Elisa Peimer: News

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.

When this date comes around, I find myself thinking about that day, looking back over the details, the pecular thoughts that entered my head during a morning that was so surreal I don't think anyone knew exactly how to process it. You can see the images over and over again, but it's the personal mental processing that I tend to rehash over in my head. Just some recollections:

In my apartment in Chelsea, Manhattan, getting ready for work that morning. I heard a plane fly overhead, which was not particularly strange. I heard a boom - not a crazy loud one, either - which was also not particularly strange. But what did stand out was that the plane sound ended abruptly with the boom. I looked out of the window, south-facing, with a gorgeous, unobstructed view of the World Trade Center towers. I wasn't wearing my glasses and I wasn't sure what I was seeing. The day before, a bright orange blimp advertising Nickelodeon had been flying around midtown and I had seen it from my office window. My first thought, looking out towards the towers, was that the bright orange blimp was flying in front of the World Trade Center. I put on my glasses and realized the color came not from a blimp, but from a huge fireball coming out of the building.

There were several surreal minutes right after the plane hit, as I watched the tower burn, and before the news media got information about what happened. I'm standing there seeing the building on fire, while Katie Couric is talking about some nonsense on the Today Show. It felt like some alternate universe.

I knew immediately the building had been hit by the plane I had heard. As soon as the fireball subsided I could see the hole in the building. It looked exactly like a plane. I remember thinking it reminded me of the Bugs Bunny cartoons when Bugs runs through a wall and the hole he leaves behind him looks exactly like Bugs Bunny.

When the towers fell, it seemed to me they weren't falling as much as being pulled straight down into the ground. Like a hole had opened up and the building was falling, intact, into the earth. Or that a giant eraser was erasing the top the building and working its way down.

I remember thinking these things as clearly as if I thought them 7 minutes ago rather than 7 years.

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So, in addition to occasionally Googling myself (admit it - you do it too!), I Google alert myself (full disclosure - Jon Google alerts me, and emails my lazy ass). I've been informed by Google that I've been played on a new podcast - Suitcase Full of Dimes, "the best of independent rock and melodic power pop." Woo hoo for podcasts! You can also check out other podcasts and radio that have played my music at the Music page.

Check out the front page of Heavy Hitters Music Publishing - they've featured me and some of my tracks. Cool!

I rehearsed yesterday with Whisperado for our gig this month at the Dockside Pub in Mahopac. It was really pretty cool to play another band's songs. I've gotten so accustomed to my own material, and singing and playing everything, that it was musically refreshing to contribute to someone else's material. Sometimes I just played guitar, or just keyboard, or just sang. Some songs I was just learning and played by ear.

It just reinforces my belief that putting yourself in situations where you're not entirely sure of yourself, and you're learning as you go, and you're not yet completely comfortable, can be some of the most rewarding experiences you can have.

An acoustic-y outing, featuring 2 guitars, a bass, and a bit of singing.

Thursday, July 24th, 2008
Kenny's Castaways 9pm
157 Bleecker Street, between Sullivan & Thompson Street
New York
212-979-9762
Price: $5

It's taken a couple of weeks, but I've finally posted some photos of the very fun birthday show we had on June 21st at Connollys. Check out the photos page, and then go to my Flickr page. Photos of both band and audience are there to greet you.

Now I have proof that my birthday is the happiest day of the year! I always knew it!

As a nice little addendum to my last posting, one of my songs that got picked up for publishing, "Set to Fly," continues to fly around the top of the Artist Underground folk charts. Not that I really consider this song "folk", but hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Actually, I have no idea what that means.

Anyway, the track jumps from #21 to #9 this week - with a bullet! Well, not really with a bullet, but I just wanted to say that.

I'm very excited to announce that I've just signed a new publishing deal with Heavy Hitters Music Publishing! They're a great company based out in LA that has been placing indie music in TV and film for many years. I'm looking forward to this new opportunity for getting my songs out there - so if one of my tracks is suddenly featured as the theme song for some new hit NBC primetime drama, you'll hear it here first!

Check out the press release here!

Good ol' Sitting Duck Podcast from far away New Zealand has been playing "Don't Come Around." According to the site, "Your host is an IT professional in his late 30s who's seen enough of life to start imparting some wisdom, but who recognises there's still a lot to learn." I hear you, Sitting Duck.

My parents celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary today. They don't even own a computer so they never see this site, but I am officially announcing it anyway. We went up there to celebrate, which basically means to just hang out, sit in the kitchen, sit in the living room, talk about stuff, nibble on mixed nuts, and end off the day with a good Italian dinner. Gnocci fra diavlo for me, eggplant parm for Jon and lasagna for the folks. Not a bad way to spend the day.

Just extemely lax in my upkeep of this blog. Granted, I have been a little busy. I started a new job about a month and a half ago as the new Marketing Director of Putumayo World Music. I've been freelancing for the past year, so getting back into the daily full time gig thing has been a transition, albeit one I've really been enjoying. The place and people are great, and I love working with the great music that Putumayo puts out.

Then, in April, I was in Amsterdam for work for a week (very nice, but, you know, it's work), then in Denmark for a week and a half on vacation (very nice, and yay - not work!)

So now I'm back, and I booked a show for my birthday on Saturday night, June 21 at Connolly's, a club I've never played at before but sounds very cool. It's up in midtown on 45th Street, and they have food and everything.

There's also some exciting publishing news coming down the pike - but you'll have to stay tuned for that one!

I just got back from seeing my friend Steve Northeast do a rockin' set at Crash Mansion, a roomy rock club on the Bowery. Steve is a terrific bartender by night and an imposing rocker by, er, night. It was his record release party and he had a great crowd.

On the way back to the 6 train we passed Rice to Riches, a restaurant that sells an array of different flavors of rice pudding. That's all it does. I love rice pudding, so we stepped in to check it out. I'm sorry - $5.50 for a small plate of rice pudding? I don't care if it comes in flavors such as "Sex Drugs and Rocky Road" and "Fluent in French Toast." It's rice, milk, and sugar. I'll take a big $2 bowl from my local diner any day.

My song, "Don't Come Around" just got played on a new and very cool podcast - JogTunesIndie. Programmed by Dr. Bob, an avid runner, the podcast is specially designed to accompany you when you go for a run. What a fabulous idea! So if you run at 160 beats per minute, "Don't Come Around" can help set the soundtrack to your workout! This makes me want to get my butt up from in front of this computer...

Thanks, Dr. Bob!