| CARVIEW |
Leslie Robinson Sharp, singer/songwriter
ABOUT MY SONGS:
The song “Stars” started when I read a saying attributed to that great writer, “Anonymous”: “I’ve loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night”. In the midst of trying to have a career in music, I was confronted by the fact that my songs weren’t very commercial. And, I knew, never would be. Therefore, I was destined to play – several nights a week – small, not-well-paying gigs, if I was going to make a living at it. I could try to get into the whole commercially viable path of show business, but really didn’t want to. My music, for me, is about self-expression, and self- and Life-awareness. It’s a way to better understand What’s Going On?!
“The Marriage” is about the love/hate thing that can go on in a marriage. We do stupid, bad things sometimes, to each other, to ourselves. We get hurt, we hurt… We’re understanding, we’re vengeful… We want to stay in the relationship, we want the other person to go to Hell… What’s True? What’s So? Is there an answer?
IT WAS LOVE. A new relationship, before it’s an official “Relationship” (YOU AND I ARE TOGETHER NOW!), begins in vague murmurings, little things that you don’t even necessarily notice at the time. And I was in a mood to be literate, too, when I wrote it…
HERE IN OREGON. I went to Opal Creek Wilderness here in Oregon – the last virgin Old Growth forest in Oregon, I’m told – for a fundraiser for the Friends of Opal Creek. I was told about the enmity between the nearby hamlet of Mill City – where lived many loggers – and the Friends of Opal Creek. Because of their work, Opal Creek had been made off limits to loggers (as had many forests in Oregon by the time I arrived here). Many people were suffering – many families who, for generations, had assumed logging would always be there for them as a way to make a living. How did we come to this place of enmity? When did our understanding of the Earth and what She could do for us humans go wrong? Was it always wrong? Is it really wrong now? At what point did the forests no longer abound infinitely? How does a person give up a life career and just change overnight? What does it take to come to terms with a completely new reality you did not want? Note: a “crummie” is the cab of a big wood-cutting machine most loggers used. That machine can cut many more trees at a time than the old ways could.
Leslie Robinson Sharp, singer/songwriter
Welcome to my site! Hope you enjoy my music.
****************
Click on one of the links below.
01 – Stars
14 – It Will Never Happen Again
March 14, 2007 Posted by Bill Sharp | songs | 7 Comments
Leslie Robinson Sharp 1951 – 2013
I’m very sorry to say that Leslie passed away from breast cancer on July 3, 2013. Some of her recordings are here for you to enjoy and remember her.
July 17, 2013 Posted by Bill Sharp | Uncategorized | 4 Comments
Love Songs for Bill 1983
I came across a tape of love songs that Leslie recorded for me for Valemtines Day in 1983. Nine months later, our first daughter, Emily, was born. Les was 31 years old, at the time.
Younger Than Springtime – Rogers and Hammerstein
My Funny Valentine – Rogers and Hart
July 17, 2013 Posted by Bill Sharp | love songs | Leslie Robinson Sharp, love songs | 1 Comment
About
As a child, I studied classical piano, sang in every choir and musical I could, and taught myself basic folk guitar in junior high. I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and sang jazz standards with Tony Zano, Hal McKusick and Toots Thielemans. I was a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus under Robert Shaw. I started writing my own material during my teen years.
I’ve performed my original material at The Other End in New York City, the Nameless Coffeehouse in Cambridge, Mass., and other east-coast venues, and, in recent years, at Portland (Oregon)’s East Avenue Tavern and Artichoke Community Music coffeehouse. I’ve opened for John Hammond and Papa John Creech. One of my songs won a songwriting award in the American Song Festival. I am a SESAC affiliate.
-
Archives
- July 2013 (2)
- March 2007 (1)
-
Categories
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.