Tracy Newman grew up in Los Angeles and started playing guitar as a young teen. Back then, she was mostly influenced by the Kingston Trio because she could actually play some of their songs, especially “Tom Dooley” which only had two chords.
After high school, Tracy wanted to be a folksinger, but her parents insisted she go to college. She went to the University of Arizona in Tucson and quickly dug up the “folk” community. Soon she stopped attending college and was playing on street corners for money. Understandably, her mother flew to Tucson and dragged her back to L.A.
It’s taken Tracy a while to get back to her dream. In the early 70s, she joined an improvisation class taught by Gary Austin, which became The Groundlings. Tracy is a founding member, and besides being in the show, she began teaching and directing there. Her sister, Laraine Newman was the first Groundling to be discovered there by Lorne Michaels for Saturday Night Live.
It was at the Groundlings that Tracy met her future television writing partner, Jonathan Stark. They started on “Cheers” and worked on many shows, including “Bob” (Bob Newhart), “The Nanny,” “Ellen,” “The Drew Carey Show,” and “Hiller and Diller” (Richard Lewis and Kevin Nealon).  In 1997, they won the Emmy and the prestigious Peabody Award for writing the groundbreaking “coming out” episode of “Ellen.” In 2001, they created the ABC comedy “According to Jim,” which completed it’s eighth and final season of production.
Tracy has been writing songs all along and performs full-time. She has three CDs. Her current band is made up of Paula Fong (vocal), Tracy Newman, Doug Knoll (drums) Gene Lippmann (guitar and vocal), John Cartwright (bass) and Cary DeNigris (guitar). The music is essentially acoustic folk. Enjoy a funny, moving and memorable show on Thursday, September 24 at the Repertory East Playhouse (24266 Main St, Newhall) at 8 p.m. Will call and the Hydeaway Lounge open at 7 p.m. General admission is $20, and admission is $17 for members of the WMA, SCVHS, FOHP, and BASC.
For more information, visit www.outwestmktg.com/events/live-music.cfm.