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September
2006
I
can't believe it's been since May that I've updated the
News...! I've been up to my ears with family life, and that's
taken priority since school got out in mid-May. School started
again for the kids on August 2nd, so we've been doing Back To School
night and all that jazz.
I've
been taking a lot of pictures of my flowers, kids, animals, etc.
:). I love taking pictures, and having a digital camera now
makes it so easy to indulge my passion for picture-taking.
Here's a few I've taken over the past couple of months:
I've
also been doing a lot of website work, and that's always fun for me
because it's like painting in a new medium. Give me color and
graphics and a chance to create something, and I'm a happy girl!
Musically,
we've not been up to much over the summer. We do have some
shows coming up
that we're looking forward to doing, and more in the works. I'm
doing my first voiceover commercial tomorrow, so that should be fun!
I'm
hoping to be DC-bound in October, more on that as things develop.
That's
it for now - more soon, I promise!
May
2006
Wow,
time has flown! I realized that I completely missed the April
Newsletter altogether. Oops!
 April
was kind of a whirlwind of a month, what with taping a television
show, playing at Relay
For Life
(photo at left), two shows at an arts festival, and a performance at
a rally sponsored by the Lakeview Rape Crisis Center at the University
of West Florida
called Take
Back The Night,
for which I wrote a new song. Appropriately, that new song is
called Take
Back The Night,
and we hope to be recording it soon.
 This
month, I made a trip up to DC to do more mixing in the studio and
attend my niece, Elizabeth's,
wedding to her long-time love, Nick (photo
at right). My two sisters and I reunited for the first time
since the Willie
Nelson concert
a couple of years ago, and had a great time together. I also
got to see my parents, which I've not been able to do the past few
times I was up that way since they were iced in on their mountain.
Granger
and the kids and I are headed to Austin,
TX
next week to do a radio show with our friend, Joe
Angel,
on KEOS-FM
and to generally hang out and have a little fun. In June, I'm
headed back to DC for more mixing at the studio.
We've
got two
shows
coming up in June, one at the Belmont
Arts Center
and one at Navarre
Fun Fest.
We're looking forward to it, as both are really fun gigs to do.
In
the meantime, we're readying for hurricane season by stocking up on
lots of necessities such as water and batteries. Here's hoping
this year won't be like last year. But, on my refrigerator, I
have this posted, under the words "Why
Carey and Granger Need To Move":
Can
you say, "Ground Zero"?! I still haven't unpacked my
evacuation stuff from Hurricane Ivan two years ago.
Speaking
of which, I'd like to just say a word about people fussing that the
damage in New Orleans isn't cleaned up yet. Yesterday, they
finally got to tearing down the row of buildings near my house that
were devastated by Ivan in 2004. There are many other buildings
that are still standing, albiet shakily. You just can't recover
from something like this overnight - it's impossible with all the
damage done. Patience, folks - it's going to take a very long
time, at least five years or more until things are back to
normal. And that doesn't count any new damage from hurricanes
that come through during that time.
And,
I know New Orleans was devastated - but Biloxi was totally crumpled
by Katrina. Please don't forget about the people there, okay?
Okay,
I feel better now.
Don't
forget to get your copy of the Back
Home
CD, available at ww.homecd.net.
It's a good one.
That's
all for now - more next month!
End
of February 2006
Hello
again! We're just back from The
Wammies
in Washington, DC and are tired but happy with the trip. The
show was one of the smoothest we've ever done, and it was (as always)
great seeing everyone. Thanks to Mike
Schreibman
of WAMA for the good food and warm pillows, and many kudos to Kirby
Yarbrough
and Rachel
Cross
for doing such a bang-up job of everything in making the show run as
smoothly as it did. Kudos also go to Summer
Barrow,
Tommy
Brooks,
Carol Bullock,
Mike
Campbell, Andrew
McDaniel,
and Vicki
Zak
for being such a great crew. All the volunteers just kicked
butt this year! Here's Carol,
me, and Rachel
in our Charlie's Angels victory pose after the show:
We
managed to get to DC just as the temperature dropped, but got out
before the inch and a half of snow fell. Man, was I cold!
I brought my Cuddleduds and Uggs boots, so I managed to stay somewhat
warm, but my Cuddleduds (what are Cuddleduds, you ask? Really
soft, warm, feminine long johns) kept peeking out over top of my
jeans, all night and I kept stuffing them back in. We fought
all night long over who would win that battle; me, or the
Cuddleduds. (The Cuddleduds won.)
