JEAN ANN GARRISH
SINGER - SONGWRITER - ACTOR - WRITER - DIRECTOR - PRODUCER - HUMAN
ARCHIVED NEWS:
HAPPY NEW YEAR: I've set the intention this year to make and share more music, even if it's not PERFECT. Here's something I've been working on, and facing in my life: perfection doesn't exist. I'm trying to be easier on myself and others. I wrote this song and recorded everything on GarageBand. It's only a demo, so stay tuned for more, as it gets better, not perfect. It's music and it's below! xo
NEW SINGLE "STILL NOT OKAY...":
WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE.
Wetbacks. Wops. Micks. Guineas. Japs. Towelheads. Greaseballs. Chinks. Should I continue? I can. I mean the list goes on, and on, and on, but I don't want to. Did you know there's actually an entire wikipedia page that lists ethnic slurs? I didn't, until I googled it. When I visited the site, I was happy to learn that I had not heard of most of them, but that's about all I felt happy about. And I was so uncomfortable typing the ones above, I made sure to include more of the ones my own ethnicity would have been called. Correction, would be called. Present tense. Because we are in a new time. It appears that we no longer only hear these words said by our old racist uncle during Thanksgiving, but they are now rampant on social media, and at political rallies, in our schools, and in our neighborhoods. The floodgates have been opened, my friends. Welcome to America, 2016. Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, and the Divided.
I really don't want to get into politics here. I think we've had just about enough. Full disclosure, I'm a registered Independent that leans left, pretty far left. As an 18 year old, I didn't want to register with one party because I wholeheartedly believed in voting for the best man (or woman) for the job. I also think I didn't want to freak out my conservative family. But I knew then, just as I know it now, I'm a liberal. I've actually voted for a Republican (though I regretted it), but I would do it again if I felt he (or she) was the best person for the job.
And I'm not here to alienate my conservative friends, quite the opposite, because all sides have been guilty of the name calling (and that's putting it nicely). I know politics is a dirty game, but we have forgotten how to be neighbors, because we've forgotten we are neighbors. We have forgotten that ALL of us have been created EQUAL, not just the people that we agree with, not only the people that share our skin color, or our sexual orientation, or our religion. And I'm not here to sit on my high horse, because this election has brought out the worst in me as well. But the one positive thing it has brought out is the knowledge that we have a real problem in this country. And it's a positive because you can't find a cure, if you don't know you're sick. We're sick. We are better than this, we can change this, there's still hope. But the time is now to start looking for a cure.
On November 8th, we'll have elected a new President, but regardless of who that is, the one thing that won't change on November 9th is the fact that we are a divided people. I know so many people are angry that we have become a politically correct society. Well, this election has all but killed that concept. I have an awful feeling the slur words above (and more from that Wikipedia page) as well as misogynistic terms that are so easily thrown around (and dismissed as 'locker room talk') will continue, and used even more freely. What has happened to the word KINDNESS? What has happened to the word EQUALITY? What has happened to LOVE?
So why am I writing this? Well, I like to believe I have a few talents (though some of you might disagree, and I know who some of you are). And I'd like to use them to make this world a better place, if I can. I know some will call me a bleeding heart, an idealist, and they'll mean it as an insult. Sorry, I take it as a compliment. Because if I learned anything from all those years of Catholic school, it's that we should "love one another". That means EVERYONE. Especially the people that we want to punch in the face (it's fucking HARD, I know). Don't like it? Take it up with Jesus. So, I wrote a song as response to the hateful words I've been hearing. I wrote this song as a response to the way we are treating one another. And I wrote this song to spread some joy. Warning, it contains some words that I can actually get behind, expletives. I hope it makes you laugh. I hope it spreads some light. And I hope it makes one person think before they use their words to injure. Because words matter.
NEW SINGLE "STILL NOT OKAY...": On November 4th, 2016 my new single will be released on iTunes. I'm also releasing a music video that I directed. The current insane election cycle, as well as the way we are treating one another, inspired me to write this song. 30% of all proceeds will be donated to Human Rights Watch.
"COMPOSING LIFE" IS HEADED TO NYC WEB FEST: I'm thrilled to announce my web series Composing Life will be screened at NYC Web Fest. The 2016 NYC Web Fest will take place November 10-12 at The Pit Loft Theater in Manhattan. More details to follow.
"COMPOSING LIFE" IS HEADED TO BROOKLYN WEB FEST: I'm thrilled to announce that Episode 1 of my web series Composing Life will be screened at Brooklyn Web Fest, on October 8th. We are also nominated in the Made in NY category. We're so excited to share this story with more people!! More details to come.
WOMEN IN FILM PORTRAITS : On May 31, 2016, I had the great opportunity to be interviewed and photographed by Lauren Sowa for her Women in Film Portraits project, which is a chronicle of women working in front of and behind the camera.
"We need better stories. And I think the more women that tell stories, the better off we're all gonna be. "
“I gave myself permission, instead of waiting for someone else to give me permission. Do what you love - don't wait!”
RED WINE + WHISKEY EP RELEASE CONCERT : On May 30, 2016, my band, RED WINE +WHISKEY celebrated our EP release with a show at Rockwood Music Hall. We played songs off of Composing Life as well as a few new tunes, including this one, called "Kansas City".
"COMPOSING LIFE " HAS BEEN RELEASED : On April 12, we released the 1st episode of my web series "Composing Life". There are six episodes, so feel free to binge watch them all on Vimeo.
