First Night Rocks! Then We Can "Lose our Blues!" Last Show of 2011! On "First Night" (New Year's Eve) I'm playing in Worcester at my favorite "First Night" Celebration. FIRST Show of 2012! It's a special "Lose your Blues" show at The Center for Arts in Natick (MA). You can see my new promo video for the show at my event page .... it's just below the ticket link. MORE SHOWS in 2012! Asheville, Great Falls, Eugene and gobs more ...they're all at my tour page. But if you're near Asheville on Sun. Jan.15th, click below for a great 2-for-1 special! Christmas Eve Mini On Christmas Eve, Katya Herman and I created a "Christmas Grotto" and did a video test in my hopefully-soon-to-be "DHC-TV" television studio. Katya's here on a 3-month study intenstive with me and part of her studies include participation in all my hare-brained schemes, like this one. Our goal was to create the set (note decorated harp - in lieu of tree - behind us), figure out how to use the camera and video editing software, look at the camera at least once while taping, record something - anything - and get it on line by midnight Christmas Eve. And we did it!!! It was one of the most fun Christmas Eve projects ever. (Yes, even including the one where Ben and I created a tree from scratch out of common household objects - though that was realllly fun, too). Click the image above to see all one minute and 52 seconds of it! Happy Almost New Year! I'm so excited about 2012! For me, it’s the cusp of reinvention! On New Year's Eve -- or as we call it around here "First Night" -- I'll be unveiling my new self at "Mechanics Hall" in Worcester. MA. Don't you LOVE that feeling?? Of starting something new, being a little scared, a little shy -- but just getting out there and doing it? That's how I feel right now!  A little bit Samson … and a little bit Delilah.  OK … I’ll explain. For those of you who've seen me in the past 15 years, you know I've had "signature hair" - bright, multicolor dreadlocks. Well ... those dreads are gone! And I feel like, where once was a spray of signature hair now I have INFINITE POSSIBILITY!!! And in my first show of 2012, I'm doing something I've always wanted to do: a "Lose Your Blues" show on that "oh-please-let-me-down-gently" first weekend after New Years Eve, Sat. Jan. 7 at the Center for Arts in Natick, MA at 8pm. Hey, we know we're all gonna have the Blues that first January weekend, right?? So I'm doing an all Blues-Inspired show so we can lose those Blues together! I have a Watermelon Blues, a love-song Blues, an impressionistic Debussy-Meets-the-Blues, Dogs of Somerville Blues, a Blues about Elvis' first night in Heaven, about being a "Sous Chef" for the one you love - there's upbeat Blues, romantic Blues, Blues-inspired Ballads! I even have a Blues about playing the Blues. Seriously!!!   Wanna hear a little now? You can hear a little “Sous Chef” Blues at the video on this page (it's the same video that's a promo for my show Jan. 7 at Center for Arts in Natick). I really want to fill the house for this show -- the fabulous "Center for Arts in Natick" so buy your tickets now [sorry - they make you click a bunch of times, but if you're not a member, here's how it goes: click here, then click the following on each subsequent page: "Buy Tickets" >"Non-Members" >"Purchase Tickets"] And tell your friends! I made that waaaay-easy! On our Event Page there's a video you can share, an easy-to-download PDF poster you can email to your friends - or you can just send them right to this link [http://www.hipharp.com/events/2012/TCAN.html]. Come LOSE YOUR BLUES with me Sat. Jan. 7th at the Center for Arts in Natick, MA (TCAN)! And if you're not in the greater Boston Area, check out my tour schedule! I'm about to hit 15 cities in the U.S. and I'll be sharing stories from the road, exploring livestreaming some shows and harping on all the good things in life in 2012! I hope I'll see you soon!! p.s. with my new hair, it's time for new photos, so if you're a photographer, and coming to my Jan. 7 "Lose Your Blues" show, let us know if you want to bring your camera, so we can get you a hall-pass to take pictures. Email my office with your name, and if we don't get back to you, don't worry - just bring a copy of your email along with you to prove you sent it. UPCOMING SHOWS! 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 FIRST NIGHT WORCESTER LINEUP (Look for "6. Mechanics Hall" link for more about my show) - Click for BUTTONS (ADMISSION) LOSE YOUR 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 ASHEVILLE, N.C.! JAN. 15th in Asheville, NC! Asheville, NC has a beautiful new theatre called the Altamont. I'm already in love with this place! Yaaaay! We got an extension on our "2-for-1" ticket deal!!! THRU MIDNIGHT ON NEW YEAR'S DAY - 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 just let me know if you have any problems with that code!   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.