What am I doing Now?

May 3, 2024 Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

“Civil rights never enter society elegantly.” I said to a newspaper editor who recently asked for a statement for the record after a contentious County Supervisor meeting. I am a musician, but I am also an advocate. I’ve been advocating a lot in these parts of Wisconsin. I’ve been writing a lot too. I’ll write more soon to share. If you want to contact me it’s easy enough.

Greetings from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin…

What Am I Doing Now? In these unprecedented and uncertain times. The truth that Life as we knew it is over, is quite the challenge to digest. Honestly, there is no way we could, or should go back to the way things were. There is so much to get right. Even with the fear of the pandemic as it covers our planet, there is so much promise in the air. Remember that fear is a contagion as much as love is. I chose the latter.  But what else am I thinking about besides staying healthy and needing to reach out to you?

Social distance dancing alone in my living room.

I am thinking of all the music

and all the dreaming we never had time to dream, that we’ll now be dreaming.

Great time to make things better by making better things.

what is emerging?

Let’s collectively and personally reach for better.

Settle into this ride, and to not be content on waiting for it to be over.

What a powerful and beautiful time this can be.

What would you change now that you have time to think about it?

What can you dream into being?

That’s what’s on my mind.

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 Wisconsin has been an incredible life changing decision. Especially now.

While we are social-distancing and basically socially-connecting online, I am making daily, videos of me dancing alone (my poodle Lily isn’t in to dancing), to my as of now unfinished album I’m All Burn. I was planning on releasing it this Spring. Yet it is stuck in the shuttered recording studio (Makin’ Sausage Music, in Milwaukee)unmixed and unmastered- the most important steps to complete before I can release it. So I figured one way to share my record is to play it and dance, which is what I do when I feel the stresses of our World’s situation. You could join me too. Make a video and post, and be sure to tag with #WeCanDance so we can all find and share it.

Besides spending quality time dreaming of my next steps, I am watching online all the amazing live performances and spontaneous conversations. I am also listening to Steel Bridge radio, it’s an online radio station (and now there is a wonderful App- IOS devices and Android), where all content is written and recorded at the Holiday Music Motel. There’s a lot of music that has come out of Holiday Music Motel for many years. I am proud to be one of the artists in this eclectic and talented group of songwriters. With pAt macdonald of timbuk3 and Purgatory Hill fame (with melaniejane) and Jackson Browne involved in the mix. I have been happily involved in this unique songwriting music scene since 2016. 

Musically I am feeling stronger than ever and will allow these weeks and months of not being able to perform to reveal new and wonderful things. Songs? Poems? Videos? Blog? Plus I have my new record to release. I am learning IGTV on instagram and am posting there too, not to mention my facebook, and twitter accounts.

Some people still refer to me as NYCSubwayGirl for my years of performing in the train stations and subways of NYC. I do miss performing in the Music Under New York Program. Everything is shut down now for the unforeseeable future. I can’t imagine a world without live music in public spaces. For now it is all happening deliciously online.

You can always join my e-news list, or connect send me an email.

We will get through this together!

Warmly,

Cathy Grier

Sturgeon Bay, WI

March 20, 2020

PS the original idea for creating a Now page, came from Derek Sivers

All we got is each other, and I pledge to keep on singing and trying to bring joy in this new world we are learning to navigate. Your support can help me do just that.

Greetings from Sturgeon Bay, WI

What Am I Doing Now?

I am now happily living in Door County in Sturgeon Bay, WI thanks to a wonderful songwriting festival called SteelBridge Fest 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. 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 has been an incredible experience.

Check out Steelbridge radio, it’s an online radio station where all content is written and recorded at the Holiday Music Motel. in over 13 years that’s a lot of music. It’s a rarity and shouldn’t be a secret, that’s why I’m telling you. I am proud to be one of the artists in this eclectic and talented group of songwriters. With pAt macdonald of timbuk3 and Purgatory Hill fame (with melaniejane) and Jackson Browne involved in the mix, I can't tell you how amazing it is to be so far away from NYC and yet feel so involved in a music scene as thriving as there is here in Wisconsin.

Musically I am feeling stronger than ever and am stretching out more comfortably into the blues genre. I competed (hate competitions but ...) in Paramount Music Association Blues Challenge last year and won People's Choice and Solo Artist which gave me the ability to compete in the International Blues Competition (IBC) in Memphis, TN this past January. It was such an amazing experience.

round 2 performance at Pig On Beale

in Sturgeon Bay, performing a wonderful Alberta Hunter tune, I've Got A Mind To Ramble

I intend to keep 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 so miss performing in the Music Under New York Program especially Tim Higginbotham who was such an incredible rock for me throughout the years. Music in public spaces around the world, are currently finding new audiences and thanks to social media, a wonderful support for this art form.

