On this Throwback Thursday, I’m reminded of when I was 16 – hanging out with my best friends in the park, discussing what my future album titles would be called. One of them was, “What’s Eve Doing Now?” A very apt title for today’s post!

Giving in to peer pressure (much like a teenager), I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon of Concert Window. Oh, how much fun! We did a trial run this week with two long-distance audience members (thanks, Mom and Dad), who were able to send us messages throughout the show.

If you haven’t enjoyed the Concert Window experience yet, you’re in for a treat. It’s a live online concert; all you have to do is sign in and “pay what you want.”  It’s like a house concert, from my living room to yours. Steven and I get together and play on Wednesday, so why not let you all in on the act? Here’s what it looks like:

Wouldn’t you love to have live, fresh music delivered straight to your door? For 30 minutes on a Wednesday night: a little Perk-Me-Up to get through the Hump-Day-Slump. Sounds great, huh? That’s what Mom and Dad said! 🙂

So with my parents’ endorsement, I’m inviting you all over to my house on Wednesday, March 25 for party time, excellent! It begins promptly at 5:30 pm Pacific/8:30 pm Eastern – if you sign on late you will miss it!  I highly recommend buying tickets in advance so you’ll be ready to join in at show time. Here’s the link to reserve your spot:

https://www.concertwindow.com/evefleishman

Anyone, anywhere can listen (that goes for you, my Egyptian fans who like to stay up til 3 am). It’ll be a half hour of pure delight; remember you can type in comments and song favorites as we perform. Maybe someone will request Sweet Sixteen (the Billy Idol version, of course).

Can’t wait to see you on the 25th!

I’m grateful for this memory of last month’s concert – how great it feels to give! We helped raise several hundred dollars for PeaceTones, a nonprofit that supports musicians around the globe:

“We see ourselves as a fair trade music movement, empowering unknown musicians in developing nations with marketing and legal knowledge and access to online platforms to share their music globally. Using innovative learning and incentive models, we conduct expert-led workshops to educate these artists on their rights and tools to grow their careers.”

Stay tuned for more collaborations with PeaceTones coming soon!

(namely this little guy…er…gal)

Give a truly unique gift by steering clear of the masses this year. Supporting independent artists and merchants makes you a Holiday Hero!

Jingle on down to Eve the Elf’s $5 Madness Sale – now through the end of the year! Boom!

Speaking of truly unique gifts, I was given the chance to perform my original Christmas song, Peace on Earth, at Grace Cathedral again this year. What a San Francisco treat!

And I’m thrilled to perform some of my songs with original paintings at the Holiday Salon this weekend. If you are interested in this event, please email me for details.

Finally, my niece – who says her Aunt Eve is “kinda famous” – sent me a new friend last week. He’s kinda famous himself! We had a mad shopping spree down at Union Square. Anybody else got a Flat Stanley story out there? Do tell!

A bonus San Francisco treat: check out my latest Alice and the Rabbit Hole post on my Top 5 favorite SF gift items. May it inspire you to buy local and SUPPORT THE LITTLE GUY!

Last year I dazzled you with Lazy Susan Tuesday (just ever-so-slightly missing the mark of Black Friday boisterousness); this year I thought I’d head in the opposite direction by “eve-oking” the holiday spirit way earlier than usual.

My motivation? Captivation before the onslaught of end-of-year over-promotions. (Man, that’s a lot of hyphens.) And a deadline that hits in 3 days. Yes, in only 3 days the Easy Peezy Pee Test campaign comes to a close.  Remember the song I was asked to write to heighten awareness about pediatric OSA (obstructive sleep apnea)? Well, the Easy Peezy video has garnered 13,286 hits so far on YouTube! Please show your support for this cause (and my song) by donating to fund their research and testing. If everyone who watched the video gave just $5, they’d reach their $100,000 goal. A small amount DOES make a difference.

To put you in the giving spirit, here’s a video with slightly less hits (as I just posted it last week). Be among the first to help me sing along and test your memory in the reindeer names game. I’ve got my head up in the clouds while Steven is doing his best to help me in this rarefied Rudolph rendition.  It gets off to a sputtering start, but then oh, how it flies!

