Foolin' Around with Patsy Cline

This Saturday, ONE NIGHT ONLY!!

When I was growing up, I listened to Patsy Cline. She was my dad's kind of singer. Patsy, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson: this was the soundtrack of my childhood. And I hated it! For a kid growing up in New Jersey, old-time country was a torment. My cousin and I would cringe as we listened to the music of our fathers: banjos and fiddles and yodeling, oh my!! Please, oh please, put on some Bon Jovi or Poison or anything ELECTRIC!! But at some point, my dad's music became my music. And it started with Patsy Cline. I can tell you exactly when Patsy started to appeal to me. In 1994, Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" was released. An excellent movie, with an even more excellent soundtrack. The soundtrack was produced by Trent Reznor, the man behind Nine Inch Nails, one of my favorite bands at the time. I figured, if Trent Reznor likes it, it must be kinda cool, right? One of the songs on that soundtrack was Patsy Cline's "Back in Baby's Arms", and the more I listened, the more I was hooked. That song began my love affair with Patsy's music. And now, almost 20 years later, how lucky am I, to get to sing a whole concert of Patsy Cline material? I'm talking 41 songs, in under 2 hours!!! It's gonna be a whirlwind of music, covering her biggest hits and some songs that are sure to be new to our audience, as they were new to me when we started working on this show. David Duvall (my director from "The Who's Tommy" and musical director from "Pinocchio") is the man behind this whole she-bang, with his company, Purple Phoenix Productions. Tonite is our one-and-only rehearsal, where I get to meet the band and hear what my voice sounds like on top of keys, drums, bass, guitar, steel guitar, and fiddle. So excited!! I've been singing these songs by myself for months now, and it sure will be nice to share them with a band and an audience. Wish me luck and tons of fun!!