Things
are getting on track a little better musically speaking here in
Northwest Florida, with some negotiating going on for upcoming
shows. Although we like traveling, we would like to do some
gigs closer to home! We have a tentative show coming up in May
at the Belmont
Arts Center
in Pensacola, and some shows out of town on the agenda, including a
tentative house concert in Louisiana. We'll definitely keep you informed!
Great
news! The Back
Home
CD is now available, and is being sold for an amazing price.
You get 34 songs on two CDs for only $16.00 (somehow I feel like Ryan
Stiles
and Colin
Mochrie
on Whose
Line Is It Anyway
doing a parody of an infomercial right now. . . ). You can
order it from the Home
website, which is www.homecd.net.
Yours Truly not only designed the CD artwork, but also designed the
website. . . but wait, there's more! Yep, I also have a song on
the CD as well! (Okay, I'll shut up now with the late night tv
schpiel!). Really, the CD is great - there's a LOT of good
songs on there, and I'm very honored to have been able to do so much
for Children
International
and Raymond
Steiner,
the producer of the project. The best part of it all for me is
that I was able to record Coming
Back Home,
a song I wrote for my daughter. You can hear a soundbyte of it
on the Music page.
January
2006
Happy
New Year! I hope the coming year is filled with wonderful
things for everyone.
All
of the Christmas decorations are put up (both at home and on the
website), and although it's the middle of winter, all my windows are
flung open for the 70+ weather gracing Northwest Florida at the
moment. I can't complain!
The
week before Christmas I made a very quick trip up to the DC area to
drop my daughters off with their father for the holiday. After
getting a wild hair and driving 17 1/2 hours straight, we reached
Tommy's (my eldest child) house at 2:30 a.m. I went in search
of a pillow, blanket, and soft place to sleep, and dropped off
listening to the sounds of all four of my children talking and
horsing around. It was the best lullaby in the world.
I
must say that all of us, having lived in Florida for three years
now, were not thrilled with the 17-degree weather and the snow and
ice. But, no matter how cold it was, we stopped at the first
7-11 we saw and all got slurpees! You see, there are no 7-11's
down here, or for miles around, and we all love slurpees. So,
we were very happy to indulge ourselves, no matter how cold it was :).
While
there, I went back to Recording
Arts
and mixed most of one song and a bit of another from the new CD.
Yes, I know it's been an incredibly long process, much much
longer than we expected and one that has frustrated me to tears at
times to get it done, but we're getting there. It was great to
hang out with Marco
again and to be back in the studio.
Unfortunately,
my youngest son got sick while we were there, and we weren't able to
see anyone else during our visit. We were only there for a
couple of days before we turned around and headed home to get there
in time for Christmas with Granger. (He must have been so
relaxed with no one but the dog at home while we wre gone!) We
took it easy going home, taking two days and an overnight stop in
Chattanooga, TN to get there.
You
may have noticed that the Shows page is a tad empty at the moment,
but new gigs are coming up and, as they're confirmed, will be added
to the site. I'm looking forward to performing more this year
and writing some new tunes. I'm working on a couple of them
right now, as a matter of fact.
That's
all for now - more next month!
 November/December
05
It's
November 29th as I write this, and I've gotten past the trip to
Austin, two birthdays, and one holiday that this month held.
Saturday the 19th was my xteenth birthday, which I celebrated with my
family. I was given a nice seafood lunch and my favorite
present was a new digital camera. I've been wanting one for
ages, so don't be surprised if you see a ton of new pictures on the
site! The 21st was my son's birthday, and I sent him a package
full of goodies.
As
you can see, I've put up the Christmas decorations! Don't be
surprised to see a candy cane here, a reindeer there, or maybe even a
snowflake or two. We sure won't get any of that white stuff
here - we just seem to get hurricanes. Can you believe that
Tropical Storm Epsilon is out there?! Good Lord!
As
I type this, I'm listening to the audio from our show on RadioLive
in September. We did a helluva finale with all the artists from
that night joining in on Down
By The Riverside.
Maybe as a Christmas present to you, I'll put it up on the site
:). Do you want to hear it? Let
me know.
What an incredible night that was - so much fun, and so much good
music. Waiting for me in my P.O. Box the other day was a disc
of snapshots that Ron
Besser
took that night. Yep, he even caught Granger's "bass
face" mode! Take
a peek.
My
trip to Austin started with a long , long drive there, but it was
worth it. I had a great time once I got there! I hit
traffic delays in Baton Rouge, LA; Lake Charles, LA; and got to
Houston, TX right as the sun was setting. No, it's not easy to
drive through Houston (which is a nightmare anyway) with the sun in
your eyes - ouch! I pulled off into a Whattaburger and indulged
in a milkshake while I waited for that sucker to set. After
that, getting through town still took a while. All told,
driving in it took me 13 1/2 hours. Ack. Spit.
