Tish Oney's Music Blog

For several years I have been entertaining the idea of authoring a book on a topic I researched extensively when I was a doctoral student at the University of Southern California. The book is finally here! Peggy Lee: A Century of Song , I am pleased to announce, is available for purchase at the website of my publisher Rowman & Littlefield. This volume celebrates the one hundredth birthday of Peggy Lee, a pillar of twentieth-century American popular music, jazz, and blues. It recounts her expansive work as a film composer, actress, radio host, songwriter of 270 songs, voiceover artist, live performer, and recording artist of 1100 recorded masters. Lee's contributions to American music run the gamut from a large catalog of recorded music and original songs (many which became hits), exceptional stagecraft and performance practice, exemplary musicianship, nuance, authentic style in a wide palette of genres, music advocacy, and much more. Her pioneering work as a female bandleader/...

My career path has opened up into a place in which I have the unique opportunity to create concerts honoring pioneers of the music that resonates deep within my soul. Not many performers have these amazing and challenging opportunities, so I consider the responsibility of caring for the music as it is delivered to the audience to be sacred and extremely meaningful. Artists and composers about whom I have created, arranged, and performed concerts in the past include Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Van Heusen, Peggy Lee, Jerome Kern, and J.S. Bach, among countless compilation performances honoring multiple music masters. My next concert celebration, occurring this weekend, consists of performing the passionate and unparalleled Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi at The Peace Center with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra and the Greenville Chorale, conducted by Edvard Tchivzhel. Just two weeks later I will be fronting the best jazz band in Upstate South Carolina, the Greenville Jazz Collective Contemporar...

Last week I had the time of my life singing a centennial tribute performance honoring the great Ella Fitzgerald. What a special moment in the career of this singer to formally and publicly pay tribute to the one performing artist who had provided the greatest inspiration... who served as the primary model after which my own voice developed. To say that I grew up listening and singing Ella's songs would be a gross understatement. Most jazz vocalists have several influences. I had Ella. While yes, I was also enjoying the beautiful radio voices of Olivia and later, Whitney, my truly formative years were spent learning every nuance, pitch, smear and syllable sung by the First Lady of Song herself. In preparing my show last week, I dusted off several transcriptions of Ella's arrangements that I had written very early in my career. Those were, after all, the first songs I wished to learn how to transcribe when I was a jazz arranging student. I have been singing them in public for so...

This week I was pleased to share on local television ( Studio 62 TV , Spartanburg) news that my most recent recording, Songs From The Heart , has been submitted for Grammy consideration in five categories: Tracks 1 and 5 (different versions of "Follow Me,") were submitted for Song of the Year, Best Solo Country Performance, Best Duo Country Performance and Best Country Song. Track 2 ("Be Still and Know") was submitted for Best Contemporary Christian Performance/Song. I am so excited that the Grammy selection committee will be listening to these original songs ("Follow Me" was co-written by my husband, George Gábor) and possibly including them on the first-round Grammy ballot later this year. All three of my previous albums were on the first-round ballot in jazz categories, but it honestly feels gratifying to have my compositions outside of jazz also be given serious consideration. John Chiodini's consistently outstanding performances on the acoustic g...

One of the challenges of any performing artist's career is the high level of preparation that is demanded for consistently great performances. If an individual routinely has a month or more between concerts, preparation for the next concert may be garnered rather comfortably, but the more an artist performs, the less that type of luxury becomes likely. I consider myself fortunate to have quite a number of highly variable performances on the near horizon, but that, of course requires the discipline to prepare for more than one (or two or sometimes three) concerts at a given time. I believe in taking life one day at a time, so my NEXT performance is always the most important, but if the next one after that is only four days further out, it would obviously be rather unwise of me to ignore that show until the first show has come and gone! How then does one budget time to create the necessary preparation for every performance? Part of the answer lies in knowing thyself. I know that ...

Possessing a dual career, while often daunting, has its perks. My dual career is, of course, performing and teaching. Through the years one or the other has taken more time and priority, sometimes to the neglect of the other, and it seems to happen in waves... for a few years the teaching has been overshadowing the performing, but the pendulum swings back eventually to bring balance back to this soul which yearns to do more than one thing very well... Today I am excited to share news of one of many very successful singers I have had the privilege of teaching... having had no fewer than five former voice students (that I know of) perform in Broadway musicals, not to mention those who have pursued successful careers as stage and film actors, pop singers, opera singers, and music teachers, I am blessed to now sit back and watch their blossoming careers unfold. One such success is Broadway star Jessie Mueller, who garnered a Tony award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 2014 for he...

What an exciting time! The flurry of things to do when an album or recording is about to be released is formidable... and sometimes it's difficult to guess when it will all get done. When I recorded Songs From The Heart with John Chiodini (our third recording project together), it further proved that when you've got a good thing going, it's just silly to change it. The rhythmic interplay, melodic dances and pure improvisational bliss that we experience in the studio or on the stage together drive the point home that I have found my ideal collaborative artist. The title of the collection comes from a press kit testimonial John wrote for me several years ago in which he declared "Tish sings from the heart." The first track, "Follow Me," came out as a country love song. Songs are like children--they are who they are and you cannot make them into something they are not! Since I do not consider myself a country singer (although I do teach country singers),...

