Today we’d like to introduce you to Tricia Haynes.
Tricia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Tricia Haynes began working as a singer/guitar player at the age of 19. She worked as a soloist as well as fronting a variety of bands in Toronto, New York, Dallas and Myrtle Beach. At this young age, she was happy to be able to make ger living playing music.
Tricia relocated to the Northern Midwest in the 1990s and it didn’t take long for her to fall in love with Minnesota. Wanting to make her living outside of the nightlife, she quickly secured an agent, and was cast in commercials and industrial/training films for Best Buy, Radio Shack, Honda, Medtronic, Honeywell, FedEx and Land O’Lakes to name a few. Voice over and singing for radio spots came along as well. Despite these opportunities, Tricia needed more income to make ends meet.
Shortly after her move to the cities, Tricia was asked to help create a live musical show for children. Suddenly, children’s songs flowed from her guitar like they had been waiting to be let out forever; and these were songs with great messages of kindness, love and family values. Her innate ability to create magical experiences for children was born.
Shortly following, Tricia had a dream where she saw, “Tricia & The Toonies*” on a marquee and heard roars of children laughing. When she woke up, she realized The Toonies were puppets also waiting to be born. On a shoe string budget, Tricia found skilled and generous artists who could create the colorful troupe of characters from her imagination. But she needed a talented partner to make this dream come to life. That’s when singer/actor Pete Cappello joined as her puppeteer and keyboard player. Pete’s quick wit, knack for improv and keyboard skills, along with Tricia’s songs and character puppets, made magic for kids.
Tricia, Pete and their puppets performed at just about every fair, festival, library, church and company party in the Twin Cities. They became regulars at the Minnesota Zoo, Mall of America, Camp Snoopy’s New Year’s Eve event, Taste of Minnesota, Lake Harriet Bandshell, the Minnesota State Fair’s Children’s Theater and ECO-Experience and 100’s of Music in the Park concerts! “Literally,” Tricia smiles, “My dream has come to life.” Target Stores flew them to Memphis several times to entertain the children and their families at St. Jude’s Research Hospital, and to perform at the grand opening of Target House. Tricia & Pete are approaching their 30th year bringing music, joy and laughter to Minnesota children and their families.
Throughout the 1990’s, Tricia wrote, recorded and published FACES, a strong collection of children’s songs. A few years later, she wrote and produced a television pilot which, as most pilots do, went the way of a home movie and DVD distribution. The School Library Journal declares of her CD, “Tricia’s voice is wonderful and unique…the puppets add variety and humor.” Regarding the DVD: “This is one talented cast…well-crafted puppets…entertaining! A fabulous addition to any collection!”
Tricia and the Toonies were even nominated for a Minnesota Music Award.
The new millennium brought the creation of another stage show per the suggestion of Vee Corp. Tricia was asked to create, direct, and co-star in three environmental show performances starring “Sesame Street’s” ELMO™.
An educator attending one these shows asked Tricia if she could bring an environmental program into schools. Hence, The Toonies ENVIRO-Show was written and it hit the school circuit EDU-taining students across the Twin Cities. They became the state ‘spokes-puppets’ for MN Arbor Month. Tricia & Pete wrote and produced a couple of state-wide PSA’s for Minnesota’s DNR.
Soon, The Toonies were invited to perform their ENVIRO-Show at the MN State Fair, more than 30 MN county fairs, festivals, and “green’” events across Minnesota, some as far away as Hawaii, Mexico and Canada.
“Adults often comment on the fast-paced, high-energy nature of our performances,” says Tricia, “Keeping up with the energy of children keeps me young. I never tire of their playful spirit, curiosity and belly laughs!”
In recent years, Tricia’s passion for music, comedy and laughter sent her once again into creative mode; this time with her long-time friend and stage veteran, Lori Hurley. As “Laverne & Lucy,” came to life, they found a great synergy. Now, you’ll find this funny two-woman show delighting adult audiences at corporate events, conferences, and luncheons with their great music, clean and clever comedy and audience interplay! http://LaverneAndLucy.com
Tricia reflects, “I sure made the right choice making the Twin Cities my home. I came with a dream, and a guitar and was welcomed with kindness, friendship and opportunity. “I am so grateful for Pete and his talents!”, Tricia comments, “His support and loyalty in bringing musical joy to children for mare than two decades has been nothing less than stellar. A special thank you to all those people who have given me the opportunity to bring music and comedy to their events! I am living a dream life, engaging adults and kids to sing, dance and laugh; After our concerts these days, young moms will tell me that their moms brought them to see The Toonies when they were little and now, they’re bringing their children; it’s simply the best and for that I am extremely grateful!”
Visit TheToonies.com for upcoming concert dates.
Reviews received over the years:
“Inspiring and upbeat … a fantastic TREAT! – Target Stores
“The Toonies are a dynamic crowd-pleaser. Two thumbs up…WAY UP!” – Mall of America
“Their creativity, talent and positive attitude are always a pleasure!” – Pillsbury
“The ENVIRO-Show is outstanding! Our students were 100% engaged!”- WP Elementary
“Quality Entertainment…and NOT JUST for kids!” – General Mills
“Thanks for making our department’s event a HUGE success!” – Best Buy
“We support The Toonies ENVIRO-Show. It’s a FUN way to learn about environmental stewardship!” – MN PCA (Pollution Control Agency)
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Although I have much to be grateful for, the road surely had its twists, bumps and cirves. Initially, my Dad had anger issues and my Mom and I found ourselves living in a boarding house with no financial support whatsoever. I have heard tis called “situational poverty”. After attending different schools 7th-11th grades, I had a high enough GPA to do my senior year in summer school and graduated at 16. Having been working part time since 14, I went full time in factories and soon thought I was grown up enough to leave home. The next few years were spent making my way doing factory work or waitressing but I never put down the guitar my Mom got for me at 11.
