It’s really hard to believe that 10 years have gone by since the release of our fifth recording “IN THIS TOWN”!
For so many reasons this was a transitional album. Everything from what was happening in our personal lives to our professional lives influenced the songwriting and this album received the kind of support and recognition that we hadn’t experienced before.
The title track was written long before we moved to what is now our home town of Chelsea, but we ultimately finished the album after we moved. In the midst of recording the album we were suffering from a lack of confidence and feelings of uncertainty about where we were heading with our music. We were still struggling with trying to redefine ourselves in the acoustic/folk/singer/songwriter world after a long history of rock bands and bars! It was more than just the songwriting. It was a mindset. We had to convince ourselves that we fit in. So we called on artist consultant Kari Estrin who put us through a rigorous soul-searching exercise and reinforced our sense of direction. The original title of the album was going to be “Grey” but Kari wisely talked us out of that. (more…)
Its so easy to get caught up in how many people show up, how many CDs you sell, how much money you make, how many Facebook Likes you get, how many photos get posted, how many comments on the photos and the list goes on… yep. I’m guilty. But as we make our way down the last stretch of I94 toward Chelsea, after 3 nights in as many states, I’m choosing to focus on the tremendous generosity of a few kind souls who were willing to host this unknown trio of music makers from Michigan, (more…)
Before I bring you news from our small part of the world I wanted to say that we sure hope you’re all surrounding yourselves with, and devouring as much peace, love and friendship as you can. The world is littered with scary, mean, hateful people but there are a bazillion times as many good, kind, understanding human beings out there with peace and love in their hearts. Here’s hoping that those voices, OUR voices, can always rise above and drown out the petty, fearful ones. LOVE WINS! ALWAYS.
The music is doing its job and filling us with joy any time we can perform for you! We kicked off the month with a super fun Empty Chair show, capping off the season with the wonderful duo of San and Emily (Slomovits)! Talent runs in that family BIG time. Thanks to the gifted and generous Joel Palmer for putting together another wonderful season. We’ll start back up the first Sunday in September! Then we headed up to Mio for our 11th Noreastr Music and Art Festival! The Main stage on Friday was figuratively and (almost literally) on fire. Despite having to cut our set short courtesy of Mother Nature’s fury, we had an amazing time. Then on Saturday its always a privilege to sing with our friends from the Yellow Room Gang (David Tamulevich & Michael Hough, Matt Watroba and Kitty Donohoe)! SO many old friends and new (to us) performers! The Noreastr festival really feels like a home-coming every year!
Coming up on June 26th Rod and I will be returning to the awesome acoustic stage (formerly the Grove) at Top of the Park and then heading south to play a few shows in Indiana with Jason. Suffice it to say, if you live in Indiana we’ll be near you at some point very soon! If you’re on Facebook, click the image to join the tour event!
Till we meet again… we wish you joy in your world!
The first time at any venue is a bit scary, filled with unknowns and potential regret. House concerts come with their own set of unknowns but when the hosts are as genuinely friendly and enthusiastic about music as Joanne & Joe Smiddie-Brush and Phil & Carla Slates you can count on being put at ease from the minute you walk in the door. It’s like visiting old friends (who happen to be mutual cat lovers – thus, the name) who just invited all of their friends over to hear your music. This was a really fun night with a whole lot of laughs, stories and songs.
This is a photo taken by Michael Hacala when we opened for Jill Jack a bunch of years ago (2008 maybe) at the Kensington Church concert series. Jason had only just started playing with us on a regular basis. “In This Town” was still new as were the few harmony parts we’d worked out. There were no big arrangements and that big ole Gibson guitar now belongs to Allison Downey. We’ve released two full-length CDs since then, “My Blue Garden” and “Searching for Neverland” along with the little interim EP “Take Me To The Fair” which are all three a culmination of the work we put into our songs and the contributions of the mega talented Jason Dennie. There are some new songs waiting in the wings and a few of them will be debuted at these two concerts. I never feel as though my songs are fully baked until Rod has filled in the missing ingredients and while I love a cake without any frosting, when Jason adds the icing, sprinkles and fancy decoration – that’s when they start to look and feel extra special. I hope you’ll join us and consider bringing a friend who is new to our music. We promise to give you our hearts! (DETAILS HERE)
It’s really hard to believe that 10 years have gone by since the release of our fifth recording “IN THIS TOWN”!
Its so easy to get caught up in how many people show up, how many CDs you sell, how much money you make, how many Facebook Likes you get, how many photos get posted, how many comments on the photos and the list goes on… yep. I’m guilty. But as we make our way down the last stretch of I94 toward Chelsea, after 3 nights in as many states, I’m choosing to focus on the tremendous generosity of a few kind souls who were willing to host this unknown trio of music makers from Michig