Ok, that’s my gift to you. Maybe it’s early enough that you won’t curse me for putting that song in your head. Though 2014 may soon be pitter-pattering away on Prancer and Dancer feet, I’m excited for what’s ahead. New adventures, new songs, and a new music/art project with my friends at PeaceTones charity.

I love it when I can work on something that feels bigger than myself, making music that reaches people in so many different ways. I’ll stay tuned if you will! Deal?

$5 off all Eve products now through the end of the year.

The long-awaited day has finally arrived: my Easy Peezy song is out there in the universe! I was asked to write this song to bring attention to Pediatric OSA – Obstructive Sleep Apnea, that is. I learned that an estimated 2 million kids in the US have this condition, though it is often mistakenly diagnosed as ADD.

So all that stuff had to go in the song, in addition to singing about a urine test that would replace the need for hooking kids up to a bunch of wires in a sleep lab. This was definitely the most challenging songwriting assignment I have ever had. I scratched my head, danced around on one foot, and came up with a tidal wave of pee puns!

I enlisted Steven Strauss to play ukulele and Daniel Dennis (Prime Cut Studio) to provide the rest of the instrumentation and produce the track. I’m absolutely tickled pink with the outcome. This brilliant marketing campaign features an animated music video that brings to life the “Easy Peezy Pee Test.” Be one of the first to hear the song by clicking the video link below:

Do me a favor and support this song by heading over to the Easy Peezy site and learning more about this worthy project. Spread the word, buy the song on iTunes, dance with the “Peezies” and come back to donate when they open up their Indiegogo campaign on September 16. They are raising money to get the pee test approved and available nationwide. I wish them rip-roaring success and hope the song dances it’s way into thousands of heads: Let’s Make It Easy Peezy – let it be!

Now for those of you who are local here in the Bay Area, I have a show this Friday night at The Monkey House Theater in Berkeley. Steven Strauss and his mighty uke will accompany me on some jazz songs and Eve originals – heck, I might even break into Easy Peezy if I get a request from the audience!

Friends of Old Puppy (Steven’s East Bay band) will also be joining us on stage.  We will be performing this next tune for sure – a humorous take on a classic Wizard of Oz song – shown here with the SJC big band orchestra last month in New Mexico.

Stay playful, my friends! Urine my thoughts and in my heart!

I’m excited to share some very unique opportunities that have come my way recently. But first a warning: this content may contain several references to bodily functions. Read on, if you dare!

I was recently commissioned to write a song about pee. That’s right, pee. Those of you who know my children’s songs will not be surprised by this. My new song will be part of a fundraising campaign for a urine test that detects obstructive sleep apnea (and yes, I had to sing “obstructive sleep apnea” in the song). Believe it or not, the tune is quite catchy. Stay tuned for the animated video of Easy Peezy, appearing next month. Urine for a treat! (Puns, I love puns.)

Ah, now where were we? Oh yes, opportunities! I was also asked to make a video of the Gershwin tune, The Man I Love. Steven Strauss and I enjoyed performing in our favorite outdoor spot. Enjoy this intimate live rendition, as if you were strolling through the park on a sunny day, waiting for the one you love.

Speaking of Gershwin, I’ll be crooning Summertime along with new original material at my City Light show with the SJC Summer Orchestra. This is my second time performing with a big band and I couldn’t be more excited. Dr. Keith Cochrane arranged all of my songs for orchestra and will conduct the show this coming Tuesday, July 29 at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico. Stay tuned for videos from that as well!

And finally I’m launching a new blog site under a secret name. You guys are hearing this first. It’s all about what the super diva does when she’s not onstage. So if you have no interest in reading about my armpits, please do NOT click here. Though it would be a shame to miss the featured new video of the classic Eve & Mare song, I Smell.  If you do end up delving into Alice and the Rabbit Hole, I’d love to hear what you think! Follow me, leave a comment. Tell me about your armpits….

That’s all for now, folks. Hope you’re experiencing lots of “flow” this summer, too!

The month of April showered me with many gifts, and I’m curious to see what grows out of it. For one, a budding friendship with brilliant pianist Jacob Fjeldheim, who accompanied me on two back-to-back shows during my recent trip to Florida. The first was an intimate venue featuring my City Light show, with original songs and art images.

