Album Notes

ImPRESSions of Dying, Laughing: Firecracker on a Funeral Pyre
A 14 Track 'Free Your Dream Carnival'...a side show of spirit and spontaneity. Imagine the CD a roulette wheel, and every number an emotion you might feel if you take the gamble to open your heart. It's a parade of anything possible, a 72 minute ride in the realm of Bliss".
--Cami Gucinski, Amazon Art

"Dying, laughing' is a caravan of creativity from Houdini to Fellini, from front porch to torch, from jamboree to gypsy."
--Allen Marando, Indie MUSEician

THE ALBUM TITLE:
The title was inspired by a story they tell in China of three laughing Taoist masters, who taught by going into town and standing in the marketplace and laughing. One of them died. People curious as to how the remaining two would act gathered at the funeral pyre. The other two masters had been given instructions not to prepare the body in any way, not even to change the clothes the dead man was wearing. He had crammed his pockets full of firecrackers. The teaching began again...pointing people away from their misery and toward laughter.
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The Troubadours of Divine Bliss, Aim Me and Renee spill the glory details of their story...
"We met 15 years ago in a spirit-filled, holy rollin', charismatic church... Renee's Dad was the Pastor and Aim Me's Dad was a Deacon. Renee was hammin' it up on a Hammond Organ and Aim Me was moonlighting as Faith Bunny...we were baptized, sanctified and deodorized respectively. We became best friends and knew then there was a special connection between us. As the Hatfield and Mc Coy's of the Pentecostal world... Aim Me's Dad ended up kicking Renee's Dad out of the pulpit. We both lost our faith in religion and gained faith in the Spirit...vowing to discover the difference-giving up Sunday School to become God's fools. Both of us went on our parallel journeys for awhile, seeking the Truth and encouraging each other in our discoveries. In 1995 the Universe brought us back together with the vision of being Troubadours of Divine Bliss-Street Performers who travel around encouraging Revolution of the Spirit and Courage of the Heart. Renee had a dream she was playing an Accordion, so she got one. Aim Me learned two chords on the Guitar. We followed our destiny to the streets of New Orleans where (wrapped in battery-operated Christmas lights) we debuted as Christmas Carolers. Now we are singing our way around the world on street corners, in bars, coffee shops, festivals, on the radio, in schools...anywhere and everywhere the Spirit leads...we hope it will bring us to YOU!!!!!!
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MORE IMPRESSIONS:
"They are the spiritual goddaughters of a tradition that spans the hidden history of music - of performance, actually - from Medieval troubadours reciting poetry in some noble's palace, to Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims spinning bawdy tales. From Renaissance street minstrels, to singers in turn-of-the-century saloons in New Orleans (where the city's police posted signs warning patrons to BEWARE OF PICKPOCKETS AND LOOSE WOMEN, a line used in the Troubadours' "Scarlet Carnival"). From performers in outdoor cafes in France after the First World War serenading the Lost Generation, to acts in cabarets in 1920s Berlin - "Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome" - a handful of years before the monsters came out. From flower-child jams in Haight-Ashbury, to singer-songwriter nights entertaining a new set of nobility.
--Sir Tim "The Gem" Roberts, Louisville Music News

"The harmonies of the Troubadours of Divine Bliss are soft as Kentucky Bourbon and Spanish Moss. Mix it up with the wild soul of Joplin in two truly sweet women. This duo defies labels. Let's just say they are a celebration of music and life. Pack your bags, because the Troubadours of Divine Bliss are gonna take you to places you've never been before...and you're gonna want to stay awhile."
--Carla Riggs Medi Max

"Explanation is futile...only seeing is believing" --Louisville Courier Journal

"Using only a guitar, an accordion, voices as rich as fudge,and harmonies that weave together like thick yarn to blanket you intimacy, the women have a message: our stories reveal our dreams,our dreams need to be free, our freed dreams bring us bliss,our bliss is our destiny."
--LMN