Friday, June 26, 2009

Teaching You to Teach YOU Guitar- LESSON 3: MORE Accessories


Here is the third part of a little series called: Teaching You to Teach YOU Guitar. Throughout this series, I'll share little tips about how to pick a guitar, what accessories to purchase, how to read tabs, how to tune your guitar, how to change guitar strings... the basics. The idea is to empower the watcher with a few tips to get you strumming. I'll share my personal approach to playing and learning guitar. AND, hopefully, I will not bore you to tears (although, I make no promises). The third video goes through the final accessories that you will need to play guitar.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Paper PUZZLE Party with Team Smile and Nod!

DATE: July 11, 2009
PLACE: Victorian's Midnight Cafe- 251 W. 5th Avenue (at Neil), Columbus, OH 43201
TIME: 8 PM
COST: $5 suggested cover

When is the last time you sat down with an awesome cup of coffee and challenged yourself with paper puzzles... crosswords, word searches, sudoku?

Have you ever had live music provide the atmosphere for your paper puzzling?

On July 11th at 8PM, Team Smile and Nod will provide the musical backdrop to your puzzling pursuits... heck, they're even going to provide the puzzles!

Join us for a puzzling time!

For info about the band, please visit:
http://www.teamsmileandnod.com/
For info about Victorian's Midnight Cafe, please visit:
http://www.victoriansmidnightcafe.com/

Friday, June 19, 2009

"If You Stop"- Rehearsing for PRIDE!

Team Smile and Nod rehearse "If You Stop" to prepare for their performance at Columbus PRIDE Festival (6/20/9 at 1:45PM). You get an inside glimpse to how very silly they are. Very silly, indeed.

WIN some Team Smile and Nod SWAG!

http://chesh.lmfao.org.uk/queerics/giveaway.shtml



I decided to prove how easy and fun it is to enter the QUEERICS Gay GIVEAWAY! All you do is answer one of these questions:

*Which queer artist melts your heart, and why?
*What band or musician do you most wish was queer?
*If you were to create the ultimate queer 4-piece band, which musicians would you choose? Why?
*Which queer artist have you been listening to for the longest? How'd you discover them?*What's the most awesome thing you've ever heard a musician say about his or her sexuality?
*What would be on YOUR Pride month mixtape?


THEN, post your answer on your blog, myspace blog, facebook... where ever you can post content. FINALLY, send a link to your entry to QUEERICS@GMAIL.COM.

Please follow the link to QUEERICS to get prize details... but really, it's that easy. 11 people will win!

So here's my entry that will not be entered to win:

*Which queer artist have you been listening to for the longest? How'd you discover them?

Ani Difranco. I found out about her from one of my good friends in high school who happens to be Ani’s second cousin… So I was a mega-fan through high school. I even used a quote from her song “As Is” for my graduation speech! Rah ha ha!! Her music definitely aided my coming out process. And, of course, she is one of my hugest musical influences. And now, for a semi-off-subject story: Take a trip with me to the summer of 1999… I had tickets to see Ani… her “F-Word” tour with Maceo Parker… she had just released “Up Up Up Up Up Up”. I was set-up to go with a group of friends. Before the show, my friend (who is Ani’s second cousin) told me that her dad wanted to give me his backstage pass since I’m such a big fan. WHOO! And so, I gave my unused tickets to my parents (Cool, huh? They totally wanted to go!). Side note: Columbus (Ohio) had just passed a law that allows women to go topless. It was an outdoor concert, so my parents were hanging out with the topless Ani fans! So after the show, we went backstage. Ani was super-cool and chill. She even asked me, “What do you want to do?” I said, “Play music.” She said, “Play and play and play and sing and sing and sing and you’ll make it.” And so… I suppose that I also answered the question: Which queer artist melts your heart, and why?

Friday, June 12, 2009

QUEERICS' Gay GIVEAWAY!

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!
To celebrate, QUEERICS, Team Smile and Nod, and Elizabeth Gearhart have joined forces to bring you a super-fun give-way!

Queer alternative music
Want to win a Team Smile and Nod CD??? A glow-in-the-dark tee? Buttons? Stickers? A custom small watercolor painting by Elizabeth Gearhart!?! You have until 11:59 pm PST on June 28 to enter! Follow the link to learn how to enter:
http://chesh.lmfao.org.uk/queerics/giveaway.shtml

While you're there, check out the QUEERICS website. It is a wonderful resource for those of us looking for LGBT musicians, bands, and songs. FURTHER, the creator of the site, Chesh, is flippin' fun and hilarious. Check out the QUEERICS blog so you can see what I mean: http://community.livejournal.com/queerics

11 people will win! Why not you??? Enter! Tell you friends to enter! It will be fun for everyone to read how everyone answers the question(s)!

PRIDE time and place changes!!!

Hello! Team Smile and Nod will now be performing at 1:45PM instead of 2PM on Saturday, June 20th! Also, we will be on the FREEDOM Stage instead of the 'Gayzebo' Stage. Here's an updated flyer:


Check out www.columbuspride.org for details about the festival... there are TONS of performers and activities going on that weekend... SERIOUSLY, it will rock.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Truth and Fact


Hey there~
Here is an acoustic version of a song we're working on. We'll be doing an upbeat, electronic version of it at Columbus PRIDE Festival (it's hard to picture, I know, but it works). I consider this a lesbian love song... It tells the story of how my partner helped me heal through a horrific experience and re-learn who I am. I hope you like it.
Take care and cause ruckus,
Kara