The Story of Five Buck CDs! FIVE BUCK CDs!!!! We just got a huge shipment of these two CDs and are selling them for as low as $5 'til midnight tonight! Buy Now or read the story below. Visit the Super-Amazing Gift-o-Matic for ideas on who to buy what! 25% OFF XMAS SALE: Use the code "HoHoHo" for 25% off selected CDs, DVDs, Sheet Music PLUS free gifts and free U.S. shipping! HOLIDAY MUSIC to DOWNLOAD! My best friend's favorite recording of mine: "The Gift"! And my vintage "Flute & Harp for Christmas"! Download BOTH for INSTANT Holiday Mood Enhancement! BUY A SHOW! Buy tix for shows right now and BOOM!, you have instant gifts! Some of my favorites are: BLUES SHOW - Natick, MA (Jan. 7) JUST ADDED! Asheville, NC (Jan. 15) - Use the code "DHC" for 2-for-1 tix! EUGENE, Oregon - (Mar. 7) Or check out the full tour schedule Now, go forth and jollify! (Or not ...) *(When I say "We" in this e-newsletter, by the way, I mean Beatriz, my lovely assistant, Catharine, our intrepid bookkeeper, and me.) In this week's waaay-too-long newsletter: 1. THE STORY OF FIVE BUCK CDs!!! - Buy Now or read the story below. 2. 25% OFF - SALE REMINDER! DEADLINE TONIGHT! Get your order in by midnight tonight or it won't get shipped in time for Xmas! 3. NEW YEAR'S EVE at "First Night Worcester" 4. BLUES Show - Sat. Jan. 7 - at TCAN in Natick, MA 5. JUST ADDED! Sun. Jan. 15 in Asheville, NC (and YOU can get 2-for-1 Tix!!!) The Story of them Five Buck CDs! So, just yesterday we got a shipment of 2,000 CDs that have been on back order for MONTHS. They just happen to be two of the titles that people request the most ("The Celtic Album" and my jazz album "Round the Corner"). So Bea and I are like, "Aaaaagh, why didn't these come at the BEGINNING of the holiday season???" But, well, they're here now, our big catalog sale is over at midnight tonight and so we figured, "What the heck, let's sell them for $7.50 each for 5-for $25 (Yep! Five Bucks each!) 'til the sale ends at midnight*. If you already know the answer to that question, just link here to buy them at our catalog page, and if you're ALSO buying our additional products at 25% off, make sure to use the code "HoHoHo." If you don't know the answer, read on... So here's the thing: I often hear myself say, "These are two of my most popular CDs" -- and they are -- but why?? And here's what I think: One of the reasons they're popular is because they're great 'background music' albums, and one of the reasons they're great background music is because they're all instrumental (no singing of words that could interfere with conversations), and very stylistically consistent: one is jazz, with harp, bass and drums (sounds like a standard jazz trio, but with harp instead of piano) - and the other is Celtic. If you have many of my albums, you'll know that stylistic consistency isn't generally my 'thing.' Some artists love a 'style' of music, like Rap, or Bluegrass, or Pop, but for me what's fascinating is exploring an instrument and everything I can figure out how to say with that instrument. So generally my albums do a lot of stylistic exploration. But every once-in-awhile I'll actually make a stylistically consistent album - and these are two of them. Actually, they might be the only two. They have something else in common (and, by the way, I'm just figuring this all out as I write it - this is an "aha' for me): Unlike my other albums, which are mostly original music, these have familiar tunes. LIke "Take Five," "Georgia on my Mind" and "Summertime" on the Jazz album and "Loch Lomond," "The Drunken Sailor" and "My Love is Like a Red, Red, Rose" on the Celtic one. I think that's another reason people really like them. I just noticed the power of that familiarity again the other day. I was meeting with my new tour manager, showing her around the office and the CD room. When I pulled out "The Celtic Album," she said, "Oooo, I LOVE Celtic Music," so I gave her one, knowing she was going to like it (well, actually I thought: "But will she like my Celtic music??" But that's one for the therapist's couch.) So .... they're instrumentals of familiar tunes, in specific styles that people can identify. So if people "like Celtic Music," they'll like the "The Celtic Album" because it's Celtic music and if they "like straight-ahead Jazz," they'll like "Round the Corner" because it's jazz - even if they have no idea who I am -- even if they think they don't like harp music. Yeah, yeah ... I know ... this is probably what Amazon is thinking when it tells you what else you might like, and the light bulb is just now going off in my had about that. But that's why these particular albums make great presents. And THAT'S why you want to buy multiples. See exhibit A: the shelf near my front door. Exhibit A: The Shelf Near My Front Door These are multiple copies of some of my favorite books, and I keep them near the front door so I can give them out to friends whenever I want, without worrying about 'loaning' them and never getting them back. I just keep extras so I can give them away. It makes me happy. It's the