Luckily, I had a great deal of tunes to keep me company! The
drive home wasn't nearly as long, only 10 hours and 15 minutes
:). (Just call me Leadfoot.)
The
Indiegrrl
show was fun, and I must say a huge thank you to Sandy,
Kelly,
and Tyler
for coming all the way from San Antonio to see me - thanks, you
guys! Yes, there are pictures
of the show!
I also owe a ton of thanks to my friend Bev
who saved the day for me. Seems I tore my fingernail
(naturally, the one I use to pick the guitar with) below the quick
right before the show (no, don't ask how . . . you don't want to
know!), and I, a virgin fake-fingernail kinda gal, was ushered
quickly to the nearest store where I bought my first set of fake
nails and Bev fixed me right up. Luckily, the nail didn't come
off and get flung into anyone's eye during the show :). Good
job, Bev! You should have seen me getting an acrylic nail when
I got back home - the salon lady, who spoke fluent Chinese but not
fluent English, could not for the life of her understand that I only
wanted one nail done! She kept trying to convince me to get all
10 done up with these long, talon-like artificial nails (those things
are scary
looking!), and I kept telling her that I play guitar and can't have
nails. We finally reached an understanding, and $3.00 later, I
had (and still have) my very first fake coated acrylic nail :).
While
in Austin, I saw some friends, listened to some good music, and
discovered shopping on South Congress Avenue. Joy!
Bliss! Cool  stuff!
I also loved the greenery and hills of Austin. This was my
first time there, and many people are trying to get us to move
there. You know what? You never know what's going to
happen next :).
Granger
and I are on sabbatical from performing at the moment, although we
did a great show at The
Belmont Arts Center
in Pensacola, FL on the 17th. What fun we had! It was
cold that night, and a lot of people were under blankets as someone
had broken a window in the venue and the cold air was pouring
in. It definitely made for interesting discussion as to what
was actually going on under those blankets during the show . . . !
I've
almost finished up with the artwork for Back
Home,
and am looking forward to it getting all gussied up into a genuine
CD. There are SO
many good tunes on this puppy; 34 of them, to be exact. I'll
let you know when it's available.
Don't
forget to visit the Store
page for gift-giving ideas for the holidays! And be sure to
visit Hungry
For Music
for Christmas and Hannukah CDs - lots of Washington, DC area folk and
other talented musicians have recorded them, and sales help to raise
money to buy instruments for children. You can get and give all
at the same time, which is perfect for this time of year! I'm
on two of the CDs, but it's the same song, O
Come All Ye Faithful,
with Pete
& Maura Kennedy
backing me up.
Enjoy
the holiday season, be safe out there, and keep warm!
Halloween
- October 05
I've
been trying to get over here to the computer to write an update, but
between hurricanes and computer crashes caused by them, I've been
very busy working on the CD package and website for the Back
Home
CD. Designing the CD package has been so much fun and quite a
learning experience, and now I know how to do somethng new! I
love the challenge of figuring out new things and working with
graphics and color, so it's been a blast.
We
got the final mix on my song that will be on the CD, Coming
Back Home.
You can hear
a soundbyte
of it now, so check it out! The lyrics are also now up on the Lyrics
page. I'll definitely let you know when the CD is available.
 We
had so much fun at the Destin
Festival of the Arts
show yesterday, and the water was just breathtaking. It was one
of those absolutely stellar days where the breeze was just right, the
temperature was perfect, and the skies were crystal clear. As
you can see from the photo at left, the view from the stage was
incredible! This is definitely now one of our favorite shows to do.
I'm
on my way to Austin, TX this week for an Indiegrrl
show, and we have another show at the Belmont
Arts Center
coming up as well in November. I'll also be attending the Frank
Brown International Songwriters Festival
in Pensacola - I've been asked (since we connected too late for me to
get into a venue) to perform at one of the open mics, which should be fun.
One
of the discussions my fellow musicans and I have been having is how
important it is for all of us, whether we perform or not, to attend
shows and buy CDs and/or downloads as much as possible. It's
tough times for musicians, and in order for us to create, the support
from our fan base is so important. Tell all your friends, shop
for Christmas with us, and come see us - we need you!
I'd
better go get ready for the ghosts and hobgoblins, and snitch some
of the candy before they all get here :). The ghost lights are
up, the pumpkin is in the window, and we're all set - have a safe and
happy Halloween! I'll write more when I get back from Austin.
