Gary's Corner

Holday Scandal

noreply@blogger.com (TheRenaldoTheEnsemble) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:52:00 +0000

From Gary's Holiday Intern: "Scandal broke out with Gary's family this year around the holidays. There were some things said. For those who were there back at the homestead, Gary apologizes. The stress of the year weighed heavy on Gary and he had a lot of Aunt Dorothy's rum balls at the Waffle Breakfast. It does not excuse what was said but he still would like to apologize. Particularly to the Spittlemeiner Nieces that were in the room.

Gary is taking a little bit of time off at the end of the month, taking a retreat to West Glen Cove to recenter himself. The success of the Crushed Velvets was staggering last year, it opened doors that Gary never thought existed. But it has brought an unwanted elements of self-centeredness that Gary did not anticipate.

Please accept his apology and know that he will do everything in his power to right the wrong for the sake of his family, his fans and himself.

After spending time with my family as well I have also decided that I will end my internship a month early. I just don't want to be associated with Gary anymore. It's put a wedge between me and the sweet things in my life.

The Crushed Velvets BrrrFestival show at the Garfield middle school tomorrow will be happening. 3pm. Free with canned good."

The Velv's playing in Jersey City!

noreply@blogger.com (TheRenaldoTheEnsemble) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:25:00 +0000

Hi everyone,
It's Gary. Things have been going really well with the Crushed Velvets lately. A fan posted a comment on my last post wanting us to play at the motel by the entrance to the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City. This is the kind of attention that we are going to be getting more of now that our fan base is expanding. I wouldn't be surprised if we needed to push again to get a manager agency to book our gigs with publicity and things because it will get really busy. Especially as people are going back to school and convention season is starting up.

Anyway, I totally know that place that our fan (Ben) was talking about. I don't know the name because the sign is broken, but it's right off the Holland Tunnel and we passed by it on the way to Nutley for our last gig.

Does anyone know the manager or anyone who works there? I think we could get in and maybe do a late afternoon set on a Sunday. Or any day. I think it's a hotel where people come and go a lot, like in and out, and a lot of couples. So we could have a lot of exposure and get a new demographic. (That's a (music) industry term). Anyway, we have a lot of love songs that we are working on. We have a medley of "Careless Whisper" by George Michael going right into an upbeat version of "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" by Phil Collins.

So we could premiere that medley there. I think it would be really special. If any CV fans out there know anyone who works there, or has ever been to that hotel, just let me know. Just post a comment. Especially post if you have been there because you would know how to feel out the customers there and we could plan for our audience. We are free this week even and we could do a show right away. We have a car so we don't need a ride.
Thanks guys! This is really exciting!

Crushed Velvets looking for a Boston Terrier Puppy

noreply@blogger.com (TheRenaldoTheEnsemble) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:43:00 +0000

Hi, this is Gary from the Crushed Velvets. The Crushed Velvets have been rehearsing a lot lately in the studio for our studio album production. It's been exhausting because it's really hard and also it's very hot in the studio (it's my cousin's garage). Sometimes we get sad and frustrated. After rehearsal last night I went online and looked up "Boston Terrier Puppies" on Youtube. It cheered my up right away.

I love Boston Terriers. I think if we had a Boston Terrier Puppy (or even a grown-up) at rehearsals it would help everyone be happier. If you have a Boston Terrier that the Crushed Velvets could adopt, that would be amazing. Or if you had one that we could borrow for rehearsals that would be even better, because then we wouldn't have a long-term commitment in case we get signed for a big national tour or something. So please let us know if you can help. We will credit you on the album. We would specifically like a Boston Terrier because they are the happiest of the dogs. We don't want one of those mopey dogs with the sad faces.

Thank you.

Metal and Medleys

noreply@blogger.com (TheRenaldoTheEnsemble) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:50:00 +0000

Hi everyone! It's Gary from the Crushed Velvets. Thanks for singing along in such a beautiful way at the Renaldo show this weekend. If you liked that I know you will like singing along with the Crushed Velvets at our shows coming up. Our crowd participation is even better than the Renaldo show. It's a lot smoother.

We've been playing a lot of Middle Schools in South Jersey this summer. It's a lot of fun, but it turns out there aren't any kids at the schools because it's summer. They told us there was summer school at these schools but I guess there isn't. There is a lot of construction workers at the Middle School outside of Asbury Park (they're remodeling) and they've been getting into our medleys especially. They've been playing along on their metal pipes really loudly when we're playing so I know they are into it. Someone I went to high school with became a construction worker.

I think they really like the new Wilson Phillips Medley we have where we blend "Hold On" and "Release Me" me with Amy Grant's "Every Heartbeat." We've also been working on a Roxette Tribute with some of my Jazz Chords. It's a more smooth arrangement of Joyride I call the SmoothRide. We're going to play that for them next week and I know they will like it.

Also, I think some of the kids that used to be in the schools are at the County Fair for the summer. I know a lot of bands play at county fairs, so I was thinking definitely that we could play at county fairs too. If you are putting on a fair, remember the Crushed Velvets. We will play and your fair will be more than fair!!! :)

Frustrated Velvets

noreply@blogger.com (TheRenaldoTheEnsemble) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:58:00 +0000

It's been a tough week for the Crushed Velvets. Darius (the lead guitarist who is an awesome player) and I had a little fight and I'm upset. I thought he had booked a huge show for the 4th but he apparently didn't ever do it. I thought he said "We are playing Times Square for the 4th" but I asked him yesterday at rehearsal when we need to "load-in" ("Load-in" is an industry term for unloading)("Industry" means whatever industry you are in, we're in the MUSIC industry) on the 4th and he said "what?" I said, "You know, the 4th. For our Big gig." "We don't have a gig on the 4th." "Yeah we do, TIMES SQUARE?!?!?" "No no... I said Let's Go to times square for the 4th... to watch the fireworks." Then Darius started laughing. A lot. That was the hardest part because I just want the Velvets to do so well and I thought we were really making progress. He laughed way too much I think. I just got this booked called "Emotions Revealed" by Paul Eckman. It shows you how to read people's facial expressions to better tell what their true emotions are. I'm only on the introduction but something seemed strange about Darius' face when he was laughing. Like he wasn't just happy. It was weird. I am going to keep reading the book. Anyway, I'm going to Times Square for the fireworks if anyone wants to come. I guess it will be fun.

