When the pandemic hit, Janis Siegel and Lauren Kinhan reimagined their landlubber's vocal salon to live in the virtual performance-sphere. On May 9, 2020, Vocal Gumbo Episode 1 was aired.
Vocal Gumbo is by artists for artists.
“We didn't know what we were doing, we just knew we were going to do it," says musical hero of the jazz archeology Janis Siegel
Likewise, "I'm in," say Lauren Kinhan. Since we knew we would be making music regardless, same way that we knew we'd be whipping of tasty dishes in the kitchen, we thought we'd combine our passions, invite our friends, reach out to people we have long admired, and begin work on a virtual music show that would have a profound meaning during the pandemic and beyond when we emerge from our long hibernation back into the real world.
Enter Laurie Green
Long time manager of The Manhattan Transfer, Laurie comes from a theater background and we knew her knowledge and similar temperment were a perfect pairing with J+L's spirit and spice for keeping the creative fires burning.
We're not afraid to make mistakes......and we did
“If we had known the end result ahead of time, we would have done this sooner,” says Lauren!
Who knew Episode 1 featuring Jonatha Brooke and Silje Nergaard would show us that we had so much fun and so much to learn. We did. And as we learned how to program live shows and MCing prerecorded interviews and performances, we began to piece together a flow and learned what was working and what was not.
Vocal Gumbo Happy Hour was born
Soon after we produced our second show, we felt a strong need to not only make music, but allow for a space for people to talk about what was going on in their lives and the events that were happening in the world. Now VGHH is a regular part of our programming that precedes the main show, helping us to stay topical and timely, promote the upcoming show and sell tickets.