is warm(er), and because all of the skim milk was going to be gone from the Farmers Market.  Grrr. I figured out what was going down.  I was coming off my high from my show.  A natural high. The best kind.

I worked hard and in the past couple of days since the show was celebrating my success.  Even though I was, in the end, close to ‘poop in your pants’ nervous when I got on stage on Wednesday, I did it.  The trick now is to keep bits and pieces of that feeling alive to fuel the fire.  It’s amazing the impact a 50 minute set can have.  When a room is full of love and support, anything can happen.

It had been a year since I had played The Living Room. Yeah, the band was rehearsed but it didn’t get rid of the  “Wow, I am playing The Living Room” factor.  The room was full and all of those people were all on my side so I took a deep breath, smiled, and waited for the drums to kick in.

It’s pretty cool to push yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s easy not to do. It’s not easy for me to do for sure. So, my goal for the next week is to keep myself so busy being productive that I don’t have time to be fearful.

Now I just need to find my Staples “That was easy button.”  Where is it? Oh there it is.  Push. Is that a real guy saying that or a robot? Probably a robot.

Get out there and kick some butt my friends!

Now I must practice my new tune.