Lady Blue

Lady Blue featuring Tina Haase Findlay released their debut CD entitled, “The Meaning of
Grace” Sunday, March 25 at the Vaudeville Mews, 214 4th Street, in downtown Des Moines.

The two performances were completely different in content, and included a special tribute to
the late Iowa Blues Hall of Famer, Jimmy “the Midnight Cowboy” Pryor. Also honored was photographer/artist Curt Stahr for his work with the band, and both shows featured honorary Master of Ceremonies Andre Mosqueda, winner of the International Blues Music Awards 2006
DJ of the Year.

Lead singer Tina Haase Findlay, who has had a 20-year career as a jazz and blues singer in the region, was the producer and main composer of the project, along with her spouse, guitarist Brandon Findlay. The band also features guitarist/vocalist Ben Williams, drummer Randy Ramaekers, and bassist/vocalist Todd Stevens.

The project features 15 original songs, and covers a dynamic range of material. The swing shuffle blues of “Gospel of the Blues” kicks off the album, quickly melting into the hill country stomp of “Nothin’ But the Blues”. The funk of “Bluz Becuz of U” and the party jam “Troubled
Mind” lead the listener into the heart of the album. Whether it’s the rock vibe of “Virtue and Vice” or the world soul of “Monster” featuring sax player Nathan Peeples from The Blue Band, the album speaks to a wide demographic while still maintaining its basis in the blues. The title track, a power rock ballad that has already been described by fans as “epic and life-changing”,
serves as the cinematic climax to the kaleidoscope of sonic flavors that the album offers each listener. The album’s other guests include two of the band members’ children: J.B. Williams on sax and Dove Haase on vocals, as well as keyboardist David Larson, and guitarist Joe Koelling,
executive producer and engineer of the project, which was recorded at the new Kaleidoscope Sonic Lab in Urbandale, IA (formerly SR Audio).

The cover art and photography for the project was provided by critically-acclaimed photographer and renowned visual artist, Curt Stahr. In addition to being the owner of Interpretive Photography, Stahr is also the founder and director of the award-winning Midwest Center for Photographic Study at Des Moines Area Community College. He has been lavished with unique opportunities in the rock and roll industry, having closely worked with many legends, including the Grateful Dead, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and most recently, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gnarls Barkley during their spring 2007 concert tour.
Lady Blue is the first local band Stahr has worked with, creating a logo, numerous visual arts elements, and a special photographic presence that the band calls “an inspiring and integral
component of our overall presentation.”

With the new release already garnering critical acclaim, Lady Blue is looking forward to devoting themselves to large-scale touring and performing, including branching out in the Midwest and hitting the West Coast and the Southwest. For booking or additional information,
please contact Kaleidoscope Artist Management at 515.331.2225 - Kaleidoscope Creativentures

The last words of the last track and the title cut to Lady Blue’s new album, “The Meaning of Grace” reveals a lot about the band’s lead singer Tina Haase Findlay.

“Amazing grace, it sounds so sweet, lifts me back up on my feet I’m sick and tired of my wicked ways, it’s time for me to give myself grace.”

Written after a tear-filled conversation with her husband-guitarist Brandon Findlay, “The Meaning of Grace” sums up the “hard knocks and sweet victories” of 41-year-old Haase Findlay, who considered quitting the music business. It marks a musical homecoming of sorts, too, for the longtime Des Moines singer who made a name for herself in gospel, jazz, R&B and rock, but has found redemption in the blues. It also reveals her unwavering faith. Grace, as Findlay Haase sings, “means that even though you made a mess, you will still grow… that you receive a chance to choose what you believe… that you will rise above the ocean of petty lies.”

“This project chronicles the last five years of my life,” Haase Findlay tells Cityview. “I’ve gone through incredible turmoil, the kind of self-destruction where I didn’t care about music anymore.”

Part of that turmoil was Haase Findlay leaving First Federated Church in Des Moines, where she served as worship director and coordinated all the musical activities of the church, including the choir. Religion is a big part of Haase Findlay’s life. Church is where she got her start performing at the age of 3.

“It was a painful, heartbreaking end,” she says. “When something like that falls apart, something I thought I was born to do, it’s like a marriage ending. But I wouldn’t trade what I’ve learned and gained from that experience.”

The 15 original songs on “The Meaning of Grace” reflect the kind of worldly wisdom you’d expect from a blues singer — a label Haase Findlay fully embraces though many still know her as a jazz vocalist.

“I feel like at my age it’s nice to be rooted in a genre like the blues that is embracing of women at a certain age,” she says. “There’s a lot of latitude there and we exceed even that because we take the blues and add some sophistication and spirituality to it. But the blues makes room for latitude. It’s the music of the people.

“Sometimes when I’m at a jazz show I can see the audience get lost because the music gets too complex and the gears shift where it’s more about the musician than the listener. With the blues it’s about the people and the struggle. I never feel like I’m a spectator at the show — I’m a participant. It always gets to my heart.”

