Two performers with very different backgrounds - a female music theater/cabaret singer from New Jersey and a single father pianist from the Ukraine - were brought together to make a few recordings at a mutual friend’s home studio, and somehow, through the music, made a connection. The experience highlighted how, when songs express something vulnerable and true, they are universally felt and appreciated. This eclectic set explores songs that speak to these artists in ways they each hope will feel that way to you. Tickets for tonight are $20 each.

Featuring:

• Randie Shane, vocals
• Tom Lugoloobi, piano/keyboard
• Jeffrey Slater, bass
• Brent Hamker, guitar

Special Guest appearances by

• Songwriter Adam Reifsnyder, guitar and vocals
• Debbie Darling, vocals

This event will also be livestreamed on BOP STOP's Youtube Channel at showtime. Accessing the stream is free but donations are encouraged and directly support the band.

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Randie Shane:

Before leaving the theater profession to become a therapist, this Northwestern University Theater graduate has performed leading roles at regional theaters, been a featured artist on the Broadway tours of Showboat and Swing! The Musical, performed at multiple cabaret venues in New York City, and even made an appearance with the great Cleveland Jazz Orchestra at the Stage Theater, in a duet with Ann Hampton Callaway. More recently you may have seen her at Cleveland’s own Nighttown singing Jerome Kern, or here at The Bop Stop singing the music of Joni Mitchell. She has the pleasure of being a featured vocalist for the Nick Puin Jazz Band, and sings tenor with the fabulous a cappella ladies of Premium Blend. Raised by her father on the Great American Songbook and jazz, and by her brother on the Beatles, Randie’s voice is sweet, textured, evocative and versatile. As an actress, she has a way with a lyric, and taps deeply into the emotional journey of a song.

Tom Lugoloobi:

Music has been Tom’s lifelong passion, starting from childhood. Despite not receiving early formal training, he participated in musical activities at church and school, and after attending Jazz workshops in Poland in 2005 and 2006, a fire was ignited that led him to pursue a formal music education at Lviv State College of Music in Ukraine in 2008. Since then, Tom has performed in Ukraine at parties and events, worked as a session pianist, and taught at Muzcool School of Music. It was not his original plan to immigrate to the United States, but with the traumatic loss of his wife Dina to illness, and the devastating start of the Russian invasion, everything changed. As a single parent to his son Leo, he considers himself fortunate to have been able to leave Ukraine and, through friends, found a family in Northeast Ohio willing to help a Ukrainian family resettle in the US. He is thrilled to connect with fellow music enthusiasts here, and to continue his musical journey while making new friends along the way!