Author: emilyzisman

I am SO excited to be joining the artist collective Raining Chainsaws as their musical director for Rare Birds appearing at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass this year.

Raining Chainsaws has been making community and collaborative performance/experiential art in San Francisco for over a decade.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a San Francisco institution and, thanks to the Hellman family, the tradition carries on with free shows by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Kurt Vile, Valerie June, Rufus Wainwright, The Lone Bellow, Irma Thomas… you get the gist. It’s a pretty big deal.

This year, Raining Chainsaws has been invited to be a part of a new stage at Hardly Strictly and they are FLYING with the idea. I highly encourage you to plan a morning with us in Golden Gate Park on Sunday, October 1st.

I recommend grabbing a comfy spot on the lawn around 11:30am for the 11:40am performance.

If you feel the nudge to donne some feathers or a beak, you would be among friends.

Check out the Raining Chainsaws website to see what you might be in for!

YOU HEARD IT HERE, FOLKS!!!

Come join the Americanos and together we will make our signature epic Ruckus at San Jose’s Tabard Theater on Friday Aug 4th with Music, Dance, Friends, Drinks, a Dance Party, Laughs, and tons of Crazy Fun!

We have a great show planned for you with lots of your favorite Americano songs to sing along with and dance to. We will have special guest bellydancer, the dynamic Ms Gina Bruno and guest bassist and jazz great Essiet Essiet!

This all ages show is from 8pm to 10pm and tickets are $10. You can purchase tickets at the door or in advance here!

Tell your friends, bring your dancing shoes, and join us Friday August 4th for an off the hook good time in San Jose and we will See You There!!!

The Press Record Songwriting Society (PRSS) is a revolving group of talented Bay Area songwriters, co-founded by Alexis Harte and Tamsen Fynn, who meet semi-monthly to critique and evaluate each other’s works in progress. The overarching goal of the group is to encourage its members — through an insightful, honest, constructive critique process — to develop and complete songs, and “press record.”  

6 of the PRSS members will be showcasing some of the songs we have been workshopping in an “In -the-round” showcase.

Our show is on Saturday, July 29th. The Strings address is 6320 San Pablo Ave. (near Alcatraz Ave.) in Oakland. 

Doors open at 7:30 and the show starts at 8.  There is a $20 donation at the door.  *** Strings is an all-cash venue.

Our featured song that went through the PRSS process was Alexis Harte’s Thirsty, the video for which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 and won awards at festivals around the world.

Also, Steve Gallup just wrote and released a video with his son, so kind of a cool family project that came out well.  https://youtu.be/5xI4UuG_Z00

Alexis Harte  http://www.alexisharte.com/

Alexis Harte, co-founder of PRSS, is an Annie and Peabody Awards-winning singer-songwriter and composer, and a veteran of the Strings stage.

Tamsen Fynn https://www.tamsenfynn.com/

Tamsen Fynn, co-founder of PRSS, has been a local singer/songwriter and educator for more than 20 years, and has taught for The Freight & Salvage for the past 10 years.

Steve Gallup  https://youtu.be/5xI4UuG_Z00

Steve Gallup, Bay Area Curator for the international Acoustic Guitar Project, and guitarist and songwriter, wrote a song every week in 2022 to see what would come of it.

Edie Ohara  https://edieohara.bandcamp.com/

Edie O’Hara writes songs that go straight to the heart, revealing the depth of her spirit and our shared human condition; she’ll always surprise you with an unexpected twist.

Emily Zisman  http://www.emilyzisman.com/

Lyrical philosopher and storyteller, San Francisco songwriter Emily uses unabashed honesty and humor to punctuate the complexity of the entire escapade.

Erik Yates  https://www.erikyates.net/

Erik Yates, a 20-veteran of the Bay Area acoustic scene, performs roots music and original songs with the help of his many banjos and guitars.

I’m very excited to host Lambert Moss at the Blush! Songwriter Showcase this week. While Lambert isn’t necessarily a songwriter, he is a phenomenal storyteller and the voice is not to be missed. So I’m making an exception for this event.

