Hello! 

As we approach the two-year anniversary of our success here on Kickstarter, I wanted to send a little update!

Sound Sale

From now through December 21, 2011, The Expatriate Amplification Project and my poetry CD Madivinez are 50% off! Listen to both albums online—in their entirety—for free! Full digital downloads are just $5 (whaaaaaat?!) and physical copies are $10, plus shipping. Holiday gift, anyone? If you dig it, please share this new webpage with your social network: http://music.lenellemoise.com/

For She's a Jolly Good Fellow

I am excited to tell you that I have been named a Fall 2011 Fellow at (say it aloud) the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women in Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago! I will be working on The Expatriate Motion Collage Project, a series of music-focused experimental short videos. More info here.

Speaking of videos, have you seen this?

On Stage

Earlier this year, Expatriate (the play!!!!) had its West Coast Premiere at the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas in Seattle, WA. Our new production team includes director Ashley Sparks and sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman. It's always a treat for me to share the stage with Karla Mosley. Here's a glimpse of what brought audiences to their feet. 

If you know of any theatre companies looking to book a powerful show for an upcoming season, send them our way: http://www.lenellemoise.com/expatriatepresskit  

OK! Happy Autumn!

Warmly, Lenelle

I am over the moon! The Expatriate Amplification Project is in (or about to be in) your hands. Thanks to those who have already sent sweet notes after listening to the album. I couldn't have done it without you!

What do you think? Which songs are you replaying? If you love what you hear, please take a minute to rate the album, post a glowing review, and/or link your friends to the purchasing websites below:

1) DigStation http://www.digstation.com/AlbumDetails.aspx... is the preferred site for digital downloads, because artists receive 100% of all sales.

2) CD Baby http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lenellemoise2 is currently the only place you can buy physical copies of the disk which includes a lyrics booklet to sing along with.

3) The album is also available on iTunes! Just search “Lenelle Moïse.”

Some might call the sound “indescribable.” Let’s give them words!

My living room has become a mini-factory of pre-release packing.

Join us on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/expatmusic

Feel this hug?

What a year it has been so far! News of the devastating earthquake in Haiti came on the heels of our fund raising success here on Kickstarter. I have been writing, praying, mourning the dead, celebrating the survivors, traveling, performing and raising awareness. I feel so moved and energized by the individuals and organizations that have been "showing up" to contribute to the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti.

Through it all, I've been thinking of you, your support and the music we're bringing into the world. The CD-making is going well! I just got off the phone with my sound engineer at Charisma Studios. We're listening close, discussing details and tweaking the mix of the recording.

Last Friday, the project's graphic designer showed me the contact sheet from our cover art photo shoot. So beautiful! One of the photos will be used for a promotional handbill. I'll post it here next week.

In April, I lift the road with Sister Spit: The Next Generation. I'll be reciting poetry and circulating handbills to announce The Expatriate Amplification Project. Audiences in California, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania―even folks in Canada―will hear about the CD! Click on the link above for tour dates and come see me!

In the interim, here's an exclusive video clip of me and Karla performing "The Road Less Traveled," live. The footage was caught during an intimate performance in Western Massachusetts last summer. It's one of my favorite songs on the upcoming CD. Enjoy!

Guess what? The Expatriate Amplification Project is now on Facebook ! Please join our fan page, tell your friends and watch our sonic love circle grow:

Feel this hug.
Lenelle

Friends,

My soul pleads for respite and recovery for all the suffering people of the world. You have probably already heard of the catastrophic 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti just yesterday, January 12, 2010. Nearly 30 years ago, I was born in Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital; in General Hospital, one of the many buildings this terrible earthquake has destroyed. Many Haitian friends are writing to me, calling for comfort and prayers. They cannot find or connect with their loved ones on the island. They are at wit's end. My own grandparents live down the road from the partially collapsed National Palace. We have not heard from them. We wait, horrified. Thousands have died. Millions are displaced, injured, traumatized and wailing. Haiti needs our collective cri de coeur, our respect, our love, our magic and our energy. Haiti needs immediate international support.

If you have not already done so, I encourage you to text YELE to 501501 to donate $5 to musician Wyclef Jean's earthquake relief effort. Yele is an effective grassroots organization that brought fast, direct assistance to the people during Haiti's recent hurricane/flooding crises.

For those who can give more, journalist Rachel Maddow has compiled a list of links: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34834553/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show

Medical professionals can call 212-697-9767 to volunteer.

Details about the earthquake can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake

See photojournalist Tequila Minsky's early coverage here: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/behind-28/

One of my poems, "Mud Mothers," has been circulating today. If it inspires you, share it: http://blogthisrock.blogspot.com/2009/11/split-this-rock-poem-of-week-lenelle.html

Thank you for keeping Haiti and its descendants in your thoughts, status updates, conversations and hearts. You know, the Haitian flag reads, L'Union Fait La Force...

Unity Makes Strength, Lenelle

WE DID IT!

I found winter wind, assorted ribbons and song! Here is a 1:43 minute excerpt of "Motherland," for your inspiration...