You can find my current Wisconsin performance schedule here, and I do hope to hit the road again in the fall, so stay tuned.  You can always join my e-news list, or follow my calendar at Cathy Grier.com

May you thrive,

Cathy

April 16, 2018

Sturgeon Bay, WI

Greetings from Sturgeon Bay, WI

What Am I Doing Now?

After traveling around the country (and in the most unlikely of places), I ended up in Door County in Sturgeon Bay, WI thanks to a wonderful songwriting festival called SteelBridge Fest 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. 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.

Check out Steelbridge radio, it’s an online radio station where all content is written and recorded at the Holiday Music Motel. in over 12 years that’s a lot of music. It’s a rarity and shouldn’t be a secret, that’s why I’m telling you. I am proud to be one of the artists in this eclectic and talented group of songwriters.

I plan on spending the winter writing and shedding on my guitar. And plan on recording in the Spring a blues record. I have other ideas floating in my head. Musically I am feeling stronger than ever and want to stretch out more into the blues genre.

I intend to keep 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. 

This past summer I performed on Cape Cod in Provincetown daily at Tin Pan Alley, and the Saturday Farmers market until the end of October and made so many new fans and friends. The experience showed me that I could perform daily and still have a voice after 103 gigs in 116 days! Here is an interview/live performance podcast that I did at WOMR on Pandora Peoples, Healing Wisdom show.

I then headed back to Sturgeon Bay, WI to partake in another Steel Bridge Song festival called Dark Songs. And I now am settled in Wisconsin as my new home. I find the mid-west area to be very supportive of my musical talents and life experience. I have lived in many wonderful places in my life and now the most improbable has become the place I feel most at home. Of course I miss New York and my life as a subway performer, but am open to whatever this new location and experience will inspire in me.

Feel free to reach out if you have any suggestions where I might perform. A house concert? A favorite Wine Bar? A Club? I plan on traveling again in the next year.

I am forever grateful to the many people who have opened their homes and hearts for me during my wandertour.  I have met amazing people who spend their lives keeping music alive, live and thriving. I am thankful to the new friends I have made here in Sturgeon Bay who have been nothing but supportive and excited to have me be a new member of their community.

With big changes come possibilities, now that I am a resident of Wisconsin, stay tuned.

May you thrive,

Cathy

December 25, 2016 Sturgeon Bay, WI

more about my “wandertour” trip:

I left NYC on September 23rd the first day of Autumn, to travel around the country in a Prius Wagon with my two standard poodles Etta and Lily.  I packed my guitars, my little busking setup and head out without any goal except to find joy, gigs, maybe a new place to live, new connections and inspiration. I started north, headed all the way west to Port Townsend, WA, then south along the Pacific Coast to San Diego. I turned east via Joshua Tree, Austin and New Orleans, Key West and then up the East Coast to NYC on March 2Oth the first day of Spring. I drove 18,000+ miles visited 29 states in 180 days.

I have jammed and sang and played my guitar with so many wonderful people. I mostly found I am happy returning to my blues roots and my stage performances with lights and sound and have really enjoyed the energy of a vibrant audience seeing me for the first time.

I returned to moving out of NYC where I have called home since the late 1990’s. I am living my experience as fully as I can, and the poodles have been amazing with all the transitioning too. At this point NYCSubwayGirl is living an above ground experience, not performing in the subway's of NYC. My website nycsubwaygirl will continue to function as a place for other buskers to find useful information and for me to post from time to time stories about buskers. Of course my archives of my series The Inspiration Project is worth going back to for amazing stories of the people whom I have met while performing in the subway.

PREVIOUS UPDATES:

Greetings from my Wandertour,

What Am I Doing Now?

I set out on a journey last September to travel around the country. When I arrived on Cape Cod in May, a chance singing with amazing artist Zoe Lewis got the owner's of Tin Pan Alley to invite me to return for a gig that would last me the entire summer. Here I am with my poodles, settled in for a great summer. Certainly it's a far cry from the chaos of the subway, but if you've ever been on Commercial Street in the summer you might think there isn't much difference!

I love that the name of the bar/restaurant is Tin Pan Alley made famous as the place where songs and an entire generation of music was written right in the heart of Manhattan. 

Hope to see you if you find yourself in Provincetown this summer.

more about my trip:

I left NYC on September 23rd the first day of Autumn, to travel around the country in a Prius Wagon with my two standard poodles Etta and Lily.  I packed my guitars, my little busking setup and head out without any goal except to find joy, gigs, maybe a new place to live, new connections and inspiration. I started north, headed all the way west to Port Townsend, WA, then south along the Pacific Coast to San Diego. I turned east via Joshua Tree, Austin and New Orleans, Key West and then up the East Coast to NYC on March 2Oth the first day of Spring. I drove 18,000+ miles visited 29 states in 180 days.

