Arts: Music
Hitting the Streets...and the Music Scene with
Tracy Marie
by Sherry Gavanditti
Don’t let her youthful appearance and petite size fool you. She’s a powerhouse of song, talent, desire, dedication, and energy. Cleveland singer-songwriter Tracy Marie has already played hundreds of gigs, gotten college radio airplay, and appeared live on-stage with legends in the industry.
Tracy loves to perform and plays in many Cleveland area venues, from the Savannah to the Parkview. She’s also a regular in street performances downtown, including Sparx in the City and Street Beats. She has been known to spontaneously head out to the street and play. “Many times I performed on the sidewalk for the people just walking by,” she says, smiling. “As a performer, I find that some of the smallest, least attended and unplanned performances have turned out to be some of the most important milestones in my life. Still, I can’t leave out my performance at the Mystic Valley Music Fest in Wheeling, West Virginia. I met some key musical and inspiring figures at this festival. That was a hell of a trip. In fact, if you want to experience the feeling for yourself, just listen to my song, ‘West Virginia’ www.myspace.com/thelittlequeen]. I wrote that song about the experience. It was produced by my travel companion and musical partner Curtis Leonard.”
Her smooth, well-rounded voice sprawls seamlessly from hard blues to rock to pop to country, and can be reminiscent of both Norah Jones and Janis Joplin. Her genre is all genres. Her two CDs, Sheik European Assassin Woman and The One in the Sun are prime examples of her eclectic style.
The 32 year old Tracy uses her music to do more than entertain. She founded BreastFest, an annual Cleveland musical event, to raise money for breast cancer patients.
Tracy’s childhood dream of singing and playing piano manifested itself when she was very young. “I’ve been banging on the piano since I was a toddler. My interest in learning music manifested from my mother, who played some piano,” she recalls. Tracy learned to play the piano and soon began writing her own songs. When she was 16, she picked up a guitar for the first time when a buddy left one at her house for a few days.
“I had no clue what I was playing, yet I pushed down on the fret board and plucked away. A voice inside me kept saying that I should have a guitar. So, I rented one and started taking lessons. I practiced until my fingers hurt,” she says. “I always knew I wanted to be a vocalist, a music performer on stage in concert and/or actress in theater. Because of my inability to pick up on dance steps (I suck), theater was difficult to swing, although I had the acting and singing part down. I made up songs quite a bit and never really knew that just making up songs was a legitimate profession,” she explains.
Tracy has performed in more than 500 shows. In 1994 she performed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in front of thousands of people as part of a talent showcase. It was her first “public” performance outside of school.
Tracy’s scariest moment in performing was in a downtown blues club with Blues legend Buddy Miles at 2 a.m. “After thinking I wasn’t performing that night, Buddy just called out to me, ‘Blues in G.’ I was so nervous, and not that familiar with blues songs. I had never improvised lyrics and melody on the spot, especially at such an opportune moment! My mind raced as I tried to think of some words and completely blacked out. I barely remember what we sang, but I ended up in Buddy’s lap at the end of the song and everyone cheered, so I guess I did okay,” she laughs.
Tracy describes a very different, but just as special, night in her career—when she learned to never take her fans for granted. “There was a night when a young gentleman walked up to me at a show, and he said to me that he was actually planning to go home that night and take his own life. However, after he heard my music, it gave him a new outlook. He decided to give life a second chance because of my music. His story made me realize that my creating music really could potentially achieve something as profound as saving a life,” she recalls.
Tracy plays with various genres of musicians. Her blues style really shines when she plays with the Bad Boys of Blue. She can also be found performing with her rock band, Glue. She’s played with Ed King and Stanley Jordan and opened for Heart, Incubus and David Allen Coe. “The musicians I am most proud to share the stage with however, are local musicians right here in Cleveland,” she says.
When Tracy talks about her outlook on music and life, her attitude is quite inspirational yet well grounded. “Once I set my mind on something and become determined to make it happen, I don’t stop until it does,” she says. “Many see their music career as a journey to the top. The ‘top’ being fame and fortune; the alternative being not successful in music. If you have musical talent then you are already fortunate and being on ‘top’ is whatever you define it to be. It doesn’t have to be a song in the top ten with thousands of screaming fans.”
Listening to Tracy’s CDs is a great way to experience her wide variety of musical styles, but make sure you check out one of her live performances to get the full effect of her energy, talent and dynamic presence.
Where to Find Tracy on the Web:
www.tracymarie.com
(check Tracy’s site for updates on BreastFest 2007)
Myspaces:
www.myspace.com/thelittlequeen
www.myspace.com/theoneinthesuncd
www.myspace.com/sheikeuropeanassassinwoman
Upcoming Shows:
Thursday, September 6th at 11:45 a.m.
Acoustic Lunch
Colonial Marketplace, 530 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114
Tracy Marie solo acoustic show near the food court.
(Tracy performs here the 1st Thursday and 3rd Friday of each month.)
Saturday, September 8 at 9 p.m.
Tracy Marie Band
Parkview Niteclub, 1261 West 58th St., Cleveland, OH
216.961.1341
www.parkviewniteclub.com
Saturday, September 15
Tracy Marie Duo
Sparx Gallery Hop
Time & Place TBA
www.cleveland.com/sparx
Tracy Marie and Mike Barrick on Bass and Trumpet
Sherry Gavanditti is the editor of the High Point, the newspaper for Tri–C’s eastern campus. She can be reached through her website, www.ohiotalent.com.
