Club Tee Gee: Aging Actress holds court with MAWD, Anna Ash and Emma Cole

Aging Actress recently ended their three Sunday residency at Clue Tee Gee. The band is a collaboration between Lauren Ruth Ward and Chris Hess (SWIMM). Over those three weeks, they gave some crowd pleasing sets under the golden stage lights of the club. Chris had his mother show up for two shows while his father showed up for the final night. One night, he had to mention that he bought his shirt from Target. Lauren spent time hugging and chatting with her friends that came out to support the band. The music had a low-key style to it -- a duo singer-songwriter type music. Both took the vocal leads during the various songs. They were backed by different musical instruments throughout the nights. Keys one night. A second guitar on another. Saxophone throughout.

Aging Actress

Aging Actress

On the second residency night, MAWD opened up the night. She mentioned how painful it was for her when she fell ill and couldn't perform. She felt a sense of FOMO during that time. Yet, she reminded us that even though social media makes you feel like you're missing out, those posts are often just showing the best and not highlighting the dark times.

MAWD

On the final residency night, Anna Ash opened up the night. She mentioned how the criteria for romantic relationships change as one ages. Her music has a touch of twang that makes you want to dance. 

Anna Ash

Closing out that final residency night was Emma Cole. Lauren Ruth Ward let all know that Emma is one of her closest friends. As folks were milling around after the Aging Actress set, Emma set things up on stage and then went straight into her music. She didn't even do an introduction such as, "I'm Emma Cole and I'm here to sing some music for you." No, she went right at it. And her vocals soon got folks to shut down their conversations.

Emma Cole

Though this blog post is focused on the final 2 residency nights, I did attend all three nights. Club Tee Gee was packed for all three nights. And there were more than a few who attended all three nights. It was a residency not just for Aging Actress, but for a tight knit group of the Los Angeles music scene to come together.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: MAWD

MAWD at Hotel Cafe (Rove LA/Baltisoul event)

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

How would you describe your music? It's all over the board. One day I want to rock and the next I want to play a pretty folk song with some sweet harmonies. I'd say it's a mix of indie rock, folk rock, folk, with a splash of good ol' rock n' roll.

You mentioned you grew up in Placerville. Any interesting culture shock stories related to your move to Los Angeles? I've grown up going to San Francisco a lot and lived in a few other bigger cities, so there wasn't too much of a culture shock. However, I think the biggest shock of them all is the traffic! The small town I grew up in people would ask you how many miles it would take to get somewhere because generally 5 miles meant it takes 5 minutes. In LA, you have to say about how many minutes (or hours) it takes to get somewhere because miles mean nothing! 5 miles could mean up to an hour!

Own final thoughts: I guess one of the more unique things about me is my pet chinchilla Caper. She's always the star of the party. I've had her about 5 years and she is one of the loves of my life!

Hotel Cafe: A ROVE/Baltisoul fundraiser night for homeless youth

I got asked by ROVE if I would be interested in covering their fundraiser night at Hotel Cafe. I was happy to do so. They were raising money for homeless youth. I was also asked if I was interested in doing a ticket giveaway via Instagram. This was the first time I'd done something like that. It was cool to do.

Michelle Young & The Collection

What was also cool about the night was that this was the first time I'd seen most of the bands/musicians. The only band I'd seen previously was Michelle Young & The Collection, Michelle being the one who put on the night via ROVE. Though I've seen Emma Cole, this was my first time seeing her in GMNII. A funny moment came up when the MC said something like, "They remind me of the Olsen twins." Actually, I could see how Gigi could pass as a sister of the Olsen twins. And then I've noticed MAWD on various music lineups, but this was the first time I got to see her. That was cool to finally catch someone after just noticing them on lineups.

MAWD

Mads Paige

The big surprise of the night was Velvet Starlings. You could tell they toned it down for Hotel Cafe. In fact, they didn't tone it down enough as they were asked to turn things down. From watching their set, one couldn't help but feel that at another venue (with speakers and a stage that isn't designed for singer-songwriters), lead singer Christian would be putting on one energetic show. 

Velvet Starlings

Mads Paige and New Dialogue also played the night. Mads Paige did some solid singer. Mads' father was front row for the set. New Dialogue mentioned that their songs were toned down for Hotel Cafe. "We didn't realize that tonight would be rocking."

GMNII

New Dialogue

As the night was close to Christmas, each band/musician did a Christmas song.