Let's make some noise. Vote for the best thing you've heard this year, be it a tune or a life lesson.
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Jack Bardy, Darryl Settles, Jennifer Epstein, and Bill Keravuori The Beehive
Co-owners Jack Bardy and Darryl Settles have built a temple to good tunes with their sexy South End restaurant and jazz lounge. Read More
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Originally published on June 6, 2007
Catch a Buzz
The Beehive Opens
It was Friday night, and Jimmy was antsy for action. He locked up the office and wandered over to that new gin joint down the street.
The Beehive was buzzin’. An artsy bird greeted him at the door. “Want a seat by the stage?” Jimmy nodded. He liked it here — he could blend in with the neighborhood ritz.
He ordered a Beehive Julep, a mix of rums, mint, and honey. “That’ll take the edge off,” he thought. He looked over the funky, gypsy fare: mussels and clams in garlic broth, cod with red chili gnocchi, toasted spaghetti, baklava for dessert. “Might as well get ’em all,” he sighed.
Suddenly, jazz filled the brick-lined room. The tunes fit the vibe — sultry, dramatic, unendingly hip.
Jimmy ordered another drink and sat back in his chair. “Not bad for another Friday night,” he thought, the sting of the workweek melting away. “Not bad at all.”
The Beehive, 541 Tremont Street, South End (617-423-0069 or beehiveboston.com). -
Dave Hui TajTunes
MIT grad Dave Hui tested out his theory that anything can be subcontracted when he created TajTunes, a service that outsources singing telegrams from India. Read More
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Originally published on November 14, 2007
He’s Just Not That India
TajTunes
You know the drill: A quick call to customer service gets you some guy with a thick foreign accent living across the International Date Line.
But answering your warranty question isn’t the only thing that’s being handled overseas these days. Allow us to introduce you to TajTunes, an over-the-phone singing telegram service straight from India. It’s the brainchild of a Cambridge guy who once had to visit the country to study — you guessed it — outsourcing.
Here’s how it works: Pick the song (birthday, get well, I heart you) and the recipient (mom, S.O., fave shopgirl), and a lyrical stylist will call on the selected day (except weekends) and belt out the quirky tune.
They’ll even send the call in an e-mail, so the performance can be saved for all posterity. Which may make the $5 price tag hard to believe.
But that’s what happens when you go straight to the outsource.
Available online at tajtunes.com. -
Karen DiBiasse Vocal Instructor
Voice teacher Karen DiBiasse can put a little panache into your stage presence and amp up those vocal cords with a few of her one-on-one singing lessons. Read More
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Originally published on November 6, 2007
Act Vocally
Singing Lessons from Karen DeBiasse
Put most people near a karaoke machine and they’re bounding up to the mic, song list in hand.
Example: Cute Paul from marketing (whose rendition of Starship’s “We Built This City” you’ve heard at least a million times).
Exception: you (a.k.a. the Wincing Warbler).
Call Karen DeBiasse. She’s been teaching folks like Juliana Hatfield how to use their bodies and voices on stage for 25 years. (Her own band is called Girl on Top.) And she’s not afraid of the tone-deaf.
Weekly lessons cover how to stand, breathe, wail, and croon your way through any rock, R&B, hip-hop, or punk song you choose.
At the very least, it’ll give you something with which to impress Paul.
Nothing’s gonna stop you now.
Karen DeBiasse (617-625-0630 or karendebiasse.com).