pinkMOXIE

Tickling the ivories for a season

Tonight was the official CD release party for singer-songwriter Kendall Payne's new CD Paper Skin. Payne is an artist who has experienced firsthand the highs and lows of the music industry, so it's good to see that she has persevered and endured through it all as she hit the stage tonight in Los Angeles to share her new music.

I first saw Payne play last year and was moved by her vocals and music. Her music is honest and heartfelt. Her sound is similar to Sarah McLachlan. Let's just say that Payne would have been a great addition to the Lilith Fair lineup back in the summer of 1999.

In addition to being a talented singer-songwriter, she is an accomplished musician. Guitar was her instrument of choice until April 2006 when she decided to "tickle the ivories for a season."

Read how her latest CD came to fruition (the following is an excerpt from Kendall Payne's Web site):

Stealing Buddha's Dinner

As I sat in rush-hour traffic last week listening to NPR's All Things Considered with Michele Norris, I had the pleasure of listening to an interview with Author Bich Minh Nguyen (pronounced bit min new-win). Nguyen discussed her new book Stealing Buddha's Dinner, a memoir about growing up in America as an outsider trying to assimilate in a culture of fast foods, Rice-A-Roni and Toll House Cookies as it clashed against the Vietnamese foods and customs in the Nguyen household.

It was a thought-provoking interview that left me pondering my own ideas on how brands and products shape our culture, and it also stirred up my own memories of trying to fit in when you don't belong (or at least feeling like you don't belong).