10 Notable Accomplishments I Accomplished this Year
1. Rubber Peacock, a sex-positive, glam-rock benefit concert for Durham's LGTPQ Center. My only drumming gig of the year. I'm proud to say I'm doing Rubber Peacock 2 in January 2017! "It Ain't Easy" Featuring Anastasia Maddox
2. Bob: A Life in Five Acts, my first production as Musical director at Duke University, which led to my second MD job at Duke this spring!
3. Started up Classic Album Hoot Nite at my favorite pub, Mystery Brewing. In February we covered Dark Side of the Moon and in July we tackled Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. Featuring Hugh Crumley, Alex Casimiro, Tim Smith, Luis Rodriguez, Jaybird Oberski, Tonya Lamm, Jessica Flemming, Shea Broussard, Leah Wilks, Anastasia Maddox and more. So much fun working on these shows.
4. Collaborated with Little Green Pig on The Piano Has Been Drinking, a Tom Waits review that performed twice in the spring. Me and a few folks even made the front page of the Hillsboro paper! Featuring Leah Wilks, Liam O'Neill, Samantha Rahn, Jessica Flemming and more.
5. Did a bunch of good gigs with The LL Orchestra including The Shed (Durham) in June, The Cave (Chapel Hill) in July and City Tap (Pittsboro) in August. I promoted those by going on WCOM's Licks and Lyrics with Louise Bendall, WHUP's Live Jazz Now with Ben Palmer, and Bull City Cosmic Hoedown with Dave Tilley on WXDU.
6. I got some great press from The Indy when they premiered my video for "I Know A Guy."
7. I wrote an original score for a play. "Maccountant" was an amazing experience. Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern's Jaybird Oberski adapted Shakespeare's MacBeth, set it in a 1960 Kansas accounting firm, and directed a huge collection of local talent to a sold-out run of shows. Triangle Arts & Entertainment said "Composer Louis Landry serves up an original sinister film noir score, complete with euphonium and theremin for added effect. This scoring, combined with the use of 1960s pop music, makes scenes dynamic and jarring..."
8. Played a bunch of gigs with Shady Darling and the Velvet Curtain including a random gig at DPAC and The Deadly Beautiful Cabaret at The Shed. I always love performing with people I love, and there is no one I love more than Shady.
9. Played Dr. Everett Scott in The Rocky Horror Mystery Show, and capped the year off playing and singing with the Berlin Brothers Christmas Orchestra in Hillsboro. I feel very lucky to perform with William Dawson, Katharine Whalen and this ever-widening circle of talented friends.
10. Held down my ongoing teaching jobs at Durham Community Preschool and High Strung School of Music, and squeezed in a few performances with the Durham Jazz Orchestra. All in all, an ok year.
LL