same reason I carry around a birthday card at all times, just in case I meet someone who's having a birthday (but that's another story, too). So this is the ONE-DAY SALE that's going to start your shelf, or create stocking-stuffers - or whatever makes you happy about giving people things you love, and that's why I came up with the idea of a 5-pack of the same CD for $25. The sale ends tonight at midnight (actually, we'll probably let the sale go a little longer because we're usually lazy about changing the sale codes), but if you actually want to GET them next week, buy them now because if you buy them by midnight tonight, Beatriz will send them to you tomorrow! And here's a picture of Beatriz: Please notice her hands, which I admire, as my own are stubby, if strong -- because those are the hands that will put those CDs into the package that will wing its way to you. Aaaaa! And I almost forgot! Tonight at midnight our big 25% off sale ends -- where you get 25% off on a bunch of things in our catalog. But you can read all about that at our sale page (where you can also, incidentally, see a video of my cat). See you soon! p.s. See that picture of me on the cover of "The Celtic Album" above? That was taken at Lismore Castle in Ireland. Soon after I left, I got onto a plane on which I had one of the most terrifying flying experiences of my life -- and which I mention in a response to one of the comments on this recent blog, 'Turbulence.' FIRST NIGHT WORCESTER (aka "New Year's Eve") in one of the world's most beautiful acoustic halls! Five years ago, I played at "First Night Worcester" & fell in love with the organization, the audience and the gem-like theater. This year I'm returning, but in the incredible "Mechanics Hall," world renowned as one of the most gorgeous acoustic halls in North America! Other artists on the bill include "AudioBody -- TechnoComedy" and the Worcester Youth Concert Orchestra. This is definitely one of those 'fun for the whole family' events including a "Community Procession" (I think that means "PARADE!") and Fireworks. You buy a button and get to see EVERYTHING! - Click for MECHANICS HALL LINEUP - Click for BUTTONS (ADMISSION) LOSE THE BLUES! SAT. JAN. 7th at The Center for Arts in Natick Sure, sure ... Chanukah starts Dec. 20th, Christmas is Dec. 25th, Kwanzaa Dec. 26, New Years Eve Dec. 31st ... BUT THEN .... the BLUES begins. You know it's coming, the end of the holiday season. You dread it ... but THIS TIME, it's gonna be FUN! Why? Because I'm doing a special "LOSE THE BLUES" Blues Show - January 7th at the Center for Arts in Natick and YOU can buy tickets NOW. It's like downing that Ibuprofen BEFORE you get a hangover! It's a musical ANTIDOTE show! - Click to READ MY STORY ABOUT THE SHOW - Click to BUY TICKETS RIGHT NOW And if you want to give the tix as a present see the gift-card-thingy below. JUST BOOKED! JAN. 15th in Asheville, NC! Asheville, NC has a beautiful new theatre called the Altamont. I'm already in love with this place! Til Dec. 25th, get a 2-for-1 special on Tickets when you use the code "DHC" (it stands for "Deborah Henson-Conant") I got to talking with owner Brian Lee, and he said they have a multi-camera video set up that would allow them to make DVDs of shows and I said ... let's make a DVD of this show! So Asheville folks (and those with friends around Asheville) - this is my first performance in the area since my torrential-rain appearance at the Brevard amphitheater 5 or so years ago. I promise you won't get rained on in this show! - Click to BUY TICKETS RIGHT NOW (Remember to use the code "DHC" for 2-for-1 Tix! And if you want to give the tix as a present see the gift-card-thingy below. HANDY Gift-Card-Thingy! If you want a visual representation of show tickets or downloads you buy for friends, here's where you can download one of our fill-it-in-yourself gift certificate card-thingies. which look like this (see at left).   See you next week!   Guitar legend Steve Vai calls her the "Jimi Hendrix of the harp." The New York Times credits her with shaping the serenely Olympian harp into a jazz instrument by warping it closer to the Blues." Deborah Henson-Conant's music ranges from Blues to Flamenco, in a relentless exploration of the instrument that was invented specifically for her by the CAMAC company in France: a 32-string, 11-pound electric harp she slings on like an electric guitar. She combines music, theater and humor - with a voice, which has been compared to Carly Simon and an onstage energy that's been compared to Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. "The instrument forced me to rip apart any preconceptions. Nobody had ever tried to get these sounds out of a harp, so I simply had to stop thinking of it as a harp, and open my mind to everything else it could be," says the composing performer. That led to the development of music that's won her a GRAMMY nomination, PBS television music special, first prize in the International Songwriting Competition, and invitations to perform worldwide as a solo performer and with orchestras.