It is my distinct pleasure to be in tech week for Memorial Day Pops! ...an enormous program of patriotic songs, show tunes and jazz pops music to be performed by the marvelous Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maestra Sarah Ioannides Monday, May 25 at 7:30 pm at Zimmerli Amphitheater in Barnet Park, Spartanburg, SC. What a treat this performance will be! In addition to myself, the wonderful child soprano, Emma-Brooke Alley, will delight the audience with her lovely renditions of "Over the Rainbow," "You Lift Me Up" and a medley from "Frozen." Our two duets will be highlights of my evening... Jazz lovers will dig Chris Walden's arrangements from my touring symphony pops show including "When I Fall In Love," "It Don't Mean a Thing," "Cry Me a River" and "Nice 'n' Easy." In addition to all that, there will be patriotic favorites and Gene Scheer's wonderful "American Anthem" ...

This photo captured a special moment this past July when I was invited to sing at The Jazz Corner in Hilton Head with the wonderful Bobby Ryder Quartet and proprietor/fluegelhorn player Bob Masteller. This intimate jazz setting--singing in a small club with an attentive audience-- has always been a charming way to share my music. Lately, however, I have increasingly been offered opportunities to share performances with much larger ensembles and larger audiences in larger venues. How does a performing artist traverse the wide pathway of musical demands when challenged by very different types of concerts to perform? First, understanding the differences between both large and small ensemble concerts is the first major challenge. For a jazz improviser like myself, much more freedom is generally available when performing in a small combo setting on a smaller stage (although I have successfully played highly improvised concerts with my combo on a large stage... as long as we are placed ...

Tuesday I premiere my Jazz Seasons show in South Carolina... an iteration of this show appeared twice at New York's Metropolitan Room a few years back and was one of my first forays into solo cabaret. I have found that I enjoy playing and singing in this context--the freedom of performing all by oneself is radically liberating somehow. Don't get me wrong--I love performing with great artists! But the cabaret world seems to welcome a person alone onstage. One of the greatest freedoms of performing in this context is the permission to improvise aspects I would ordinarily leave predictable... meter, feel, texture, tempo, rubato... and for a true improviser like myself, that lack of knowing what will happen is particularly gratifying. This year alone I have premiered four distinct shows: Divas and Masters of Jazz (my latest version of this), The Great American Songbook (with Greenville Jazz Collective), Tish Oney Swings Into Spring , and Jazz Seasons . Last winter I prem...

Jazz concerts, new ventures, recordings, music articles, collaborations... January and February always seem to be the time to plan the "next phase" of projects. I am excited about a concert coming up March first--I will be the first vocalist to ever perform with the Greenville Jazz Collective! This wonderful instrumental ensemble is dedicated to writing and performing new jazz music. As a departure from their norm, we are engaging in a celebration of classic songs from the Great American Songbook programming works by Gershwin, Arlen, Porter, Duke, and Berlin. Our first and only rehearsal hit today--and I already know this performance is going to be a trip! Greenville/Spartanburg folks won't want to wait to get tickets--this ensemble usually sells out this tiny venue fast (The Coffee Underground), so see www.greenvillejazzcollective.com and order your tickets today! I have been meaning to release a pop single for several months now... it is fully mastered and ready ...

Next week I will be so pleased to be on tour with the wonderful symphony organization called Symphoria--the former Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. Two and a half years ago I was deeply saddened when the SSO filed for bankruptcy and ended their 50th season early, before the long-awaited Yo-Yo Ma concert. Imagine my glee when the successor organization contacted me this past summer to invite me to perform as their Holiday Pops soloist in their inaugural season as they gathered their troops back together for more music-making! What a privilege to help usher in a new era for my hometown cultural institution, our beloved symphony. This said, I am inviting every friend, family member, fan, former student and music-lover in central New York to join us in celebrating and supporting "Symphoria Pops Open the Holidays"--our Holiday Pops tour through Jamestown, Auburn, Herkimer and Syracuse, NY. We kick off the tour at the RegLenna Civic Center in Jamestown on Wednesday, December 4 at ...

Several years ago I began to be asked on a regular basis by esteemed executive directors of performing arts centers the following question: "Do you have a symphony show?" Now I can affirmatively answer "I have TWO!" Many folks may not know that in addition to my combined career as a performing artist, composer/arranger and recording artist, I am also Director of Vocal Studies at University of South Carolina Upstate (I have just completed my first year in this position). This wonderful university has graciously awarded me a grant to develop a touring symphony show which will enable me to meet the needs of concert presenters looking for new, excellent and affordable pops programs while sharing my music with even larger audiences. These concerts will be available for touring as early as December 2013, and are available now for booking 2014-15 and 2015-16 concert seasons. I have enlisted the help of some wonderful arrangers (and friends of mine) who have ear...