September
05
Hurricane
Katrina has come and gone, and we all know the devastation that
followed. We here in Northwest Florida feel very blessed to
have escaped this one, especially as she was headed straight towards
us as she was reaching cat 5. We're storm-weary here, tired of
being pummeled by hurricane after hurricane. But, we never
wished ill on anyone else, and the damage done by Katrina is
unprecendented. Our hopes, thoughts, and prayers are with all
vicitms of this storm. We have many of the evacuees here, and
our hearts go out to everyone affected by this storm.
As
you may have seen on the first page of the website, all proceeds
from sales of The
Distance Wall
and We
Are Each Other's Angels (Hungry
For Music)
are being donated to the Katrina relief fund - please be generous
and buy your copies today. Proceeds will be given to the American
Red Cross.
Our
damage from Katrina was mild - we got 80 mph winds and yet more
beach erosion, and gas is very hard to find - if we see a station
with gas, we jump on it while we can. No more trees came down
in our yard as Ivan and Dennis had taken all of the weak ones
already. November 30th, the end of hurricane season, never
looked as good as it does this year.
In
frothier news, Granger and I had a great time at Radio
Live
on September 1st. It was a lot of fun, and was also videotaped
for the local Cox Cable shows. I should be getting a copy, and
will load it on the website if I can. We also had a lot of fun
at Art
On The Lawn
at Destin Commons the following Sunday. (Okay, so I got
massively sunburned - the September sun in Florida is hot!)
We've
been in the studio
recording the song I wrote for my daughter, Summer.
It's called Coming
Back Home,
and will be on the Back
Home
compilation CD, which benefits Children
International.
Its great to be back in the studio again, and we've had a lot of fun
with it.
On
Sunday,
September 18th,
we're going back over to WUWF
88.1 FM
for a live broadcast with one of our favorite guys, John
Macdonell,
for his show
Acoustic Interlude.
The show runs from 12:00 to 3:00 Central Standard Time, so don't
forget to tune in! We'll be on somewhere in there, as will be Tammerlin,
a husband and wife duo from Jacksonville, FL.
That's
all until next month - keep safe out there.
August 2005
Wow,
it's been three months since I last wrote - time just flies when
you're evacuating from hurricanes and dealing with tropical
storms! Let's see, when last I wrote I was on my way to Baton
Rouge, LA
and Kerrville,
TX with
my bud, David
Alberding.
The Baton
Rouge
show was interesting, to say the least - our venue was changed at the
very last minute, and we had no way to notify anyone of the
change. Needless to say, after heavy advertising for the
theater, the crowd that showed up at the new venue was
miniscule. However, David, Granger and I had a great time
playing together again. Many thanks to John
and his family for their hard work on salvaging the show and for the
overnight accomodations.
The
next morning, a Thursday, I said goodbye to Granger and the kids and
David and I hit the road for the long drive to Kerrville.
After a stop at the Wal-Mart in San Antonio for supplies, we got to
the campground around 10:30 pm. Setting up our tents in the
dark was, shall we say, somewhat exhilirating! What a good time
I had, even though it rained and hailed and I almost got devoured by
all the mud and muck. My trusty little Coleman tent only
had two very small puddles after the deluges, instead of turning into
little rubber boats like some of my neighbors' tents.
Considering the fact that I hadn't gone camping in over 20 years, I
think I fared very well. Between the shows, the song circles
where I heard so many talented people, the trip to the creek on
Saturday afternoon with David and Bev
Angel,
catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, the kiddie pond
games at Kamp Kantigree, the most delicious oatmeal cookie and apple
pie I've ever eaten, the shopping at the festival (such goodies!),
and the wonderful atmosphere of creativity and camraderie, I'm very
glad that I let David talk me into going.
This
was my first trip to the festival, so I wasn't sure what to
expect. Instead of running around through the mud like a mad
woman with my guitar in hand trying to play at every possible
opportunity (which seems to be the Modus Operandi there), I kind of
laid back and watched how things worked and just played from time to
time at our campsite (Kamp
Kantigree).
I was tempted to do the mud-slogging-play-at-every-possible-song-circle
thing on our last night, but decided getting home safely was more
important and crashed somewhat early (2:00 a.m.) as we were leaving
at 8:00 the next morning. I did the community shower with all
the women thing, Connie braided my hair for the trip home, and we hit
the road early on Memorial Day. The drive was long and kind of
rainy, but David's good company made the hours fly by. We made
it to Mobile, AL in time for Granger and the kids to pick me up and
for David to get to his in-laws for the night. I'll definitely
be going back to Kerrville - I came home feeling very rejuvenated and
creative again. Yes, there are pictures!
