“To the wrongs that need resistance, to the right that needs assistance, to the future in the distance, give yourselves. ”
Dear Friends,
This has been quite a month, as I completed the second of the two new recordings I had committed myself to produce this year. These were accomplished through the support of so many of you who donated to the GoFundMe site. And now they are done!
In the midst of it, when I would hit the wall, I questioned why it seemed so important for me to do this. At 73, I'm not likely to do extensive touring or promotion, as I've needed to do in the past. Frankly, I like leading a rather quiet life as a Hospice musician. The first of the two projects, "Into the Promise of Morning", comes out of that work, with gentle songs of healing. I love being home with Scott and our grand-cat. Our kids are doing fine.
But these are unquiet times. And so the second project, "Singing the News", had to emerge out of the cacophony of fear, fake news, and hopelessness that can cripple us into inaction. I needed to write new songs and to bring forward older ones that have taken on new relevance. The idea of doing this came to me a year ago, and would not be denied, no matter how impractical it all seemed. And the time it took! Wow. Fifty-seven days in the studio, at an average of 3 hours a day. I worked with amazing musicians, my faithful engineer Phil Heaven, graphic artist Bob Paltrow, and so many more. And now I am sending it out into the universe, with prayers of hope and a belief that somehow, a song can make a difference.
Now I introduce you to visit my new web site. Scott has been working on this for months, learning the skills needed to design a site. And he has done an amazing job! Here you'll find lyrics to 160 songs by the album they’re on, with links to how to purchase a full CD or a song. Songs are also categorized, so if you are looking for songs about the environment, women's issues, family, love and death, whimsy and more, you'll find them listed. There are special pages for Suffrage and Therapeutic Music, a Scrapbook, Upcoming Events, and a section being developed called Back Pages that will eventually host my "basement tapes", a page for Jen and Kristin, Washington, My Home, and so much more.
You'll see here under Upcoming Events that I am heading to San Diego this weekend for a networking conference preparing for the 2020 celebrations of Women's Suffrage. I’ll be presenting my multi-media work called “Here’s to the Women!”. If you are interested in a lot of resources for networking, films, books, plays and more, visit my Suffrage page.
Also, please note that March 22 - 24, I'll be the guest artist at a wonderful singing camp near Portland at Singtime Frolics. At this event I'll be offering a mini-concert and two workshops. When you’re there, also note the radio show, Tossed Salad, on Jan. 25th.
My friends, may this New Year bring us hope for hard times, and the renewed possibility of a more peaceful world.
Linda