Born in New York City, Lambert Moss (all pronouns) cut his teeth amongst the drag queens, club kids, and musical theater scene in Manhattan and Brooklyn. His career has spanned from opera to intimate dive bars, performing with musical legends such as Deborah Harry, the Tammy Hall Trio, Angela Bofil, Daniel Fabricant, and Daria Johnson. Lambert was featured in multiple revival productions of Hair, helmed by original director Stanley Ramsey. In San Francisco, Lambert is a staple of queer community venues, where his jazz stylings and storytelling style enrapture audiences from Powerhouse to Piedmont Piano. You can often find him at Martunis being accompanied by Joe Wicht, Maddaline Edstrom, or Ben Prince, or as a repeated feature in the hit Monday night drag show Pillows at Powerhouse with Mr. David Glamamore. He has the privilege of being mentored by Anohni who recently in an interview named Lambert as her favorite undiscovered artist.

Tell your ma, bring your friends, and see you there!

I’m such a fan of Ira Marlowe and can not wait to share the evening with him again at Blush! wine bar this week.

Ira’s storytelling is reminiscent of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and even has some children’s stories that speak to the inner children who aren’t able to enjoy the wine.

Not only is he a fabulous songwriter but he’s the owner/proprietor of The Monkey House in Berkeley. These are the people in our Bayborhood please plan to join us and share with your folks.

The Monkey House is a lovely listening room in Berkeley and I’m stoked to be joining Aireene Espiritu for a night of song-singing and storytelling. Bring your favorite beverage and enjoy an intimate evening with us.

Looooooooky!!!

I’ve been invited to do something really cool. Being the lyrical and songwritery nerd that I am, I get to do a deep dive and spend time submerged in the works of one of the more prolific songwriters of our time: Elvis Costell0

He’s not just Diana Krall’s husband, oh no no no! He’s got a LOT of his own things to say about love, America, and politics himself. With his signature sardonic, sarcastic, dry, charming, and sometimes whimsical style, there’s….a LOT to unpack. Come see how his voice echoes in the stylings of the next generation of writers!

Tickets tend to go quickly for this so grab them fast!

Mark Governor’s “Under the Influence” series continues, honoring Elvis Costello. Mark joins co-host Alexis Harte, Emily Zisman, Claudia Russell, Bruce Kaplan and special guests performing Elvis’ songs alongside their own original material that he inspired.

Under The Influence of…takes place every 1st Thursday and features a different line-up of artists paying tribute to the great songwriters and musicians of our time.

Coming up this week I’ve got my friend Kim Lembo joining me for the Songwriter Showcase.

Kim has been making powerful, blues and roots music since the mid-1990s and continues to evolve and express her amazing work in the Bay Area. You do not want to miss this voice and these stories. See you at Blush!

Thursday 4/13 from 7-10pm!

New Mythologies is my third collection of songs released together as siblings.

You’ll hear the resemblance in the questions that connect them. You can read the stories about each song in the “liner notes” that I’ve crafted for each one. While I haven’t printed any physical CDs for this album, I didn’t skimp on this wee nostalgic detail. I may print a run of vinyl if there is enough demand for them.

Please feel free to take your time with these songs and stories and share them with those who you think may enjoy this kind of thing. Every share, listen, and download helps.

As always, thanks for listening and reading. I could not do this without you.

See you out in the wide world soon, I hope.

<3 EmZis

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of catching up with, chatting with, and playing some of my songs for my friend Casson at KXSF Radio.

Casson and I have known each other for a number of years when I used to play at Cresta’s 2211 club in San Francisco. She was holding down the bar for the whole place as Marty Atkinson and I would entertain the locals for a few hours about once a month. Casson always brought the tip jar around and made everyone feel right at home.

One of HER new creative homes is as a DJ at our own Community Radio Station, and she continues to make ME feel right at home, wherever I find her.

During the show, I was given the opportunity to talk about my upcoming EP Release: New Mythologies. She asks me some pretty deep questions about my philosophy behind songwriting, creative expression, and we even connect a bit over our love of acting.

Have a listen to the recording up top and make sure to get your tickets for the release show Next Friday 2/17 at the Firehouse Arts Center!