The Aftermath

Well I think I've sufficiently recovered enough in order to update my blog. It was a really good gig, we had a lovely turn out, just under 100 people. I was pretty nervous, much more then I usually am, but once I got over the first song it was fine.
It was very different from the gigs we normally play, I found the attentiveness of the audience a little strange. I normally have people chatting and getting drinks, still listening but in a more relaxed way, this was rows and rows of people sitting and playing close attention. It took a while for me to adjust.
I can not say enough good things about the people at the NCH and how well they looked after us. Great dressing rooms and the sound and lighting were fantastic. It was so nice to be spoiled!

I've included some pictures and videos in this blog to give you an idea of what it was like if you missed it. And if you were there, thanks so much for coming!!!

Link to video - click here

The finishing touches

Well I've just finished all my girlie preperations, hair, face dress etc
now it's time to work on my voice for a few hours before heading into the Concert Hall for a meeting with the stage manager and then some rehearsals before the show.

Next update will have details and hopefully some nice pictures of the show.

Thanks for reading!

The Valerie Coyne Quintet play the John Field Room at the National Concert Hall tonight
Doors open at 7.30
Tickets €15
Come along for a night of beautiful vocal jazz!

Near to home

Today after a full day of rehearsals we were out in Coolock on the northside of the city to be on the arts show for NearFM. Actually hailing form the northside my self I qualify as a local girl and they've had us on the show a few times. But tonight they gave us a full half hour, we performed 4 songs and had a chat with the very lovely Barbra Jennings who hosts the show.
To have a listen back click here the podcast isn't up yet, but I'm sure it'll be up in the next few days.
So that's it for the promotion for the show, day off tomorrow and then we're rehearsing again on Thursday and the show is on Thursday night.
Hope to see you there!!!
Thanks for reading.
x

The art of the good set list

As well as spending most of the day giving my vocal chords a workout and doing my best to memorise lyrics to all 23 songs, I have also been working on the set list for the show.
Sets lists can be tricky, you have to find the right balance to keep your audience listening and not sleeping. Which can be even trickier when you, yourself are rather partial to a slow ballad. But I think I have managed to get a good mix between the slow and medium tempo with a few fast tempo songs peppered about the place.
Its one of those things though that you're never entirely sure of until the night. I never yet managed to stick religiously to a written set list, I always end up moving a song based on the vibe from the audience. But for the most part it's set in stone, well dark blue printer ink cause our black cartridge ran out.

Warming up and cooling down

Much like the weather today I have been getting hot, sticky and wet. Gosh that does sound very rude,but it's really innocent! I've been working on the songs for the NCH gig and in the course of doing so have been warming up my voice and working up a sweat.
For those that might be interested in what a singer does to warm up, it involves lots of breathing exercises, followed by lots of facial and vocal exercises, all designed to work different parts of the singing machine and essentially to make one look ridiculous... see pictures below for evidence.

Its great having a chance to run through the songs on my own because while listening back I can assess how the arrangement's are sounding as well how my vocal line is going to be placed. It's often very easy to miss things in a rehearsal that come screaming at you from the recordings. So as well as working on the vocal lines today I've been doing a good bit of note taking which I hope will come in handy when the full band meet again on Tuesday.

Oh before I forget I must tell you, while taking a break today I got a phone call from the very nice people at the National Concert Hall to let me know that the piano they have for us is a Grand Steinway... Judith (our piano player) will be VERY pleased!
They also wanted us to know that ticket sales are going very well, sweet!!!! So if you'd like to book your ticket, log on to www.nch.ie or phone the box office on 01 4170000

Rehearsals and recordings

Today we spent most of the day rehearsing again. Things are really starting to come together. I put some pictures of our rehearsal space below so you can see us hard at work!


We also had our RTE debut this evening on the Arena show with Sean Rocks if you missed it have a listen and see what you think.

No rehearsals now until Tuesday, it'll be an all day rehearsal followed by an appearance on the Culture show on Nearfm.
Please follow us on www.myspace.com/valeriecoynemusic and I'm also on twitter (velvetvocals) and on facebook Valerie Coyne.

Thanks for reading. x

Promotion is the name of the game

Due to our upcoming gig in the John Field Room at National Concert Hall (oh that's right, the NCH baby!!!) we have been doing a lot of promotion in order to get the word out.
Firstly we were on the Weekend Blend show on Newstalk 106-108fm. Presented by the lovely Sile Seoige we talked and then performed a song live. The song was Give me the Simple Life, a new song we have added to our repertoire, sounded a little shaky on the day as we were in a very small space and as it was live we were a bit nervous, but we got the word out and are very, very grateful to the lovely folks on the Weekend Blend
To hear the recording click here
Newstalk

Then on Sunday it was on to Balcony TV to perform another song. After climbing what felt like a million sets of stairs we all squeezed on to the balcony and performed April in Paris. All the balcony TV staff treated us really well and we had great fun recording the song.
To see the results click here

We had a little promotion break on Monday and Tuesday but today we were in RTE Radio Centre to record for tomorrow nights Arena Show on radio 1 at 7.30. I was very excited to be in such an amazing studio, so well kitted out and with such a beautiful piano. The two Richie's (producer and sound engineer both called Richie) looked after us so well. It was lovely to be recording something not live so we had a chance to do a few takes and get things just right.
I was then interviewed by the very nice and talented Seán Rocks but I wont give away any details, you'll have to tune in tomorrow night.

