I’m feeling a little nostalgic for the musiciany side of me this morning. I’ve got a lot of film posts coming up, but I don’t want to forget that my heart and roots are firmly grounded in being a singer/songwriter. For those of you who follow my little cinematic tirades, I though you might like to see a live performance of mine, and see the girl behind the MonsterGirl mask…
Here I am performing my song ‘Little Birds’ live at Hofstra University….
Your ever lovin’ MonsterGirl and Siren Joey
PS: I miss my dreadlocks
This is beautiful. Really, is there anything you cannot do?
aaawwwww thanks…, yes I can’t belly dance or ride a motorcycle… yet
In the past 2 years I have listened to this song over 400 times (I just checked out the listen count on my iPod). Little Birds literally saved my life. Two years ago I was dropping out of college, dealing with facing my father’s abuse for the first time ever. During that time I was at my lowest. I thought I would die from feelings of such overwhelming personal failure and sadness. I found your blog searching for a film for a class, and stumbled onto this song. The words are written as if you know me. You could have pulled the lyrics out of my head. I am doing much better now, and this song really helped me get through all the rough spots. Whenever I felt the worst, the music and lyrics played in my head and kept me strong. I never thanked you for writing it, and I feel like you should know how brilliant it is and how much it means to me. Little Birds has been my lifesaver. luv&peace to you, Jo ~Lizzy
Dear Lizzy- first of all, I cannot tell you how moved I am with your note to me. It actually brought me to tears for obvious reasons and for a few personal ones that I will share with you because you are courageous enough to share your story with me. I am so incredibly relieved that you found a way out of the dark and that my music gave you the buoyancy to float during the heavy times. I hope that you’re still on your way through it and staying strong and loving yourself. It takes a real inner strength to let yourself open up to the pain and claim it, rather than let it bury you. And then to be brave and honest and reach out! I am grateful and honored by your kind words
Now one of the other reasons your note made me cry and brought me to a core place where some of my own pain dwells. I have been very ill for several years now with an un-diagnosed illness. It has removed me from the public eye, because not only is it debilitating but it has taken away much of the way I used to move freely with my body and how I felt about myself as an artist and as a woman. I do have an album that is crying out to be recorded, and I live back in the NYC area where I used play out live, I love being a singer/songwriter it’s who I –was…
but I do not have the strength right now to record or release it. All this time while I’ve quietly written my passion for classic film and television I’ve been deeply sad & suffering the loss of myself, the person I was when I was able to sit at the piano and sing honestly to the world, about pain, revelation and redemption. I’ve felt that part of me was dead… and worse, that the one thing I wanted more than the ability to play, was to know that my work touched people somehow. It’s all I’ve really ever wanted.
So to hear that in some way, even one of my songs helped pull you through hard times, was like a sign from somewhere out there in the ether not to give up believing that my work has meaning… Now I thank you for that… be happy, be strong and at any time, stay in touch and let me know that you are amazing–wishing you much Love & Peace- Joey
U are so kind to respond to my comment and tell me what youve been going through. I feel terrible that youve been so very sick and have not be able to play your music. One of the things I’ve struggled with is trusting people, and I wanted to reach out to you as a way to show trust in the universe. The fact you responded brings tears to MY eyes because it shows me that the universe does give back in plentitude when i let go and trust. I hope you find the same buoyancy (new favorite word!) and strength in your own music, even if you can’t play right now. The lyrics to Little Birds empowered me to stend strong when I was helpless and felt so horrible about myself. I wish that same strength for you. I think of myself as a “little bird” flying despite abandoning my family and my home. Your music literally saved me at a time I could not pull myself out of a deep well. I don’t just love that song, I own 3 other albums. I hope you record your new album when you are feeling better. I have a feeling its going to reach into my soul just like Little Birds does. Stay strong & brave. xxooxx :~) Lizzy
I could not find your email address so I am going to post this here. I’m trying to illustrate an entire tarot deck, but so far I havent gotten very far, only 6 cards so far. I imagine you’re a cat lady, like I am, so I thought that you would like this. I would mail you a print as a gift, just email me. bettyjane98@aol.com https://01.img.society6.com/society6/img/zNOgMXOzYEFLbyeg2PZac4-H9qc/w_700/artwork/~artwork/s6-0031/a/14981015_3159023/~~/tarot-card-cat-the-magician-prints.jpg
Hey! I am so in love with that card… The Magician card has a very powerful meaning for me. And yes, if you didn’t know it already, I not only do cat rescue but I live with an incredible tribe of felines who have blessed my life with their sacred presence and the gifts they have shared with me. They teach us so much, like loyalty trust to be fearless to dance to be silly to move through the world with eyes wide open, and honor the small moments. To just be quiet. that’s an art in and of itself…We cat people have to stick together!!!! This is my email ephemera.jo@gmail.com You’re incredibly talented and I am really interested in seeing what you will come up with for the rest of the deck… It’s really cool that you’re designing one and I believe it will bring you a lot of positive attention, not only for the artistic value but there’s powerful energy in it, I can see that just from the one card you are so gracious enough to share with me. Do you have my album Fools & Orphans? If not I’d like to send it to you. But we can exchange info through emails… Bless you Lizzy