Local Music Makers: Love Bubble urges everyone to 'Dream Big'
By Peggy Ratusz
Paula Hanke, Hank Bones and I have been anticipating the month of July since February of this year. That’s when we began recording new music for our sophomore release show on Sunday, July 9th at The Grey Eagle starting at 7pm.
We vowed not to do any performances until this special concert and we’ve stuck to it! So, for our loyal and patient family of fans, the wait to hear us again is over!
We recorded this collection of brand new songs in our Love Bubble Clubhouse studio and we’ve called it “Dream Big”. As you might imagine we are nervous, excited and eager to present to a live audience, these charming and delightful songs.
For The Grey Eagle concert, we’ll be accompanied by a full band of notoriously superlative players: Taylor Pierson on keys/piano; Connor Law on bass and Micah Thomas on drums and percussion.
Expect more love, more bubble, and heartfelt lyrics written and co-written by the three of us. From storytelling to prose and poetry, each tune is rich in arrangement, instrumentation, melody, rhyme and rhythm.
Back in 2019, when Hank invited Paula and me to “step inside” his Love Bubble, we were spellbound by his enthusiastic pitch and his high hopes to focus this project on nothing but positivity and love.
Hank Bones has always been affectionately referred to as “the man of 1000 songs” but he’s also a master on electric and acoustic guitar, bass, drums and percussion. Those skills are fitting since he plays 90% of the instruments on this release.
His confident vocalese and superior pitch translates to impeccable harmony and gang vocal arrangements here; just like they did on our debut record, “Love Revolution”; just like they do on everything Mr. Bones arranges!
Ms. Hanke is a Star Search veteran and first-call session’s vocalist (BJ Leiderman, Chris Rosser, David LaMotte), nailing line after line on the first take in the studio. She is a wonder to behold with her agile and scintillating voice and swift discernment of what will sound best, executing the notes and emotion required to accentuate a phrase.
Having shared the stage with such notables as Willie Nelson and James Taylor, Paula fronts her own band, In-the-Pocket, covering Funk and Disco classics. Her collaborations with me include tributes to icons: Linda Ronstadt and Etta James. A multi-instrumentalist (ukulele, flute, banjulele and tipple), she brings all these strong suits to the Love Bubble franchise!
I’m just elated that the two of these stalwarts continue to invite me along on this magic carpet ride!
It truly never ceases to amaze me that as different as our three voices are, we blend in such sonically pleasing ways. I attribute most of our synchronicity to the fact that what we have created and what we continue to explore comes from love. Even when things get a little cantankerous within the creative process, we end up reaching kismet time after time. I refer to us as the quintessential musical ménage à trois!
Playing rough mixes for friends and family have proven to us that these new songs tickle fancies within that yearn to be aroused. In a world where increasing fear and threats and escalated politically charged violence and human rights violations are happening all over the globe, the messages meandering in and out of this new batch of songs will remind you it’s never futile or too late to have hope and manifest the dreams that mean the most to you, no matter your age.
The hope in Hank’s song, “She is Everywhere”, describes that he sees the same enchanting woman wherever he goes. Over verse and chorus, he writes about the lilting feeling it evokes when he does.
The nostalgia conveyed in Paula’s Song “Columbus Street”, where she recalls that poignant day when she runs into an old lover and is immediately taken back to the sublime memory of the last time they saw one another. How they danced as if there was not time or space. And the song “Wholeheartedly” that I wrote is three stories in one song that advocates we look for unity within our common ground.
The cogent title cut is as romping and joyful as you think it should be. The playful prodding it delivers: “Just dream as big as you want to, you don’t even have to close your eyes. When your ship has sailed it doesn’t mean that you failed, dream big” is as ageless as it gets.
The drums and electric guitar is killer on “Rhythm of a Heartbeat”. Though the lyrics aren’t earth shatteringly life changing or anything, Hank arranged a rock and roll throwback 1950’s or 1960’s dance party vibe. “My pal Sal has got a stash of 45’s let’s have a bash; A jukebox full of T-Rex all night long!”
Right after Hank wrote the song “You Inspire Me” he told Paula and me that together, we were his muse on this one and that he means every word in it. This is the first song anyone ever wrote where I was part of the impetus behind it. “You inspire me, light a fire in me….your laugh your face, your style and grace, all that good stuff in one place, inspires me.”
Both Hank and I wrote the song “Now is the Time” and it turned out to be the kind of song we can never get enough of; a reminder that our time is limited within this realm. “Now is the time…now is the time and place, let’s make a space, now is the time and place for a chain reaction of satisfaction and love.”
I will write this last line with as much humility as I can muster: Every song on this new trove is a treasure.
Check our Reverbnation page for updates on where you can stream and purchase single tracks from Dream Big; or if you’re inclined, the entire Dream Big caboodle.
Here is the ticket link for the July 9th concert at The Grey Eagle: https://www.etix.com/ticket/servlet/s/38202990
If you’d like to get on our mailing list, please send a request to lovebubblewnc@gmail.com
To stream or purchase our debut album or singles, go here for links to do so:
Peggy Ratusz is a vocal coach,
song interpreter, and songwriter.
For vocal coaching email her at
peggymarie43@gmail.com