Tim Tunes

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This episode’s artist career spans the decades since the early 70s all the way to today. With 18 albums and hundreds of songs, she has continued to grow and evolve over the years. Her talent and advocacy are second to none. To say she is prolific is an understatement. One of the hardest working people I know, she continues to record, tour and teach, live and online. 

From the first time I met Tret Fure long, long, ago I fell in love with her voice, her guitar, and her song writing. A lot has changed since then so let’s cut my intro short and get on to the interview. 

I’m Tim Rose and this is the Tim Tunes pod cast. Welcome to part one of two episodes where we’ll interview the celebrated and talented singer/songwriter, gardener, and puppy painter, Tret Fure. 

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Next up in the Reverb series is #4.  I’ve combined my second episode 1-2 Friends, published on September 8th of 2021, with episode 3-5 Dottie Lou- Fable and Fact published on August 19th of 2022.  This reverb episode includes the songs, “Fallen Angel”, “Hard Road”, and “Dottie Lou”. The next section is my conversation with Dottie Lou, and a solo guitar and voice version of the song. At the very end is a mashup of all the different versions and bands with whom I’ve recorded the song.  

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Waaay back in August of 2018 I was attending a Livingston Taylor songwriting and performing retreat at Boston University. We spent the day working on our songs and performance with Liv, Vance Gilbert and Melissa Ferrick. After dinner we all got our instruments and had an informal song swap in the main meeting room. This was kind of a round robin sort of thing where each of us would play a song and then the next person would play and so on. There was one guy who had been pretty quiet during the workshop, a little standoffish if I’m to be honest. So, I was pretty astonished when it came his turn to play. He pulled out his Martin and sang a great song, well performed. That person is Tod Pronto. I was impressed with Tod and started following his progress as he opened for Liv and Jonathan Edwards and other folk greats. Then, I found his Sunday morning 9am streaming show, Coffee with Tod on YouTube or on Facebook. Then, I found out that he also has a regular cartoon, Midlife Thesis, that is published every week. 

I mean, what can’t he do? 

I’m Tim Rose and this is the Tim Tunes podcast. In this episode we’ll interview dear friend and accomplished singer/songwriter/cartoonist Tod Pronto and listen to three of his songs recorded live during our visit. 

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Over the past three interviews and five episodes, I was beginning to get the feeling that we were drifting too far afield of the original intent of this podcast. That is writing and performing songs. However, each of our subjects are song writers. 

Mark Baxter our Vocal Behaviorist has been writing songs all along since he started in rock bands in the last century. Yaron Gershovsky, band leader of the Manhattan Transfer, is constantly writing and publishing new, original songs. And Debra Monk, our star of stage and screen, early in her career, collaborated on the songs for the Tony nominated “Pump Boys and Dinettes” and other musicals. So, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I hadn’t wandered too far from my original purpose. All these people are legitimate songwriters. This is often what the life of the songwriter is like. Precious few can live off their songwriting talent alone.

 Now, I’m not a rich person. Oh, I do Ok, and I don’t really lack for anything, but I don’t have a lot of disposable income. So, I’ve decided to sort of pay back these three with the only currency I have. I’ve written three new songs. Each one of the three subjects inspired a different song. Today we’ll hear those songs and follow the process of their creation.

Welcome to the 50th episode of the Tim Tunes podcast. Begun on a whim almost three years ago, I started with the stories and recollections of my best songs. I thought I’d be done once I made through the first batch. But episode after episode, I managed to find some songwriting or performance-based content to share with you listeners.

 In this episode we’ll explore three recently written songs that were inspired by the subjects of this season’s podcast. If you haven’t listened to episodes 5-1 through 5-5, I suggest you go back and give them a listen to better appreciate these songs. 

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Welcome to Part 2 of our conversation with Debra Monk. If you haven’t heard part 1 then I highly suggest you do so before listening to this episode. You won’t want to miss the stories of how she developed Broadway and off-Broadway shows with the likes of Kander and Ebb and Steven Sondheim, not to mention a few shows and songs she helped to write.

In this episode,  we’ll discuss Debra's experience on the Kander and Ebb and Holmes musical “Curtains”. Then we’ll discuss a little more about Debra’s TV and Movie career, followed by her advice to actors, what she is doing currently and what the future may hold. So, plug in your ear buds and get a flagon of your favorite beverage as we continue our conversation with Debra.

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Hey cherished listeners, Tim Rose here. In case you haven’t already heard, I’ve re-releasing some of my previous episodes as I have discovered that these episodes are posted in mono as opposed to stereo. Now prepare yourself for this Tim Tunes Reverb episode in stereo!