At 19, I couldn’t imagine that this would be my life so I found a way to return to school part time to study music. There I met a very talented fellow who taught me so much about finger-picking and various styles of playing and he invited me to join him on stage where I added playing the banjo and my professional stage life began in Toronto, Ontario. Struggling to make ends meet, I decided to go back to the US and moved in with my Mom and stepdad near the coast of South Carolina where I bartended in the evening and built up my repertoire with the intention of starting my solo career singing and playing my guitar for restaurants and clubs in Myrtle Beach, SC. After 9 months, I had saved enough to buy a small PA system a few outfits, a first month’s rent and headed to ‘the beach” to audition. Over the next 5 years, I performed solo and eventually put a country-rock band together which became locally ‘famous’ and packed the dance floors where ever we played. I am still in touch with some of the players from that fun time of my career. However, as fun as it was, I wanted out of the bars and clubs and yearned to make some kind of difference with my music.
So off I went to Dallas, TX at the call of my big brother who had relocated there with a new position in television production. So off I went and I enrolled in commercial acting classes and secured a small-time agent hoping to meet my goal of making my living outside of the bar life but only getting ‘extra’ roles, I hit the clubs with a new repertoire of country hits, old and new, you know, when in Rome …. Driving back from an evening performance, we were hit by a drunk driver which sent my flying out the back window and passed out in the middle of Interstate 35 just north of Dallas. Fortunately my guitar player found me a dragged me out of the highway just in time. I woke up in the hospital and spent the next few months recovering from various injuries. Enough people told me that it was a miracle that I was still alive with all my body parts that I realized that I must have been put on this earth for something much bigger than me. So as I got stronger, I enrolled in a local community college and decided to study music composition, music theory, theater and voice. My voice teacher had big concerns about my vocal chords and sent me to a specialist who discovered that I had nodules or callouses on my vocal chards and needed to quit singing they way I had been, especially in smokey bars so ended my nightlife career (finally). He put me on a regimen of hydration and vocal rest which made go back to waitressing for the first time in many years. I absolutely loved being back in school studying theatre and music!
Again, my big brother, who had taken a new position in Minneapolis 2 years prior, urged me to relocate there because “it’s a fabulous city for the arts”, he said. So I left Dallas behind after 5 years and arrived in Minneapolis with my guitar a small sound system and 2 cats, Cosmos and Dylan. Although I did go back to singing in the clubs for the first year, smoking had been banned so I wouldn’t be damaging my vocal chords. It would be less than two years after my move to the cities that I had conceived, written and produced the family shows that have supported me ever since. It wasn’t an easy start getting the gig but little by little my determination opened doors and The Toonies started making my living.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My first chidren’s album, Faces was written in about 6 months and recorded in my brother’s home studio. I am very proud of that album to this day. We were nominated for an Minnesota Music Award shortly after its release. All the players that I hired were top notch Mpls players and I am good friends with a number of them to this day. Sadly my brother, who played percussion and recording engineer on the album, passed away a while after that and he is missed everyday. Around that time I also had the privilege of recording the title track, Faces in Prince’s Paisley Park Studio, Chanhassen, MN. A few years later, I received funding to produce a television pilot for children, A Valentine Adventure. This is another project I am extremely proud of. Unfortunately we ran out of post production funds and were unable to pull the last elements together to take it to series. So I focused mainly on producing and touring live performances, mostly Minnesota and neighboring states. I have written various scripts to perform in schools including songs that support the theme; Toonies ENVIRO-Show, I’ve Got Character”, RECYCLE with ELMO© and more.
Key Performances, Over the YEARS.
St. Jude’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, Returning visits for patients and their families sponsored by Target Stores
including The ‘Target House’ Grand Opening in Memphis, TN
E-Community, Environmental Event, Mall of America, with Sesame’ Streets ELMO™ Tricia is writer, director and co-star w/ ELMO™
An evening of Magic & Music, Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, for Ronald McDonald House – Co-producer, co-host and performer.
Peace in The Cities – Peace Concert & Resource Fair, Lake Harriet Bandshell – Co-producer, host and feature performer
Minneapolis Children’s Hospital – Oncology Dept – “8th Floor Concerts”, Returning visits for patients and their families
Camp Snoopy, Mall of America, MN – Ongoing visits, various stages & several Snoopy New Years
Touring libraries, schools, city concerts in the park and more.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
As I am winding down offering these family concerts over the next 4-5 years, I suppose support in marketing the concerts is always welcome as that had always been my biggest challenge. I’ve always wanted to reach more and more children over the years. I regret the amount of time I have had to spend on the marketing and other administration elements of my work as it has taken me away from the creative time I would have preferred. Securing a touring agent had always been something that has evaded me so out of necessity, I have always played all the roles to sustain the business over the years. Creator, writer, producer, marketer, prop master, actor, etc. etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TheToonies.com
