Easily one of the hardest working women in the music business, trombonist Natalie Cressman is gearing up to release a new album as part of her duo project with guitarist Michael Bono. Now with “enough music for a full length album”, Cressman and Bono are taking to the internet for your support in funding the project!
The Cressman-Bono Duo has been playing live simulcast concerts using the Concert Window website, giving fans an opportunity to live stream the intimate performance. They have one coming up tomorrow, which is completely free (though donations are always appreciated), and will act as a fundraiser for the new album project.
Talking about the unique interface, Cressman says “It’s like a conversation that you couldn’t really have in front of a real audience ’cause sometimes folks are interested in things like the back story. I guess it’s kinda like we invited folks over for coffee and shared our songs with them casually.”
Perhaps best known for her role in the Trey Anastasio Band, Cressman is actually a seasoned musical veteran and a participant in countless projects. Our very own Rex Thomson sat down with “Chainsaw” Cressman for more information about the simulcast, new album, and even her role in the upcoming Brooklyn Comes Alive Festival on September 26th.
Brooklyn Comes Alive: A Day Of Musical Collaboration Across Williamsburg
L4LM: You’ve got a simulcast coming up tomorrow, can you tell us what that’s all about?
NC: I started doing these web shows with my guitarist [Michael Bono] a little while ago. It’s a really good way to work out new material, and also, the interface we use, Concert Window, allows for a chat room vibe so people can comment and ask questions so it’s a way to have conversations with our fans about the music and what’s going on.
We’ve been working together for a year and change and now we’ve got enough music for a full length album and we’re doing these simulcasts to help fund the record. We thought we’d do these web shows and people can listen for free, but if they want or they enjoy the music they can donate to the cause. It’s voluntary, the simulcast is completely free, it’s a fun way to get the buzz going about the new stuff. And that’s tomorrow! (Chuckles)
L4LM: This seems like a more fun version of Kickstarter, where you just ask folks to donate, you’re actually giving folks a product right off the bat!
NC: Right! I’ve done the Kickstarter thing, and I usually try and make really kick ass prizes to make it work, but this is cool because it’s completely voluntary. If you wanna tune in and check out the music you can for free, but if it moves you and you feel compelled to contribute, it would be so appreciated. Plus, it allows our fans to be involved and be part of the process.
It’s fun, the quality of the simulcast is good, we’ve done it on tour too. We did one from Los Angeles in the summer, which was cool because we had some extra time, and my dad, who was in Europe got to tune in and listen, so it’s pretty cool to connect with an audience worldwide.
L4LM: That’s a great part of the internet, it’s broken down so many barriers between artists and the fans.
NC: Yeah, right? I love using these kinds of platforms. More so than in a concert setting, on the web show we can really tell folks what a song is about, answer questions about the gear, and how we write together. It’s like a conversation that you couldn’t really have in front of a real audience ’cause sometimes folks are interested in things like the back story. I guess it’s kinda like we invited folks over for coffee and shared our songs with them casually.
L4LM: So this simulcast is to raise money for the new Duo album with Mike Bono. Is the recording done yet?
NC: No, far from it. We have all the music written, there’s nine songs and we’re raising money to get the project started and cover studio costs. We’re hoping to go into the studio in October and hopefully we’ll have the release sometime in early 2016. And we’ll do a big fun show in New York for the CD release.
L4LM: So are you doing anything new with the Natalie Cressman Band?
NC: Yes, the band is doing a new project as well, an EP, probably in the spring or summer of 2016 we’ll do something with the whole band. The simulcast is for the music we have specifically written for the Duo though.
L4LM: Well, it sounds like 2016 will be a banner year for the Natalie Cressman media empire!
NC: (laughs) It’s gonna be a busy one! (Laughs) I didn’t really mean for these to both collide, in terms of the time lines, but Mike and I just kinda decided that we had enough musicthat we should make an album, if only to sell at Duo shows so we had something for the fans who wanted to have something that they could take home and enjoy. Mike and I each have our own music, but we wanted to make something really reflective of our live shows together.
L4LM: So how many bands are you in anyway?
