Sometimes Things Don't Go As Planned

2 weeks ago, I fractured my right elbow. It sounds pretty nasty. I'll be honest, it hurts, but it could be 1,000 times worse. After a trip to urgent care and then to the orthopedic, I've been given a sling and a four to six week window for recovery. In the meantime I'm actually encouraged to NOT wear the sling as often as possible (which is awesome because frankly, the sling is miz) and to try to extend and curl my arm. I can still run and am expected to regain full range of motion- playing guitar is a few weeks out but just because it will hurt. The Doc said as long as it doesn't get bumped again, it will be fully functioning before Christmas. I'm pushing for a miracle at the three week mark so I can aggressively help put up the holiday decorations next weekend, but really, one day at a time.

I've broken things before, I've gotten super sick and had to take things easy for awhile, had to take care of myself and simplify. When I tried to lay my arm on the x-ray table and realized it was not going to happen, I was struck with the notion that I was about to be taught a lesson. I knowingly sighed and welcomed the silver lining to appear whenever it was ready.

I slightly overestimated my capacity for optimism. In those first few days- those first few hours even, I felt more frustration than I really care to admit. Although a proud southpaw, only having the use of one arm, one hand, even if it is my dominant one, is really difficult. Some things that were really hard nay impossible to do that I wasn't expecting:

-wearing shoes with laces (can't tie them)

-putting my hair in a pony tail or a bobby pin (not awesome since my hair is at a super awkward length)

-getting dressed period. (one of my students actually asked me last week if I had trouble getting dressed. I can only assume it's because I'm having to pick outfits and ensembles that are really easy to get on, whether or not they match or even fit)

-sleeping (the arm is supposed to be propped up therefore completely eliminating a whole side that I can roll over onto, not to mention snuggling)

-typing. one handed finger pecking takes for.ev.er.

-cutting food

-washing my hair (I've basically reverted back to being about 5 years old when all you do is squeeze a big blob of shampoo onto the top of your head and hope that does the trick)

I've tried to throw my good hand up and laugh it off and just accept my fate for the time being. A poorly dressed, greasy haired, velcro shoe wearing, sleep deprived, one armed slow poke. I've tried to just let it go when I start feeling sad that my guitar calluses are almost gone after two weeks of dormancy, or that I had just started to be able to do toe pushups in Shred Fit and will now undoubtedly be months behind and back to knee push ups if I'm even lucky. But more often than not I've had to take a time out and breath through some tears.

Woe is me right? I am not as enlightened as I thought. But I am happy to report that despite my relative impatience and even bratty-ness at times, lessons have indeed been sneaking in. The most important being a resurgence of gratitude, and it just so happens to be perfect timing seeing that Thanksgiving is upon us.

Here is a happier, more redeeming list of surprises and reminders:

-My boyfriend is a kind, compassionate and patient man. This is not a surprise, but I have been humbled time and again by his willingness to put up with me when I am whiny, to coax me into asking for help even though I should be a big enough girl to do so myself, and to gently assist me with a slew of unglamorous tasks.

-Team Shred Fit is awesome. I was with the gang when I took my little spill on the trail and much to my mortification, burst into ugly crying and curled up into a ball. Reb, Derek and Beist were so kind to me in my state, crouching down with me to wipe the dirt out of my mouth, the leaves out of my hair and to assess my boo boos. After having to miss several sessions since, I got back into the workouts this week and am fully planning on running the Turkey Trot next week with these shredding machines. Woohoo!

-My friends and family are so supportive. I've gotten so many kind calls, emails and notes of encouragement and happy thoughts. I feel infinitely blessed beyond measure to have so many wonderful people in my world and to be surrounded by such love. I am lucky, lucky lucky.

-I have gotten to sleep in, read with reckless abandon and treat myself to several espresso drinks from Starbucks all because the Christmas cups are out all without feeling guilty.

-I have taken great pride and pleasure in the smallest of things, most recently I was able to curl one little front section of my hair for a wedding and get the bangs back and out of my face. Today I was also able to twist open the peanut butter jar. Who knew this could bring so much joy?

-I have been reminded time again of the mantra 'How important is it?' Turns out most of the things I stress out about really are not.

-I have been quite touched by the kindness of strangers, more specifically grocery store cashiers. A dear checker at Trader Joe's actually came out from the counter to help me put things back into my purse.

