The Latest from Sam Parmelee

Underneath the hood around this part of the site, we use a tweaked version of some content management software to handle all the news and updates.  As enough time went by, it became apparent that an update to this software was needed, since the version in use around here was really old and way behind the times.  Plus, we were tired of getting too much comment spam.

ANYWAY…  Over the last few days we’ve finally upgraded the software (WordPress, now version 2.6) that powers this section of the site, and the transition was, eh… …a little “wonky”, I guess you could say.  Things still aren’t 100% debugged, so please a) pardon the mess and b) feel free to let us know of anything you find amiss.

Sorry for the random down-time over the past couple days.  Hopefully things will look and function properly as things get fully sorted out.

Songfest 2008: Stay Tuned opens in just two weeks (March 18). Shows are at 8 PM nightly, until closing the night of March 22nd. There is also an additional matinee performance at 2 PM on March 22nd.

I’m really scrambling to be ready for opening night, but as crazy as life seems at the moment, things are also starting to get really exciting. The hosts are gonna be terrific and the show is huge. If you’re wanting to come and see the project that I’ve been working on all year (and many previous years), here’s your chance!

Tickets are available in-person and by phone through the Smothers Theatre Box Office (310-506-4522) and on-line through Ticketmaster.com.

See you after the show…

Sorry for the sparseness of updates over the past few months. Unfortunately, since time is short, this update about my two most recent projects will also have to be on the brief side.

Songfest 2008: Stay Tuned

I’m cranking away on work for the upcoming Songfest stage production (entitled Stay Tuned) at Pepperdine University. Though I’ve been working on this for many months, it’s now officially “crunch time” on this project- it now occupies the vast majority of my time, and the list of things left to be done always seems to grow longer while the amount of time left before opening night grows shorter. Specifically: I’m in the middle of rehearsals with this year’s hosts, I’m working on composing some original material for the show, I have several weeks of full-time arranging and orchestrating ahead of me, and I continue to juggle all the details on the production side of things (design, coordinating the performing groups, tech issues, publicity, finances, student show development… it’s a seemingly endless list).

Of course I am looking forward to this year’s performances, but in the meantime I’m just trying to keep my head above water!

The show runs from March 18-22 at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre. Tickets go on-sale February 11, and will be available through either the Smothers Theatre Box Office (in person or by phone) or through TicketMaster.com.

Brownstones to Red Dirt

Back in the fall, I had the opportunity to do some early work on a really cool documentary project called Brownstones to Red Dirt, from Copper Pot Pictures. Copper Pot Pictures is a production company, started by a team of folks that include friend and former collaborator David LaMattina (writer and director of Grandpa’s Secret, from our USC days). Brownstones to Red Dirt documents the experiences of children in Brooklyn, NY and Sierra Leone, Africa as they send pen-pal letters back and forth to each other. The film is still in production, and is currently on location in Brooklyn and in Sierra Leone.

So what do I have to do with this? Promotional material for the project was put together in the fall, and I was happy to provide the music for a viewable “teaser” (see and hear it here). The music is entitled Unheard Voices. You can learn more about the project by visiting the Copper Pot Pictures website.

I look forward to posting more about Songfest 2008: Stay Tuned and Brownstones to Red Dirt in the future, and I hope to eventually make some of my music for these projects available here on the website. In the meantime, though, all of that will have to wait until I have a little more breathing room in my schedule! Back to work…

Two new .MP3 files of my music have been added to the Music section of the site.

“Bye Bye for Bye Bye for Bobo” (from the score to the new short film Bye Bye for Bobo - stay tuned for an upcoming post about the project) and “Patriots, Countrymen, Neighbors” (from a conceptual demo for a possible ABC sitcom) are both available for listening.