capital district – Pigments of Sound Sensation

May 2, 2020May 2, 2020

Madison VanDenburg: From Second-Runner-Up To Running Full Speed Ahead (Part 1 of 2)

Initially written for and posted on Nippertown

Photo: Elissa Ebersold. Madison VanDenburg, Aurora Games, Albany, NY, 08.20.19

When it comes to reality TV shows, there’s no such thing as the binary. It’s never just as simple as “I watch it” or “I don’t watch it.” There are so many gradations that float in between “do” and “don’t.” There’s the guilty pleasure watchers. There’s the casual watchers, or the home-sick-in-bed watchers. You could be one of the watching religiously watchers and/or one of the live-tweeting commentating watchers. Or you could be like many and watch when a citizen of your locale becomes a focal point of the show. While I probably more closely fall into the “casual watcher” category, having turned these reality competition shows on and off for the past fifteen years or so, I know the latter category probably encompasses many citizens of New York’s Capital Region these past couple of years. Who could blame them with incredible talents such as Moriah Formica (The Voice, American Idol), Sawyer Fredericks (The Voice), and now more recently, the incredible Madison VanDenburg coming out of the woodwork and taking second runner up in season two of American Idol at only 17. No, sorry, scratch that. Not coming out of the woodwork. Coming in like a Category 5 hurricane.

So, if you haven’t seen how absolutely mind-blowingly talented Ms. Madison is, well this interview is sure to be a good place to learn all about her. Madison is a queen of melisma and control, and damn good pitch. Her voice sucks you in, and she sounds exactly like she does on TV. No autotune needed. She is incredible to see perform live, and I am fortunate and humbled to know her and watch her forge her own path and conquer her dreams.

May 2, 2020May 2, 2020

Moriah Formica: The Reality After Reality TV (Part 2 of 2)

Initially written for and posted on Nippertown. Part 1 (on blog) h ere.

Editor’s Note: This is the second part of the powerful interview with local rock star, Moriah Formica, a motivated and talented musician that was on the reality TV music competitions, American Idol and The Voice. Be sure to read the first part of this exclusive interview by Nippertown’s Elissa Ebersold, of what happens when the cameras stop rolling.

May 2, 2020May 2, 2020

Moriah Formica: The Reality After Reality TV (Part 1 of 2)

Initially written for and posted on Nippertown

Moriah Formica, if you live in the good old 518 area, is not a new name. She is another one of the many extremely hard-working and talented superstars to find fame, be it local or international, on a reality television music competition show. She is what Adam Levine, frontman for Maroon5, has called a “pint-size powerhouse” and what country superstar Blake Shelton once referred to as someone who received an extra dose of talent when God got distracted when He was sprinkling it onto people. It’s people like Moriah that make me joke that they need to save some talent for the rest of us.

February 25, 2019February 25, 2019

An introduction.

I would say there are three areas of the arts that intersect to form me: graphic design, music, and photography. During the day, I am hunched over a desktop computer designing logos and posters and fliers and billboards and anything you could ever see that required some kind of design. At night you may find me in the pit of an auditorium, uncomfortably contorted in front of a lively musician so to get the photo I want. That’s what this blog is about. It’s about the music I hear, the photos I make, and my experiences doing what I love even when I sometimes don’t.

Continue reading “An introduction.”