You Heard It Here - Edition 1

Here it is, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The first installment of my article in conjunction with the newsletter, Now Hear This. .
I also drop by here from time to time to fill y'all in on goings on.

This is a great chance to share new tunes and introduce you to some of the incredible music and musicians I'm encountering along the way.

So, without further ado, this tune is called: The Moon, A Planet & A Star

If the embedded song below is taking a while, you can listen here.

The Moon, A Planet and a Star

Written by: LEA

The moon, a planet and a star in the midnight sky, well, they're not so far. 70 some years ago. Was it a night like tonight? Guess we'll never know. The light has journeyed for a while just to land on you and to make you smile. On the night I'm dreaming of, it could have been us just discovering love. If you take a photograph, looking back, well we'll have to laugh. We are near and yet so far form the moon, a planet and a star. I wish I may, I wish I might reach into the darkness and grab a light. I would keep it tucked away just to shine for a while on your rainy day. But I have to let it go. It's the law, everybody knows. We are near and yet so far to the moon, the planets and the stars. We are so like the moon, the planets and the stars. I should explain. This song was born on the road. Very literally. I was driving in the midnight hours to make it to a show in Alberta, VA the next morning. As I always do, I was listening to NPR and happened to catch the StarDate information that they gave. The astronomer announced that souls lucky enough to be awake so late would get an eyeful of a cosmic triangle: the moon, the star Regulus and the planet Saturn. Naturally, I looked and got an eyeful of cloud. About 10 minutes before arriving at the hotel, the sky parted and there they were. It was as though they wanted me to see and of course, I was instantly inspired. Perhaps what moved me the most was the knowledge that the light I was seeing was sent my way some 77 years ago. Quite a journey just make me smile for a few moments. To download this song to your computer and share with friends , click this link & retrieve from Audio page.

Remember, You Heard it Here.
(come back soon and tell a friend)

The New CDs have arrived & other cool news

So, I'm scrambling.
Not unlike the proverbial chicken, freshly decapitated.
Got a gig this afternoon at the William Paca Garden in Annapolis. Looking forward to it.

Also, working on some things with bigBEE Records this morning. Packing up some preorders to go and getting the drill on the very first production of Project MiniMuse at the Chesapeake Children's Museum.


And very excitingly, my new CDs have arrived. Horrah!
They're still available at the pre-order price of $10 until the release.
More info soon. See you tonight!
Lea

Live from Annapolis

Where were you this morning at the crack of dawn.
I, my friends, was yawning awake.



Made it into the WNAV studios in Annapolis, MD just after 8. (That's an hour from my homestead and in traffic, I should add). Did a little mini interview with Scotti Preston and radio personality, Maria Day. Hopefully, we drummed up some interest for the first ever Garden Concert Series at the William Paca Garden - the coolest backyard in town!

Check out the info at my site.


Looking forward to playing outdoors with Will and Jason again so soon.
Here are some pics from the radio interview.
Photos by Preston Carter. Thanks Preston!

Tasty Goodness

Hey, you guys. It's late. What are you doing up?
What am I doing up, considering that I'm going to be singing at Washington Ethical Society way early in the morning tomorrow?

Well, I just wanted to let you know that there are sound clips up from our show at the Taste of Wheaton on Sunday. Have a listen: at my website.
I was joined by the illustrious Mr. Will Henderson on electric bass and Jason Walker on drums. We mixed it up with a bunch of covers ( including my new favorite, Proud Mary).

It was a pretty rainy day, but the food was great and I'd call it a success. You can hear me trying to cheer up the Sunday morning, grey sky crowd on No Woman No Cry.

Will and I played with Doug Alan Wilcox over at the Rainbow Connection in Hagerstown.
We love those guys. They obviously love us, too, as we've been invited to be part of their Pride event this year. We'll keep you posted on that.

I'm actually, thinking about tagging along with Karla from the Rainbow Connection and singing a little bit for the good folks at a few of the regional Prides. Look for me at local Farmer' Markets, too. Wherever good people are celebrating - I want to be there :)

Oh, yeah and stay tuned. I'm going to be posting video and audio from Will and my appearance at the Montpelier Arts Center soon.

By the way, you guys are all coming to the CD Release, Benefit, Birthday party on June 20 at the Potter's House, right?

If you're looking for something a little quiter, more cozy and intimate, I'll be doing a release at the Ten Thousand Joys in Frederick, MD. You can buy tickets at my website or take your chances on the evening of the show at one of the few seats available in this house concert like atmosphere.

Later,
Lea

Survived the weekend

Hello everybody. Miracle of Miracles.
I survived the weekend.

Generally speaking, playing 5 shows over a weekend is, as my sister would say, "Doing a lot."
Considering that I had just gotten back from a 2 week European tour a day before, it was doing a whole lot.

I'm of the school of thought that any gig worth playing that comes my way - ought to be played.
As it turns out, I got 5 such offers for this weekend.

Friday, thank goodness, I was able to relax. However duty (labor of love) called in a different way. I had the privilege of sitting ( ) this close to Odetta while she sang at the Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel. It's a beautiful venue in Laurel and I will be performing there this Friday.
It was a great opportunity to see the place and finally experience this mesmerizing pioneer in person.
If you don't know, check out some of Odetta's stuff on youtube. You'll be awed, I think.

Saturday, I played a private party at Strathmore. That was pretty trippy is so many ways.
First of all, we did a 90% cover set, which I haven't played since... geez, I don't know the last time I played so many covers. What was particularly surprising is that it was actually kind of fun.
You know, playing with Doug and Will is fun anyway, but we did tunes like Proud Mary and Wind Beneath My Wings and it was a trip.