I
mentioned last time that Granger and I started a concert series, Saturday
in the Square,
in Fort Walton Beach, FL. After the first show had to be
cancelled because of a tropical storm (Arlene) and the rescheduled
one where we thought we were literally going to collapse from the
heat, we decided to shelve it for a while. A good thing, since
one of the scheduled shows was when Hurricane Dennis hit. It's
a little difficult to play outdoors when there are either hurricanes
or heat waves hitting us. So, we're waiting to rev it back up
in the fall.
Speaking
of Hurricane
Dennis,
yes, we got slammed! You may have seen our little town of
Navarre on Good Morning America, the Weather Channel, the Today Show
or CNN. Yep, that was us. We had evacuated to Altanta,
but our little house got hit by the eyewall, and our roof is toast
(not to mention our bent garage door and frame, trees, gutters,
etc.). As I write this, most of the shingles on the roof are
gone, the tarp is off, and the roofers are coming in the
morning. In the meantime, it's been raining like crazy and I'm
hoping not to hear a little "drip. drip. drip." from
anywhere in the house. (I must admit to watching the tropics
with bated breath, and visiting noaa.org daily.)
Can
I just say that any local sightings of Jim
Cantore
from The
Weather Channel
strikes fear into our hearts?!
In
music news, I have the pleasure and privilege of performing on Radio
Live on
September 1st in Pensacola, FL. I'm also going back in the
studio in a couple of weeks to record a new song, Coming
Back Home.
My daughter was gone for a year and returned to us in June, and I
wrote the song for her. As I mentioned last time, I've been
asked to be on the Back
Home
compilation CD, and will be contributing this song instead of a
previously recorded one, since (obviously) the theme of this one
definitely matches the project! Many thanks go out to Raymond
Steiner
for this opportunity. As you can imagine, this song has a great
deal of meaning to me, and I'm very happy that it's going to be a
part of this CD. I'll be recording it at Lucky
K Recording Studios
in Pensacola, FL. Lucky's a great guy, and I'm looking forward
to working with him.
Well,
the kids are back in school (I know, it's SO early!) and my mornings
are now devoted to creating music and various other things.
I'll keep up with the news a little bit more, and will let you know
as shows and other projects get scheduled.
Now
go out there and enjoy the summer!
May
2005
Hello
again -
It's
been a busy month for me, as I've been hitting the pavement for both
my website
business
and for gigs. We had a great time playing the Festival
of Glass
last weekend (the 15th and 16th) in Fort Walton Beach. We've
been tossing around the idea of starting a concert series in Fountain
Square,
where the Festival was held, and after talking with the Powers
That Be, we all decided it's a go! The concert series will be
an all-ages, acoustic-based format, and Granger and I will play it
until we get it up and running with both local and national acoustic
acts. We've decided to call it Saturdays
in the Square,
and it will probably run every other Saturday afternoon from about
3:00 to about 5:00. Wheee!
I'm
very proud to announce that I'll be on the Back
Home compilation
CD, the sales of which benefit Children
International.
(The producer of CD chose Fragile
Hearts
for the compliation, but now I've gone and written another song, so
we're not sure which one will be on there yet.) This is a
follow up to the fabulous Home
CD. For more information on this project, please click here.
I'm
gearing up to head out to Baton Rouge next week for the
show
with my bud, David
Alberding,
and then we hit the road for Kerrville and the music festival.
I've got my tent packed, my suntan lotion handy, and now I'm deciding
what clothes to bring that will be appropriate for the heat of Texas
days in June. Probably not much, maybe a bathing suit, a pair
of shorts and tank top, and a couple of VERY thin dresses!
That's
it for now - I'll keep a diary of my trip and post it when I get
back. Now get off the computer, get yourself outdoors, and
enjoy some of this early summer weather!
April
2005
Hello
again!
It's
April 14th, the dreaded Tax Eve, and so many things have been
happening in my life lately.
Tomorrow
I'll be the Featured
Artist
on Whole
Wheat Radio
in Talkeetna, AK. Jim
and Esther
run a very hip station, and I always have so much fun when I visit
online. (One of these days I hope to visit in person - in the
summertime, please!) I'll be online tomorrow, saying hi and
hanging out, so if you get a chance, pop in and hang with us - you
might even earn some wheat berries! (Sadly, I always need help
gathering them. Yes, it's true. I'm wheat-berry
impaired.) Many thanks to Jim and Esther for featuring me.
