30 Days Of NYMF: Day 4 Bloodties

Bloodties 9/20
Wendy Macdonald, Producer

My own Road To NYMF with BLOODTIES (www.BloodtiesTheMusical.com <http://www.BloodtiesTheMusical.com> ) began with an email from Director Scott C. Embler. We met while working on another musical last fall, and one day we met for dinner and shared stories of the projects we were working on. "You know who John Hammond was, right?" Scott asked. "Probably the greatest talent scout of all time. He discovered musicians ranging from Count Basie and Billy Holiday to Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. He also discovered a singer-songwriter named Ned Massey, and dubbed him ‘The Next Dylan. The Next Springsteen.'" He says this next bit with delight: "And yet, you've never heard of Ned Massey, have you?" I was intrigued.

I'm not a fan of Springsteen or Dylan...Basie and Holiday are my scene. Scott pressed a CD and script into my hands and I promised to check them out when I got home. "Actually, the music stands on its' own. Listen to the CD first," he prodded. So I did, and... I...LOVE...NED'S...MUSIC! And so do my 72-year-old parents and 20-year-old daughter!

You may well wonder: How can someone like John Hammond make a pronouncement like that and the name of Ned Massey remain an unknown one? Well that's our story, and I promise you, it's a compelling one. It's also just a small part of Ned's complex story, where to make sense of his life Ned sits down and he writes. His 1-man version of BLOODTIES ran at the NYC Fringe Festival in 2006, receiving great reviews. Scott & Ned have been rewriting and restructuring, revamping the whole thing many times, and earned a NYMF 2010 Invited Show slot for what's now a 5-person musical with a 5-piece band. Please join us for the world premiere of BLOODTIES at TBG Theatre on September 28th.