NC: How many bands am I in? Omigod! Well, I’m in my own band, I have the Duo project, I’m in an electronic indie pop group Thumbelina Launchpad, that’s a duo with me and my boyfriend, and then TAB, (The Trey Anastasio Band) …wow…there’s a lot. Van Ghost. Escort. There’s still more…I play with the Everyone Orchestra a lot, but that’s always rotating so it doesn’t really count. There’s Sparkler, Jesus On The Mainline…there’s more but I guess those are really the main ones.
That’s a short list of the stuff I’m most heavily involved in, but there’s plenty more where I’m just a sideman.
L4LM: Wow! At this point, with all those different jobs you must be living in a house made of bundles of money!
NC: Oh no no no! (Laughs) It’s a labor of love! I wouldn’t change it for the world. I mean, I can afford to rent an apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, so I’m not doing crappy but…no…it’s not stacking up that high. But that’s okay…it’s not really why I’m in the music business. Hopefully it’ll keep getting better…I love playing music…i’d almost do it for free. Sometimes I do it for very little…but that’s okay.
Some of the gigs are more lucrative than others. Like a TAB tour will fund a tour of my band that we couldn’t really do without a little extra budget, so it all ends up evening out in the end. All my projects help each other to stay afloat.
L4LM: It sounds like you’re doing it for love.
NC: Yes! Definitely! I mean, it’s a busy lifestyle, and I don’t even know what free time feels like anymore, ’cause even on a day off I have a million songs to write and emails to respond to so it doesn’t ever feel like I have a break but it’s also
invigorating. It’s like the gigs, and shows and putting out songs…it gets so much love that it makes it all worth it!
L4LM: Your band and the Jennifer Hartswick band are doing a show together at the Brooklyn Bowl. Don’t you see enough of her with The Trey Anastasio Band and Van Ghost?
NC: NO! I can never have too much Jen! Actually, it’s funny, if a couple weeks of shows go by and we’re not on the same gigs we’re like “This feels weird! When do I see you next?” Half of the bands I listed, she’s in as well, and I play with her band whenever I can! It’s nice. She was here last week, and that’s awesome! I wish we lived in the same place, but gigs are a good excuse for us to hang!
L4LM: You’re headed out with Trey this fall…you do realize that that band is dangerously close to the legal amount of ginger allowed onstage right?
NC: (Laughs) Right? I know! We just gotta get one more person to join the clan. Maybe James Casey (Saxophonist for TAB) could dye his hair and join our clan!
L4LM: How did you discover the trombone? It’s not the kinda instrument most folks have laying around the house.
NC: My Dad is a professional trombone player, so to me it wasn’t really weird to play that instrument. it didn’t seem out of the ordinary because that was what I was growing up around. But yeah…(Chuckles)…It is kinda a specialized instrument that not a lot of people play, especially girls.
My dad had an extra one lying around, he was my first teacher and it just clicked for me.
L4LM: You’re part of the upcoming epic Brooklyn Comes Alive project! How did that come about?
NC: Kunj [Kunj Shah, L4LM founder] reached out and explained what he was trying to accomplish, bringing that New Orleans flavor, the essence of Jazz Fest, music happening all day and all night, and bringing that to Brooklyn! I’m a Brooklyn resident, and I definitely wanted to be involved and it’s the first chance I have gotten to put together a super jam so that’s really been fun. There’s been a lot of back and forth with the musicians about the songs, and it is gonna be a really fun show.
L4LM: Any sneak peeks you can give us?
NC: Uhhhhhh….man…I can’t! (Laughs) They want it to be a surprise! I will say we’re going in a kinda Afrobeat, world, funk kinda direction which I think is kinda refreshing. We’re trying to pick stuff that doesn’t normally get played at these super jams. We’re trying to veer off in a different direction.
L4LM: Well, thanks for taking some time to chat with us! Good luck with the simulcast tomorrow! We’ll be watching!
NC: Thanks!
Tune into the webcast, tomorrow night, right here, and don’t miss Brooklyn Comes Alive on September 26th. More information is here!
