My Place Under the Sun

Music, Music, Music

I have been singing, if you believe my parents, since I was born. I created my first song "Peanut Butter Sandwiches" when I was five or six, and somewhere in the family archives is an embarassing "album" of Renee originals with my older brother accompanying me on guitar. At a young age, I was also taught the fundaments of guitar along with my brothers, but unfortunately I quit early on, frustrated with having small fingers.

I was in choirs and musicals from elementary school on up. When I began singing in an a cappella madrigal choir in high school, I learned the piano enough to accompany myself. That's when I composed my first piano piece. In between my first term at Stanford and my year at UConn, I caught the songwriting bug, and began to write complete songs with music and lyrics. I picked up the guitar again, and slowly began to build a significant body of acoustic folk/rock material.

Since then, I've been working on making my music more public. Together with Steven Raphael, an incredibly talented guitarist and composer, we have formed the group, Shades of Gray. Shades of Gray has been creating and recording music with in a unique flavor of rock, folk, funk, and blues music. Check out song clips from our debut album online.

Besides my own music, what else gets my feet shuffling? To be honest, my musical tastes vary quite a bit and are as constant as New England weather, but here's a sample of what gets me grooving. Feel free to recommend anyone new to me!

Musical Artists and Bands: Center Stage

• Alice in Chains-Alice in Chains
  
• Tori Amos-A Dent in the Universe
  
• Barenaked Ladies- The Barenaked Heaven
  
• Big Head Todd and the Monsters-Big Head Todd and the Monsters
  
• Bjork- Bjork
  
• Ani DiFranco-John's Ani Page
  
• Frente-Frente Multimedia
  
• Marvin Gaye-Marvin Gaye
  
• Grateful Dead-The Official Home Page of Grateful Dead
  
• David Grisman-AcousticDisc.com
  
• Charlie Hunter-Charlie Hunter
  
• Lenny Kravitz-LENNY KRAVITZ
  
• Sarah McLachlan-the sea of waking dreams: A Sarah McLachlan Website
  
• Rusted Root-Rusted Root
  
• Smashing Pumpkins-The Smashing Pumpkins
  
• Toad the Wet Sprocket-House of Toad
  
• Kristy Thirsk-KristyThirsk.org. Kristy also was a member of the band, Rose Chronicles, which is now no more.
  
• Dar Williams-Dar Williams.net
  

Musical Artists and Bands: Side Stage

• Leona Naess--Thanks to The Stanford Daily, I discovered this lady when she came out with her debut, Comatised. It's hard to put into words why I like her so much. I think it's because when she sings, I can't help believing her.
  
  
• Scott Amendola-S discovered Scott thanks to his work with Charlie Hunter and later, seeing him in concert performing songs from his beautiful debut with his eponymous band.
  
  
• Robert Walter's 20th Congress S discovered this lively, danceable bunch thanks to the amazing funk drummer, Stanton Moore.
  
  
• Zap Mama is a beautiful a cappella singing ensemble who tackle music from around the world.
  
  
• Tuck and Patti was introduced to me by my brother and sister-in-law. Tuck, the guitarist, and Patti, the singer, are a married couple who make beautiful jazz and bluesy music together.
  
  
• Dennis Crommett is a fellow singer/songwriter/musician from home, making (sound) waves across New England as a solo act and as rhythm guitarist for Spanish For Hitchiking.
  
  
• Amboy Kelso is an acoustic folk rock group I first heard when I was at Stanford, when they were known as Scott Hay and Company. They have energizing live performances and some great tunes.
  
  
• Jessica Weiser has a fairy-tale like story in the music business. At age 20, she first picked up the guitar and songwriting; now, four years later, she's independently released two albums and has played some impressive venues. Check her out.

Other Music Links

• The Dirty Linen Gig Guide-Concert Listings for your favorite Folk and World Music can be found here