Band-less musicians take heart! Keep your craigslist pleas for inspired drummers, lovely chanteuse, brooding songwriters and killer base line droppers fresh. Why? Well, it turns out that you might just cobble together an awesome band from the responses. Or at least Shara Worden did. She managed to put together her band, My Brightest Diamond from a craiglist post. They’ll be opening for Sufjan Stevens at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley tonight and tomorrow, not too shabby for plea posted on the internets.

Shara has completed the arduous SFist interview process and, among other things will inspire you to go to Coney Island, if not the rest of NYC. If you haven’t managed to secure a ticket for the sold out shows, keep trying on craigslist. Make sure to arrive at the show early-- My Brightest Diamond is known for their soulful show, and costumes (somehow a show in the Bay Area in October just isn’t complete without a costume, eh?). Trust us, you’ll be telling the kiddies you ‘saw them when’.

Best show you've ever played and what made it great?
After a show last fall in Paris, a jazz pianist named Charlie O. came to the stage and started playing while we were clearing up. The room was dark, and only the club workers and the band were there. We began dancing and scatting along to Charlie's playing, calling him to do more encores for us. He insisted that someone sing with him, so I sang "La vie en rose" and it was definitely one of the most special and spontaneous musical moments for me.

Best venue in the world?
Spiegel tent. It's a traveling circus tent in the shape of a circle. There are a million little mirrors inside and the floor is made of concentric wooden octagons.

Best fans in the world?
My brother.

What's your favorite song to perform?
"Feelin' Good" by Nina Simone

Favorite collaborators?
This question is like asking me what my favorite ice cream is. I like all
of them for different reasons. Clogs, Pedestrian, Alias, Jon Rodgers, Adam Matta, Earl Harvin.

Lamest request made at a show?
The song title starts with the letter "F". Can you guess?

Photo by Sarah Small

Name
Band: My Brightest Diamond, fronted by me, Shara Worden.

Introduce yourself in one sentence
My name is Shara and I like the color red better than most colors.

Age and Occupation
I am 32. I am a musician.

Home Town
Ypsilanti, MI

How long have you lived in New York City and Why?
7 years. You ask this question with all capitals and I wonder if I'm sensing some coastal rivalry here... could that be? You got a dang cool town with magical bridges of your own. We too have magical bridges and I think that is reason enough to live here.

Favorite place to spend time online
I go online only when absolutely necessary.

Favorite local business
Alice's Tea Cup.

What I'm currently Reading
The Wishsong of Shannara by Terry Brooks.

Best Deal in NYC
Watching the 4th of July fireworks from my rooftop.

Favorite mode of transportation
Train.

Best Band or Musician to come out of the NYC
Jeff Buckley

Favorite NYC Stereotype, and whether or not you buy into it
You go to get a slice in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, and while you are waiting for
your pizza to come out of the oven, the Italian guy next to you, says "Hey
Beb. You look like a nice broad. Lemme ax youz somethin'..." No I don't
buy into it, but it makes me smile every time.

Favorite local hangout
The diner on the corner of 5th Avenue and 39th Street in Brooklyn. You
can get cheap greasy eggs, bad coffee and listen to the bus drivers whilst
sitting at the counter.

NY has the BEST
Photo booths.

You've never lived in NY until
You've paid your rent here.

Favorite NY politician of past or present
The mayor of Coney Island, Tom Waits.

You can tell someone is a local here IF
They don't notice anything unusual about a bearded man in a duck outfit and high heels walking down the street.

NY would be soooo much better if only
commerce wasn't replacing character.

Best Restaurant
La Fe.

Best movie scene filmed in or about NY
I don't really watch much film.

Favorite author to come out of NYC
JD Salinger.

Place you always tell visitors to check out
The sea lions at the Central Park zoo.

You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in NYC what are you going to do?
Ride the cyclone at Coney Island 3 times.

I have found/sold/bought the following on craigslist
I found my band on Craigslist. I'm not lying. Rob Moose, Sebastian Krueger and by extension Marla Hansen and Nathan Lithgow!

I want all the SFists out there to know
If you haven't heard it yet, Pluto is not a planet anymore.

Tell us a San Francisco Story
The first time I was in San Fransisco, we drove across the Golden Gate
bridge and mist was covering the top so it looked the like the bridge went
up into the sky forever. The mist was covering the hills beyond the bridge
too and we swore we saw a unicorn. We pulled off the road and parked at
the vista point and stared into the bay, listening to the fog horns, and it
was beautiful enough to make a person cry.

Question you'd ask if you were doing this interview
Are you related to Jean-Pierre Jeunet?