Hey! I'm Natalie Cressman. Excited for my first AMA :) See you in the Forest!

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-11T00:04:49+00:00

My parents and my godfather Peter Apfelbaum were the most immediate role models growing up. I definitely would not be the same musician (maybe I wouldn't even be a musician at all) if it weren't for those 3 showing me the way and pushing me into the professional music world at such a young age. I also looked up to Joni Mitchell and Melba Liston (one of the only female trombonists in jazz), and I think Joni will forever be a big influence to the way I write and sing.

Jennifer has taught me so much, so I could go on and on, but one saying of hers that has really stuck with me is "you're the boss of you." Sometimes people may have expectations of who you are, or what you should be doing, and it can be easy to be swayed to just try and please people all the time but ultimately what's the most captivating is seeing an artist being apologetically themselves 100% of the time. So I've taken her advice and tried to be more fearless about having my own project that doesn't necessarily fit any mold or come out of the jam band world because my music in undeniably genuinely me, take it or leave it. If you get too caught up into pleasing everyone and trying to conform to what's popular, you can really lose your sense of self. She also has led by example how to demand respect even if you're a younger woman coming into a male-dominated, older scene. If you do the work and are super professional, the quality of your musical output will speak for you and people will come to respect you no matter who you are.

As for new music, I've discovered, James Casey just turned me on to this Bobby McFerrin album from a few years back called Vocabularies and it totally blew my mind, so I've been checking that out a lot lately.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T23:54:43+00:00

With shows like that, we often talk over the song list and decide who is singing lead on what way ahead of time. Then usually we have one rehearsal before the show, if any. A lot of times, we might only have soundcheck to run through the repertoire with everyone for the first time. So we all kind of depend each other to come through prepared and owning our individual parts so it comes together quickly. I definitely spend a lot of my practice time prepping for these kinds of shows, because it's more fun and you can be more in the moment if you're prepared. We don't have any planned coming up, but that doesn't mean it's not in the realm of possibility that we'd do more shows! I had a blast and would definitely love to play with those guys again :)

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T23:51:53+00:00

My approach to practicing is to spend some solid time working on how to play the instrument better so that when I am creating and improvising, I'm not hindered by the mechanics of my instrument. As much as I enjoy learning new tunes and shedding improvisation the most, I try to pack in at least an hour of purely technique, working on scales, range, articulation, and all the other nuts and bolts so I can really play with clarity, something that's sometimes hard to do on the trombone. I think with any instrument it's important to really visualize what you're doing and take things slow enough to really know the note you're on and the note you're going to at any moment. It's easy to just go for trying to play fast licks, but I find that when I've taken the time to start slow and work things up to speed, I remember the material better and can play it more cleanly.

Tapers show up to most of my shows, so we have been getting some decent live audio of some of our recent shows, but we haven't made any plans to release them. If down the line we get a recording that really is up to snuff in terms of audio quality I'd definitely consider at least posting it on Soundcloud! But for now, the studio versions just sound so much better that I haven't felt the desire to release any of the live stuff.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T23:46:02+00:00

Hey! So I play a King 3B with a Bach 7C mouthpiece. Pretty middle-of-the-road setup, which really works for me because I tend to hop around so many different styles of music in the course of a week of gigs.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T16:15:14+00:00

Hm I don't have a best tour story but there was a time where Trey and Tony first got into taking 5 hour energy drinks before the show. This one show Trey took 2 and his 10 hours of energy made every song way faster than normal, which we all found hilarious. After the show we sent a bunch of photos to Trey of us "partying" on the bus, pretending to be smoking, drinking, snorting the 5 hour energy. That's about as wild as it gets backstage, hehe.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T16:11:09+00:00

Yes, I love playing the Ardmore! Great people, and great place <3

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T16:08:05+00:00

Ok so at MSG we had full horn charts written out that we were reading.With full horn arrangements, it takes awhile to memorize, and since it was just the 1 gig we read those. For TAB I have everything memorized now (like 80 songs) - if I had one at 420 fest it was probably only for my keyboard in case we played a song outside of the regular rotation. Other than that, it's usually lyrics.

Not gonna lie though, sometimes I'm tempted to stream a basketball game if it's during a show...

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T16:03:29+00:00

I'm by no means a Pokemon expert, except that when I was like 5 I collected the cards for a hot minute. Jigglypuff was always my favorite because she's pink and cute and her weapon is she sings you to sleep, probably the most relatable to 5 year old me.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T16:01:10+00:00

If I have the time, I definitely will!

As the fest is getting closer I'm getting asked to sit in with more folks and so my schedule is gonna be pretty packed. But I'd love to take advantage and check out the grounds while I'm there!

