Elisa Peimer: News

Nice little plug on the very cool music blog, Indie Sounds , for my birthday show at Kenny's Castaways this Saturday night.

We'll be closing the show at 3:15pm, moved from 2pm. But there's music all day:

11:00-12:00 Mike and Miriam Risko
12:15-1:00 KJ Denhert
1:00-1:45 Marc von Em
2:00-2:45 Ceiling Unlimited
3:15-4:00 Elisa Peimer

All the details are here!

I'm a big Chris Trapper fan, he of the Push Stars and numerous solo albums. He's having this fun contest where you can upload a video of yourself performing one of his songs. I'm not much of a contest person, but it was a fun challenge to learn one of his songs on piano, especially since he's an acoustic guitar player. Here's my entry - it's called "In The Galaxy."

I'll be heading back to the good ol' hometown of Ossining, NY next month to play at a celebration commemorating the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's sail up that river that bears his name. It's a whole day of music right by the riverside, tucked neatly between the Metro-North train station and world famous penitentiary, Sing Sing. And sing sing is exactly what we're going to do.

11:00-12:00 Mike and Miriam Risko
12:15-1:00 KJ Denhert
1:00-1:45 Marc von Em
2:00-2:45 Elisa Peimer
3:15-4:00 Ceiling Unlimited

Check out the Calendar Page for more details!

Thanks to Ron Frary for taping last week's Songwriter's Beat show at Cornelia Street Cafe! Here's video of my performances of "Marine Layer" and a new song, "Poetry."


You can watch more live performances at YouTube here.

This kind of thing makes me CRAZY. (sorry - embedding not allowed for this video.)

A woman walks out on stage, and just because she's 47 years old and not particularly attractive, the assumption of both the judges and the audience is that she can't sing. They have absolutely nothing to bring them to that conclusion except for her age and how she looks.

Since when did talent become the exclusive property of young pretty people? Since when did that particular shape of the vocal chords and the control of the diaphram only belong to hot 22 year olds? Why don't the judges and the audience look at this contestant and see the same potential as anyone else?

I'm deeply offended as an artist and a person who's no longer in their 20's. When Simon asks why she hasn't become a professional singer, she says she hasn't been given the chance. Of course she hasn't - when a society puts physical attractiveness and youth on a pedestal, and ignores the potential of people who don't fit that narrow image, it misses out of a tremendous amount of talent and skill. The American equivalent of this show, American Idol, doesn't even allow contestants to enter unless they're under 29 years old.

I know it's all about selling records. So, they're saying that no one will purchase a recording that someone with a voice like Susan Boyle puts out - just because she's middle-aged? Sorry - I just don't buy it.

You think they would have learned something from this guy.


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I'm very proud to announce that I was appointed to my community board in New York City. I'll be serving on Community Board 5, which encompasses Union Square, Midtown, and the Theater District, including Central Park, the Empire State Building, and Grand Central Terminal. My first meeting is next week, and I'll be listening to neighborhood issues and helping advise on land use and zoning matters, the City budget, municipal service delivery and many other issues relating to the welfare of the community. This should be an amazing experience and I'm pretty stoked.

Check out the announcement in Chelsea Now.

I'm thrilled to announce that I've just signed a new publishing deal with Beach Street Music, a production/publishing house that supplies music to a vast amount of TV shows. A formal press release will be coming soon!

I've gone and joined the Twitter revolution. Actually, it was a revolution about 8 months ago, so I'm a little late to the party. That's so me. Anyway, for minute to minute (or more likely day to day) details about my music, my life, and other fascinating tidbits, check out my Twitter page. I'm feeding Facebook from my Twitter updates too, so you can share my world at Facebook.

Ah, the Internet. There truly is no escape.

This is even more self-serving than Googling yourself, but what the heck. If you like the dulcet tones of Elisa Peimer, you can listen to artists who do the kind of stuff I do on last.fm and Pandora. I've even created my own "Elisa Peimer" radio station on Pandora, and I'm woman enough to admit it. If you like the pop singer/songwriter kind of stuff, there's a lot of good music out there. So, if you're sitting at your computer right now - and I bet you are - and you're thinking, "gosh, I sure would love to hear a song by Elisa Peimer, or something just like her" check out one of those streaming music sites. It's really a lot of fun.

The band and I will be appearing at Googie's over the Living Room this Tuesday night at 9:30. It's a no-drums room, so Scott will be playing percussion, a first for us. There's also this great grand piano there, so Jay will be taking over acoustic guitar duties and I'll be playing the keys.

Japanese online radio station "Gone Fishing for Blue Skies" will be playing my song "Find My Way Home" on their show next week.

You can listen here!

I'll be doing an acoustic or semi-acoustic show (depending on who I can get to show up with me) this Wednesday at Kenny's Castaways at 7pm. It's part of Whisperado's Mud Room, a monthly series featuring country and folk-influenced acts. I won't tell anyone there about my love for Kelly Clarkson.

Check out the Calendar page for the details.

