It’s Never Too Late to Learn Something New | Donald Seigel
What would possess a woman, who had already achieved a lion’s share of fame and success in the entertainment world, to sit and wait until eleven o’clock on a Monday night, just to play one of her songs for an audience of seven tired people in a relatively unknown club located at the center of some industrial stretch in North Hollywood? If you’re Tracy Newman the answer is “Love. I love songwriting and I love playing my music for others.”
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"BEAUTIFUL" CD RELEASE PARTY
On September 22nd at Caltech, Tracy will be participating in the Women on the Move's program at Caltech. For more information, click here.
CD RELEASE PARTY
Tracy Newman and the Reinforcements played a special party to celebrate the release of her new CD. Special performers included Robert Morgan Fisher, Weirdbrother, Shaun Cromwell, and "Dutch" Newman. Over 200 guests crowded the Writer's Boot Camp at Bergamot Station, feasting on Coconut Shrimp, Mini Beef Wellington, sushi, Roasted Baby Lamb Chops and more provided by Scott Roeb Catering & Events. The guests included friends and relatives, former Groundlings, singers, writers and actors. There is a photo gallery here.
Tracy's song "Waffle Boy" is a winner in the 8th Annual Great American Song Contest. (scroll down their page) It was selected one of the Top 5 winners in the Special Music category. (more)
Tracy's song "Mama, I Know You Ain't Santa," which she co-wrote with Lynne Stewart, has just won second place in the prestigious Unisong contest, in the category of Seasonal/Specialty Songs. You can hear the song at www.myspace.com/tracynewman1, in the first slot.
In addition, a few of Tracy's other songs have received honors at Unisong. "Hands off the Phone" is an Honorable Mention in the Folk/Acoustic category, "Cowboy" is in AAA/Alternative for an Honorable Mention, and the lyrics for "The Boy Who Mans the Waffle Irons," is one of the top 20 under the Lyrics category. See This Entry on Tracy's blog for the lyrics to this song, since they are not included on the Unisong website. Check it out!
The guy who wrote this letter to me (below) is a wonderful singer/songwriter named Hugh Lehane, or Irish Hugh. www.myspace.com/irishhugh
"Thank you for your kind words about my song. I appreciate it.
I bought your cd at cd baby 2 weeks back but finally got to listen to it properly last weekend traveling down and back to Tucson in the car. Its an incredible piece of work. You do know how good you are, right?
I don't know where to start, I have so many things to tell you about it. First your voice is so good. Everyone's caught up in pitch and power I say rubbish give me character, story telling ability and subtlety and you have them all! Your voice has such a soothing tone, its easy on the ear and perfect to deliver your lyrical songs.
I heard Diane before on the 'beautiful' cd that's amazing.
Mama I know you ain't Santa is heartbreaking and uplifting...so powerful.
The song about your sister and 'Night Blooming Jasmine' are great too.
I laughed out loud at 'A Place in The Sun'...."I'm not trying to make you drool but there's a TV by the pool" and "you bring your vicodin". truly hilarious. Its your comic timing and delivery too.
Waffle Boy is pure genius.The boys nightmare building to the excruciating moment of the food congealing and children crying then you hit us with a left hook "who cares how a teenagers feeling?" but before we hit the canvas you give us hope.....the waffles on a plate, his smile takes our breath away.....followed by another killer left hook-disaster! the waffle flies like a Frisbee then it hits the egg man in the face AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
What an emotional roller coaster ride....genius.....followed by the amazing pay off. "look what my boy did".
Perhaps this is obvious but the way you say' we are all thinking' and 'our plates'...in the song of course referring to your fellow customers, but to the listener its a powerful subtlety its like 'our' amplifies that we (listener,audience) are sitting there with you.
I would love to co write a song with you sometime.
Thank you for sharing your gifts in songs."
– Hugh
In a recent blog, Erick Schickel wrote:
Last week I had the pleasure of reading a chapter from my book at Alicia Brandt's hilarious monthly series Women's Night Out... Anyway, after I read my lap dance piece (sorry, more shameless plugging but hey -- I've got a book to publicize here, people!) Tracy Newman took the stage with her guitar. Tracy is the Emmy Award-winning co-writer of the "coming out" episode of Ellen. What does a successful television writer/producer do once she has made it? Go back to her first love of course, singing and songwriting, which according to Tracy's website, she has been doing since she was fourteen.
Tracy opened with a song for her little sister Laraine Newman, whom you will no doubt remember from those first, heady seasons of Saturday Night Live. The song is about sisterhood, motherhood, and life after fame. It just grabbed me with its sweetness, love, and 20/20 hindsight on a life once lived in the spotlight. In what I believe may be an LAO first, I am uploading the mp3 here for your listening pleasure.
Erika's blog can be found here.
