SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA SUMMER 1999
THE TUNNEL SINGER RECORDS NEW CD
IN PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON'S
"CISTERN CHAPEL"
On Wednesday, May 26, 1999 San Francisco vocalist and performance
artist, Lee Ellen Shoemaker, known as "The
Tunnel Singer," recorded her third CD, Water
Birth, using an empty 2-million gallon cistern
at old Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington. The concrete
cistern, sometimes called "The Cistern Chapel," is
profoundly silent until sound awakens its 45-second reverberation.
A reverberation nearly twice as long as
the Taj Mahal’s.
Shoemaker's 1995 debut album, Inner Runes is recorded inside a 64-feet
high column at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, using its 8-second reverberation. Ravens
in Moonlight, 1997, is recorded in a World War II artillery tunnel that has an
8-second reverberation. She’s always looking for new spaces to try. Recently
performing at the Norfolk, Virginia International Waterfront Festival, she rented a car
and drove across the state just to try the acoustics in Luray Caverns.
Shoemaker creates ethereal music by combining her voice with the natural reverberation
of tunnels, stairwells and parking garages. The harmonic drone of singing bowls and
patterns of percussion instruments often add texture to her music. She invents an
emotional, tonal language that is universally understood. She believes we are all
musicians, but may have forgotten the joy and expansion of spirit that comes from creating
music from even random sounds.
Fox Television News produced an Emmy-winning newsmagazine segment featuring The Tunnel
Singer. CBS Late Night News introduced The Tunnel Singer to national audiences in 1997.
She was recorded for the soundscape, "Day of Sound" which aired on National
Public Radio. The Tunnel Singer's recordings receive airplay on nationally syndicated
radio programs such as Hearts of Space and local radio programs coast to coast. She has
performed live and been interviewed in the studio for several stations.
The Tunnel Singer appeared in San Francisco's Wave Festival and Sacramento's Fringe
Arts Festival. The Tunnel Singer's website, www.tunnelsinger.com, brings her music to
worldwide audiences. Her mailing list includes fans from Australia, Canada, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Spain and Taiwan.
Shoemaker never studied music formally, but did earn a BA in Art Studio from the
University of California at Davis in 1984. She studied ceramics with Robert Arneson and
painting with Cornelia Schulz, Ralph Johnson and Wayne Thiebaud. She often describes her
music as painting with sound.
Shoemaker began her Master's degree with studies in Performance and Life Art with Ellen
Zweig at San Francisco State University's Center for Experimental Interdisciplinary Art.
She took extensive cinema and script writing courses prior to transferring to the
Instructional Technology Department where she earned a Masters degree in multimedia
development.
"The next time you walk to your car in a parking garage," advises The Tunnel
Singer, "use your voice to explore the acoustics of the space. You may connect with
ancient, inner songs you thought you had forgotten." |
