I can't say that 2012 has been uneventful so far....I've had lots of great shows! ...beginning with a wonderful tour of South FL that culminated in the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach in January, killer shows in NC and AL in February and March - the Americana Music Series in Morganton, The Rooster's Wife in Aberdeen, Music on the Mountain in Birmingham, Sundilla Concert Series in Auburn and Mountain Spirit Coffee in Asheville with Danielle Miraglia. Then came the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival "Most Wanted" Preview tour with ilyAIMY, Pesky J Nixon and Blair Bodine - we played fun shows in D.C. (Institute for Musical Traditions), Philly (World Cafe Live), NY (Huntington Folk Festival) and CT...in June and July. What a blast and a privilege to share the stage with them!
However, more personally, 2012 has been not so great.
My mother was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer in January and she was brave until the end on July 25th. I had the distinct blessing of living near by and being able to spend a lot of time with her in the last few months and we left nothing unsaid. I know I'm very lucky in that regard. Because she died 2 days before the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, I did not attend the festival this year and went home to be with my family. My gratitude goes out to Anne Saunders of Falcon Ridge and the other "most wanted" bands who very kindly filled in for me and even sang a song in my mom's honor. I was so touched by that!
Additionally (!), my marriage of 15 years ended this Spring. Again, I know I am so lucky that Mark and I are still good friends and want only the best for each other, however, change of this kind is never "easy" and I have at times wanted to curl up in a hole with a bottle of tequila and go to sleep...just kidding....well, not really.... BUT I do know that I have some incredible friends around me who would do anything for me (and have) and I sure as hell hope I get some decent songs out of this....
I'm not sure why I'm putting all of this on my website except that my fans know that I try to be honest and open about my life and my feelings in my songs. I'm not afraid to talk about the hard stuff and this year has just been hard for me. So there it is. I'm still ridiculously optimistic about everything and still feel like one of the luckiest people in the world most of the time! So, if you see me out, please let's have a beer and then tell me the funniest joke you know. Seriously.
Onward with gratitude....