Featuring Cindy Bullens at our Open Mike
 by Kathy S-B  ·  10 March 2007

When’s the last time you attended an open mike which included a featured performance by a twice-nominated Grammy Award act? A lot of music fans have little patience for Open Mikes. They think that evenings like this are only for the musicians. Well, that’s a big part of it and most musicians do want a chance to play on a stage, especially one as prestigious as the me & thee. So combining this rare opportunity with the chance to see Cindy Bullens perform seemed like a great opportunity to offer the folk community.

To say that Cindy WOWed our audience would be an understatement. Cindy gave 110 percent of herself on our little stage, playing songs off her latest CD “Dream #29” and her amazing release “Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth.” Cindy’s energy was incredible. But perhaps what rang true for me more than anything else about the evening was her sincerity.

Cindy spoke from the heart about herself — her career, her family, her feelings about why she has to make music. Cindy revealed herself as one of the most humane and human performers I’ve seen in a long, long time. Her stories about the loss of her 11-year old daughter, Jessie, and about how the songs about a mother’s grief poured out of her which led to the release of “Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth” were incredibly profound. I feel honored to have been witness to this performance and I can’t say that very often. I suspect that everyone in our audience felt the same way.

The good news is that Cindy has just formed a new group called the Refugees along with Wendy Waldman, Jenny Yates, and Deborah Holland. They just played at the International Folk Alliance in Memphis and will be recording a new CD later this spring. Cindy describes the band as a female Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Expect to see this band at the me & thee. Get your tickets now. Seriously.

Let me take this opportunity to thank all of the performers who graced our stage during the Open Mike portion of the show. Many of you traveled from a distance and it was a thrill to hear your music. Every single performer contributed a bit of themselves and it was simply joyous to hear such a wide range of music on our stage. A big thank you to:
Ryan and Ortolani, Jamie Shaler, Karl Sharicz, Teresa Storch, Jane Fallon, Susie Pascar, Bonnie Lee Panda, Erik Balkey, Pat Kenneally, September Babies, and Gayle Picard.

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