* I wrote "Peaceful Solution" during the "Bush years" when I was tired of hearing American actions justified as long as they made money. The first line is pivotal: "As long as money is enough of a reason, somebody pays with misery", and epitomizes war as being between the haves and the have nots. When I released my CD, my distributors asked if I would donate a song. I picked "Peaceful Solution" because, if any song, that one should be free. Which is also the reason why I donated it to the Musicians For Peace compilation. 

* Then in 2007 Willie Nelson joined Musicians For Peace, and also released a song called "Peaceful Solution" (© 2008) and founded The Peace Research Institute. To listen to one of his versions, with his lyrics and music, go to:

http://willienelsonpri.com/wp-..content/uploads/2007/05/A_..Peaceful_Solution.mp3

Willie Nelson's "Peaceful Solution" is also free and he has offered anyone who wants to sing it or film it, the opportunity to have their recording/video posted to his site "The Peace Research Institute".

*Mr Bush is no longer President and world peace is still a work in progress. Hopefully our musical contributions help!

*You can download my song "Peaceful Solution" for free here:

http://www.clarabellino.com/music.html

I listen to a wide array of music: what I catch on radio, in my car, I love Spanish, sung, and Brazilian grooves of all kinds. But also classical, big band, japanese pop, instrumentals. Music that has something to say and does it in an entertaining personal non preachy way that involves me and talks to me not at me.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

There have been a few. Most recently it was doing an internet radio interview with someone in Indiana knowing that 400 kids in 2 orphanages in Kenya and India were listening in to my song we picked for them "Goodnight Baby", and it lifted them up. I was choked up listening, and when I found out it cheered them up. Playing the Olympics in my hometown in 1992! was pretty special too.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

Music does change the world, imagine the world without it?

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Technology I suppose has benefited and hindered music as I see it; technology gives me more control over being exposed around the world and gives me the ability to connect with the people who enjoy what I do. Musically speaking, I still prefer the sound of real instruments played by people playing together who know how to play them.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

A fuzzy pair of warm slippers :)

http://www.avoicetohear.com/2009/12/simply-six-clara-bellino.html

Influence current events? sure if we all sing together..

Clara Bellino Website: http://www.clarabellino.com/
Press:"Bellino's sweetness evokes a younger Faithfull,a playfulness Deborah Harry had with Blondie, and even an existential touch of the Velvet Underground's Nico, before the German songstress sank forever beneath the waves of Stygian gloom." Bruce Bellingham, Arts and Entertainment/ San Francisco Northside
Hailing from Paris, France, and growing up in a small village of the French Alps, Clara Bellino blends heartfelt rhythms, magical lyrics, and unimaginable emotions into a rare mixture of solid American songs with an unfettered sense of humor and a European sense of what is amusing. Americans probably remain puzzled by her songs in French, but are still moved by the rhythms and the performance. Her English songs are instantly understandable and the range between Europop and American Music is beguiling. All you have to do is listen to “Potential Criminal” or “Goodnight Baby” and you won’t get these beautifully produced songs out of your head.There is no single word that describes her songs. It’s a mixture of thoroughly requited love and, at odd times, real aggression, but with a sense of humor that never fades. Critic Bruce Bellingham compares her work to that of Faithful, Blondie’s Debby Harry and Nico before her involvement with The Velvet Underground.

Listen to it here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-Peoples-Showcase/2009/10/28/Clara-Bellino 

Embarcadero Love - Clara Bellino

“I’ve got one foot in the grave
one foot on a banana peel
you can call me brave
but I know the deal”

Those are the first four lines of the song “Game Up—Bigger Pickle” on Clare Bellino’s latest releaseEmbarcadero Love. After listening to the album a number of times now, I find it to be like a box of chocolates—you don’t know what experience you’re going to have each time you listen, but the end result is always a delight.

Bellino’s music has been described as a cross between Suzanne Vega and David Bowie, but her sound still has its own unique quality. Bellino, who was born and raised in Paris, France and studied classical music in the Conservatory for ten years, creates music that defies genres and boundaries. There is a feeling of past, present and future in Bellino’s music; latin, jazz, pop, and rock rhythms infuse her songs with a fresh and engaging vibe.

“Tout Est Fini,” the first song on the album is sung entirely in French. While I don’t understand the lyrics, it has a catchy, rhythmic beat and the second half of the song has a chanteuse like quality to it. Listening to it, I can almost imagine myself sitting in a postwar Paris nightclub.

Bellino’s voice has a childlike quality to it, but don’t let that lull you into a state of peaceful oblivion. Her lyrics can be humorous, haunting, lyrical and surprising, but never cliché. In “Peaceful Solution,” Bellino sings “give me the heart to make peace every day, let me be part of the solution, let me be a peaceful solution, let me be a peaceful solution.” The more I listen to this CD, the more I like it, and that’s all I need to know.

Review by Gita Tewari

What are things you want to get better at? Are you aware of time flying by? Will you try to make the most of it? Will you spread love? Any suggestions how to do that? Any of it?