ilana katz katz

ilana katz katz

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LATEST NEWS

New video collaboration with Chris Matheos: “City of Gold”

Filed Under: Updates

Hope you are well! I have been very blessed to be invited to collaborate with many artists over the past year, a silver lining of the pandemic. This is the latest release. My dear incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist, video wiz and kind Spirit Chris Matheos called me up to tell me he had a dream of me singing these lyrics and playing violin to this melody and asked if I would like to record and I was thrilled and honored! The result is this fun, playful video and he even allowed my visual art to be the backdrop of the video. I hope it makes you smile! I want to bring joy to people as much as I possibly can, especially now. Have a wonderful day and enjoy the music and THANK YOU Chris for inviting me to be part of your art! Love and Light, Ilana

“City of Gold” Video

 

Ilana performs benefit – for the love of the arts!

— Filed Under: Updates

A little help by each of us adds up when we work together… We see this time and again… I was invited to help in a new way. Broadway shows in NY will not have full capacity audiences until December 2022. Tonight I will be helping them with a benefit to share my music and talk about my songwriting process. Sending you all ❤ and Light and hope you have a good day. There are always ways to help, little ways add up. ❤

ilana

www.fortheloveofthearts.org

My Birthday Gift to YOU, 2020

— Filed Under: Updates

To celebrate my Oct 7 birthday, I am sending my home-baked cookies to 7 people!! 🙂 Details in a sec. Most important… I hope you are well!!  I miss seeing you all!! I am trying to focus, as much as possible, on the power of being positive, responsible, and kind. I also want to share some new videos/music and catch you up on my latest (quite varied!) projects. (Big thanks to Catherine Hunter Gould for the photo above and the solo video links below.)

– First…about the FREE cookies.  I feel so blessed everyday with gifts of health, love, friendship, and musical collaborations… to name just a few … I decided to celebrate my birthday by sharing music and cookies, a few of my mainstay creations. I baked a huge batch of cookies (four varieties) last night (pic below).  I will post a video late tonight/early tomorrow with instructions about how you can win some cookies and get them delivered to you. (Look for the video with the grey Libra shirt.)

– “McFatty the Catty and the Batty” – a Katz Katz Children’s Book
Yep, you read that right. I’m writing a children’s book about McFatty the Catty and her encounter with a bat. (Twas inspired by a real-life bat that visited our home recently for a three day stay.)  It’s a book about the power of helping others, rather than be selfish…. a theme we need more of in our world, obviously. There will be music with the book… so stay tuned for all of that, but in the meantime…here’s some free music for you to enjoy now. 🙂

– A few videos to share -ilana katz katz solo
Here are a couple of very recent short solo videos: I hope you enjoy them! 🙂
– ilana katz katz original: “Woman, Play the Blues”
-ilana katz katz – Old Time Blues version of “Ruben’s Train”

– Collaboration – “North Mississippi Amazing Grace” by Janky
I’m honored to be featured on the final track of this special Hill Country Blues Record. I love the whole record, but it’s nice to be on Amazing Grace. We need some grace… I hope you’ll check out this track and if you like it consider buying a copy of the whole record.

– Other ilana katz katz creations: I’ve added watercolor paintings to my etsy store. Half the proceeds of the money from my paintings goes to charity: the Killer Blues Headstone Project which places headstones on the unmarked graves of Blues men and women.

I leave you with these thoughts: 
I believe strongly in the power of voting. I believe in unity. I believe in hope. One of my favorite quotes is: “When you do what you did, you’ll get what you got.” Clearly, we need to do *many* different things in our world, in a variety of arenas…  I send you all Hope, Love, Light and Blessings and if you feel like sending me a note. I’d love to hear from you. 🙂
ilana

Summer Blues in a GOOD way…

— Filed Under: News

Summer Blues in a GOOD way…

Happy July! I hope you are enjoying summertime treats of all kinds with people you love. I’ve been feeling happy about sharing music and cookies on the streets of Boston, and various New England festivals (pictures below). The unquestionable “indoor show” highlight of June was joining Vizztone label sister Amanda Fish (pictured above) at 9 Wallis in Beverly, MA. (A little video snippit from that show is right here.) She’s a deeply magical talent and I hope you’ll get to catch her live and consider buying her amazing latest record.

Super special shows this week, guest of Annika Chambers! 🙂
Tickets are available here for Thursday, July 11 at Chan’s in Woonsocket, RI where I feel very blessed to be a guest of yet another extremely soulful and talented Vizztone label group sister – Annika Chambers!  I’ll also join her on Saturday, July 13 at the North Atlantic Blues Festival in Rockland, ME. I’m very excited! (My full calendar is here.)

More music, screenwriting news, wearable Katz Katz art and cookies!
I’m still plugging away on music for my next record, working on editing the screenplay adaptation of my novel, The Underground. It’s a steamy summer beach read available here on amazon – hardcopy and on kindle! In between, I’ve been painting my ‘wearable art’ – from sandals to jeans jackets and more.  I have also given countless cookies out this summer to smiling recipients wherever I go.  When others smile, it makes me smile!! 🙂

Small ripples of goodness have potential to create big ripples of change over time.
I’ll admit that I dip into some pretty profound sadness when I witness – and often feel helpless – about the suffering we are causing one another.  I pray in-my-way and remind myself that we each have unique gifts to right-the-wrongs-in-our-world. Big or small, public or private, we can each make a difference with acts of kindness or helping.   This is what I hold onto. Sending you all Love and Light and Hope.  I hope you have a beautiful day.
-ilana 🙂

Solo performance at the Blues on Bank Festival in New London, CT.

