Since 1996, people having been cycling 545 miles, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, in support of AIDS/Lifecycle: Ride To End AIDS. Tonight, Team Long Beach is hosting a benefit to support the riders and the charity. The benefit is taking place at the legendary and beloved Que Sera, located near the north west corner of 7th and Cherry. Music starts at 7 PM, and there’s a $10 cover.
$10 is cheap, though, because the riders have assembled an amazing line-up, including Michelle Mangione, Melisa Belgrade, CalTrans, and a local favorite, Jill Warren. Jill is a talented singer, song writer, and guitarist who has been part of the Long Beach music scene for nearly two decades, both as a solo artist and in her popular band, Somebody’s Ex, which will be reuniting for tonight’s show. I asked Jill how she got connected to tonight’s benefit.
“I know Bernice [Detig],” Jill explained, “who is doing the Aids Ride, and she asked me to help her raise money for her ride and for the cause. I was happy to be a part of that, with all the other wonderful entertainers that are also donating their talents to the evening.”
On Friday Night, Jill will be performing at Bliss 525, which is just up the street from this year’s Pink Party. Jill is also performing at A Night of Women – Breast Cancer Benefit, on June 30th, from 6-9 PM at Lush Lounge on Pine Avenue. The event will be hosted by Sheena Metal, and feature painter Roberta Nieto and DJ Zenway, who spinned at this year’s Coachella Music Festival.
When I interviewed Jill, she had just returned from a six month tour.
“I was playing guitar in the orchestra for the off Broadway touring show of Cats the Musical,” Jill said. “It is another amazing experience. I love the show, but I’m not so in love with the traveling.”
I asked her about the unique challenges of that kind of gig.
“The music is quite challenging at first,” Jill explained, “so for the first few months you’re just getting through it and trying not to make mistakes. Then after that, you begin to turn on the auto pilot button. I think about everything imaginable while I’m sitting there, through the show. The thing that keeps it new is playing a different theatre sometimes every night, in a different state.”
I asked Jill if she could share any interesting musings she had while in the pit.
“Many nights,” she recalled, “I sit and plan my future out in my head, what I’m going to eat, when I’m going to work out, where I’m going to live when I get off the tour, how much I love my dog! Just silly stuff!”
I asked her how she got connected to this sort of theatrical touring gig.
“The first seemed like it came to me out of thin air,” Jill confessed. “I got a call out of the blue. I was actually an auditor at the time, taking a break from music. I played on the Tomorrowland stage at Disney many many years ago with an all female rock group, MissBehavin’. The call was from our musical director from Disney, and she asked if I was available to do a show in Vegas called Peepshow. They wanted an all female group. I said sure, and that was the start.
“After that show was over, I got another call from a musical contractor that knew of me through Peepshow, and that was for the show Grease. I said yes to that, and then came Cats. Seems I’m on some list!”
I asked if she has plans to return to auditing.
“I’ve decided, no more doing anything that I don’t enjoy doing,” Jill stated. “I really enjoy playing music, so that’s what I’m going to keep doing. I had a moment a while back where I bought into the ‘always have something else under you belt’ idea when it came to being a musician. So I went back to school and got my business degree. Don’t think that for me. I didn’t enjoy it at all. I absolutely love playing music!!”
I asked Jill when she figured out that she wanted to pursue music seriously.
“I started playing guitar at age six,” she said. “It might have been then, because my mother couldn’t get me to put it down. I even slept with it sometimes. I studied music in college and went to the Musicians Institute in L.A. to study guitar. I think I’ve always been a musician of some sort. I took a few detours but always came back to it.
“Before Disney, I lived in Durango, Colorado and I was in a couple fun bands there. We played everything from country, bluegrass, to classic rock. After Disney, I was in a band here in Long Beach called Somebody’s Ex, an awesome all-girl rock band. We actually recorded two CDs and played all over California. I’m going to start another band soon, just don’t know who’s in it yet!
“Tonight, at the Que Sera, two of the gals I used to play with in Somebody’s Ex will be playing with me for the Aids Ride Benefit.”
I asked her about song writing.
“I think song writing might be my nemesis. I so respect anyone who does it well. I’m still learning. I can write a song, but I’m still learning to like the songs that come out. I seem to like them for a little while, and then never want to play them again. Its kind of like throwing up. It feels good to get it out but then you don’t want to do it again for awhile.
I asked her about the roll that Long Beach plays in her creative life.
“I adore Long Beach,” Jill said. “Now that I’ve been to quite a few places, nothing seems to compare to the diversity, creativity, and weather that Long Beach has to offer. I’ve lived here, on and off, for a total of around 18 years and, even when I’ve left and moved away, I always seem to come back. Other people have told me the same thing.
“Long Beach has so much to offer, and it’s not L.A. Don’t think I could live in L.A. again. I also love that we don’t get bags at the grocery store here, and that we have to bring our own. What a great concept!! Now, when I go somewhere where they put everything in plastic bags, I get sad for all that waste.”
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Also participating in the benefit event tonight are a number of local artists, who will be selling their work and donating money from the sales to the cause. Artists include Kristin De Simone, Jamie Kivisto, Traci A. Durfee, Laura Stegeman, Breanne Patterson, Dorothy Rausa, Devon Fleischmann, Paige Bethmann, Donna Grady, Sunshine Daye, Angie Kiel, and Jaclyn Chessen.
For more information about Jill Warren, visit JillWarren.info
For more information about AIDS/Lifecycle, visit AIDSLifecycle.org
Find out how to support Team Long Beach.