03.10.2021 Virtual Talent Showcase - Artist Profiles
“BLUEBYRD” (STEVE & BETTE HASKELL)
Bluebyrd is a husband and wife team, Steve and Bette Haskell, who perform on acoustic guitars and sing vocal harmonies. Often they are joined by musical friends and guests.
Stephen grew up in Avon, CT but moved to San Francisco in 1971. He played electric in bars and clubs in the Bay area for 35 years. Returning to CT in 2005 he and Bette met at an art gallery open mic where they both performed individually and admired each other’s styles.
Bette is a lifetime Connecticut resident. She taught herself to play guitar as a teenager in order to have accompaniment for her singing. Later in life as a therapeutic recreation specialist she enjoyed sharing songs to brighten people’s days. Open mics opened a door to meet other musicians, some with whom she joined in duets and bands. She enjoys exploring a variety of musical genres. When she and Stephen met, Bluebyrd was formed! Together as Bluebyrd we enjoy playing a variety of songs from the 1960’s and 70’s, including classic rock, folk, pop, jazz and country.
Calendula
Calendula is a singer-songwriter based in northeast Connecticut. Her nostalgia for past homes, daydreamed futures, and distant loved-ones fuels her folk-inspired melodies. She released her first EP, New Horizons, in the fall of 2020, and is set to release a new single this April.
Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calendula_music/
Follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalendulaRecords
Follow her on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDsoFsUh-j_69lFXeShL6CQ
Listen online: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/calendula/new-horizons-ep
Here is a little bit about each of the songs I submitted:
New Horizons: New Horizons is the title track from my first EP, released last September. It's a nostalgic song about a curious blend of homesickness and excitement I felt while living abroad. I wrote it a couple years ago, in the middle of the night, sitting by a pond in a park in Amsterdam. I vividly remember how I had been thinking of my last summer in Connecticut, and tried to levy intense feelings of nostalgia with anticipation for the future. Thinking back to that time in the context of the present world feels like a wild dream, but this song has a new meaning for me when I play it now. Times have been hard, but there are new horizons to look forward to.
Okay: Okay is a song off the New Horizons EP. It’s about heartbreak. I wrote it when I knew I had to move home from overseas, even though I would very likely have to say goodbye to someone I really loved.
No Going Back: No Going Back, my most recent song, was inspired by those classic protest songs sung by some of my favorite musical influences - Lead Belly, Phil Ochs, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. Their songs feel so powerful when I listen to them, and I feel that music and art have the power to unite folks in ways that inspire humanitarian action. I think this year has highlighted the injustices that many people face daily, and there's so much work to be done. Now's the time to do it! Be empathetic, be passionate, lend a hand, and love your neighbor.
DAVID STAMPS & Warren Palmer
David Stamps
Singer/guitar/sometimes song writer - David retired from the University of Oklahoma after 17 years. He wrote and produced educational videos for a variety of public service departments within the College of Continuing Education. He spent 10 years in western MA, but spent most of his life in Oklahoma City. He now living in Willington, CT
Warren Palmer
Singer/violent/guitar/ harmonica/ piano - Warren is a resident of Oklahoma City and retired from the world of politics. He has played with David Stamps for over 30 years. In the early 1990’s he and David were two of the 3 who performed as ‘Trinity’. He is active in the music of the First Unitarian Church.
JIM & rUTH - SONG-A-DAY MUSIC
Ruth O’Neil and Jim Hammitt (a.k.a. RJ) are singers, songwriters, music educators, and performers from Coventry, CT. For decades, they have performed individually and together throughout Connecticut at libraries, festivals, cafes, community events and more. Traditional, original, standards, contemporary are some of the music styles they offer.
Since 2002, Ruth and Jim have owned and operated the Song-a-Day Music Center in Coventry, an independent music store, where with ten staff members, they offer music instruction in and services for all instruments. Joining them this evening, is Charlie Dunlap, a student of guitar and ukulele at Song-a-Day Music.
jose valez
Dr. Velez is an educator and musician from Bloomfield Connecticut. José has performed on several EC-CHAP videos with Nina Romanenko, Kevin Gallagher, and Tom Caraher. “There’s No Golden Shine this Christmas” is a memorial to the lost souls of COVID-19, which has taken so many of our “Golden Generation.”
After receiving his master’s degree in his native Puerto Rico, José received his doctorate from Northeastern University in Boston. In addition to music, José volunteers for the West Hartford Symphony Orchestra.
Kevin Gallagher & PJ Alderette
Kevin Gallagher
Instruments: Guitar, Mandolin, Dobro
Kevin has worked as a backup musician to various Folk, Rock and Bluegrass Bands in the CT and NJ area for many years. I’m currently working with Nina Romanenko, Cece Borjeson, Ruth George and the Portables.
Dr. PJ Alderette
Instruments: Djembe, Bodhran and Native Drum
PJ is a Psychologist who was gifted a drum because her musician friends all believe anyone can learn an instrument. Recently, she acquired a native drum which lead to the composition of “Peace”.
LEXI PLAMBERG
Lexi Palmberg is a conceptual artist from Stafford, CT. They work in a range of mediums confronting identity and communication to ultimately explore new forms of collage and assemblage. They are very influenced by how we are continuously shaped by our own understanding and awareness of our environment through philosophical, spiritual, and scientific lenses. Their work approaches simplicity in shape, form, and color, under the belief that art is another form of communication in which we are able to examine and relate to. Lexi enjoys finding ways to experiment and deviate from the “regular” or “usual” mundane patterns.
Nina Romanenko
Nina Romanenko is a Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist who loves working with and performing for people of all ages. She’s a former Therapeutic Recreation Director with training in Music as Therapy, who enjoys engaging her audiences with songs that are fun, as well as those of meaning, history and social conscious.
Since the Pandemic, Nina has been providing Virtual Therapeutic Music Programs at Healthcare facilities - and has also been working in collaboration virtually - with her friends, Kevin Gallagher, Tom Caraher and others - to produce music videos - most of which are of original songs with important social messages. See more at: www.Ninasings.com
The March 2021 EC-CHAP Virtual Talent Showcase includes:
“DANNY BOY” by Fred E. Weatherly
Performed by Nina Romanenko and Tom Caraher - with Kevin Gallagher adding Bass Guitar.
This video features scenes from Ireland and was taken on location......well - the location was our own homes - along with the use of green screens! This was my first attempt at using green screen technology in my own production - with the help of Tom and Kevin. Most photos in the video are from our individual travels to Ireland. Hope you enjoy! Nina
rUTH GEORGE
(Coming Soon)
Tom Caraher
Tom Caraher is a CT musician with a lifelong journey of performance music across many genres. With roots in liturgical music including choir and organ, songs of peace and social injustice were influential on Tom's early songwriting. As an Irishman, Tom understood the value of musical storytelling.
A native of Chicago, Tom studied music & music theory, while performing in rock bands during the 1970s but knew that a career in business would provide more stability than a starving artist. However, the formal music training gave Tom a great appreciation and love for Classical Music. Today, Tom is a percussionist with the West Hartford Symphony.
During the pandemic, Tom has written and produced several virtual pieces with fellow musicians from the orchestra and local troubadours.