Haase Findlay says “The Meaning of Grace” was an organic process for Lady Blue, which includes her husband, guitarist Ben Williams, bassist Todd Stevens and drummer Randy Ramakers. They recruited a handful of guest musicians to sit in, too, including Nathan Peeples, David Larson, J.B. Williams, Joe Koelling [owner of SR Audio] and Haase Findlay’s daughter, Dove Haase.

“We decided to make a project that pleased us rather than compromise for commerce sake,” Haase Findlay says.

Though the album is rooted in the blues, it includes gospel, funk and rock. The mix reflects Haase Findlay’s musical diversity, her willingness to be part of a true ensemble effort [Lady Blue formed in 2005] and the blues’ all-encompassing nature.

“We defied category and embraced a diversity of styles because that’s who I am,” Haase Findlay says. “This project is the culmination of my journey, but it’s much more about the passion of Brandon than Tina. He has pulled me back into singing. It’s such a fulfilling thing to have him by my side and to have such close friends in the band. It’s like a little family and our passion for a higher purpose and greater good.”

Brandon Findlay, 26, concurs.

“We wanted to make a diverse statement,” he says. “It’s a celebration of everything I’ve listened to and played. It was a huge reckoning and awakening of my own insights and skills that were hard won. It means more than words can say. I’m proud of it.”

For Haase Findlay, the greater good includes getting back on the musical horse in a big way. Not only is “The Meaning of Grace” her first release in a few years, she plans to tour regionally to support it. Additionally, the album was recorded at Kaleidoscope Sonic Lab in Urbandale [formerly SR Audio], a studio in which she and her husband are among a handful of investors and managers. The Lab is a new three-way venture that includes the recording studio, Kaleidoscope Consulting Group and Kaleidoscope Artist Management with the development of a new label called KaleidoSong Records forthcoming. For Haase Findlay, it’s one of many hats she wears in order to survive as a professional musician in Des Moines.

“It’s a labor-intensive, time-intensive thing,” she says. “But even the best musicians in our city are attached to a gravy train of some kind.

“Kaleidoscope is about the big idea, the big concept. It’s the beauty of many different colors coming together, muc - Cityview

Sounds like … funk-inspired blues that recalls BB King, Robert Randolph, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, and vocally at times, Ella Fitzgerald.

At a glance … pain has never sounded so good on The Meaning of Grace.

Track Listing
1. Gospel of the Blues
2. Nothin' But the Blues
3. Blue Becuz of U
4. Troubled Mind
5. Virtue and Vice
6. Sin
7. Blues After Sundown
8. Monster
9. I Am the Blues
10. Fool Like Me
11. This Girl
12. Deacon's Train
13. Lady Blue
14. Spirit of the Blues
15. The Meaning of Grace

Even though they couldn't be more different stylistically speaking, hearing Lady Blue's lead singer Tina Haase Findlay reminded me of the first time I heard Sandi Patty or early-day Mariah Carey. Her scale-the-register vocals aren't not only impressive, but goosebump-inducing. But unlike a lot of singers who sing about heartbreak and hard knocks these days (yes, that means you, Kelly Clarkson), the listener actually believes every pained word that she sings.

But before dismissing the decidedly bluesy sounds of The Meaning of Grace as too depressing, there's plenty of redemption to go along with the sorrow. That's what makes the sadness all the sweeter, because that's actually hope at the end of the road—even in a tale of a relationship gone wrong like "Nothin' But the Blues" or a rough season in life in "Bluz Becuz of U." Even in "Troubled Mind," which Findlay says was inspired by a time when she was depressed, the toe-tapping, jam band musical accompaniment can't help but make you smile. More overtly spiritual in nature, one of the album's standout tracks "Fool Like Me" acknowledges how foolish our plans can be in light of God's, while "This Girl" talks about the One she turns to when life doesn't make any sense. "I'm clinging to you, Lord, like a baby in your arms / Cause you're the one who understands me when I cry / I'm carrying on into the land into the unknown, being clay in your sweet hand until I die."

Although she recently considered giving up music, Findlay recently told Cityview Online, a local Iowa publication, that working on the project helped with the healing process. "This project chronicles the last five years of my life," Findlay says. "I've gone through incredible turmoil, the kind of self-destruction where I didn't care about music anymore. … This project is the culmination of my journey, but it's much more about the passion of [husband] Brandon than Tina. He has pulled me back into singing. It's such a fulfilling thing to have him by my side and to have such close friends in the band. It's like a little family and our passion for a higher purpose and greater good."

A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Findlay has had a 20-year career as a jazz and blues singer. Along with her husband Brandon, Findlay produced and composed this critically acclaimed project. In addition to the couple, the band also features guitarist/vocalist Ben Williams, drummer Randy Ramaekers and bassist/vocalist Todd Stevens. - Christianity Today