In my experience, songs are born, not made. I once wrote a song whose identity I did not discover until after I found myself in the recording studio making the music with my collaborative partner. We learned together that the song had a natural "country" feel, style, groove and affect. Being an experienced jazz singer (with a good deal of both classical and pop singing experience) I was a bit concerned about how my recording of this country song would sound! With a little help from my friends (my guitarist, John Chiodini, and recording engineer, Paul Tavenner) I found the right "voice" to pull it off, and my country single was born. This song has not yet been released, but I expect that it will be commercially available within a few months. As I teach my songwriting class at USC Upstate, I encourage the students to understand that they cannot always superimpose a style upon a set of lyrics with the intention of forcing a song to become something it is not. ...

...is usually the title of my solo touring show when I spend the evening alone on a stage behind a piano (most of the time) singing and playing. My upcoming concert on September 11 will be a bit different... instead of going solo I will be joined by four wonderful musicians--Dr. Gregg Akkerman at the piano, Adam Knight on guitar, Shannon Hoover on bass and Tony Christopher on drums. We have set out to give the University of South Carolina Upstate community a taste of my various touring shows--there will be selections from "Jazz Seasons," my NYC cabaret show performed at both the Metropolitan Room (twice) and the Triad Theatre in Manhattan, "The Peggy Lee Project," performed nationwide at performing arts centers, regional theatres, jazz festivals and university concert series, and "Sweet Youth," my latest critically-acclaimed CD of originals and a few standards. We'll be trying different permutations of the band which will be fun... I'll be doing...

I'm back on the road again this week and into my pre-performance routine. What is that? Packing, organizing, practicing, running errands, writing a blog, checking and double-checking to make sure I have my music, equipment, costumes, shoes, jewelry, stage makeup, CDs, CD table supplies, and just enough clothes to last until I return... Fitting it all into one carry-on and a personal item is then the real test... But I usually can do it! One very relevant piece of advice I once absorbed was "Only pack what you absolutely cannot live without... and then empty half your suitcase. Now you're ready to go." I have lived by that sage wisdom whenever I travel and miraculously it seems to work... This week I'm looking forward to a relaxing time at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack mountains of northern New York! This near-Canadian experience is always a refreshing retreat from the busier cities where I am fortunate to work. On the docket: music by G.F. Handel, Cesar...

Balancing a successful performing career with teaching can be a challenge and a delight at the same time. I am very excited to accept an offer to be the new Assistant Professor of Commercial Music at the University of South Carolina Upstate. One refreshing element of this faculty appointment is that my touring performance career remains important to the university and to our department in that we aim to train commercial musicians who are competitive in today's music business. Helping to build necessary skills for these students requires teachers that are true artists out in the real world providing real music for real audiences... Since the university has given me its blessing in continuing to pursue my international recording and performance schedule (much like the role of violinist Midori Goto at my alma mater, University of Southern California), I am thoroughly stoked to begin this work alongside my creative work. There are scores of professionally touring jazz and classica...

I am pleased to be joining acclaimed pianist Michael Royal for my next tour performance May 6 at 2pm at The Glenridge Performing Arts Center in Sarasota, FL. Michael is a dynamite musician who has built quite a resume of performing experience. I am excited to explore Peggy Lee's music with him for this one-afternoon-only matinee! The Peggy Lee Project is a celebration of the songwriting talents of the late pop/jazz diva, Peggy Lee. While Lee was well-known for countless major hits including "Fever," "Is That All There Is?" and "Big Spender," she also contributed 270 original songs to the Great American Songbook, collaborating with songwriting giants Duke Ellington, Johnny Mandel, Harold Arlen, Victor Young, Quincy Jones and Sonny Burke, among many others. I am proud to announce that this production is the only Peggy Lee tribute concert in the world endorsed by The Peggy Lee Foundation, Peggy Lee Enterprises, Peggy Lee Associates and the family of...

Next on my calendar of performance dates will be a baroque recital of soprano arias composed by J.S. Bach. This concert will be offered as part of the Riviera United Methodist Church Baroque Festival on Friday, February 24 at 7:30 pm at Riviera UMC in Redondo Beach, CA. The performance features the wonderful Dr. Rik Noyce on flute and Philip A. Smith on a newly refurbished organ. Entitled "A Lenten Journey With J.S. Bach" my trio will guide the audience through the Bible stories of Holy Week as exemplified through the incomparable music of a baroque master composer. Come and join us for a contemplative and beautiful journey of faith and love, pain and redemption.

Hello readers! This week I open a new doubleheader show in two cities--the show is called "Tish Oney--The Peggy Lee Project/Tish Oney's Swingin' Christmas." This pairing came about because a couple of venues could not decide between the two shows and were looking for something for the Christmas season... so we opted to combine them with a short intermission in between. The doubleheader will be presented Friday, December 2 at Fryeburg Academy (Fryeburg, ME) and Saturday, December 3 at Mt. Lebanon High School (Pittsburgh, PA). Guitarist John Chiodini will join me for both shows. Bassist Nick Walker and drummer Greg Evans will meet John and myself in Pittsburgh to play as a quartet for the second show. When undertaking the writing of a new show I am attentive to two sets of criteria: my interests in performing certain repertoire as well as the audience's interests in hearing something familiar balanced with something new. The manner of arranging varies from s...