Making My Band
April, 23, 2012
Ali Isabella & her Band
When I envisioned myself singing, I always pictured a band behind me. I never really thought of what went into it. Last year, I started out just singing acoustically and now, wow, I'm actually singing with an entire band! What a difference less than a year can make :)
Once I realized that I wanted to get serious with my music, I teamed up with Ray DeTone, who is now my Music Director. He had been playing guitar in various bands for years so it felt very natural to work with him. When I got asked to play at Wembley, of course I needed him to come! Starting bright and early every morning, he helped pull together all the men hired for the performance and made them into a band-from pedal steel to the keyboard!
Now that we're back in New York and have upcoming shows, I really needed to focus on getting together a band that was young, energetic, and really shared my passion about music (one of my goals, remember!) After a few auditions, and lots of loud and long rehearsals, we have finally made a successful, amazing band! We rehearse at Prime Time Studios in Mt. Vernon, NY. It's a big warehouse building on the outside, but inside there is so much character-all the records on the walls give it an old school charm.
The band consists of Ray DeTone (guitar/back up vocals), Rebecca Haviland (keyboard/back up vocals), Rose Avila (drums), David Kaye (pedal steel), and Malcolm Gold (bass)...and me Ali Isabella!! Our first show is on May 12th at the Paw Sox Stadium in Rhode Island - I cannot wait!!! We've been working on a 45 minute set with about 10 songs. We're going to do some old songs, but some new songs that I wrote on my trip to Nashville a few weeks ago - I hope everyone likes them!!
All the live rehearsals with my own actual band has really made me aware of myself as a singer. I have to be confident and lead the band, but I also have to connect with my audience-I want people to love hearing me live ;) Although performing live in front of thousands of people is really intimidating, it also gives me this rush that makes all the nerves and hard prep work, completely worth it!
So until May 12th, the band and I are going to be rehearsing a LOT, hoping to master every song, enabling us to really give our audience the best performance we can possibly do! I'm so grateful to Ray, Rebecca, Rose, David, and Malcolm because they take off from their busy schedules and always give their 100% best work! And I think it really shows :)
If anyone would like more information about the Paw Sox performance, see my event on Facebook!
<3
Ali