These two have an intense love of music and wonderful senses of
humor, and have been a great source of support and inspiration to
me. It's very heartening to know that there are people out
there like Jim and Esther who continue to support and encourage
independent musicians the way that they do.
As
I mentioned in an earlier post, I quit my day job in February and
have been really pursuing my web site business. It's going very
well, and I'm not only happy because I get to create wonderful
graphics and play with lots of colors, but I get to make people smile
while I'm doing it. I just finished up with Yvonne
Perea's
site - she's a very talented musician in Southern California and I've
had a great deal of fun working with her. If you need a web
site, or want a new design, please think of me. You can visit
sites I've designed by going to Raspberry
Sun Music
and looking at the Website Design page. I'm getting new web
site software (I'm anxiously watching the mail box!) that I'm really
looking forward to, because it has new play toys and bells and
whistles that my old program doesn't have.
I've
also been very busy pursuing music, and have a couple of irons in
the fire that I'll talk about next month. I've been gathering
camping equipment in preparation for attending the Kerrville
Folk Festival
with one of my best buds, David
Alberding,
in May.
Yep, folks, he talked me into it, and I can't think of a better
person to do a road trip with. David and I have done some road
trips before, and he's a wonderful friend to travel with. We're
doing a split bill show in Louisiana on the way to Texas, and details
for that are on the Shows page.
My
CDs are now available at a very cool record store in Fort Walton
Beach called The
Sound.
Joe
and Laurel
Crocker
are the owners, and it's chock-full of eclectic and interesting
things. They have a very comfy couch and it's a great place to
hang out. If you have a chance, stop by and say hi, and tell
'em I sent you! We hope to have an in-store performance (well,
actually out-store, on the lawn outside) scheduled there soon.
In
an interesting twist (okay, at least to me!), The
Sound is
located next door to where the old (and now very vacant) Beer
Gardens used to be, in Fountain Square off of Route 98. Of
course, everything here is located off Route 98, or you'd be in the
ocean! The Beer Gardens, if you've read my last few posts, was
where I first started performing solo - all by myself, up there alone
on the stage, nothing but me and my guitar and a ton of bikers and
tourists crowded 'round - yes, it was wonderful! I tell you,
after starting my musical career in a biker bar, I can play just
about anywhere - yep, I can dodge a flying beer pitcher and flying
bodies, all with guitar in hand, with the best of 'em. And yes,
I still know how to play "Midnight Rider" by the Allman
Brothers :).
We've
gotten so much rain that my house has literally been surrounded by
water for over two weeks. I've decided that I'm now officially
the Lady of the Island. The water is slowly starting to recede,
but a bevy of water birds (seagulls, cranes, etc.) now think my back,
side, and front yards are there strictly for their pleasure.
It's very strange to look out my window, as I'm typing this, and see
those little birds that skitter up and down the beach - you know the
ones, they skitter in tandem and look really silly - running along
the shoreline in my back yard. At least I get a show out of all
this water, and a new pair of rubber boots so that I get to my mail
box. Let's just not talk about how filthy my poor car is, and
the fact that what I really need is a canoe....I took pictures with
my cell phone camera:
|
Front
Yard |
One
side of house |
|
Other
side of house |
Out
my office window
in
the back yard
(the
water is about 4 feet deep) |
Please
pray for no more rain in the South! Any more, and I'm just
going to give up the ghost and wear water wings on a permanent basis :).
I'll
close for this month - more as it happens!
March
2005
Hello
-
The
weather is (finally) getting warmer, and tomorrow we're going to
have one of those stellar days - 70 degrees, and sunny. I can't
wait, because it's been very cold here the last week or so.
I
was just interviewed for and have been added to the Voices
and Visions
site, please take a moment to check
it out.
Many thanks to Sandy
for including me in this very cool site and with so many incredible artists.
I
went to Rusty
McHugh's
wake at the FloraBama
on February 27th, and it was a very bittersweet time. Hearing
everyone's Rusty stories and reminiscing, seeing people I haven't
seen in 30 years, was very uplifting. I only wish we'd all
gotten together with him instead of his death bringing us
together again. His music is unforgettable - where else can you
hear songs such as "Who's Your Poondaddy?", "My Baby
Is A Seafood Platter", and "Tequila Makes My Clothes Fall
Off" (boy, can I relate to THAT one!). His CDs are
available at his website, so check it out - I guarantee you'll laugh
harder than you have in a long while once you listen to his
tunes. I sure miss him.
I've
been picking up the guitar a lot these days, and it doesn't feel
like an alien object to me any more. I never thought I'd see
the time when it did, but boy, after not playing for so long, it felt
strange in my hands. Believe me, I'm not going to let THAT
happen again!
