Back in the US next year + free remix download on Dublab + Soundwave interview + Catania concert
September 30, 2013 § 2 Comments
Back in the US next year
I thought I would perhaps never have the pleasure of writing this news here, but I’m finally going to play in the US again! I’m overjoyed with the news, as over the past year I’ve received many messages from some of you based in the US asking me when I would come to perform again (indeed, incredibly enough considering the lack of press coverage for my music in the States, my blog’s statistics show that the biggest number of visitors are from the US – so thanks for your support! :-)))
Whenever I got these messages, I thought the answer was “Never”, since I was convinced that I needed a performer’s work visa to come and play in the States legally. When I had to get one of these in 2007, to say that it was a stressful experience is an understatement (on top of being an expensive, complicated and lengthy procedure), so the mere idea of having to go through this again, especially now that I live so far from the French US embassy, was enough to make me think playing live in the States was not an option. If you want to have an idea of the extent of the problem, check out this Washington Post article from 2007.
However, incredibly enough (I still have to pinch myself to believe it), there is now a Visa Waiver Program which also applies for musicians, so if all goes well (fingers crossed), I will reach American shores in June of next year, for at least one concert (but hopefully more, and on both coasts!) in San Francisco’s Exploratorium Museum on 12 June 2014 – more info here.
Free remix download on Dublab
As part of Dublab’s MP3 blog, you can now download The Home Current’s remix of ‘Breaking Up the Earth’, released last week as part of the Solar/Stellar (Colleen Remixed) digital EP, here.
Soundwave interview
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by John Cavanagh (half of the Electroscope duo, who among other things helped me tremendously by giving me access to his collection of music boxes and recording them for the Colleen et les boîtes à musique EP back in 2006) and selecting a couple of songs for his Soundwave show on Radio 6 International: you can listen to it today (Monday 30th September) at 19:00 GMT here (to calculate what time this means for your country of residence, go here).
The show will later be available on Radio Six’s mixcloud, I will post the link to it as soon as it’s available in the listen/interviews section.
Catania concert last week
Last but not least, I’ve just come back from Sicily, where I played one of my favourite concerts ever, in what I would surely rank as one of the top 3 or 4 most beautiful places where I’ve had the chance to play, Palazzo Biscarri in Catania. I’m usually not a fan of over-the-top 18th century architecture, but to walk through the palazzo, to be able to admire the candle-lit entrance at night, and to actually get to play in the grand salon was an extraordinary experience (not to mention the incredible acoustics – the room was apparently constructed according to specific calculations to enhance the sound). Thank you so much Jacopo Leone of Efestiade/Etcetera for organizing this event so wonderfully and in such a generous spirit ! :-)))
colleen 
[…] a side note, and just to make sure no one gets sent back to his or her country following the post in which I said that now non-US musicians can go play live in the US without a performer’…, well, it turns out I was given the wrong information! I do need a visa, and am in the process of […]
[…] the cancellation is very simple, and not very surprising if you’ve read my previous references here and here to this concert and what I needed to obtain: the famous work visa for non-US musicians. […]