I'm pretty sure that the average American has never even heard of Sandy Denny. She came to prominence in the British folk-rock music scene in the late 1960's as a member of Fairport Convention, whose members also included the great guitarist/songwriter Richard Thompson. She also released several wonderful solo albums after leaving Fairport before her tragically early death in 1978 at the age of 31.

I'm a bit of a Johnni (as in a female Cash) come lately to the world of old-time country, having grown up in hard-rock/metal territory as a middle class Baltimorean.

But once I get into something great, I cling tight and ride it away, like the Cancerian I am - and boy are there some GOOD sounds to be had from the old-time deep south.

okay bloggers, this is the very first time i have ever bothered to try to get into the Austin Chronicle Music Poll.

that being said, i have been working pretty tirelessly on both my singing and my songwriting, so i feel i am worth at least a nod from the local press!

so if u wanna help a sistah out, please go here and put my name in for Best Female Vocals and Best Songwriter:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/feedback/musicpoll/08/

and please type

FEMALE VOCALS: gfire
SONGWRITER: gfire

I was watching a DVD the other evening of an Ella Fitzgerald 1957 concert in Belgium. Ella at her finest, to be sure, accompanied by Oscar Peterson on piano and 3 other top-class musicians. And I really thought "wow, this IS singing perfection." I don't really like jazz all that much, but Ella was in a class all her own. It isn't just that she utilizes all 3 octaves of her voice and sings with amazing intonation. What really floors me is how MUSICAL she was - I love all of her little musical innuendos and how smooth and easy it all sounds, even though it is not easy at all.

greetings bloggerz!

my version of "o holy night" is now complete. it is entitled: "Cantique de Noël (Outer Space Mix)"

it is twisted and pretty - i sang it in the original French, and added cool space noises to it. hope you like it!

here is the link:

http://myspace.com/djgfire

xoxo 'n' happy holidaze,

gfire

hiya bloggers,

in the midst of getting ready to go into the studio to remix "de-fragment the soul" - to make it both dub/reggae AND family-friendly - i got a few other requests.

1. to do some sort of Xmas song
2. to do some sort of love or ANTI-love song in preparation for Valentine's Day '08, which shall be upon us before we know it.

soooooooo - i have actually begun progress on both of these rather pleasant tasks. stay tuuuuuuuuned!

xoxo

gfire

hiya blogsters,

today i actually received my "Sinus Tone" teacher certification certificate - i passed all 4 written and the 2 1/2 hour oral exams with flying colors!

yippee!

-gfire

Greetings bloggers!

I thought I would offer you a reprint of an article I wrote for GoGirlsMusic.com in September 2007. Enjoy. :)

Yoga For the Voice
an introduction

When I first began my professional singing career, still in my teens, I was extremely dissatisfied with the explanations I had been given for how and why the singing voice works. I just couldn’t make my voice do the things I wanted it to. Admittedly, I had pretty high expectations.

Almost forgot - I have a super-duper gig coming up at Flipnotics - Triangle on Friday, October 26, 2007, 10:00-11:30 p.m.

Please come!

gfire

hi everybody!

just wanted to let you know that the brand new "de-fragment the soul" dub mix will be available very soon. we go into the studio this week. i shall keep you posted!

gfire