I'm
in the throes of researching venues and looking at a tour in May
with my dear pal David
A. Alberding.
I'm also in the process of developing my website business to a
higher level, so if you're interested in having me design your site
or know of someone who needs my services, please visit www.raspberrysunmusic.com.
That's
it for now, I'll post what's up as things come together. Now,
go out and support independent music!
February
2005
Hello
again -
It's
February 22nd and I finally have a chance to catch up on this
month's newsletter, as promised.
We
had a wonderful time at The
Wammies,
and we'd like to thank Mike
Schreibman and WAMA
for having us both back again this year. We had the show at an
entirely new (and most gorgeous) hall this time around, the Music
Hall at Strathmore.
As my friend Diana
Quinn
said, "It's like being inside a beautiful guitar". It
was a challenge, and one I believe we met. Granger was hopping,
getting eight bands off and on during a three-hour show, and I was
busy lining up presenters and awards and making last-minute
seat-of-the-pants script changes. It was wonderful seeing
everyone again, friends as well as family. My son, Tom
Brooks,
has done security for the show for WAMA for several years now along
with our friend Mike
Campbell.
Rachel
Cross and
Vicki Zak were
my right hand gals, and they, along with all the WAMA volunteers
both behind the stage and in front, really made things go
smoothly. Thanks, guys!
 Today
has been a very hard day for me and for many others in the music
business. I've received news regarding the deaths of three of
my fellow performers. Dear Rachel
Bissex,
who was a wonderful artist from Vermont, passed away on Sunday from
breast cancer. She led a valiant struggle, and shared that
struggle with her friends. She brought us all a lot of light
and courage, and she will be sorely missed.
 Pam
Bricker,
a jazz vocalist from the DC area and originally from the New England
area, also died on Sunday. She was wonderfully talented, and
she, too, will leave a huge hole in our lives.
My
dear old friend Rusty
McHugh,
a regular at The
FloraBama
in Perdido Key, Florida, passed away yesterday. Rusty and his
musical bud Mike
Fincher
were there with me, egging me on, at the beginning of my music
career. We lost Mike a few years ago. Rusty's sense of
humor and his way with words made so many people smile. It's
the end of an era for me with both Mike and Rusty gone now. I
can't tell you how sad I am at this moment.
|
Mike
Fincher, Rusty McHugh,
Carey,
Ray Tweed
The
Beer Gardens, 1977 |
Granger,
Rusty,
Carey
The
Florabama
June
2003 |
I
certainly don't mean to be depressing by sharing this news with you,
but I do want to say this - enjoy life, grab it with both hands.
It goes too quickly and sometimes most unexpectedly.
Well,
last week ended my year and four-month run at a full-time day
job. While I will miss everyone there, my main focus these days
will be on my children, and yes, once again on music. I picked
up my guitar this morning and played for about an hour, and I can't
tell you how good it felt. I'm laying groundwork and making
plans, and hope to have some gigs to tell you about in the
future. I'm glad I'm on the road back :).
Rachel
used to sign her e-mails with little quotes, and in her honor, I'd
like to close this month's newsletter with one from a button sent to
me by my friend Sara
Hickman:
"Believe
in hope - live your dream."
January
2005
Hello,
everyone -
First
of all, Happy New Year to you all - I wish you joy, prosperity,
love, family, and (of course), good music in 2005 :).
As
you can see, the website has been redesigned (again). This is
a 'test run', if you will, and I'll decide soon if I want to keep it
or revamp it all together. What do you think? Let
me know.
I
hope your holidays were good ones. We had a nice, quiet
Christmas at home, with the extra-special added pleasure of a visit
the day after Christmas from our dear friends, David & Beth
Alberding. We broke out the guitars and spent a pleasant
afternoon visiting, playing music, and enjoying their company.
We hadn't seen them since June, so it was a happy reunion.
Here's a few pictures:
Right
before Christmas, we had a rather unpleasant flea infestation attack
our dog, Jasper, and our cat, Tigger. After a trip to the vet
(which enabled her to buy her family lots of presents), they are
feeling much better. Jasper was rewarded for his good behavior
with a red bandana that had gingerbread men and candy canes on
it. They sprayed his poor, infested hind end with flea spray,
which dried to a frosty white, looking very like snow. We
decided that, because of the bandana and frosting, Jasper definitely
looked like a Christmas dog! Here's their happy, flea-free
little faces:
The
weather is now warm here, and I've got the windows flung open.
However, we really did get cold here for about a week, down in the
20's at night. Still, I can't complain, especially after
enduring years of cold weather in the DC area :).
