New York

Was it Bing (Damn you, Bing!) who infected my heart with things expected?

/ Maria Sonevytsky / Leave a comment

About this time last year, The Debutante Hour finally got around to recording one of the very first songs that we ever played in public. And now it’s that time of year again, the perfect time to express that creeping sense of dread that often accompanies the onset of the season. I’m actually really looking forward to Christmas this year, but I think that this song captures something essential about its approach. Listen here: I’m Afraid of Christmas.

I feel it coming on.
I’m feeling wrong right out of the box.
Waking up makes me sad;
I forget why I want what I want.
Every spare moment I’m obsessing
about all the time I spent messing
up, which is just about every relationship I’ve ever had including my parents and probably god.
I feel it coming on,
and it doesn’t make any sense since
my mom’s a Jehovah’s Witness
that…

I’m afraid of Christmas
I’m afraid of it every year.
Every year I think I can beat it; it’s just time.
And I’ve been through time before.

I’m Afraid of Christmas
not for what I won’t get but for what I can’t let go
like last February, like my dad who died eight years ago,
like my favorite hat I remembered as I shut the cab door, that was 2004.
Like everytime someone I loved wanted something from me that I couldn’t give but really I wanted to, which is just about every relationship I’ve ever had including my parents and probably god.
It makes me feel like my life is something warm and satisfying that’s not happening to me but to those nice people over there.
Ex-boyfriends and other things I used to believe in they all start to bother me more that it’s almost Christmas.
I’ve been fooled by this before.

Was it Bing (damn you Bing!)
who infected my heart with things expected
like the notion of some clear emotion —
something you can just feel when you feel it.
That good is just good and everyone has it.
And longing’s just long, and it’s meant to end.
And all you have to do is listen for sleigh bells in the snow…
now I know…

I’m so afraid of Christmas.
You should have seen me last year.
I almost didn’t survive Christmas.
But I’m glad I did, because I get to be with you this year.

Debutante Hour: Puppet Playlist and Tinderbox Music Fest!

/ Maria Sonevytsky / Leave a comment

Back in NYC after what feels like an eternity, and so excited to play a bunch of Debutante Hour shows this week…

First, we’re playing three shows as part of the Simon and/or Garfunkel Puppet Playlist at The Tank (15 W. 28th Street, 3rd floor):  Thursday Sept. 8: 7:30pm & 9:30pm; and Friday, Sept. 9: 7:30pm. Tickets: $8 in advance / $10 at the door.

Here’s their blurb:

This month, Puppet Playlist is back in Kodachrome. Join us as we take on Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel. Perhaps just Simon. Just Garfunkel? Simon and/or Garfunkel.

Puppet Playlist takes brilliant puppeteers and talented musicians and slams them together into an evening of live theater to stir the senses. This Playlist will feature original works of puppetry inspired by the songs of Paul Simon and/or Art Garfunkel, mixed with live musical interpretations by some of New York’s most exciting young singer-songwriters.

Featuring Pieces By: Taylor Bibat, Deb Hertzberg, Jonathan Levin, Peter Musante, Cathy McCullough & Jodi Eichelberger, and Eric Wright

With Music By: Franz Nicolay, The Debutante Hour, Anna Leuchtenberger, Noah Bloch-Harley, and more.

*********

THEN, on Saturday, we’re on at 5:30 PM on the Main Stage at the Tinderbox Music Festival, at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. It’s a fest dedicated to emerging female artists, what TimeOut NY calls a “lineup of epic female power,” and the proceeds go the the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls and to Girls Write Now.

These are our only shows in NYC in September, so come out come out!

Debutante Hour West Coast tour starts on Friday!

/ Maria Sonevytsky / Leave a comment

We played a really fun show with Karina Denike, Lily and the Parlour Tricks, and Lily Taylor last night at the Rock Shop. And today and tomorrow, our musical trio flies out to the west coast for seven shows from Seattle down to San Francisco. If you’re in those parts or know someone who is, who might like a little hour of debutante in his or her life, please send them our way:

Fri, July 8th House show on Bainbridge Island, WA hosted by John Eisenhauer. Beautiful location for a house show! RSVP on Facebook.

Sat July 9th in Seattle, WA. We return to the House on Dibble for another show! Contact cyoumany@hotmail.com
for details.

Sun July 10th in Seattle, WA @ The Can Can (corner of First and Pike). With the amazing accordionist Nova Nervosa and Miwa Gemini. $5. Buy tickets here.

Mon July 11th in Cottage Grove, OR @ The Axe&Fiddle with Jason Webley! All ages, $5-10 sliding; 7:30 PM start (we’re on real early and again after Jason).

Tues July 12th in Portland, OR @ Mississippi Pizza with Jenni Alpert. Starts early, at 6 PM – come for dinner!

Thurs July 14th in San Francisco, CA @ Little Minksy’s Burlesque in Haight-Ashbury.

Fri July 15th in San Fran @ Amnesia, 7 PM show with our pals the Corner Laughers. $5.