...a note from Christine...

     A blue moon tonight.  I wrote a song awhile back about a blue moon, and I still haven't sung it in public.  Maybe it's time.  It seems I sit on songs longer these days.  I used to sing them at a gig before they were barely on the page.  When you do that the flaws become very apparent so it can be intimidating.  There's nothing like an audience to know if you are really communicating. 
     Chris will be gone for a few days playing a private Red Willow Band gig in his old stomping ground - The Black Hills of South Dakota.  I hope to spend that time writing and filling the silence in the house with ideas and words set to music, as opposed to the sound of television or  my voice talking.  I do way too much of that.  Maybe that forest Chris talks about will even come into focus in the quiet! 
     I'll also be singing for the elders at some nursing homes this month.  That is always inspiring - on so many levels.  When I first started singing in these facilities I thought that my heart could not hold the sadness and loneliness I experienced.  But as time passed, I felt the tender connection between the residents and staff, the concern the residents show for each other, the light that comes into their eyes through the spark of my music.  Sadness is a part of it, like it is a part of life at any age and in any environment.  But it doesn't scare me off anymore and sometimes I can turn it around for them with the music.  That is an afternoon well spent. 
       May your afternoons be gratifying.
       Christine

Swan Songs fulfills musical wishes by arranging private concerts for individuals facing the end of life, with a Texas artist or style of  music that they have requested.

Swan Songs has made musical dreams come true with private bedside concerts by Scottish singer Ed Miller, folk songwriter extraordinaire Eliza Gilkyson, Ted Roddy (with Joe Dickens) singing Elvis songs, classical bassoonist Miles Maner with violinist Caroline Slack, and vocalist Cathy Blanchard with pianist Sonja Vandivier.  Thank you to all of these gifted musicians. 

To learn more about Swan Songs or to make a donation online, visit www.swansongs.org

Quote of the Month
"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix."
Christina Baldwin

     A woman in line the other night to buy a CD at a show threw us for a loop.  She looked at us both and said something like "So....what's the BIG vision?"
     Surprisingly, neither of us really had an answer.  We get so busy with the trees that we don't step back and look at the forest often enough.  We've got to make that phone call, write up that contract, book that bass player, update the website, print out new lyrics...on and on.
     So, we're actually taking a little time and space to look at the forest and at least wonder our BIG vision is. 
     Maybe it involves expanding our record company to include more artists, maybe we should move the studio out of the house into a more commercial facility, maybe we should devote more time to songwriting than we do.  We're members of a great service for songwriters called TAXI that pitches your music to film and record producers (but haven't taken the time to write anything new and submit it). 
     Christine's making a new French album that could end up as a learning exercise for French students....should we move to Paris, Texas?  Are snails really okay to eat?  Should I wear a beret when I play the accordion? 
 
     My bigger question is...is this really the forest or just more trees?
     We want to enjoy our lives together, that much we know.  The forest is a beautiful place, and once you get in there the trees are quite lovely, too. 
     Meanwhile, see you at the gig!
      Chris