Jan.
26, 2011
Dear
Friends & Fans - I'm practicing
all my love songs because
on Sat. Feb. 12 I'm gonna
be ....
Wired
for Love!
Love!
Love! Love! Love! At the Blue Ocean Music
Hall in Salisbury, MA - Sat.
Feb. 12, two
days before Valentine's
Day, it's love from top
to bottom - a full show
of love songs.
Romantic
love songs, love songs
in parking lots,love
songs for chefs and
sous-chefs, love gone bad
-- every kinda love I know,
I'll be singing with my
11-lb carbon fiber electric
harp. You want
romantic? The new Blue
Ocean Music Hall is right
on the beach, with cabaret
table seating, and a special
Valentine-weekend menu.
Learn
more about the show and the very cool Blue Ocean
Music Hall at my event
page: And stay tuned for news about my
Lovesong Download
Collection scheduled to release
just before Valentine's
Day! If you join
me on Twitter or
at Facebook,
you'll hear about
it as it progresses!
Ruby
Slippers brought me
home...
I
just got back from Kansas,
where I played at the
beautful McPherson
Opera House I fell in
love with the the town,
the theater and everyone
who works there, including
executive director
John Holocek, who introduced
the concert in a silver
zoot-suit -- lowered
to the stage on a pully.The
stage at the McPherson
is "raked" so the front
of the stage is about a
foot lower than the back.I'd
never played on a raked stage before,
though traditionally
stages are raked
-- which is how the terms
"downstage" and "upstage"
first came into use. I'd
borrowed a concert harp
from Wichita harpist,
Suzanne Shields, and I kept worrying it
was
going to topple over
at that angle. But no, it was the audience
who toppled over: In
an impromptu moment,
Suzanne joined me in
a duet, then left the
stage and returned
in a belly-dancing outfit
(I sooo wish I had a photo
of that!).
The
day before the show, I
visited
the local High School where I
played Blues with
the band and orchestra
students, and after
the presentation,
they taught
me to play ZZ Tops "La Grange." I
still don't quite
get how High School
students are so into
rock music from a
previous generation,
but I loved jamming
with them, especially
when one of the guitarists
strapped my
harp on and started
rocking out (do I
have a photo? no...
sigh...)
|
With
the contingent who
drove 6 hours from
Tulsa for th show. |
I
had spectacular
sandwiches across the street
from the theater
at the Main Street Deli,
where I also bought a portable,
collapsable silver back-scratcher (OK,
aluminum) too much fudge
(I think some of it is
still in my jacket pocket) and a pair of
super spy sunglasses that let
you see what's going on
behind you - no joke! And
the day of the show I slid
up Salina for lunch
with Salina
Symphony conductor Ken Hakoda and journalist
Gary Demuth (who I discovered to
be a fellow musical-theater
enthusiast!).
(Am I telling
you too much?
It was a power-packed
2 days!)
In
Wichita, an hour from the
Opera House, I reconnected
with my old friend, NPR
host Frank Dudgeon, who
now hosts "All
Things Considered" on
Wichita's KMUW,
And on
the looong flight
home I discovered
that Wichita
is a fabulous airport
to be stranded
in because they have workstations
with free AC and
internet hookups.
And once air
flight was achieved,
I chatted en
route with the
violist from
the "Turtle
Island Quartet" and
bona fide super hero, Kid
Power!
This
was my favorite kind of
touring. I felt like I
really got to experience
the town, the community
and what makes it rich
on its own terms. I loved
the age-range diversity
in the audience, meeting
the High School Music students
and their teachers, talking
with the audience afterwards
-- and I came back feeling
like I made a lot of new friends.
I
loved that so many people
from the audience joined
my Facebook fan page and
immediately posted about
the show... some from the
Tulsa contingent even
posted during their long
ride home. So, that was a
lovely visit!
And
I hope to see you at a show soon!
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