Debbie Lan, founder and songwriter for Grenadilla, is a performing, recording, songwriting, teaching artist musician, currently enjoying herself with her new, very fun band.
Debbie has sung in theaters, clubs, barns, schools, halls, malls, fields, living rooms, studios, pubs, gardens, festivals, piano-bars, showers, cars, chanting groups, classrooms, poolside, rehearsal rooms, basements, street corners, next to escalators, in airplanes and most importantly at her daughter’s bedside and birthdays. She has performed in South Africa (her country of origin), Japan, France, England, America and Canada, solo and with various bands and Playback Theatre companies. She has released two CD’s, ‘Debbie Lan’ on the Mountain records label in South Africa, and ‘Looking for the World’ for Pioneer, Japan. She has performed and recorded with many artists, including Robbie Dupree, John Hall, Artie Traum, Dog on Fleas, Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton.
Debbie sings with toddlers and pre-schoolers, 3rd and 4th graders, all school gatherings, facilitates Blossom - a youth voice ensemble, and Bloom - an adult voice ensemble.
She is delighted to be accomplishing her goal of singing and making music with kids of all ages all over the show. (South African phrase meaning ‘everywhere possible!’)
Most especially she loves to sing all kinds of songs with all kinds of people, of all kinds of ages, in all kinds of places.
Annmarie Callan is many things to many people. A teacher of kids – elementary and middle school, a mother of kids – two teenaged daughters, and a singer of songs for kids – at school and with Grenadilla. She is currently a member of Bloom, an adult vocal ensemble.
She likes walking through streams, talking about dreams, eating marshmallow creams and painting her house green Her favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip.
Leah Glennon is a writer, a singer and a budding pennywhistler. She grew up surrounded by music of every kind, in a family of musicians. She has cleverly continued the family tradition with a Bodhran playing husband and two musical boys. Leah also sang with the adult vocal ensemble Bloom for two years.
She could not be happier about singing with Grenadilla. It is a dream come true.
Jodi Palinkas is a semi-retired massage therapist, a singer, a natural pennywhistler and a master quiltmaker. If you saw one of her quilts, you’d grab your favorite book and snuggle away for as long as possible. She works at High Meadow School where her two sons are students. She is also a proud member of the adult vocal ensemble, Bloom.
Jodi has been listening to and making so much music her whole life that it’s amazing she ever gets anything done.
Brittany Sacash is an ESL teacher to elementary aged children when she isn’t crooning with Grenadilla. She is a singer/songwriter and is studying sound healing and vibration. Not surprising then that she blends her voice and her energy with everyone so well. She is also a member of Bloom.
Brittany is interested and involved with plants, inner pathways and language.
Natasha Williams has performed with Family Life Theater, Teatro Vida, is a member of Bloom, and most recently joined Grenadilla. Also a solo artist, she sang recently at Backstage Productions, and is working on a solo recording to expand her audience beyond the living room.
Tash loves to perform. She has been singing Bessie Smith since she was old enough to stand up in her crib.
Ken McGloin was always “into the blues,” remembering that some of the first things he learned when his mother got him his first guitar at the age of 12, were some Fred McDowell and Freddie King songs.
His focus was on jazz throughout high school and college (at the University of Miami’s excellent music department), and his musical education included tutorials with jazz greats Dave Holland, Larry Coryell and John Abercrombie. Ken even studied classical guitar for five years and played in a band called White Boys on Swing which combined Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz with hip-hop…believe it or not.
And, if that’s still not enough musical diversity for you, Ken’s “hard-core alternative” band, Lunchmeat, played the mainstage at the 1994 Woodstock Festival. He currently is writing music for TV and has aspiration s for film. He’s written music for two of MTV’s most popular series, The Real World and Road Rules. His music has also been used on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and ESPN network to name a few.
A working musician since the age of 14, Ken notes that when he became the head of the Music Department of the Poughkeepsie (NY) Day School last year, it was “the first regular job I’ve ever had. I’ve always made my living playing music.” A big part of his duties at PDS is teaching students how to write and perform original songs as well as overseeing the writing and performance of the annual school musical.
Ken also plays with ‘Earmight’, and is musical director for ‘Face the Music’, an interactive, corporate blues band.
Dean Sharp is a prolific creative percussionist, producer and remixer. He has performed and recorded with a strikingly diverse array of creative artists including Moby, Brad Mehldau, Stephen Vitiello, Elliott Sharp, Michael Bisio, Joe Lovano, Marc Ribot, John Stubblefield, Prof. Bob Gluck, Liz Gorrill, Hugh Brodie, Tony Levin, Steve Swallow, Carter Burwell, Kris Davis and Jane Siberry. Sharp has written and recorded with notorious loop-miester David Torn (SPLaTTeRCeLL project), co-lead his own ensembles earmight (w/ Dean Jones, David Hofstra, Russ Johnson and Ken Mcgloin) and trio loCo (w/ Marc Dzuiba and StudioStu) and is the creative catalyst behind SONic 150 (with bassist michael bisio and trumpet notebender russ johnson), scribbleScrabbLe (with videographer Thomas Moore), sharpEND (with Ken Mcgloin and John Menegan) and sanDwich (with percussionist Harvey Sorgen). He has played a vital role in the recordings and live performances of such innovative singer/ songwriters as Rachael Sage, Greg Brown, Donna Lewis, MIMI, Noe Veneble, Louise Taylor, Jill Sobule and Todd Sickafoose’s Blood Orange.
As a producer/remixer, he has “pushed the envelope” for projects with Indian flutist Steve Gorn, cellist Stephanie Winters, klezmer/world artist Zoe B. Zak, bassist Steve Rust’s PULSAR, indie faves Louise Taylor and Stoneboat, Peter Gallway and GU3. Multimedia collaborators and commissioned composition works have included the Deep Listening Foundation, Stephen Vitiello, Nam June Paik, Tom Moore, Art after Science, choreographers Susan Osberg, Selena Braun, Maria Simpson and Dance Across Borders.
Dean Sharp studied extensively with the late Elvin Jones, Colin Walcott and Tony Williams, as well as living legends Jack DeJohnette, Michael Carvin, Narada Michael Walden, Barry Altschul, Nana Vasconcelos and Montego Joe.
He has offered master classes and workshops in the SUNY university system, the New School, Unison Arts Center and the Omega Institute. Presently he is on staff at Bard College as a musician/composer for the dance department.
