A New Direction in 2017

Greetings from Sturgeon Bay, WI 

I am writing from my new home in Sturgeon Bay, WI. It's north of Green Bay and honestly not even a consideration to visit as I drove around the country this past year. I did meet a wonderful bass player named Tony Menzer in Madison at a blues jam he hosted. Tony expressed with enthusiasm, "you really need to check out what we're doing in Sturgeon Bay. There is a songwriting festival in June that you should apply to." I explained that I was heading west and since it was only October, hard for me to imagine where I would be in June the following year. Well he kept at me and I did find myself as part of the songwriting group this past June. I found a place where music is thriving and as I looked closer a place to call home.

You can follow my world at my Cathy Grier site or on my social media pages using CathyGrierMusic or Cathy Grier as a search. and read more about what I am doing on my "Now" page inspired by Derek Sivers as a way to provide up to date info on my life.

I will also keep my NYCSubwayGirl.com as a resource for buskers in NYC and beyond and hope people will enjoy discovering some of the amazing people and other performers whom I met and filmed as I performed in the Music Under New York Program. I want to thank everyone in the Music Under New York Program especially Tim Higginbotham who has been such an incredible rock for me throughout the years. 

More about the songwriting festival called SteelBridge Fest . It's a place where songwriters meet 3 times a year to write, record and perform the songs written in a cool retro renovated motel called The Holiday Music Motel. And the brainchild of none other than a prolific songwriter named pAt mAcDonald of Timbuk 3 fame. The experience inspired me and I found a new home to live.  After almost 20 years in New York City and most of my life on the east coast (except for the ’90’s when I lived in France), to find myself in the miid-west will bring different and enriching possibilities.

I'd love to hear from you. You can contact me here.

Newbies of MUNY announced

Here's a reprint from WNYC's Music Hub

MTA Announces Next Class of Subway Buskers

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

By Marlon Bishop : WNYC Culture Producer

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  The Lost and Wandering Blues Band are one of the acts chosen to join the Music Under New York program (Marlon Bishop/WNYC)

Coming soon to a subway station near you: a Japanese mandolin player playing Italian classics, Baroque harp music, and a full blown Afro-jazz group. They're just some of the 19 individuals and groups chosen by the MTA's Music Under New York (MUNY) program to join the roster of musicians officially sanctioned to perform underground.

Last week, 68 groups tried out for the program in front of a panel of judges culled from New York's cultural scene in an alcove of Grand Central Terminal. The new acts will join about 350 sanctioned groups already in the program. Although anybody can play in the subway legally, MUNY artists can display official banners, use amplification, and have dibs on some of the best and busiest spots underground.

Check out the list of the winning artists below -- or listen to what one of the winners, the Lost And Wandering Blues Band, sounded like at the MUNY auditions last week.

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• Marcella Louise Adame (opera singer)
• Harold Allen (country singer)
• Brazilian Quarter (Brazilian & New Orleans music)
• Lindsay Dragan (singer songwriter and guitarist)
• Meta Joy Epstein (Baroque harpist)
• Erik Hegar (contemporary and classical harpist)
• Keizo Ishibashi (Italian mandolin player)
• Tom Larsen (guitarist and singer songwriter)
• Lost Wandering Blues & Jazz Band (swing band)
• Mike Lunapiena (cellist improvisation)
• Metro Brass Quintet (classical, pop, jazz)
• MetropoliTones (female a capella)
• Eric Reimers (classical & Argentinean guitarist)
• Ron Service (saxophonist)
• The Body Electric (Afro-beat jazz ensemble)
• The Connections (Motown, R&B duo)
• Threeds (Oboe trio)
• Matt Vorzimer (electro improvisation)
• Christopher Worth (contemporary & traditional singer)

Several of the artists chosen, including Tom Larsen and the Body Electric, are featured in the audition video below produced by the MUNY staff.

reprinted from Music Hub by Marlon Bishop WNYC Culture Producer

South Ferry Installation by Doug and Mike Starn

I had the pleasure of performing for a tour of this amazing installation during Arts Week while the artists discussed their work.  I love it when music and art are present in the subway.  And the South Ferry Starn's installation is one of my favorites.

Doug and Mike Starn with Arts For Transit director Sandra Bloodwurth and assistant director Amy Haussmann 

link to Arts For Tranist page about this installation