Malwitz: Singer is tuned up for fame
Home News Tribune 9/05/00

What I did on my summer vacations was follow the music.

There was the trip to Graceland in Memphis and the Ryman Auditorium and Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. I spent a long weekend in Mount Union, Pa. (Pop. 2,878), attending a contemporary Christian music festival with 70,000 intimate friends and a pleasant Saturday night listening to music with maybe 30 people at Cafe 52 on Easton Avenue in New Brunswick.

What drew us to Cafe 52 was an appearance by Beth Chauncey, a talented singer waiting for people more important than me to hear her sing.

There is a fine line, between singing at places like the Cafe 52 and the Bluebird Cafe and making it big. "Sometimes I feel like this one is going to make it," said Alexi Slaiman, owner of Cafe 52. "Some are really, really good. But they've got to meet the right people." He liked Beth.

Beth once attended our church and baby-sat our children. While in college she took a temporary job with Johnson & Johnson that evolved into a full-time position in the human resources department. She performed with a singing group in college and had done weddings. Then last year she was at a coffee house in Princeton. She thought "I could do this" and struck a deal to sing there for $50 a night.

When word spread that Beth was singing at small clubs, word reached Rachel Marjne, a friend from high school. Marjne offered to be Beth's agent/manager/publicist. "Rachel's good at banging on doors. I just want to sing," said Beth.

Among the jobs Marjne arranged were appearances every third Wednesday at Starbucks in Somerset and one weekend a month at a coffee house in Ocean City. She's gotten Beth jobs at bars, nightclubs, coffee houses, and at the Princeton Arts Council last Saturday. On Friday Beth will sing at Borders in East Brunswick. Marjne is arranging for Beth to make a second demo tape and soon expects to have a Web site up and running (www.elizabethchauncey.com.)

Beth has a rich alto voice and sings a wide range, from folk and country to gospel and the blues. One of her biggest thrills is when songwriters hear her and request she record their songs. I'm impressed, but who am I?

"The way you make it, is the right person hears you," said Slaiman.

There are plenty of good musicians and singers out there, Slaiman added. Even at his modest club on Easton Avenue, he has to draw the line. "All the time people call me and want to play. There's no room for everybody."

Going from nothing to Cafe 52 is only one step. Getting higher is not easy. "The secret is finding who knows who knows who," said Marjne.

At age 33, Beth is still waiting to become an overnight sensation. Soon she plans to move from East Brunswick to Lawrenceville, to live in the artsy environment of Lawrenceville and New Hope.

"Singing is something that's evolved from the time I was a child. I'd love to do it all the time. I guess I could live on a shoestring, but I'm not giving up my day job."

Rick Malwitz's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. His e-mail address is rmalwitz@thnt.com.