Also interesting was the room. Chris VanHollen, Ike Leggett to name a few. If you're from elsewhere, these are Maryland politicians. BIG names. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Leggett came over to tell us how much she was enjoying the set.

Nice.

That night, played an opening set for the Grandsons at the Folk'n Great House Concert. Inuendos were flying left and right.
It was kind of hilarious, as one point when the host says to his wife, "Hon, I think this is the first time we've had sax in the basement."

Groans. And then, the voice of a 9 year old, "I don't get it."
So, everybody's still trying to figure out how to classify the Grandsons. I think it's surf music. Seriously. You listen and tell me what you think.

Really nice guys, super fun music.

Sunday, Will, Jason and I played the Taste of Wheaton.
If you were awake at all on Sunday, you know it was not exactly prime weather for a festival, but we had ourselves a time. Actually got a decent recording of the show. I'm going to put up a few tracks on the website, for your listening pleasure.

(The afternoon show got cancelled, which was only kind of a bummer, cause... well, you got to sleep sometime).

Then, Laela and I did a 25 minute set at the Music for Myanmar event at the Rock and Roll Hotel. I tell you, it was, indeed, a rockin way to end a wacky weekend.

A great weekend in music.
It is good to be home.
It was good to be gone,
but it's way better to be home.


I'll be keeping the next few days holy ( you know, Sabbath.) - working from home
So, see you guys on Thursday or Friday - depending on where you hang your hatt

Jiggity Jig Baby

That's my poetic way of saying, I'm BA-ACK.
It may interest you to know that I was on the road (or in the say, as it were) for about 25 hours yesterday. I arrived alive, so I'm not complaining, but it was a heck of a long day.

The whole experience was made bearable by an unexpected and pleasant conversation that took place over half of the Atlantic Ocean. One the advantages of American Airlines Economy Class (READ: lack-o-elbow room) is a ready-made opportunity for intimate discourse, if you want it. Of course, you can always just stare at the water, if you prefer. (That's why my sister always gets a window seat).

Now, tonight the pleasure of a second grade opera. Tomorrow a bit of band practice and this weekend 5 shows. I find that to be only mildly insane. My family seems to find it annoying.

Too bad my body doesn't realize it's in North American again.
Awake at 5:30 AM. Got myself a fresh cup of yerba mate and I am ready for the day.

I got a new attitude

It's kind of true. I've certainly been working like a dog - or a bee, as it were. 

Got a new website, too. Feeling pretty good about it and might actually let it stand like this for a while. Really... Okay, I would like to change the color of the buttons, but after that...

All the links ought to be working and the form and everything else. 

When you get a chance, take a look and let me know.

That's pretty much it for now.

The plan is to go out and do some touristy stuff on this, the last day of the European tour. All the shows performed successfully and a very cool, unplanned session at Stockfisch Records in Northeim. Along with all the great ideas and the prospect of an intern, this has been one of the best tours yet. 

See you lovelies again soon.

Lea

European Co-conspirators and a Huge Producer. All in a Night

Hey you guys,

Thanks for a great show at Noergelbuff in Goettingen. Performed with Sven von Samson (percussion) & Adrian Schmidtke (Bass) and had just a grand ol time.

Jan Sperhake opened the evening with a set of sweet original tunes and we finished the night with a set of tunes from Great Big World, mostly. I'll be posting some sound recordings and maybe a video to the website soon.

This venue has officially tied with the Scheunenverein in Liebenau as my favorite European venue.
It's a joy to play for a room full of attentive souls. When you all chimed in on "Everything's gonna be alright", it just felt like home. Thanks again.

Some amazing, syncronicity happened last night, as well. First of all, I met 3 enthusiastic ladies from other countries (Belgium, France and Spain), who invited me to come play in their countries. I've made a pact with myself to do it within a year. Keep me hones.t

Then, while sharing some of the ideas about bigBEE records with a young lady who is versed in public service and music, I received the most incredible inspiration to invite her to be an intern. Amazingly, she seems to be as impulsive as I am and I think this is going to happen. There'll be more information about that on the bigBEE blog and site.

Earlier yesterday, I had received a call from a producer who was looking for a vocalist. As it turns out, he was the legendary Guenter Pauler from Stockfish Records. It looks like we're going to be doing a session on Monday.

Everyone who found out that the connection had been made between us was floored and Adrian, the bassist, told me that he is one of the top 3 in his field in the world. So, this can only be good. Can't wait to see his studio, hear the tracks and sing my fool heart out.

There is nothing quite as good as that feeling that you are absolutely on the right track. That you are in the right place, at the right time and you know exactly what you are meant to be doing on this journey.

Virgin post & more to come soon...

Hi everybody.
Lea here.

Not sure if you caught the beginning of this blog, about a week ago.
I began while on tour in Europe for a couple weeks.
There are still a few entries and pics up on the website.

But since, I plan to overhaul the site soon, thought I'd post these thoughts in some neutral spot. So, here we are. Meine, Germany is where I am - a tiny little village (Dorf) outside of Braunschweig, which is a rather modest city in the northwest of my home away from home.

Two more shows to go. Looking forward to playing with Sven and Adrian at Noergelbuff again.
Great players. Here's a photo from the last time I performed there with them.
We've added some new (old) tunes to the set. New playing them together, but from older CDs ("creation" and "looking forward").

So, all kind of good stuff is cooking up - a new label, new CD, great ideas for some community building.

Also, if you're signed up to receive my mailing list, you will notice a change coming over me. Starting with the next installments, I'll be adding a bit more meat
(Yes, I'm a veggie, but you know what I mean.)

Anyway, there'll be more about that in a post soon.

til then,
Lea