♥ Lenelle

I couldn't wait to share this 1:52 minute clip of "ALIENS" with you. It's one of my favorite tracks of The Expatriate Amplification Project. Lots of vocal percussion and "martian-vox" accents! Some sensuality, some humor and politicized lyrics.

CLICK PLAY BELOW to hear Karla and me sing. I've included the lyrics so you can sing along :)

ALIENS [excerpt] "...They don't expect us
to fly as high as we do
But we're high Baby
They don't expect us
to feel as free as we are
But we're free Baby

They don't expect us
They don't expect us
But we're knocking
We're calling you

Degrade neglect us
Down disrespect us
But we're Earth, Babe
We're holding you

We were born wide eyes
and these big black mouths
Two tenacious tongues
we use to sing

We were born dented hearts
fondled body parts
torn seams big dreams
a pair of ruffled wings

We were born...
We were AAAAAAAAH!

Oh I have traveled very far
Yes I am like a shooting star

First you discriminate
Economically manipulate
Distort rebuke alienate
You think our destruction is your fate?
OH you such a hater!
We make you take
We quake you take
Drop bombs on browns to hide mistakes
You're like a virus Earth can't shake..." [written and composed by Lenelle Moïse]

All Vocal,
Lenelle

Here's a glimpse of the postcards I love to make! If we reach our goal, one of these little faces (or something similar) will appear in your mailbox. I make these collages with various papers, ribbons, sharpies, colored pencils and paste. Their knowing, watchful gazes appear all over my apartment!

Handmade Love,
Lenelle

When I get an invitation to a baby shower or a link to a wedding registry, I fall into a pile of awe, bewilderment, slight panic and insecurity. A while ago, a friend mailed me a card to announce that he had gotten married. I hadn’t seen him in years and had never met his new wife. In bold cursive font, their card urged, “Instead of giving us gifts to celebrate our new marriage, we ask that you send checks toward the purchase of our first home.” This seemed overwhelming, stuffed with the couple’s sense of entitlement. Did I, an apartment renter, have enough to help someone else buy their own house? “How can they ask for money so easily?” I wondered. “Why do they expect the members of their community to show up for them like this?”

All of this to say, it’s not easy for me to ask for money. It goes against my every instinct. It challenges me to phoenix up out of the ashes of my history.

I grew up in Cambridge Massachusetts, in the projects, in buildings built next to worn train tracks and a cemetery for car parts. In high school, given the freedom to hang out with friends, I discovered that many of my classmates lived in tall, wide houses. I lived with bold roaches and brazen mice. My mother used colorful food stamps at the supermarket. When times were especially tough, she skipped the market altogether and stood in long lines behind City Hall every two weeks to collect a small cardboard box packed with powdered milk and canned food. I hid in the back seat of our car, dreading familiar faces. My friends had no clue what my circumstances were. I wore cool, quirky clothes (scored from Goodwill) and shiny (Payless) shoes. I read thick books and recited Shakespeare. I passed for middle class. It cost 30 cents for students to ride the bus home from school. Often, I didn’t have a dime so I walked miles, across the city, peering into people’s lit windows. It never dawned on me to ask anyone for change. I didn’t want to be teased or pitied. I was ashamed to not have money. Somehow, I had inherited the “pick yourself up by the bootstraps” philosophy. I distracted myself from hunger by practicing theatre. I read books and memorized song lyrics: food for thought.

One of the reasons I became a writer is because imagination, pencils and paper are relatively cheap. I write stories and lyrics about identity, love, damage, displacement, the struggle for freedom and self-naming. I write when I have enough money to pay the rent; I write when I don’t. Generally, I keep my financial struggles to myself. It feels more important to share my craft, not bore my readers with budget woes.

But every now and then, I meet and fall in love with a concept. I make a commitment to create. I plan. I gestate. I give birth to a new play/poem/essay/song/album. I do as much as I can all by myself until it becomes obvious: there’s only so much I can accomplish alone. Then I call out to my community for support. I invite actors to audition, audiences to see, readers to read, listeners to dance. I invite investors to kick-start a beloved project.

All grown up, I realize: it’s OK to ask for help. Artists, like newlyweds, shouldn’t be ashamed to reach out to their communities for encouragement―financial and otherwise. For me, The Expatriate Amplification Project is like getting married or giving birth. I’m calling you to help me celebrate all the love, passion, creativity and labor it takes to make new art. If it helps, you can think of this CD as a first home, a rite of passage, a huge step forward. It’s my baby shower! You’re invited. And I appreciate your gifts.

Looking at the Backers’ Page is such a treat! Those who have pledged so far include past producers, beloved college classmates, good friends who let me crash on their air mattresses when I work in NYC, colleagues in the poetry, theatre and music worlds, an uncle and other family members, one of my favorite acting professors, the best screenwriting professor ever, workshop participants, EXPATRIATE Off-Broadway audience members, fans of Karla and others! Some of you I have hugged. Some of you I can’t wait to hug! You’re all invited to the CD release party when we (hopefully) reach this goal.