Having touring musicians as friends leads to an interesting kind of friendship – hosting them or seeing them in your town every few years with occasional visits at music conferences like Folk Alliance. It’s been almost 4 years since we hosted Natalie Gelman in Las Cruces (https://houseconcerts.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/saturday-may-22-2010-natalie-gelman/). In the meantime, Natalie moved from New York City to Ojai, California and we moved from Las Cruces to Chicago. Somewhere in between, we met up at Folk Alliance, but that was a while back.
I’m thrilled that our paths are crossing again – Natalie will be in Chicago for several days, starting with our show on Thursday, Two Way Street Coffee House in Downers Grove on Friday and on the radio Saturday night on WFMT Folk Stage. Please learn more about Natalie below and then get in touch to come join us to hear Natalie in our living room – we’ll have a great time and hear some beautiful music!
Natalie’s songs are about love won and lost, joy and despair and all that happens in relationships, along with the musician’s life on the road, woven in along the way. In performance, she “…share[s] the stories behind songs and put my heart and experiences out there in the music — it’s something genuine and full of ups and downs.” “There are a lot of heavy topics covered in my songs,” she says, “but always a bit of hope and vulnerability, childlike dreaming for some ideal.”
Admiring music from a young age, Natalie’s passion and persistence led to admission into the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts, the acclaimed FAME school. There, she received classical voice training from coaches of the Juilliard School and the NYC Opera. After securing her second solo at Carnegie Hall, Natalie began strumming her guitar and writing lyrics, pursuing what would soon become her career.
She started off as a busker in the New York City subways when she was 16 and was featured on the front page of the New York Times. Natalie’s soulful voice carried over multiple trains in the underground subway and her intimate songs stopped even the most hurried NYC commuters in their tracks. She has been praised by songwriting legends such as Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary who stopped to listen to her perform on the subway and introduce himself. Natalie has opened for and performed with Dave Mason of Traffic and folkie Ellis Paul and sung “God Bless America at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and has been touring since 2009.
Natalie was interviewed by on Voice of America radio – so you can get to know her and listen to some of her songs: http://www.voanews.com/audio/audio/299320.html.
http://www.nataliegelman.com/music
http://www.youtube.com/user/NatalieGelman
http://www.reverbnation.com/nataliegelman
https://www.facebook.com/NatalieGelmanMusic
https://plus.google.com/u/2/110174627005795757773/about
Music at 7:30 p.m. Potluck and socializing at 6:30 p.m. Please feel free bring a dish and beverage to share. Wine or beer are welcome. Water, glasses, dishes and silver provided.
For more information and an invitation, please contact Lee by e-mail at windycityhouseconcerts@gmail.com or at 773-334-5776.
Suggested artist donation $15-20 (All funds go to the musician.)
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Windy City House Concerts 