-My kids at school have said the darndest of things in response to my sling, my arm and getting hurt in general and it has all really cracked me up

-I can still walk, still drive, still write, still assemble my Gingerbread house for Christmas club next week

-Everything takes twice as long to do. Annoying yes, but sometimes it ends up feeling like I have a lot more time.

-I miss playing guitar and piano. Like Whoa. But I also have this great, excited, giddy feeling of anticipation about how magical it will feel when I can do it again. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

So there it is. I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm open to the whole thing. And ultimately thankful for the chance to remember and celebrate all that I have to be thankful for- the little, the big, the humor, the humbling.

Oh, one other thing to be CRAZY thankful for:

*In the midst of all this madness and musical pause, I found out that my song 'Honestly' is going to be on the Emmy award winning show, Venice!!! Wed, Nov 23, season premiere! I'm over the moon. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/user/venicetheseries

Thank you Charles, Matt and Lynn for making it happen!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Time Is On My Side, Yes It Is. (I hope.)

I found my first grey hair yesterday morning. It’s really not a big deal, I know. A lot of people have grey hairs. And it was just one. But I stared at it for a long time, more in wonder than in horror. Where am I in life?

When I first graduated from college, something happened and I woke up one day totally consumed with getting wrinkles. I had NEVER thought about it before, and certainly never been worried about it before. And suddenly, there I was in CVS, combing the beauty aisles for a product that might stop the little crow’s feet in their tracks. I was only 22! I was just learning how to not take my body for granted!!! Don’t let me get wrinkles now!!! I bought something from Neutrogena-which somehow made me feel better about it, like it might actually be good for my skin. It burned. It was awful. I don’t even know if I made it through the whole bottle. And in the end, when I looked at my face up close (not really recommended in any situation), nothing had happened to those baby wrinkles. They were there and they were going to stay and probably get bigger and deeper and all I could do was pray for acceptance. After all, weren’t they really just reminders that I was alive? That I’d spent some glorious days in the sun? That I’d had the luxury of going to college and staring in frustration and panic at the computer screen trying to write final papers? Attitude is all in the gratitude right?

I think what was really at the heart of the wrinkle-terror was that I had just graduated from school and was out on my own, in my very first apartment, as yet unemployed, totally at the mercy of the big, bad world in a way I had never before experienced. Since those days I have indeed been diligent in taking care of my skin (probably having more to do with the aforementioned learning how to not take my body for granted than anything else) and some times when the light catches the mirror just so during make up application or I’m staying in a hotel and can’t resist that God-awful magnifying glass bathroom mirror, or someone takes a pic of me laughing reallllly hard, you can see them. But I don’t really care. I know I will just get creasier and creasier and it’s okay.

This brings me up to the grey hair. I’ve had about 7 years since graduating college to get used to the wrinkles and embrace them and celebrate the ways they remind me about my life. The grey hair is a new addition.

As I said, I’m not freaking out about this. If I go full headed grey tomorrow then so be it. But I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s like my body is not my own. Am I being dramatic? Maybe. But I swear I have a worthwhile point.

This is my last year of my twenties. I am thinking about the future a lot. I’m thinking about babies and buying a house and laying down roots. I’m thinking about my career and what I really want that to look like in the long run. I don’t even remember the exact moment that I felt it in my heart of hearts that I was meant to do music. But I’ve felt in my bones for as long as I can remember. Could I have heard wrong?

I think I have had a lot of successes in my musical journey thus far, but I haven’t accomplished everything I’ve set out to do. Far from it in fact. There is a part of me that feels like I don’t want to enter the next phase of my life until I have a little more to show for myself in that department. The grey hair is more of a reminder that being a starving artist doesn’t have the same romance that it did when I was in my early twenties. (Let’s be honest, mid to late twenties too). It has no romance to me anymore. I want to have some stability, I want to be a financially responsible partner to my boyfriend and come to the table with my ducks in a row. Am I running out of time?

I don’t really believe in that, I don’t. Everything in it’s own time, what’s meant to be will be. “To everything turn, turn, turn.” I believe that. I still get scared though. I don’t know if I ever really imagined myself growing old. I’ve imagined (daydreamed about) myself doing a lot of things; performing on stage at the Ryman, singing a duet with Patty or Lori or Amy or Emmylou, writing songs for other people, having enough money to do something really nice for my parents, being a mom, living in Kenya, and being a really great ballroom dancer (that’s more of a distant fantasy. AKA never gonna happen.) But for the former ones, I still feel young enough to dream that big. Lori McKenna had 5 kids and was in her 40’s when she got a Nashville publishing deal! Patty Griffin was 28 when she began to really pursue music and play live. I remind myself of these facts quite often-whew, age ain’t nothing but a number.