So for the rest of the week and the weekend we'll be rehearsing,rehearsing,rehearsing and our last stop on the promotion train is Near FM on Tuesday the 13th with the fabulous Barbara Jennings. We have been on her show twice before and she always makes us very welcome. To hear the show tune into Nearfm on Tuesday at 7pm

For more details on the gig and any other promotional events please click here or look me up on facebook
To book tickets for the show in the National Concert Hall click on www.nch.ie or phone the box office on 01 4170000

For a sample of our sound please click on the links below, just some recordings from our last rehearsal
Why Try to Change Me Now
Give Me the Simple Life


Thanks for reading. xxx

The Valerie Coyne Quintet plays The National Concert Hall

Valerie Coyne along with her outstanding quintet are coming to the John Field Room at the National Concert Hall this July the 15th. Regulars to the Dublin Jazz scene The Valerie Coyne Quintet are currently hosting a series of evenings for Bewleys Cafe Theatre on Dublin's Grafton street. These evenings are proving highly popular and have been a sell out success many times over.
Performing a mixture of jazz & blues standards from greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and many more, a truly outstanding voice backed by some of Ireland's leading up & coming jazz musicians this promises to be an evening not to be missed!

Tickets are €15
Doors open at 7.30
To book call the box office on (0)1 417 0000
Or to book on follow this link
http://www.nch.ie/Box-Office/Performances/An-Evening-of--Vocal-Jazz.aspx?date=15/07/2010&time=2000

The velvet vocals singing workshop is a unique opportunity for aspiring and established singers alike to come together with like minded people and have their voice trained by professional singer and voice coach Valerie Coyne in a studio environment. Together with Tommy Ellis of Velvet Audio studio, Valerie has put together a day long workshop that includes:

Vocal Warm ups
Vocal Technique
Breathing for Singing
Vocal Care
Harmony and Ear Training
Building confidence, dealing with stage fright
Proper microphone technique
Development of style & song interpretation


The vocal workshops take place in the studio which allows access to state of the art recording equipment. As well as getting group and individual training for your voice you will also have the opportunity to record a song with the group as well as on your own. You will gain experience in the studio environment as well getting excellent feedback, tips & advice.

For further details or to book a place on our next workshop please email: valeriecoyne@gmail.com


Thank you all!

An "about time" update

I haven't really been keeping up to date with this blog at all, I find it hard to find the time to sit down and write, but the last few days I've been able to find time to play Plants V's Zombies on my laptop a little too often, so I think I should be able to find time to update my blog also.

So since January the thing that kept me the busiest is preparing for the Velvet Vocals Singing Workshop (details attached) This is a workshop that I've put together with my good friend and colleague, Tommy Ellis of Velvet Audio. We're using his stuido space to run a vocal workshop that will cover vocal care & technique as well as many other aspects of singing but the most fun part is that the participants get to record a song.
We ran a test workshop 2 weeks ago and it couldn't have gone better so I'm very excited. Out first one is due to run on the 3rd of April and I still have a good bit of work to do so that's going to keep me busy!
As well as working hard on the workshop I've been rehearsing for another Valerie Coyne Quintet gig in bewleys cafe theatre. We have a new bass player joining us for this gig and for many more I hope, Kevin Higgins. Kevin and I met in New Park Music College and were in a few ensemble classes together so have worked together before and it's always been a good experiance. Bass is not only one of my favourite instraments but its also what my ear picks out most when performing so I always like to have excellent bass players that I get on well with. Luckily I've always managed to do that and Kevin is no exception. He plays a fretless, electric bass and makes it sound awesome! I'm so looking forward to playing with him again!
Another new person to the VCQ is our drummer, Abel Benito. I met Abel in the same way I met Kevin, New Park (it's great for networking!) and he has always been my favorite drummer to work with, so intuitive and connected and he works so well with singers, which not ever drummer likes to do. So along with the very talented Judith Font on piano and Brian Wynne on Sax its shaping up to be a great gig.... fingers crossed anyway.

The Valerie Coyne Quintet @ Bewleys Cafe Theatre

The Valerie Coyne Quintet returns once again to bring another night of Vocal Jazz to Bewleys Cafe Theatre with their rich repertoire of jazz standards, featuring their own arrangements and unique interpretations of some of the most beautiful songs ever written.
Joining them will be special guests The Jenna Harris Quartet. The Jenna Harris Quartet have been playing together since attending New Park Music College 6 years ago. New Park is renowned for its excellence in jazz and in bringing these musicians together it hasn't failed to live up to its name. Their set will consist of arranged jazz standards along with some compositions by Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen and some lesser know compositions by jazz vocalist Betty Carter. Their unique take on this material is not to be missed.

@PhillandphilP10 Since hearing the term #Biffins Bridge on the P10,I've been trying to come up with a few more terms for this area, 'tisint, barse, gentlemen's chin-rest.... I invite you to try to come up with some more