Hello from Triesste

Hello

Really nice to meet everyone.

My name is Triesste. I`m originally from America but currently I live in the greater Tokyo area.

My story is a little complicated. I hope you're not too busy! I've only participated in a forum like this once before, I think it was TG Forums.  I'm a little nervous about introducing myself here. I'm still working on a profile photo, the file is too large.

Anyway, I'm very much a beginner here but for three and a half years I've been a performer with Tokyo Closet Ball-we're on Facebook. It's not so much a drag show, more like a collection of gender subversive artists-there's comedy, burlesque, performance art and everything in between. We've even made two movies.

So, here is the complicated part-I am a singer songwriter and guitarist. Three and a half years ago, the club I usually play at started TCB and I was completely like, ???

Well coincidentally, for years a few friends and I have gone out to karaoke.

Two of us in particular, have a custom of  spending part of the evening singing songs by

female artists. We have an unwritten rule, that we don't do key changes. If we can't sing in the same key as the original we don`t do the song.

Well after a lot of thinking I decided, to take a gamble and try singing in front of an audience. I brought a guitar, put on a wig and did a Sheryl Crow song and one other.

People were really supportive, they seemed to like what I was doing. The next month I decided to just jump in, and haven`t looked back since. We have a show on January 21st. Last Saturday I fulfilled a dream, and did two sets of live music-one as Triesste, then an hour later a set of my songs-which are written for a guy on guitar.

Meanwhile, a friend who is into photography and currently working for Flickr, helped me take a few promotional photos. That has kind of taken on a life of its own, and to me at least, become a kind of visual art. I'm looking forward to sharing a few of those. Right now I can't even get a profile photo going haha-anyway pleased to meet everyone.