I never thought I'd get to write that again. But here we are, May of 2021 and I have three shows this month. But before I get into that, I just finished four shows this weekend directing the school musical. The Urbandale Drama Department presented Urinetown: The Musical this past weekend and what a blast! A musical comedy addressing social and economical issues that ring true today as they did when the show ran on Broadway in 2001. The students did a fantastic job. This is the second musical I've directed at Urbandale High School and it's always a joy. It honestly pushes my musicality to the extreme and it makes me a better conductor and musician. While my colleagues get the show moving in pre-production, I'm sitting in the driver's seat during the show paying attention to script and music. On Saturday morning, before the matinee show, I shot a music video with English for our upcoming single, Ouroboros. The title refers to the ancient symbol of a snake eating its tail and the phrase "Keep living in the reverie, the future is a memory" is repeated throughout the song. It's the first track on our upcoming release Mona Lucy and I'll have more news about that soon.
Two of my upcoming shows are at the same venue, xBk Live in Des Moines. Located in the Drake Neighborhood, xBk Live opened months before the pandemic began and is luckily still open. With so many venues closing in town and around the world, I'm thankful for the support to keep this one open. Doing everything they can to keep people safe and the music happening, xBk is very clear about safety protocol and I greatly appreciate it. Additionally, they have quality audio/video equipment to support a live-stream that will take our music into your homes and hearts. The Friday night concert series is titled: Live, Local, and Loud. This Friday, May 7, I hit the stage with Courtney Krause. On Friday May 28, with English. Both shows begin at 7:30 and will last for about an hour. Tickets are $10 and are limited. The live-stream is free and can be watched on the venue's YouTube page.
On Friday May 14th, I join my students to perform with Run Wilson at the Gas Lamp in Des Moines, Iowa. In my last blog, I shared the two songs off of their current album Hypna that I'm featured on. We'll be playing those two and a few more for a night of music at a local favorite: The Gas Lamp. Show starts at 9pm. More info at Run Wilson.
Thank you for reading, supporting, and sharing.
Take care,
xoxoxoxox,
Tommy