I have jammed and sang and played my guitar with so many wonderful people. I mostly found I am happy returning to my blues roots and my stage performances with lights and sound and have really enjoyed the energy of a vibrant audience seeing me for the first time.

I returned to moving out of NYC where I have called home since the late 1990’s. I am living my experience as fully as I can, and the poodles have been amazing with all the transitioning too. At this point NYCSubwayGirl is living an above ground experience, not performing in the subway's of NYC. My website nycsubwaygirl will continue to function as a place for other buskers to find useful information and for me to post from time to time stories about buskers. Of course my archives of my series The Inspiration Project is worth going back to for amazing stories of the people whom I have met while performing inthe subway.

I am currently spending summer on Cape Cod in Provincetown until the end of October. I plan on returning to many of the locations I visited over my wandertour, including Sturgeon Bay, WI to partake in another Steel Bridge Song festival called Dark Songs. Afterwards I will turn the Prius wagon and poodles westward and look forward to more musical adventures along the way.  Look forward to a new recording of the songs that are stirring about within me.

Feel free to reach out if you have any suggestions where I might perform. A house concert? A favorite Wine Bar? A Club? 

I am forever grateful to the many people who have opened their homes and hearts for me.  I have met amazing people who spend their lives keeping music alive, live and thriving.

With big changes come possibilities, stay tuned.

May you thrive,

Cathy

July 3rd Provincetown, MA

Top row: Humphries, San Diego (Kirstin Stults image)/ Backwater Blues Band, Humphries, San Diego (Kirstin Stults image/ Arcadia Blues, Arcadia, CA, Bobby Bluehouse band (Ed Bergstrom image)/ House Concert, Austin, TX (Debbie Rothshield image) row 2: Ashland Blues Society, Ashland OR (Gary Mark Roberts image)/ Hudson's On Mercer, Dripping Springs, TX with Carl Weathersby (Artie Hudson image)/ Big Kitchen, San Diego, CA (Kathy Fuller images) row 3: Stillwater Landing Listening room, Whitefish, MT with David Walburn (Bill Montgomery image)/ Luchenbach, TX picking circle (Sally Huff image)/ Strange Brew, Austin, TX (Bob Fleischman image)/ Hudson's On Mercer, Dripping Springs, TX jam (Debbie Rothshield image)/  Greene St Cafe, Key West, Pete Jarvis and Steve Gibson/ Virgilio's, Key West, Skipper Kripitz / Bistro Sole, Key West with Melody Cooper, (images Jaye Harkow)/Grand Central with poodles, NYC (image Susan Grier)

Below: is a clip made by San Diego wonder woman Cathryn Beeks, who is the most inspiring promoter of local music that I have ever met.

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older posts:

Greetings from Somewhere USA,

What Am I Doing Now?

• Traveling around the country with my 2 standard poodles in search of connections and adventure. Maybe a new place to live or to create my next project.

• Looking for an Artist Residency.

• Finding gigs as they come, jams, open mic’s, house concerts, public spaces. Got one in mind, let me know nycsubwaygirl@me.com

Here’s a live audio of me in Atlanta at the wonderful listening room Eddie’s Attic.  My songs Comin' Back To Me and Good Thing:

• Working on film projects while I travel, editing, filming. I love it all, and the internet makes it easy to work from anywhere.

• Enjoying seeing my poodle Etta in Laurie Anderson’s new film Heart Of A Dog. Etta is even in the trailer. Here is the trailer

May you thrive wandering in your own journey. And please do keep in touch, nycsubwaygirl@me.com

Cathy nycsubwaygirl

updated October 2015

This page inspired by Derek Sivers who is always coming up with something new and cool to share.

• On an even more personal note:

My family has had a 2 remarkable life changing events this past year. In Atlanta in the beginning of the year, my brother Marty’s 23 year old son Austin had a brain trauma injury by falling off his longboard. Austin has made an incredible recovery. From that horrific accident and the subsequent weeks and months of recovery for Austin, and the way in which our family and friends came together, the hashtag #GrierStrong was created. What no one could have ever imagined was that 5 months later my other brother John’s 19 year old son Jared would fall from a tree and become a quadriplegic. Jared’s story since that injury has been one of courage and family strength that #GrierStrong exemplifies. I haven’t written much about it as I have been trying to stay within the realm of family privacy, but the family has created a GrierStrong blog and now led by Jared’s own writing you can follow his amazing story: Jared's GrierStrong Facebook page