In this episode of Reverb I’ve combined episode 1-7 Romantic Love, published on October 8th of 2012 with episode 1-10 Platonic Love published on October 29th of 2012 and called it simply “Love Songs”. This reverb includes the songs, “True Love”, “I Needed Somebody”, “Lazy Love”, “I Will Always Love You”, “Love Flows”, and What we make It”. Here we go!

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What is it that makes one a star? Is it talent? Is it perseverance? Or is it just plain hard work? Perhaps it’s all three. We’ll discuss this and much, much more in this episode’s conversation with Debra Monk.

When I was studying Theater in College at what is now Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD. Our Acting teacher, Dr David Press, would give us acting exercises to perform. Often, he would hold up the example of how Debra Monk, or Deb, as he called her, performed a particular exercise as the best example of how to perform that exercise. Debra was a senior then when I was just a freshman, so our paths did not cross very much when we were there. 

Over the years, I heard of her success, first on TV getting an Emmy for her performance as Andy Sipowicz’s wife in NYPD Blue. Then, while visiting Dr. Press, he told me of her shows on Broadway. I looked her up and told her I was coming to see her in the play Curtains on Broadway. She met me after the show and graciously gave me a backstage tour. Later, while she was performing Laughing Wild, a two person show with Christopher Durang in Boston, I met her for lunch and to talk about old times. 

 Two years ago, for Episode 3-6, I asked if she wanted to contribute a message to my acting mentor and our mutual teacher, Dr. David Press. She sent me a glowing tribute which was just wonderful. So, earlier this year I contacted her about an interview, and she agreed to sit with me.

I’m Tim Rose and this is the Tim Tunes podcast. In this episode, part 1 of 2 of our interview with Debra Monk, we cover multiple topics: from how she got into the business, how she approaches her work, and stories from her career. So, assume your favorite podcast listening position as we delve into the life and times of a true American Treasure.

Debra has asked for donations to her favorite charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Just click on the link to find out more and make a donation.

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Hey cherished listeners, Tim Rose here. In case you haven’t already heard, I’m re-releasing some of my previous episodes as I have discovered that these episodes are posted in mono as opposed to stereo. So, I bit the bullet and ponied up for the stereo version. Now prepare yourself for this Tim Tunes Reverb episode in stereo!

Originally released in October of 2021, Funny Songs remains my most popular episode, so I couldn’t wait to give it the Reverb treatment so people could finally hear their favorite funny songs how they were intended to be heard. As a bonus. I’ve included five other funny songs from my Sarcasm and Aging episodes from season 1. 

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In this episode we’ll interview Yaron Gershovsky. As bandleader for Manhattan Transfer for 44 of their 50 years, he has a treasure trove of knowledge and experience around performing and composing which he will share with us on this episode. Get ready for a fun ride as we discuss his origins, career and what’s next.

In the spring of 2006, I was in a production of the musical “City of Angels” by Cy Coleman, David Zipel and Larry Gelbart with the Burlington Players in Burlington, MA. The musical is a story about a novelist whose book is adapted into a movie and about the entire LA movie scene. As the novel is turned into a screenplay the movie moves further and further away from the novel’s original purpose and meaning.  This causes a sort of schism in the mind of the novelist where he ends up having arguments with his lead character. There are lots of transitions from reality to scenes from the movie and so forth. 

At any rate, I was a part of a quartet that served as kind of a chorus that commented, amplified and clarified the action of the play, as choruses do. The whole play had a sort of film noir feel about it and the music for the chorus was very challenging jazzy close harmony type singing. I noticed that the vocal arrangement was written by one Yaron Gershovsky. I was curious about this fellow, so I Googled him. Now back in 2006 Google was primarily a search engine and not the GOOGLE that it is today. But regardless, I found out that Yaron was the band leader of Manhattan Transfer. That made so much sense in the context of the sound of the arrangements.

 Skip ahead to the early twenty teens. I was at Sculler’s, a jazz venue in Boston, to see Manhattan Transfer when who should I see walking down the hall toward me but Yaron himself. I introduced myself to him and told him that I had sung the Bass part in a production of “City of Angels”. In his quiet, understated way he looked at me and, I assume referring to the difficulty of the part, said, “I’m so sorry.” So began our acquaintance.

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Hey cherished listeners, Tim Rose here. In case you haven’t already heard, I’m re-releasing some of my previous episodes as I have discovered that these episodes are posted in mono as opposed to stereo. So, I bit the bullet and ponied up for the stereo version. Now prepare yourself for this Tim Tunes Reverb episode in stereo!

If you missed the first time around with Ted Onulak then you missed a treat. In addition to our conversation with the irrepressible Ted, there are recordings of a few of his original songs as well as bootlegs of his band playing live at Madam’s Organ in Adams Morgan in Washington, DC where Ted and his band Exit 10 continue to play on Monday nights. I’ve combined both episode 3-2 and 3-3 into a continuous conversation. Enjoy

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