My brain often vacillates between the logical and the emotional. In the same beat I can feel totally enlightened and at ease and faithful that everything happens as it should and then also get a stressball in my stomach that I’m not working hard enough and I’m crazy for trying and I’m going to ultimately fail. Maybe that’s just the thought process of a creative person trying to make their art a business in some way, maybe that’s the woe of almost 30somethings everywhere; maybe I’m just nuts. Whatever the reason, the grey hair seemed a physical manifestation of my most recent psychological ponderings. I’m getting older. I wouldn’t turn back the clock. For as many things that freak me out, my life has never been better. I love where I live, I love my friends and family so dearly, I love my boyfriend so much, I love the kind of shows I’m getting to play and the musicians I get to hang out with. Life is good. I don’t care about getting old(er), I just want to make all those people who believed in me proud. I just want to be one of those people who never gave up.

I want to do the best with what I’m given, be brave, present and faithful. And if I really think about it, there is always enough time to work on that.

Tour Glory.

As I write this I have totally abandoned my steadfast plan to unpack, return emails, do copious amounts of laundry, review and revise my to-do list and in general recover from a week away from home. Instead I’ve plowed through two heaping and glorious pieces of gluten free quiche that Jer made while in my pjs and subsequently climbing into bed. I lost the ambition pretty quickly.

Really, I just want to talk about the tour and remember every hilarious and wonderful moment on the road.

There are so many things I feel deeply and profoundly grateful about this past week. Here they are in the best way I can lay them all out.

Whit and I got the chance to traverse what is surely one of the most beautiful places in the country- and it’s all along the 5!!! The 5 North is decidedly different from the 5 South. It is green, lush, mountainous, and just plain gorgeous. And while the 5 South leads to a place I hold so dear, the drive to LA is NOT a picturesque experience. I was in awe the whole drive at the view. The road continues to be a place of wonderment for me.

I was able to see friends I have not seen in years. First stop in Redding, my old friend Jessica Fletcher appeared during sound check. I haven’t seen this amazing gal since middle school. We were two singing peas in a pod back in the 6^th grade; we wrote our own stellar tunes, performed ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ in the school talent show, and made honor chorus together. It was such a delight to see her beautiful face and meet her fiancé and get to see her little sister. The glory of reconnecting with old friends is really unparalleled. Even after all these years it felt like we still shared so much.

Then we hit Eugene and two pals from my freshman dorm days came out to support the show- Jess and Phil. (They’re married! I love that I knew them when we were all little freshies and they ended up getting married!) And of course, Eugene has become synonymous with Mr. Silas Valentino. My baby brother who has somehow managed to grow almost a foot taller than me and into a strapping young lad full of whit and humor. I could see the moment the Ducks came in, Silas had brought a whole brigade of U of O friends and they were all as kind as could be. The next day he gave Whit and I a tour of his dorm and his school and my heart was as full as it could be. To see him so settled, so happy and so inspired, I just felt so proud. Not like I had anything to do with it, but even after all these years he still feels like my little baby bro, and I still worry about him and cluck over him more like a pseudo parent than a big sister. He is so in his element and I know I can rest easy.

In Seattle I saw an old pal from middle school days (yay Ross Parker!!) an old highschool pal and musical accomplice (yay Eliza!!! who by the way graciously opened her house up to Whit and I for the night!! Can’t wait to hang out again girl!!) and the Mullen family. Molly Mullen and I were in kindergarten together and became the best of pals. We both eventually moved out of the Bay Area, her to Washington State and my family to central California but we always stayed in touch. Even still it had been many years since we’d seen each other. When she walked in the door with not only her brand new husband but her parents, I nearly peed my pants with excitement!! It was such a special couple of minutes getting to reminisce about the days of our youngest youth when we would play house for hours, make our little brothers participate in our outlandish and uber dramatic homegrown plays that ALWAYS took place in the ‘olden days’, and feverishly read The Boxcar Children series. To get to meet her hubby and hear about her current life and then see her parents who were always so dear and kind to me- it was such a full circle moment and just so heart warming.