Until
next time!
September
2004 - Surviving Hurricane Ivan
Hello
-
I’m
glad to say that we’re alive and in one piece, and that our
house is still standing. We have some damage (everyone here
does), but we truly feel blessed that we still have a home. The
worst part of the evacuation for us was wondering what we’d find
when we came back.
It’s
like a war zone here, with debris and trees and bits of houses
everywhere you go. I took pictures;
it's amazing how fragile things can be. The island (Navarre
Beach) is still closed, due to damage to the bridge, and most of the
island is still unlivable at this point. We heard that during
the storm surge, the Gulf of Mexico came to within a block and a half
of our home. (I know I love the Gulf enough to write about it,
but I don’t love it enough to invite it into my living room
unless it's the sand in my shoes.) We're still under a curfew
as well.
To
give you some perspective, we live a little over a block off of
Route 98 – which I’m sure you’ve seen on television at
this point – about 15 miles east of Pensacola Beach, in Santa
Rosa County. Across 98 from our house are (were) a few houses
lining the Sound, which is about a mile across. After the Sound
is the barrier island of Navarre Beach, then is the Gulf of
Mexico. We estimate that winds of over 140 mph hit our house,
with sustained winds of around 100, and you can see it in the
trees. We have several that have a permanent drunken list to
them, and they’ll have to come down before they fall down.
We lost our gutters, some shingles, and had some roof damage - you
can see sky from a certain section of the attic. (I must say a
thank you here to Steelworkers
Local 15253
from Pennsylvania, Joe's
Crew,
who came and, through FEMA's Operation Blue Roof, put up a tarp to
protect us from weather.) However, when you look across Route
98 from our home you can look straight through the houses –
what’s left of them. We were told that the storm surge
sent waves of over 40 feet towards us (Update:
the bouys in the ocean actually recorded waves of 52 feet).
The debris along the highway is both devastating and humbling, and
shows nature’s true force. You see a child’s toy, a
chair, a basket that once held someone’s belongings, bits of
clothing, dishes - someone’s life on the side of the road.
We
have electricity (which is of course why I’m able to write this
to you) and water, and things are slowly going back to normal.
FEMA and other rescue workers have been phenomenal, providing the
area with ice, MRE’s (meals ready to eat), water, and
consolation. It’s a testament to humanity the way these
people have come through for everyone in need here. When we
were evacuated, we went to Lake City, which is about an hour east of
Jacksonville, and holed up in a hotel room for three days – me,
Granger, the kids, the cat, and the dog. When we were able to
come back home, we hit I-10 and started our journey, anxious at what
we’d find, and knowing that there was a finite end to I-10 –
it was in the bay. What we saw on the way home was caravans of
electrical workers from Michigan, Oklahoma, and other states, and
caravans of tree trucks. It was so uplifting, I can’t tell
you – these people were coming west on I-10, so that meant that
they’d been down south dealing with the damage from Hurricanes
Frances and Charley. I’m sure that once they’re done
here, they’ll be going back down to deal with the damage from
Hurricane Jeanne. Next time you see an electrician or tree
person, give them a smile - they deserve it!
During
the evacuation process, when I had to decide what to take and what
not to take (NOTE: if you ever have to evacuate, take ALL your
pictures – everything you own is in them somewhere!) and was
going through my entire house in the space of a few hours, I spoke to
some of you on the phone. Thank you for calling me and letting
me know you were thinking of me. I wish I could have talked
longer, but we had to get out – at that point, Ivan was coming
directly down our throats! I can’t stress enough how lucky
we are – if he’d stayed on that course and not veered west,
we’d have nothing left.
Unfortunately,
during the storm I ended up developing a nasty case of
pneumonia. Let me tell you that having pneumonia is the pits,
but with no electricity it’s truly awful. My doctor’s
office kind of got mushed, so when it became apparent that I
wasn’t getting any better, Granger took me to the ER in Gulf
Breeze and got me taken care of. I’m now getting back on
my feet again, and am glad I don’t have to do so in a shelter
with no home to go back to.
So,
we’re okay. Our community is bruised and battered, but
it’s still here (for the most part) and still kickin’.
Schools are still closed, a lot of businesses have closed
permanently because they don’t exist any more, but we’re
okay and we’re damned lucky.
By
the way, somewhere during the evacuation my Daytimer was either lost
or stolen. If anyone should happen to contact you that you
don’t know, or someone pretends to represent me, that may be the
reason why. Please let me know if you do hear from anyone; it
may help me to track it down.
As
an end note, |