"Oh What a Night!" TWICE in one Month!!!

noreply@blogger.com (TheRenaldoTheEnsemble) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Hi! This is Gary from the Crushed Velvets! The Vets (that's what I call the Crushed Velvets for short sometimes) were able to sneak their rendition of "Oh, What a Night!" into the Renaldo the Whatever show TWICE this month! Sometimes when the Renaldo guy is tuning or turned around I can get in some info at the Vets and event play a song sometimes. Well we did it TWICE this month. It was sweet and awesome. I think the crowd really liked it.

The Renado guy seemed really upset but I think he was jealous because we got a bigger cheer than he gets on some of his sad and angry songs. I don't care if he gets mad because the crowd loves the Crushed Velvets and I know that our tasteful blend of positive covers from the 70s 80s AND early 90s is making a difference in this crazy world.

Crushed Velvets looking for a PR Agency Manager Agent

noreply@blogger.com (TheRenaldoTheEnsemble) — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:22:00 +0000

A lot of you know that the Renaldo THe Ensemble or whatever is not my regular band. That's just my day job but it's at night. My main band is the Crushed Velvets. I think you have probably heard of them.

Well, the Crushed Velvets are having a lot of success lately. We've been practicing every other Wednesday since February and I knew it would pay off and we've had a LOT of requests for gigs. Especially since the middle school gig outside of Ronkonkoma. That was awesome! If you weren't there you should have been there. There were some parents that were really excited and we sold all of our Accessible Favorites CDs we brought and a couple burned copies I had of the jazzy Wilson Phillips covers! That CD isn't even out yet!

Anyway, we got two calls from that show to do other shows and one call asking about if we were the Crushed Velvets or the Red Velvets (ha!) because they were writing about it in the middle school paper (Tiger Times) so word is getting around. I even missed one of the calls they all came on one day.

So basically I think it's time to start getting a PR agency to manage our band. I think we need some of the agents to get the word out and manage our gigs so that word can spread more. If we had one of those then I wouldn't have to worry about it (It's a big stresser) and I could just focus on the music (my passion) and then the manager agents could take care of that other stuff. (AND If we get enough gigs then we can all leave the Renaldo thing)(maybe we could even tour!!!)(That would be awesome!!!!)

If you know anyone just email me on this site or talk to me at the next show. We can't pay anything yet but it would look great on a resume and you could burn both of our CDs (even the new one) and come to all the shows for FREE.

This isn't my regular band.

noreply@blogger.com (TheRenaldoTheEnsemble) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:36:00 +0000

Hi I'm Gary. The Renaldo THE thing isn't my regular band. It's like a day job for me. I lead this other band called the "Crushed Velvets." We are amazing. It's nothing like the stuff from the Renaldo thing.

You'd really like it I think. Everything is in English and it's a lot more family friendly. And we play a lot of songs that you already know and like. We're working on an album called "Accessible Favorites." It's got a lot of Amy Grant (her early stuff) and some Wilson Phillips covers. We do our special take on it though of course. It's a lot smoother than the originals, a lot more jazz chords with some 7ths in there. WAY more smoother than the Renaldo THE ensemble stuff. A lot of things that they play are noisy and foul I think and I think some of the other people in the band think so too but won't say it out loud at rehearsals. That's part of why I got this blog to let you know what I really feel and tell you all about the Crushed Velvets.

Actually most of the people in the Renaldo THE thing are in the Crushed Velvets. They like it a lot better. The Renaldo THE ensemble is like a side job for most of us. There is Stacey (she's the black-haired woman in the band and she's really beautiful and we used to be CIT's together at Camp Wallamoose when we were teens), Darryl on Drums (my cousin) and my brother Matt on Tuba you have all seen. They are really talented and we practice a lot in Daryll's (who is also my neighbor) garage in Glen Cove. (In the winter we practice in his basement). The main guy Ronald or something from Renaldo THE isn't in our band and neither is his Valet Richard. I kind of wish Richard was in our band because he is the best percussion player I have ever seen and sometimes he lets me use his percussion stuff in the Renaldo THE shows. That's the ONLY part I like about doing the show (and when he raps, that's also amazing!!!).

Oh, and sometimes when Ronald is tuning we quick play a song we've been working on from "Accessible Favorites". He hates it but I think it's because he's jealous. He's also probably jealous because I didn't ask him to be in the "Crushed Velvets." We don't need him though because we have a way cooler guitarist. His name is Darius and he is AWESOME! He plays really fast, like Van Halen fast, but a lot smoother and jazzier. And he is really strong. I can punch him in the stomach and it doesn't even hurt. Women are really into him. I'm growing my hair out, too.

The Crushed Velvets is really going to take off I think. We have some shows coming up, not just around Glen Cove. If you check back on Gary's Corner I'll have the updates. See you around. CRUSHED VELVETS RULE!!!!!