"COMPOSING LIFE " TRAILER IS LIVE : In April, the 1st episode of my web series "Composing Life" will be released. Don't forget to subscribe, so you never miss an episode. And while you're waiting for it's arrival, here's the trailer:
"MONSTERS INSIDE ME " ON ANIMAL PLANET : In July, I had a great time shooing an episode of Monsters Inside Me. I played Ashley, a mom who's young daughter becomes extremely ill. The episode aired on November 19th; here's a little teaser of the episode: Monsters Inside Me
DAVENPORT SONGWRITING CONTEST : I'm thrilled to announce one of my songs made the Final 10 in the Davenport Songwriting Contest for musical theatre. I had the wonderful opportunity to perform it at the Davenport Theatre on April 30th.
HAPPY NEW YEAR NEWS : My December was filled with some really fun and exciting events.
On December 19th, my newly named band, Red Wine + Whiskey made it's debut performance at 17 Frost Theater of the Arts. We performed three originals, as well as a little Christmas ditty. The next day we headed back to Brooklyn and into the studio to start recording the soundtrack for my upcoming short film "Composing Life". We are currently in pre-production and I hope to start shooting in March.
More Coming Soon...
OCTOBER UPDATES : My upcoming short film "Composing Life" has a brand spanking new website, please check us out at Composing Life Film.
I also had the tremendous honor to sing at one of my best friend's weddings in September. The wedding was so beautiful and since we've been friends since kindergarten, I got a little more emotional than I had expected.
Here's "The Prayer":
SEPTEMBER SOMETHINGS : I'm happily knee-deep into preproduction for my upcoming web series "Composing Life".
And because music is such a big part of the film, I've been busy writing some new songs. Here's a live demo recording of one of those songs "Can't Forget". I can't wait to share this movie. More news coming soon!
MAY HAPPENINGS : I joined a new acting class with the amazing Heidi Marshall.
I have never worked so hard in, or gotten more out of, an acting class before. I feel like I have an incredible, new foundation to continue to build on! Here's a clip from class:
FALL NEWS, 2013: New Song Demo "We Are Perfect, Girls".
I'm still hard at work writing music, and I wrote this one after feeling like I, being a woman, was constantly being bambarded with article titles like "Get that hot body you've always dreamed of in just seven days" or "Look better naked now". And it really pissed me off, like why aren't we enough? Or maybe better put, why don't we feel we are enough? I wanted to say that we are enough; we're perfect, just as we are, right now (recorded with the MultiTrack iPhone app).
I also had the huge opportunity to perform "Neutral Hero" at The Dublin Theatre Festival in October.
APRIL 28, 2013: Live Demo recording of "The Slaughter" written for my upcoming EP.
I've recently begun working on new songs for the first EP of my own material (to be recorded by the end of the year). I had the huge pleasure, and opportunity, to work on the arrangement of this song with a few of my crazily talented friends, and they just so happen to be a few of the gifted musicians from "Neutral Hero"). Take a listen below:
JANUARY 2, 2013: "Neutral Hero" named one of 2012's best by Hilton Als, The New Yorker
Director Richard Maxwell’s “Early Plays” and “Neutral Hero.” How marvelous that the year should begin and end with these two pieces by one of the strongest directors out there—an artist committed to making us see the world for what it is: a series of aural and physical gestures in space that may add up to something like an experience. He then heightens this by showing how the theatrical becomes theatrical: through the extension of a performer’s arm, some music, a little choreographed step out into the blue.
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/12/hilton-als-my-year-in-theatre.html#ixzz2HAAGIv35
DECEMBER 13, 2012: Ben Brantley, New York Times names "Neutral Hero" one of his Top Ten
"NEUTRAL HERO" The finest work to date from the experimental auteur Richard Maxwell, this coming-of-age story suggested an improbable hybrid of “Our Town” and “The Odyssey.” And like the Broadway musical “Once,” it made startlingly inventive use of song.
Read more:
http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/theater/uncle-vanya-mies-julie-once-among-years-highlights.html?_r=0
OCTOBER 23, 2012: Ben Brantley calls "Neutral Hero" remarkable.
Small-Town Americans, Street by Street to Eternity By BEN BRANTLEY Published: October 24, 2012
"Somewhere between the snug burg of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” and the wine-dark seas of Homer’s “Odyssey” lies the brave new world where Richard Maxwell has set up camp. In “Neutral Hero,” the remarkable new play that opened on Tuesday night at the Kitchen, Mr. Maxwell is hunting for the epic in the Everyday."...The "cast of 'Neutral Hero,'...take turns narrating and portraying characters in Anonymous’s coming-of-age journey, they achieve a sort of collective, Everyperson reality."
Read more:
OCTOBER 18, 2012: New York City Players presents Richard Maxwell: Neutral Hero
Richard Maxwell has assembled twelve people to tell a story. The story concerns a young man searching for his father in the American landscape. Beneath gas stations and drive-ins, family routines, work schedules, small-town dreams and desires, Neutral Hero offers itself to the ancient stream of humanity.
Neutral Hero is theater. Undertaking the utterly impossible feat of portraying neutrality, Neutral Hero employs the fundamental properties- text, movement, and music, to continue to define what a new contract could mean between performers and audience.
Performers: Lakpa Bhutia, Janet Coleman, Keith Connolly, Alex Delinois, Bob Feldman, Jean Ann Garrish, Rosie Goldensohn, Paige Martin; James Moore; Philip Moore; Andie Springer; Andrew Weisell.
Production: Kunstenfestivaldesarts. Executive production: New York City Players