I totally fell in love with Portland. It didn’t hurt that we were staying in THE cutest house with the coolest, hippest couple ever. Cara went to college with Whit and she and her hubs showed us such a great time and put us up in such amazing and cozy digs. They live in this adorable and quaint neighborhood right down the street from not only an immense and dense and perfect park with 40+trails, but also from a bustling main street chalk full of sweet little coffee shops, restaurants and the like- all with no sales tax! We drank some truly superb coffee, made use of as much of those 40 miles as we could and just took in the city and day dreamed about bringing our boyfriends there one day because they would both love it so much too. I hurried through my book (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- so good but I definitely had TWO nightmares involving being kidnapped and shot in the head. Not so awesome) so that I could get started on the new Donald Miller book Jer gave me for Christmas. I just felt like I had to get to reading it given I was in Portland and all. Funnily enough this one is about being on the road and learning how to want only what you need, to ask the WHY questions and not the HOW, to be happy with what you already have, to feel good enough in the face of a world always telling you you are lacking in someway. It’s been a pretty powerful read, and a perfect companion for a girl on the road- and on tour at that.

We played some really great venues, met some amazing and supportive people and sang our hearts out. We learned a lot of things along the way like booking a gig on the night of SuperBowl Sunday is not the wisest thing to do if you want a crowd. We hauled all our own gear and ran our own sound if necessary. Every place we played was so receptive and kind to us and we are definitely making plans to return to all of them in the coming months. I especially want to give a shout out to Forza up in Seattle and their whole incredible team who just made us feel so welcome and so cared for. We really feel so, SO lucky to have met you guys.

We pulled into San Rafael about 2am this morning and were greeted by a giant sign of congrats, balloons and flowers everywhere from Jeremy. Honestly, I know it was only a week but I feel like I’ve written about three new songs in my head all about the missing and the distance. Shoot, what can I say.

I made it to my classes today and despite being pretty worn out and at times delirious, I felt like I was still buzzing from some kind of adrenaline and energy that we actually did it.

To Whit I would like to say, you are a dear friend, an amazing, talented and profound artist, and a pretty awesome travelling buddy. I will never forget this little adventure of ours.

Thank you to everyone who hosted us, showed us around their cities and came out to see our shows. Big thanks to the Groligs for their help in times of need J

Thank you so much to everyone who sent us off with well wishes and prayers and everyone who received us with smiles and open hearts. I feel so thankful and so excited for all that is to come.

A Quick Update!

Just a quick hello and an early Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Did I ever mention that I really love this time of year??

Jeremy and I had an AMAZING time in LA last weekend!!! It was such a beautiful couple of days, perfect weather and glorious reunions, although it most definitely felt too short. Thank you so much to everyone who came out to Genghis!! I had such a blast and just reallllly appreciate all your support…Natalie thank you for singing with me and Jamie thank you for your fantastic cameo!!!! J

The calendar year is winding down but I do have some cool shows on the horizon. The Santa Cruz house concert scheduled for this coming Saturday (20^th) has been postponed fyi!!! I’ll let you know when it gets put back on the books!!! BUT you can still come out to the following gigs!

Sunday November 28^th: Yoshis in San Francisco 8pm, $7

http://www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco/jazzclub/artist/show/1578

Saturday Dec 4^th: House Concert in San Francisco!

To RSVP please email pearcecreative@gmail.com

Sunday Dec 19^th: Hotel Utah in San Fran!!!

Sharing the night with Utah Girl and Christopher Dallman!!!

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3292165&pl=utah&REFERRAL_ID=TW_ADD_EDP&sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4ce1782ed53a4d47%2C0

Lots of stuff brewing for next year so stay tuned!!! And in the meantime I wish you all the gloriousness of the season and the happiest of holidays!!!!!

Love love love, Keeley

Sundays Are Magic

It is rainy and cold this morning. Jer and I are in our cozy little den, we turned the heater on for the first time ever in our new place and we are enjoying the warmth as football plays in the background and we are both at work on our computers. It’s kind of an amazing Sunday so far.
Life is good. I am feeling really nostalgic and honestly desperate to let everyone I know reallllly understand how much I value them. I’ve been reflecting quite a bit on the mosaic that is my life, all the bits and pieces that have come together and fit perfectly to create who and where I am today. It fascinates me how life works out sometimes.
Here is a slice of some of the things rolling around in my brain and my heart :)

~I’ve been getting so so excited about our trip to LA next month. It will be my first time back since we moved and I realize now that it has been quite a long time. Between our trip and then trying to get settled and get work etc., time seems to have been moving at an inconsistent pace. I haven’t had the time to sit back and just miss LA. I’ve missed people of course, but have not exactly been wistful about our old place or neighborhood or rituals. I feel that now and I can’t wait go back and soak it all again. I’ve been thinking a lot about MI and everything I learned, all the chances I had to grow as a singer and as a writer, the people who believed in me and pushed me into uncomfortable but necessary places, the friends I made in my classes, the people who played with me. There are some whom I never even saw again after our program ended but I think of them all the time. It was such a good time in my life, one I will never forget and one I will always, always be so thankful for.