Many thanks to talented cameraman Ron Frary, who shot video of my appearance at Mexicali Live on Saturday night. Check out "Find My Way Home" right here, and go to the Music page to check out "Set to Fly."

More videos are available on YouTube here!

Jon and I were lucky enough to be invited to New York's City Hall for Barack Obama's inauguration this morning. I'd actually never been to City Hall before, and I love old historic buildings, so that was part of the thrill.


Around 2000 people sat in the rotunda and the committee, watching the proceedings on television. The room was freezing, we were seated towards the rear, and the TV wasn't really that big. Would we have been more comfortable watching MSNBC at home on the couch, with a warm cup of coffee? You bet. But there was something wonderful about being in a room with 2000 other New Yorkers, cheering and clapping when Obama stood up and officially became our 44th President.


It was a personal joy that could be shared with everybody else - not a common thing. I know the guy's no miracle worker, but I can't remember the last time I felt such optimism that our country might actually be on the right track.

Aaron Childs, the fine proprietor of Jackson, Michigan's excellent online radio station Free Radio Jackson, is playing a track off my album, Pull of the Moon, on his show today. Check out the station here.
Jon and I are going to Cobleskill, NY tonight to see some friends. It's supposed to be -4 degrees, and that's not a wind chill number. I'm genuinely frightened.

For the 2nd time this winter, my musical endeavors have been stymied by inclement weather. My Teaneck, NJ show at Mexicali Live was moved to next Saturday the 24th, after a snowstorm arrived to cancel the original date. Now, the Quinnipiac National Anthem performance is moved to next month, Friday, February 13 (is that going to be bad luck?) at 7pm for an exciting match with the fine gentlemen of St. Lawrence. I hereby request no snow for any further Elisa Peimer appearances for the rest of the winter.

When the National Anthem calls, I must respond. And so, I'll be performing that little ditty at this Saturday's Quinnipiac Men's Hockey game against Union at 7pm at the TD BankNorth Sports Center in Hamden, CT. It'll be just me, the ice, the spotlight, and several big hockey players.

Here's a video of a performance I did there about a year ago.

We had a little holiday party this past Sunday. We made it an open house, because we have a tiny apartment and too many friends. Which isn't a bad thing certainly, but I would have loved to break out that extra room or two. Or that extra wing.

And there were plenty of kids at the party, which I love because then you get to have photos like this:

Looks like the featured artist opportunity got me to #5 on the isound.com charts. Check out the page here.

Last night the country turned a new chapter in history and we were privileged enough to be a part of it. Just when CNN put the words on the screen - "Projected Presidential Winner - Barack Obama" - the air outside our windows erupted with screams and cheers. We turned down the TV and walked out on the balcony. There was no one on the streets - it was all the sound of people from their apartment windows and balconies, cheerring and hollering. It was everywhere. Jon grabbed his recorder and taped it. You can hear me cackling like an hysterical woman.

What a night.

The good folks at isound.com are featuring me this week as one of their "Sound Choices." Check it out here, and click on my album cover to hear a tune.

Alex from isound clued me into this cool organization called Strong American Schools, a non profit that is trying to bring attention to our education system. Check out their quiz here, where you can compare your science and math knowledge to that of a typical 8th grader. I aced the science test, but I'm too much of a coward to try the math test...

Oh, and get out and VOTE today! I'll be glued to my television set all night, waiting for the world to change.

Yeah, I know - I haven't played a gig all last month, and I don't have anything scheduled for November either. But I promise to make it up to you - and to all points north and west as well. I've just posted show dates for December and January in upstate NY, New Jersey, and here in Manhattan. See the details here.

But certainly not for my design sense, of which I have none. The story is that I went to Open House New York last weekend, a 2-day event where the city offers tours in places that you don't normally get to see - and some that are always open to the public but this is a good time to get off your couch and go see them. One of those places was Fort Totten in Queens.

The first time I went to Fort Totten, a few friends and I snuck a picnic and a bottle of wine into the still (kind of) active military base, climbed up on top of the fortifications and dined al fresco overlooking the water in the shadows of the Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges. The second time we went, after 9/11, the base was completed locked up for security reasons. The third time was this past weekend, where I discovered the Parks Department has officially opened this partially completed Civil War fort up to the public and even offers tours. Unfortunately, the grassy top of the battlements are closed off to the public, so no more picnics up there. But it was very cool to actually get a history of the fort from a park ranger and see the damage in the walls where they tested the fort's strength with real cannon balls.

What does this all have to do with sophisticated design magazine Elle Decoration, you ask? Well, I posted some Fort Totten photos I took to Flickr, and Elle grabbed them for their blog post on Open House New York! Check them out here! Scroll down to the part about Open House New York...

The thermometer was pushing 90 degrees, but the music was even hotter! Well, you know. The band and I played my hometown of Ossining, NY this past Sunday. My friend from high school, Miriam, found me on this internet thing, and she and her husband were booking bands for the Ossining Art Fair. So, here we are. It was great to reconnect with her, and play for my parents, my friends, and the parents of my friends.