I had the honor recently to record 3 songs for my friend Karin Ringheim who has ambitiously, successfully, artfully written an entire work of music theatre (music, lyrics and play) on her own.

Karin and I have talked about getting these recordings done for almost two years now, but we never let go and finally go the job done.  I’m so glad we did!  I had a wonderful time and it is exciting to bring new music to life.  Also, working with Jeff Tucker at his Art of Music Studios is always a fantastic experience.

I got the chance to ask Karin a few questions about the show and the songs and she gave me permission to share links to the recordings:

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Emily:
Karin, I really enjoyed your musical. The setting is perfect for addressing the issues that the characters face and you write them with compassion. What inspired you to write the script and songs? Can you tell us a little about yourself and your journey to writing “Welcome the the Hard Luck Cafe?”

Karin:
First of all, Emily, thanks so much for recording these songs and representing them so well. It was fun to work with you and I appreciate the time you invested in getting to know the character and the motivation for each song. The idea for a musical set in a cafe run by recovering alcoholics came to me as a giant “brain dump” of ideas and music as I was driving the Dan Ryan Expressway around Chicago in 1988, (desperately searching for a pen!). I was in graduate school, (not, unfortuantely as a music or theatre major), and perhaps all the focus on statistics and demography caused a deep yearning for a creative outlet. In any case, most of those intial ideas were too fleeting to capture, but the basic concept stayed with me. The musical became a consuming avocation, as I worked for more than 20 years in international health, specifically women’s reproductive health. Now, as a consultant, I still do a considerable amount of writing, and this (seeminly life-long) project enables me to switch gears.

The inspiration for the Hard Luck Cafe itself is the Day by Day Cafe in St. Paul, Minnesota. For more than 30 years the Cafe has employed staff who have recently completed rehab and it is known in the Twin Cities for its great breakfasts and friendly atmosphere. I’d go there occassionally when visiting my sister. The play and music explore the role of friendship and social support in the recovery process, and draw from the experiences of several friends and family members who successfully completed rehab. My father and brother Peter, both now deceased, were alumni of Hazelden, a treatment center in Southern Minnesota. This work is dedicated to them.

Emily:
It was such a pleasure to learn 3 of the songs and record them recently. I’d love to know a little about your songwriting process. Do you write the words and the music together or does one come before the other?

Karin:
I wish I were sophisticated enough to have a “process!” Sometimes I have specifically aimed to write a song for a particular scene, but mostly, fragments of the music and lyrics for a particular character have come to mind, and I build on this. I aim for character-driven songs and am still tweaking lyrics and music written years ago.

Emily:
I had the honor to record the songs, “Today,” “Just One Last Man,” and “I’m Making a Comeback.” Please tell us a little about each song, who sings it, and why.

Karin:
Today is sung in the first act by Mimi, who with her husband Joe, owns the Cafe. Mimi and Joe met in AA and they resolved that the Cafe would be a place where others in recovery could get back on their feet. Mimi is a genuinely kind and thoughtful person and a good sounding board for her coworkers and patrons, but she is often preoccupied with her past and the mistakes she made while drinking. She remains estranged from some of the children from her first marriage. Joe adores Mimi but is exasperated with her continual reexamination of the past. He wants her to enjoy life in the present, and pay more attention to him. In Today, Mimi reminds herself that she is letting time with Joe slip away.

Just One Last Man is sung by Hazel, who has been waiting tables at the Cafe since completing rehab about a year earlier. Hazel is a former good time girl who dropped out of college, worked in bars and dated a lot of men. She now finds herself alone in her mid-40s. but she is a strong-willed survivor and, at heart, a decent person who volunteers at the detox center while finishing a degree in social work. She’s attracted to Dan, her fellow waiter in recovery, who is as skiddish about romance as Hazel is determined not to give up on finding Just One Last Man.

Making a Comeback is the final number, sung in a Epilogue by the chief protaganist, Cynthia, and the ensemble. Cynthia is a single mother whose life has unraveled. Her alcoholism is rooted in guilt over her failure to protect her only child, Kathy, from abuse by her stepfather. Kathy is a very angry young woman who has just gone off to college. The story follows Cynthia as she hits bottom, goes through rehab and begins to wait tables at the Cafe. With the help of her best friend and the support of her colleagues at the Cafe, she gets her life back on track and is reunited with her daughter. Making a Comeback celebrates the ability of people to reinvent themselves.

For more about the musical and additional songs, please visit web.mac.com/kringheim.
Thank you!
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LINKS TO THE SONGS

TODAY:
http://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/today-by-karin-ringheim

I’M MAKING A COMEBACK
http://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/im-making-a-comeback-by-karin

JUST ONE LAST MAN
http://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/just-one-last-man

RECORDING ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Words and Music by Karin Ringheim, web.mac.com/kringheim
From Musical: WELCOME TO THE HARD LUCK CAFE
Music Prepared by Paul Raiman, myrehearsalpianist.com
Recorded in March 2012 by Jeff Tucker, Art of Music Studios, http://artofmusicstudios.com/Home.html
Vocals by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus, singbookswithemily.wordpress.com
Musical Arrangement for “I’m Making a Comeback” by Johnathan Tuzman, tuzmusic.com

Good Luck Karin!  And thank you for making me part of the process!