Dot Levine

/SEA ///CHANG/E

Things are moving! Erosion! Tides! Paradigms! Adjustment.

Paradigm adjustment, y’all. I’m super excited and emotional to be making a few announcements here. I’m gonna save the big one for the end, though, so read through for the juicy stuff.

/Nervo/us bu/t optimis//tic.

Firstly: I’ve got some awesome shows coming up:

You can catch me this Friday night at the Bethlehem SteelStacks.

I’m literally playing at the historic Bethlehem Steel industrial complex. Don’t worry, they’ve got a super fancy sound system and amenities galore nowadays. Make yourself comfortable. Did I mention it’s fricking FREE?!

Stacks on stacks on stacks.


Here’s the Stacks Facts® you all have been hounding me for all month:

  • The two largest furnaces are more than 230 feet tall
  • From the west side of the “A” furnace (most westerly) to the east side of the “E” furnace it’s approximately 1,100 feet – almost a quarter-mile!
  • The A furnace is the oldest, dating from 1915
  • Dot Levine will be appearing with an incredible quintet
  • The quintet will include the following indomitable personnel
    • Rob Curto — Accordion
    • Matthew Keppler — Upright Bass
    • Frank Rein — Trombone
    • Sean Bailey — Saxophone & Clarinet
  • The furnaces each produced 2,600-3,000 tons of iron per day. Producing one ton of iron requires 3,366 pounds of ore, 1,676 pounds of coke and 724 pounds of limestone
  • Most of the iron was used in steelmaking, but a small percentage went to the iron and ingot mold foundries
  • The furnaces were last operated Nov. 18, 1995
  • At one time there were seven furnacesMore info about this free show here.

This Saturday I’ll be playing at The Spotty Dog in Hudson, NY. This place is too dreamy. Part bookstore, part art-supply store, all bar, all historic fire-house, also clearly 115% music venue. Joining me will be the inimitable Stephen Bluhm and the indomitable Betsi Krisniski.

Also stacks on stacks on stacks?

August 4th I’ll be performing with The Singular Band for Deco On The Delaware. Grab the VIP package to see our singularness on a dreamy riverboat cruise from historic Old City, Philadelphia to the historic Glen Foerd Estate where there will be a day of 1920’s themed hyjinx and authentic traditional jazz. Read this article about this incomparable event. You’ll be kicking yourself if you miss this. The Singular Band – me, trombone, trumpet, tuba – on a fricking BOAT. Get your tickets here.

Did I mention it’s going to be on a replica 1920’s riverboat? Like Louis Armstrong used to play on!
Sexy Riverboat Vibes

Truly.

 

…Alright.

Here comes the juicy stuff, friends. I’ve got a secret which I’ve been keeping close to my chest for ten years:

I have chronic injuries
which affect my ability to play.
This is a hard thing for me to come out about because I have feared that it makes me seem less reliable, or less effective. I have worried that if more people knew about this, then I wouldn’t be able to get enough work to live. What’s more, these injuries have actually affected my performing schedule and availability. For the past ten years I would have to find subs for my gigs, or take months off at a time to heal.
Why am I letting this out now? Well, I’m going to be slowing down my performing schedule in an effort to develop more sustainable and prolonged healing. For ten years I’ve been doing yoga, going to physical therapy, getting massages, acupuncture. I’ve lifted weights, I stretch regularly. And I partake of some more esoteric treatments as well…
Some things have helped immensely, and some have made it worse, but there’s one thing I know will help: rest.
And so that is what I’m pursuing for now. I’m not retiring by any means, but I will be downgrading from my very busy performing schedule to something closer to once a week. So please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need music for a special show, event, wedding, party, or what-have-you. I promise to be lovingly judicious about my participation. Don’t worry, you can still catch me at Fiume every first Sunday.
This has been a massive (and challenging) identity shift for me, but I have to say that I’m really excited about some of what’s coming down the pipeline in my musical life. Spending less time fighting (and exacerbating) my injuries means that I have more time to work on my playing technique and writing, as well as recording more music*. While these pastimes will not be a surrogate for a performing career (anybody wanna pay me to practice?), I do find them immensely satisfying.
So I guess that’s that. Like I said, I’ll still be prepared to blow your minds at Fiume and at private events (and the occasional awesome show) but I gotta rest, too. I’ll probably be paying my bills more with private lessons moving forward (unless anybody’s got a big break they’d like to present to me). I’ve learned a lot as a full-time professional musician, and I’m working hard to be able to intimate that knowledge as effectively as possible to the student-base which I’ve developed in the past couple years. So hit me up for lessons! Or ask me to play your event (but know that I may choose not to for health reasons).
So many feelings. Fuck for-profit healthcare. Fuck not-funding-the-arts. But hooray for getting to teach my favorite thing to awesome people.

 

See you soon,
Professor Levine

PS. If you wanna know more about my teaching, head over to http://www.dotlevine.com/teaching or http://www.philadelphiaukestudio.com!

Caught a fish this big once.

You are great.

*PPS. The record’s coming along! It’ll be ready in the spring! So psyched to ship it out to y’all! (If you didn’t grab it during the Kickstarter, click on “SHOP” in the upper right! Or just click here!)

Comments

  1. i love you, your music, and i really struggled with my own health especially hand heath) over my 10 years of touring … so i get where you are coming from (😊to the degree that i can). change is beautiful and hard and scary and illuminating all at once … here’s hoping your changes bring as much joy to you as you have brought to us ❤️

    Reply

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