~I recently had the chance to reconnect with an old friend from my Bakersfield elementary school days. We both liked to sing and wrote songs together that sounded like we were 12 going on 30. I remember one particular tune went like this:
“Do you think it’s fair that I’m all alone
and you are off somewhere?
Do you think it’s fair that you don’t care so
I’m stuck putting the pieces together”
I mean, did we even know what we were talking about? Who can say, but we sang it with gusto. We also sang ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ for our 6th grade talent show and apart from singing in church as a kid; it was really my first time singing in front of a large audience. My heart STILL skips a beat when I hear the harmonica start that song off on the radio because I remember how nervous I had been to perform, and because I have such fond memories of my pals from 6th grade. I’ve stayed in touch with some of them and it’s really amazing to see how their lives have unfolded. It’s an honor actually. I feel a closeness to them I can’t properly articulate. They remind me of an old and distant chapter in my life, but also of an inescapable and deep-rooted part of myself and for that I am indebted to them.

~I started teaching music. I have had a lifetime of experience working with kids and years and years of playing music, but I’ve never really combined the two. It’s been one of the most challenging things I’ve taken on in a really long time. Last week I literally couldn’t sleep the night before one of my first classes. It’s a good nervousness though, a stretching, as Jeremy keeps reminding me. I’ve had a pretty poor track record when it comes to bowing to self doubt but I’ve been surprising myself this time around. I am equipped to do this. It helps that I know a lot of teachers who offer up excellent advice. It helps that I’m getting to teach a lot of Christmas music and it helps that Jeremy sends me text messages every time I’m on my way to class that say, ‘You have everything you need’. (Is he amazing or what) I’m letting that sink in more than I ever have before. I DO have everything I need. I’m new at this yes, I’m scared of messing up yes, but music is my life and sharing it comes naturally when I just let it go. It actually feels kind of full circle in a way, I remember so well the music teachers that touched my life, from Mrs. McGrath in the 4th grade to Bob Schleeter in high school to Deanna Walker in college and so on and now I have the chance to maybe give some of that back. Speaking of Bob, I’m working with him a few times a week in his chorus class at Marin Academy. Talk about full circle, right?
In addition to this new frontier, I just realized that I’ve gotten paid for every show I’ve played since we moved up here. Of course, it’s not about the money AT ALL, but seeing that it was my goal to support myself with musical endeavors only, it feels kind of good to be able to say I’m a semi-professional performer right now :)

And so another week begins….thank you to all my friends and family and everyone who supports me…I feel so so thankful every day for everything I have been given and I’m just trying to deserve it all.
Best wishes for a cozy rest of the month and a glorious Halloween!!!!K

Relocation

September 1^st. My first official month begins as a San Rafael resident. Granted, Jeremy and I have been back from our trip for a few weeks now, but those weeks were filled with moving and unpacking and organizing, family and highschool reunionizing- now it feels like we are truly getting settled. Exploring the neighborhood, trying out the local cuisine, going to farmer’s markets, oh yeah- and job hunting (more on that later).

There are so many things I love about being back. Just last night, Jeremy and I walked to 4^th Street to get froyo and we ran into Sarie (my sis). Last week my dad called me on a whim to go hear someone speak at the community center with him and this afternoon we had a last minute lunch together. Earlier this week I picked up my little cousins from school. It is so nice to be close to my family again.

This time of the year is beautiful here. Apparently it’s been an unseasonably cold summer but let me tell you, it’s going out with a bang. It’s been really warm the past few days but warm in just the right ways. The sky seems a piercing blue and it stays warm even when the sun goes down. Everyone is outside soaking in what is left of the summer magic before fall sweeps in. I’ve been doing my best to take Jeremy on all my favorite trails. So far we’ve done the Dipsea Stairs and beyond, Mt. Burdell, Indian Tree, Phoenix Lake and I’m pretty sure we found a trail down the street from our place that will eventually lead you into China Camp although we didn’t get far enough to find out on our first expedition. The trails here are so glorious and magnificent and this nice weather makes it all the more inviting to be outside. The air is clear, the views are breathtaking and never ending. These are trails I’ve loved for years and yet to see them through someone else’s eyes makes them all the more magical and special. I feel like I am constantly reminded about how beautiful it is here just by seeing the wonder on Jeremy’s face.