The following night, we had great fun performing jazz standards at the swanky Stop Children’s Cancer Fantasy Event.  Check out this snippet of Jacob and me during soundcheck, just before the soirée began.

I find that I have just as much fun with the background gigs as I do with the foreground ones. I love being able to set the tone and create a festive atmosphere as people are mingling and munching on fancy hors d’oeuvres. And I love to think that maybe I’m helping to put everyone in a more giving mood. Plus I get to play dress up!

While in Florida, I heard that my song City Light was featured in the April issue of The New Fillmore, a local newspaper back here in San Francisco. The online version even includes the video where Steven Strauss and I take a field trip to Cottage Row to sing to the redwood trees. The trees are gone now, but the song lives on. Click image to read the full story.

So now that I’m famous in the ‘hood, who knows what’s in store? Maybe Steven and I will continue our parks tour, singing to all the trees we can find. Here we are with the wind and wild parrots keeping time.

Have a fruitful summer, my friends!

Hey, before I skip off to Florida for some shows this weekend, I want you to know how grateful I am to include you in the community of people who appreciate my music. Thank you!

You may have heard that it’s becoming more and more challenging for singer-songwriters like me to earn a living. It’s never been easy, but consider these facts:

• Many music venues are paying about the same as they did 40 years ago.
• Millions of songs can be accessed for free on the internet.
• Internet streaming sites like Spotify pay artists a mere fraction of a cent per play.
• CD sales are declining.

Good news! There’s a new community called The Standing “O” Project that’s doing something about it. And I’m really excited to be a part of it.

So what is it, you ask?

“The Standing “O” Project is a subscription website, an online community that brings fans and musicians closer together. Members get a wealth of exclusive music, video and interview content, and Artists get a dependable income to support their music.”

Check out this one-minute video:

What’s cool about the Standing “O” Project is that when you join, you not only get music (and lots more) from me, you get to enjoy content from 170 other outstanding musicians, including Art of the Song interviews with the likes of Glenn Frey, Judy Collins, Donald Fagen, Joan Osborne and Amy Grant. Rumor has it that Boy George will be interviewed soon (I heard it on Facebook, so it has to be true)!

I’m thrilled to be in the company of such fine, well-known musicians – but even MORE excited for you to learn about my lesser-known, multi-talented comrades on the site.

When you subscribe (for $5, $10 or $20 a month) you earn the title of TIP JAR HERO, and HALF (yes, a full 50%) of the money goes back to support artists like me. This kind of royalty payment is unheard of in the music business!

Click here to visit the Standing “O” Project:

http://standingoproject.com/artist/evefleishman

And please click the “I WANNA BE A TIP JAR HERO” button when the sign-up screen pops up.

Thank you for supporting independent musicians!

Oh let me go down old Cottage Row
Of days gone by San Francisco
Twilight looms and mystery blooms
Camaraderie with the redwood trees
And a reverie for the rising Moon

A few months ago I started teaching a class on Monday and Wednesday mornings down in the Fillmore Jazz District. It’s about a 20 minute walk from my place, and I was thrilled to be able to take my route through Cottage Row, a mini-park nestled in between two busy city streets. Twice a week I could sing to the five small redwood trees that inspired the bridge lyrics of my song, City Light.

Today they cut down the trees and I am heartbroken. No more redwoods on Cottage Row. I’m not sure why. Last May they each had a sign on them that said they would be removed. I called the Parks Department but never got an answer. Maybe they were diseased or dying, I don’t know. They looked healthy to me. The signs disappeared soon after and I was lulled into thinking the trees would be safe.

So here we are nine months later. I felt like crying this morning when I saw they were gone. Not much to sing about on Cottage Row right now. I am reminded of the impermanence of life and the pain that sometimes comes with change.

I guess I must admit to a love affair with trees. They have entered more than a couple of my songs, including a gentle ballad by Eve & Mare which opens with “My favorite thing to see is the wind waving through the trees.” It’s true. I can’t think of anything much finer.

So let’s sing once more to celebrate these beautiful trees. My heart is heavy today, but I will always love to think about them whenever I sing my song. And please, for me, go hug a tree!

Enjoy Peace on Earth, a new holiday song from Eve Fleishman.

To learn the history behind this song, read my story at The Standing “O” Project.