New Show - Make Music New York Festival - Fri, Jun 21st

Friday, June 21st (time TBA) I will be performing in SOHO Square Park as part of the city-wide Make Music New York Festival. This festival is a totally unique all day event where live music is hosted outdoors all over the city.

This is the first time I will be taking part in the festival and I'm excited to be playing in the fashionable Soho neighborhood of Manhattan at Soho Square Park on 6th AVE and Spring ST.

And, this will be my first full length show since I've taken time off for songwriting. Because of this I've decided this show will debut 6 totally new, never heard before songs!

Hope to see you there!

The 100 Song Project Video Update: Writer's Block

In the April 2013 video update for the 100 Song Project I finally talk about my writer's block. I would love to pretend like everything is going smoothly, but that's not the point of this project. The point of this project is to stick with it through the difficult times and to share the truth through songs and these video updates.

My First Theme Song

I'm so excited to announce that I've written, performed, and co-produced my first theme song! You can hear it and watch the first episode of this comedic web series on the video below.

The show is called Kelly and Lindsey Do New York and it's written by, starring, and produced by my two friends Kelly and Lindsey. They will be releasing episodes each month, which you can watch on their website, www.KellyandLindsey.com.

Thanks for trusting me with this important project ladies!

Warning - These girls are 100% crazy, this series isn't appropriate for all audiences.

"Go Home Alone" Music Video Coming Soon

On August 1 & 3 of 2011 a wonderful, talented team of people came together to shoot the "Go Home Alone" music video. We needed two locations and two days to accomplish the vision and we did it!

Then, something happened that happens to many creative projects. Somewhere along the way the project stalled. And here we are in 2013! 

Finishing this music video has been on my things to do list all this time and I'm so happy that we are merely days away!

Below is the teaser video for you to enjoy. And I can't wait for you to see the finished music video very soon!

The Music Building Interview

The building where I have my music studio in Midtown Manhattan asked me to talk a little bit about how I came from Houston, Texas to New York City.

The 100 Song Project Video Update: Releasing the Artist

In the March 2013 video update for my 100 Song Project I talk about my recent performance of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." To see a video of the performance I'm discussing click here! 

Performance Video - Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Check out my latest performance at the "Hitsville, USA: A Tribute to Motown" concert at New York City's, The Bitter End. I really enjoyed singing this classic Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell hit and the packed house was enjoying it too, they were swinging their arms, dancing, and singing along. 

Watch my "releasing the soul" video blog to get an idea for the significance of this performance.

March 20, 2013 Show Announcement

Next Wednesday night, March 20th, I will be bringing the house down with the song, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" at New York City's The Bitter End!

The show starts at 7PM and there is a $10 suggested donation. The evening is a tribute to Motown and a benefit for The Foundation Fighting Blindness. I'm honored to be a part of the event and I can't wait to sing one of my favorite songs.

I hope to see you there!

The 100 Song Project: Inspiration Board

In the February 2013 update for the 100 Song Project I discuss my inspiration board!

The Singer/Songwriter Conference Wrap Up

The Singer/Songwriter Conference was a huge success!

Our conference was 100% organized by singer/songwriters and exclusively featured singer/songwriters as speakers and panelists. We shattered the ridiculous old cliche, "musicians aren't good business people." Musician ARE good business people if we go out and learn the skills and gain the confidence. 

Our speaker and panelists spoke about the nitty gritty business parts of music as well as the creative magical parts of music. The event could have lasted days and covered so many more specific topics, but we started some great conversations and facilitated new friendships. I'm incredibly proud of the event.

A Little Love Affair for Valentines Day

This Valentines Day, enjoy a song from my album, Take Me For A Ride.

My Inspiration: Make It Big

A few months ago I put together a very special playlist of music. I called it "Dreams Come True" and put together inspirational songs to help me when I'm feeling down or overwhelmed by the task ahead.

The Beach Boys' song "Make It Big" from their Still Cruisin' Album is the first song on this playlist. It was released in 1989, but the sound is pure 90's. I love the lyric, "Catch a plane to Hollywood and right away you're best buddies with Johnny B. Goode and he'll say, 'baby, welcome to the neighborhood, now you can do what you want, do what you want.'"

