What's Ahead for 2017?
I am going to attempt to keep up-to-date with blogging about new music and news this year, so here's my first installment! What's ahead for 2017? A lot!
This year has gotten off to a busy start! In February I kicked off my musical year by playing with the lovely, talented duo Barwick and Seigfried at the Acoustic Den in Roseville! Kathy and Pete are skillful bluegrass and finger-style musicians. Kathy is a writer for Bluegrass magazine and a long-time pioneer for female guitar and banjo players amongst other things. Pete is a deeply talented songwriter and mandolin player originally from the east coast; I would recommend seeing this duo play soon if you have not already! We have decided we like gigging together, so watch out for a Fall date with these guys in the coming months!
I have been booking gigs for the year with some exciting shows in the pipeline, including some local and some a little further afield. On March 18th I will be playing at my favorite home-town spot, Luna's Cafe in Sacramento, with the wonderful Patrick Grizzell and Richard March. I'm honored to share the stage with these seasoned local songwriters; we were supposed to play this gig last December, but I got sick, so come join us for post-St. Paddy's Day cheer!
At the end of this month I'll be playing up in Auburn at Sip Wine Bar; it's my first show in Auburn since I performed at the First Congregational Church's quarterly songwriter showcase last fall (which was lovely by the way) so I am looking forward to singing some new tunes up in Gold Country; I have been hiking up in a lot Auburn lately (I would recommend the Hidden Falls trail on a quiet day!) and love the area; this will be a fun evening!
To book-end March I will be opening for the talented Gaelynn Lea, winner of the NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2016, at Modesto Unplugged. Gaelynn plays violin with skillful loop pedaling, and sings irish/traditional-inspired original songs. I am super honored and excited to be opening for her, and I'll be back at the festival on April 22nd to play a full songwriter set.
In May I will be back in San Francisco at the Bazaar Cafe with my friends Robin Galante and Eric Pederson; my first show in SF was about 8 years ago with these guys at the very same venue! I will be adding more bay area dates this year so keep checking back for that. Speaking of SF songwriter friends, in June, I'll be returning to the Acoustic Den in Roseville (which is becoming a songwriter-home-away-from-home) with Nina Jo Smith, and Patrick Grizzell!
I also just confirmed a songwriter showcase for the fall in Volcano, CA, at the St. George Hotel! Songwriter showcases are run here every first Friday of each month, so check out their site for upcoming music performances of local artists! All the info for that is in the Shows tab.
Another thing I am super excited about, is joining the Sacramento based Sidewheeler String Band! I will be playing a bunch of shows with these talented musicians (the first one is coming up on March 3rd). Sidewheeler plays a mixture of Americana, traditional originals, and bluegrass music with Ken Burnett on guitar and vocals, me on harp, banjo, bouzouki and vocals, Sinjin St John on fiddle, viola, and vocals, and Adrian Baxmeyer on bass (these guys are also members of the Irish band One Eyed Reilly!). Expect eclecticism, and a LOT of strings! The best thing about this is that I get to bring out the harp again...maybe I will even use it in my solo songs again! Please check out the link on the gigs page for Sidewheeler shows.
So, on to the rest of the summer, and recordings: I will be finishing my long-overdue album, to be released this summer (honest!), so I will be putting together a short tour to promote it. The Macedonian project is coming to an end finally, so keep watching for updates on when that will be available on the homepage! I am about to release my New York Rockwood gig live recordings as a free EP, so please check for that on here soon.
I would also love to set up a Winter UK tour, but we will see about that!
That's all for now!