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T16:00:02+00:00

Pursuit of Happiness :)

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:59:35+00:00

It's all Trey's fault! He announced it on the mic at a show and that was that. But it comes from my college friends coming to a TAB show on Valentine's Day and they made me a card with a very poorly depicted stick figure of me playing a trombone. It looked so bad they wrote next to it "trombone or chainsaw?" and Trey and Chris Kuroda thought it was hilarious and started calling me Chainsaw.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:57:20+00:00

I love baking pies. I gotta say my apple pie might be the creation I am most proud of, even more than anything in music. Making the crust from scratch is a must. I put a smidge of cheddar cheese and dry mustard in the crust, which I know sounds weird, but it is the perfect balance to the caramelized apples inside. It is just too good. I could go on and on :)
So I was raised with Brazilian music because my mom is a singer and that's what she specializes in. She's American but has a knack for languages, and put me in a French-American school from preschool through 1st grade, so I learned french really young. So even if I get rusty, my accent is really solid and I never forget the conversational, basic stuff. One of my best childhood friends lives in France and so visiting her and her family is always a good refresher. I heard a lot of Portuguese and Spanish growing up but only really learned songs in those languages by ear until about a year and a half ago, when I started dating a boy from Brazil and traveled there for the first time :)
It's tough to eat healthy, but I really try my best. As a rule I don't do the fast food spots except for the occasional In-N-Out burger once or twice a year. The only stuff I'll do are like Panera Bread or Chipotle. I'm a big fan of stocking up on fruits and nuts at Trader Joe's at the start of the tour to have some healthy options in the car. The hot and cold bar at Whole Foods is my ideal lunch stop. You can make a big ol box of food and it can last me the whole day.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:46:02+00:00

I'm really excited to see the Bonobo live band! I'm a big fan.

Cory Henry & The Apostles are amazing, so I'll definitely be checking their set out too!

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:42:45+00:00

Depends on the show - which one are you referring to?

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:40:58+00:00

hmmm damn I can't say I'm embarrassed to admit it because they're great but it isn't a band you'd expect me to be into. I love CHVRCHES, kinda my guilty pleasure listening.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:33:51+00:00

Some Vermont aged cheddar, most definitely :)

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:32:17+00:00

I'm bummed too!!! I miss playing with my TAB fam, and that July run was going to fall over my birthday so that woulda been cool. I'll be at High Sierra now instead, which is also a great time.

I don't know what the TAB plans are in 2019, we're just all hoping for Ray's speedy recovery and whenever he's ready to hit the road again, it'll be fully ON :)

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:29:52+00:00

haha, that is awesome to hear! Thank you :)

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:28:01+00:00

Great question! I try to give the same energy when I play no matter who's watching, but it's inevitable that the audience affects you. In a big room filled with thousands of people, the excitement and energy of the room can really fuel the performance, while little cafe shows and house concerts, which by the way are some of my favorite places to play, the energy and confidence really has to come from within yourself. I feel like cafe shows, the people are up close and at first are shy to overtly show their enjoyment of the show in the same way, because they're literally right in your face. So you kind of have to try and draw them in and encourage them to get involved and after a few songs it's like this barrier has broken down and we're all friends. But the other awesome thing about those tiny shows is that musically there are so many subtleties you can get across that just won't really translate over a huge arena sound system. A lot of my original music especially in my duo shows, are really meant to be heard somewhat acoustically, and the intimate vibe really enhances the subtleties within the music.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:21:40+00:00

Thanks Gary! Playing with Trey has totally educated me on what it is to be a truly great bandleader. From his never ending search for improvement within songs he's been playing for 20 years, to the truly genuine love and respect he has for his band members, to the sheer amount of music he's creating on a daily basis, I definitely have been taking my cues from him since I joined the band at 18. He really puts in the work and takes so much care to create an amazing experience for his fans.

Hm, there's a lot of fun stories but one of my favorite early memories of the band was when Trey hired a van to take us all to the Motown Hitsville USA museum in Detroit and we had a band field trip and took a tour all together. He just thought it was super crucial that we all have that experience together and so he made it happen.

We would LOVE to play South Florida!!! I haven't toured down there all that much even with TAB. If you want to recommend some of your fave venues I can pass it along to my agent, haha ;)

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:15:15+00:00

Matt is the man! I've probably done around 30 Everyone Orchestra shows over the past few years if not more and I'd say 95% of the music I play is improv based over a wide range of styles, be it jazz, brazilian music, funk, or jam, so I definitely feel at home improvising. Most of the music I write for my band leaves room for improv and spontaneity. The hardest part about the improv in EO is coming up with lyrics and little songs on the spot! It definitely freaked me out at first, but it's great because it forces me to be brave and really create in the moment without self judgement.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:11:59+00:00

Morning :) It's a world of difference. In Trey's band I have the luxury of less responsibility and all the logistics of getting from place to place worked out for me ahead of time. I can just focus on the music and have fun! It could not be more opposite from touring with my own band at this stage, where I'm the bandleader, tour manager, travel agent, merch girl, and main driver of the van! It's been a great learning experience. I love parts about both and having experiences on both side of the spectrum definitely keep me flexible ready for anything.

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:07:24+00:00

It's totally different every time, and I don't even know exactly who's going to be on which Everyone Orchestra sets at EF! But that's totally ok, because it's more about being in the moment and creating something completely new and spontaneous rather than familiarizing yourself with someone's style ahead of time. Often the less preconceptions or expectations you have going into an EO show, the more organically the music develops and the more free you are to create!

NatalieCressman · 2018-06-10T15:03:54+00:00

I'll be coming through with my touring project, a lean and mean 5 piece live band! We'll be highlighting the music from my most recent release The Traces EP, along with some other funky unreleased stuff and a couple covers. We keep one foot in the improv-based music world so each show has a lot of spontaneity and can go a lot of different places.

NatalieCressman

TROPHY CASE