We have been so blessed. Our summer was so ridiculous and liberating and amazing and now we are here in this lovely house with a dishwasher and a huge garden in the cutest neighborhood – it just doesn’t make sense. The other night I was talking about all this with John Buckley (Sarie’s dad) and explaining my discomfort at how lucky we have been and he said to me ‘This is just a great time for you to really practice your gratitude”. And he is totally right. Whether or not I deserve all this good stuff is kind of besides that point. I have it right now and I just need to be overflowing with thanks every minute that I do.

Fall has always seemed like the most hopeful season to me, which is probably counterintuitive since really things are getting ready to hibernate and change colors and ultimately go on hiatus to brace for winter. Maybe my internal calendar is still synched up to the school year, but fall has just always felt like a beginning to me. And it does right now. Jer and I have given ourselves a month to try and get jobs in something we REALLY want to do. For me, that is of course music. So I have until October 1^st to see what kind of musical life I can make for myself here. This includes everything from giving music lessons to playing shows to playing house concerts to- well, I’m still brainstorming. (any ideas??) But I’m excited to give it my all and just be brave.

Big News

This past March marked two years since I moved to LA. This is crazy to me. The other day I found my long lost Marc Cohn cd and immediately popped it into my cd player and my car was enveloped with the soundtrack to my life of two years ago. I was obsessed with that record, I listened to it for most of the cross-country drive from Nashville, for most of the two months I was in the Bay Area before I moved to LA, and for most of the first spring I was here. It’s true that a ‘melody can bring back a memory’ (what! what! Clint Black). I was very nostalgic thinking about how daunting this place had seemed, what a long road seemed to loom before me; all the excitement and uncertainty. And now, LA too, has become home. I have found my niche, I love my neighborhood, I’ve become a way more aggressive driver, I have amazing, inspiring friends and a magical man- I am settled.
The gifts and the blessings I’ve received by moving here have been huge and numerous. Moving to LA was never something I had in my plan for myself, but as I am reminded time and again, sometimes you have to throw your OWN plan out the window and take a leap. It’s about that time for another one of those.
Jeremy and I are moving up to the Bay Area this summer! I almost can’t believe it’s really true, and it still astounds me that I’ve spent a good portion of my adult life waiting for a sign about when I could move back home and I come to LA and fall in love with a boy who has wanted to live there for awhile. One of the many reasons we are meant to be. We aren’t totally sure yet which city we’ll live in, be it San Francisco or Berkeley or even somewhere in Marin, just that this is our next adventure. I am so excited to move home and be closer to my friends and family up there, to breathe the air and hike all the trails and sit up in the Headlands and watch the Golden Gate Bridge.
Of course, this is also very bittersweet. As I said, I’ve come to love LA in all its crazy glory, but most importantly, I love all the people who have come into my life while I have lived here. Every teacher and classmate I had the privilege of meeting while at Musician’s Institute, everyone I’ve worked with at Hugo’s and the kids I’ve tutored, my family and Jeremy's family I’ve gotten closer to, the new friends I’ve made and the old ones I’ve reconnected with, it will be so, so sad to say goodbye to you.
A special thanks to Natalie Metcalf and Danny Byrne whose friendship and musical companionship have made an indelible mark on my heart and brought me so much joy. Getting to play and sing with you during my time here has taught me so much and I hope you’ll be up for taking some trips to the Bay for a show or two here and there :)
Before the big move, though, Jeremy and I are going on a fantastical road trip that has had a few incarnations of its own. What began as an idea for a month long camping expedition turned into something of an interactive mini-tour with blog posts and picture and video postings. We are still planning on lots of camping and sightseeing, but I’m going to play some shows along the way; the way being: all across the country. Everything is still in the works now but I’d love any input from you if you know of a cool venue in your city or if you’d like to host a house-concert or something, we are up for all ideas. In addition to all this, we’re also going to be raising awareness about Children of Strength, the non-profit so dear to my heart that supports a community in need in Kenya.
(http://www.kilimambogo.org/)
Stay tuned for more details about the road trip/tour and where we will land afterwards, and in the meantime I will be soaking up all the little bits of magic springtime in LA has to offer. Thank you for your continued support!!!