I recently received a letter from a friend with enough faith in me to believe I’d promptly respond. She asked me, in light of my then impending graduation, which talent I would choose if I could have any in the world. It did not take me a second to conclude: I would love to be a singer/songwriter. Music is so dear to me, and I love how directly lyrics seem to speak to me at certain times. I have all the passion for it, but absolutely zero talent. I can’t sing. Can’t play an instrument (and I’ve tried, really hard). Can’t write songs to save my life. It’s a hopeless cause.
But what if? Oh, what if! I often look at the wonderfully hopeful pages of aspiring musical artists on myspace and wonder what mine would look like, if God had been so sweet as to bless me with my most coveted ambition.
Mariposa (my nickname shall become my stage name…)
Folk/Regional French/Samba-Cancao
Band Members: Mari–vocals, ukulele, djembe, banjo, pandeiro, three-hole pipe, txalaparta
Influences: The Covenant Hymnal 1974, West African lullubies, contemporary bassa nova, regional Mexican love songs, Irish jigs and reels, old school hip hop, Algerian rai, international house, Americana roots music sung by Woody Guthrie or people who look like Woody Guthrie, the soundtracks of more than 40 Broadway musicals, Rainier Maria Rilke and other poets who talk about beauty and people, my dad playing saxophone under a bridge to me when I was 6 months old, smoky jazz sung by strong independent women, books about people finding themselves, nomadic songwriters and the streets of foreign lands, the multiple times I fall in love a day, and black coffee on beautiful mornings
Sounds Like: She’s not trying at all–it’s natural!
Record Label: Sub Pop, duh.
International Summer Tour!
15 May– Seattle, Washington
17 May– San Francisco, California
18 May– Chicago, Illinois
20 May– Brooklyn, New York
22 May– Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
25 May– Pisa, Italy
26 May– Le Havre, France
28 May– Bilbao, Spain
1 June– Porto, Portugal
3 June– Kalamata, Greece
5 June– Istanbul, Turkey
9 June– Dakar, Senagal
11 June– Lome, Togo
12 June– Yamoussoukro, Cote D’Ivoire
20 June– Sao Paulo, Brazil
22 June– Montevido, Uraguay
23 June– Mar del Plata, Argentina
25 June– Valparaiso, Chile
26 June– Trujillo, Peru
28 June– Guayaquil, Ecudaor
3 July– Grenada, Nicaragua
5 July– Antigua, Guatemala
7 July– Guadalajara, Mexico
8 July– Mexico, D.F.
10 July– Chicago final show!
That would be really awesome.
Dear Mari,
You are an extraordinary person….I can tell from your writings. I hope you push forward and follow your dreams in music.
I was a very successful professional athlete that’s now retired. But deep in my heart I always wished to be an actress some day. In my heart I believed that I can some how pull it off and express myself infront of a camera.
From research, I discovered that to be good at your craft, you need to spend a lot of time practicing. So right away I realized that, I must have lots of space in the day to practice. It was hard to make space because of my long hours at work.
So with faith, I quit my job to follow my dreams! Yes I did! I found the courage to start my own business to free up time to practice my dream career.
Now I can travel anywhere in the world if I want, and carry my business with me. The most successful performing arts schools are located in NY and LA. So I plan to enroll in a NY studio because it’s closer to family in Washington DC.
Most students get jobs as waitress and waiters to pay for their acting classes, but I know that would kill me. So I started my own online business that will allows me to make enough money to pay for school, save, and live comfortable as I discover my dreams in acting.
Visit my profile and my website to learn more about me and my business.
Best wishes to you,
Suziann :)
Mariposa, if and when you come to La Antigua Guatemala, I will go and do photo session with you… I will even make a miniseries about your on-going tour and the impact on the little lives of people. ;-)