The other special thing about this song is that it is the opening for one of my favorite movies, "Troop Beverly Hills." Below is youtube video of the movie's opening sequence.

The 100 Song Project: Releasing the Soul

The Hermes Scarf

What could be more French and enchanting than an Hermes scarf? Nothing.

Although I don't own one now, I know I will someday. I currently spend an inappropriate amount of time searching the eBay catacombes for the best, most beautiful one, but it hasn't happened yet.

I found this cute little video featuring Hermes scarves on The New York Times Style Magazine. 

Next step for me -- mentioning Hermes scarves in a song. Wait, is that a hint?

The Singer/Songwriter Conference

I'm very excited about a brand new conference that I will be participating in as a panelist and as a fellow organizer. It is the Singer/Songwriter Conference and it is the vision of Casey Dinkin, a singer/songwriter who moved to New York City a year ago and saw the need for more discussion on the topics that impact our creative community.

This conference is unique in the music community because it is organized by singer/songwriters, all the speakers are singer/songwriters, and it is presented for singer/songwriters. So it's for us and by us. For the first Singer/Songwriter Conference we will be discussing how to make a living as a singer/songwriter through a keynote speaker and a panel discussion.

Please share this event with any singer/songwriters you know. Space is very limited!

About the Conference:

Date - Sunday, Feb 10th, 2013 (day of the grammy's)

Time - 2 - 6PM

Location - Midtown Manhattan

RSVP LINK!

Program:

Keynote Speaker - Julie Gold, writer of "From a Distance" and Grammy Award Winner

Panel Discussion - "Making a Living as a Singer/Songwriter: Can it Be Done? or It Can Be Done!"

Mixer - An hour to hang out and continue the conversation!

Find me on Twitter

You can find be on twitter here...www.Twitter.com/SarahElizFoster.

I love posting pictures when I'm out and about and linking to interesting articles, so follow me if you want to keep up with my tweets.

My Inspiration: Jerry Seinfeld

Are you surprised that I would be inspired by Jerry Seinfeld???

If you look beyond the difference in mediums between he and I, you will see a person who is very passionate and meticulous about what he does. When he says in this video that part of the work he does on a joke is similar to songwriting, he is right. 

Check out this recent New York Times article and video.

The 100 Song Project: The Deeper Reason

In the December update for The 100 Song Project I discuss the deeper reason behind this project for the first time.

Goodbye to Colony Records

One of the most exciting trips I used to make when I first moved to New York City was to Colony Records to buy sheet music. I would struggle to narrow down my selection of song books, I wanted every single one. It would remind me of time I spent at the music library at The University of Miami, digging for the great songs that were forgotten. In a place like Colony, you knew they were there.

Over the years of living in New York I progressed to writing more and more songs and doing fewer and fewer cover songs and slowly stopped visiting Colony Records. When I needed sheet music in recent years I went online and paid to download it on some of the new websites that sell sheet music. This was much easier than going to times square, but I always thought Colony would be there, it was for 64 years!

Goodbye Colony, I'll miss you!

Read about the closing...

New York Post

New York Times

Gothamist

(PS - New York City still has the Performing Arts Library, which is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza to the right of the Opera house and it is AMAZING. This is a great option if you're looking for sheet music. They allow you to make photocopies of the song books in their collection.)

My Inspiration: Edith Piaf

I was looking for some stamps to buy on the post office website and what did I come across, but a stamp with the image of one of my inspirations, Edith Piaf! It appears they have paired her up with jazz legend, Miles Davis. I think the two images look very nice together, you can see how passionate they both are with their music.

Edith Piaf is considered France's greatest popular singer and I love Edith Piaf for the pure guts that she puts in to every song she sings, the phrases have so much focus, they don't lose energy for one second. It's like she's boring a hole in your heart. She doesn't let up even when she has to take a breath. I also love her intense vibrato. I find it very rich and full and of the time in France.

There was a movie about Edith Piaf's life starring one of my favorite actresses, Marion Cotillard. They called the movie La Vie en Rose after Edith Piaf's most famous song. Watch it if you want to learn more about her life.