Takin’ the music to the streets at the Harvard Square Music Festival, Cambridge, MA

Downtown Boston Summer Music Concert Series

Happy December… I’ve been playin’ around! :-)

— Filed Under: News

I’ve been playin’ around 🙂

Happy December! I hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself during this holiday season. 🙂 I’ve had a great time, performing solo and with dear pals all over. New video link and a few special mentions and pics are below, but more is on my facebook page and upcoming performances are listed on my website.

– New subway video: My dear friends Karen Lovely and Ben Rice (Portland, OR, pictured above) wanted to come to Boston and make a video in the subway. 🙂 It finally happened! It’s a song that Karen wrote about an especially talented Bay Area subway busker, (*very* tragically, gone too young): “Punk Rock Johnny.” Click here to check out the video.

– And…Muddy Water’s eldest son “Mud” (below, left) invited me to perform with him last week at Chan’s in Rhode Island. A very special evening, indeed! The prior evening, I also performed at Chan’s as part of a wonderful group…”Ladies of the Blues and Soul.” Huge thanks to Diane Blue for that honor! (Pic below, right).

– Comin’ up… Back in the subway (tomorrow!). I’ll post my station location on my facebook page when I get there in the morning.

– New Year’s Eve: I’m returning to Pittman’s Freight Room in Laconia, NH as a special guest of Racky Thomas Band. We had a really great time last year. 🙂 Racky is *such* an amazing performer and I’m really looking forward to that (Call 627-527-0043 for reservations to Pittman’s in Laconia, NH).

– Thank you!… Blues are a brewin’ for 2019. 🙂 As we close out this year, I thank you for your love and support, and hope that the new year brings us all brighter days of greater unity. I try to remember our common denominator: the choice of human kindness, the ability to be loving toward one another. It is *always* an available choice for us. I send you all Love and Light and hope to see you soon, ilana

Playing with Mud Morganfield at Chan’s in Woonsocket, RI (Photo by Frank McKenna)

Sparkly Soul Sister Diane Blue and I at the Ladies of the Blues and Soul show at Chan’s in Woonsocket, RI.

Performing at “The Shrine” in New York, NY.

 

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Summer Concert Series, Cookies, and More Fun!

— Filed Under: News

Welcome to Spring (finally!) 🙂

I hope you are well. I’m doing great and feeling the joy from all the wonderful friends (old and new) who I performed with at Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, MS and Memphis, TN on Beale Street last month.

The fun musical adventures continue. Last night I performed at the Boston Chamber of Commerce Annual meeting – playing a pop song (yes!) with another wonderfully talented fellow street performer violinist friend – Vivian Lou – on a platform in the middle of a huge ballroom. 🙂

I’m gearing up for a very busy summer. Check my Calendar page – which I update frequently – for full list of dates. I’m thrilled to be part of the Boston Improvement Business Development Concert series. I’ll be performing (solo) at various outdoor sites near downtown crossing all summer long. I’ll still be in the subway, and all kinds of other venues (Goorin Hat Store on Newbury Street in Boston, summer concert series in Providence, North Atlantic Blues Fest in Maine – amongst many fun solo shows…) 🙂 I’ll surely be offering some home-baked Ilana Katz Katz cookies at some of my performances – from time to time. FREE – as always! You all know I love to bake! 🙂

I enjoy the array of performances I get to do and am, especially grateful to all the musicians who invite me to perform alongside them (I’ve got some shows with the very special Racky Thomas and the Medicine Show Revival Band comin’ up!) I hope you get to hear some live music soon…outside…in the subway… or go on out and hear a new musician you’ve never heard. Take a chance and enjoy the music! 🙂

I hope to see you out there. You can always send me a note via my contact page, as I’d love to hear about *you* and your summer plans. Have a GREAT day! .

Sending you all hope, blessings, love, and light,

ilana 🙂

 

Welcome to ilana katz katz’s website! :-)

— Filed Under: News

April 2018

Happy Spring! 🙂 Welcome to my brand new website where you can find out about all my creative endeavors. I am a Blues fiddler, singer, songwriter, novelist and visual artist! Musically, I love to play and sing the Blues, but I also love playing old-timey Appalachian fiddle tunes and rock and roll. I play solo in all kinds of settings, from the subway (where I’ve been playing for a decade) to big festivals. I’m a side musician in all kinds of bands. Truly, I am grateful for – and welcome – all the wonderful musical experiences that come my way. I love it all! 🙂 Intertwined with all I do, I’m a humanist and I try to stay hopeful that we may all knit a closer, more compassionate world. We each have our own gifts and ways of expressing ourselves. I hope that you’ll enjoy your time perusing my music, my paintings, watching a live video, and consider coming to see me at a live show or buying one of my cds (or a painting or my novel). If you do come to a show where I’m performing, please come say hello as I’d love to meet you. 🙂 We’re all in this world together. Wishing you Love and Light and I hope you have a beautiful day. 🙂

-ilana katz katz