"The dreams of my life are so simple and few...
Just to be back with you, back with you....in the heartland." ~ Denise Hagan, "Heartland"
Hey Friends,
Wow, it's already Autumn...doesn't it seem like it snuck up
on you? It does me, although I'm always
happy to have it arrive. I've been
reading Linda Ronstadt's fine memoir, "Simple Dreams" and really
enjoying it. I recommend it if you would
like to read about one of the true ground zero locations of the development of
country rock in the sixties-seventies.
Kind of amazing that such ground-breaking work all got done in such a
small area of the world ~ The Troubador in LA!!
And the shifting sands are already moving beneath us...
I've also been inspired by our busy wood-shedding at the
house these last couple of months. Since
coming off tour in July, and after some R&R, the guys and I have become
enraptured of our new songs. Many of
them have emerged from our songwriter in residence, Rob Carlson, who has pulled
out a treasure trove of songs that seem to have been waiting for us to discover
them. First off, I have to tell you
about the great new instrumental "Independence "
that will open our show at McCabe's ~ oh!
we are going back to McCabe's Guitar shop on November 16! More about that below (and our cool new
poster is above - thanks to Russ Paris for the design!) ~ it sounds like the opening of a great,
epic, cinematic adventure!
Then there's a song that Rob wrote for me called "Not
That Kind of Girl" that we debuted at the Labor Day Harvest Fest at
Bedford Winery. So much fun ~ a real
swinging and sweet old fashioned love song.
Mark Indictor, our amazing fiddler, brought us Denise Hagan's gorgeous
song "Heartland," a bittersweet song about the pull and tug of
feelings for going back to your land of birth and the life you have made
outside of it. Steve Rankin is going to
literally "rev it up" for his lead vocal on Rob's fabulous rockabilly
song "427" (this is about a car, I'm told...). There is also a possibility of yours truly
actually singing a rock and roll song called "Never Give Up" which
the guys are urging me to get ready. So
I'm working hard on that one. And some older, new favorites (you'll see, just
come to the show!), Fred's "Take Me Along," the whimsical "Don't
Resist Me" and Steve on lead on the David Olney classic "Millionaire."
Check out our great music video of this
song from our tour last May on our Home or Video page.
We're really excited and happy about our return to the
finest acoustic venue in all of Los
Angeles , the famed and famous McCabe's Guitar Shop, on
November 16. I've also got a singing
workshop planned for that day and I hope you'll call and sign up. Also in November we're going to shoot a music
video of our song "April Fools" from our most recent release
"White Swan."
In January we'll be starting a new series at the Coffee
Gallery Backstage in Altadena , on four first
Fridays, we're calling "The Woodshed Sessions" featuring our new
material as well as one guest songwriter each month, bringing us their new
songs in development. It will be cutting
edge! So stay tuned for that.
Later this fall I'll also be telling you about a show I'm
producing as a benefit for the Howard Larman Scholarship Fund of the FAR-West
Folk Alliance Regional organization (FAR-West Website). A very worthy cause indeed, so please make
plans to join us on Saturday, January 25th at the Thousand Oaks Library. A stellar line up of music will attend!
Other NewsBits:
Pandora Radio ~
Find the Hilonesome Band on Pandora! Here’s
the link: http://www.pandora.com/station/1432298446106166587
Teaching at Boulevard
Music
I've been put on the roster at Boulevard Music in Culver City as a voice
instructor, teaching vocal technique for bluegrass and folk music styles in
private sessions. Call Boulevard Music to schedule your voice lessons! I look
forward to seeing you there! Find them
at www.boulevardmusic.com
New Column on
FolkWorks
I'm proud of the new column on FolkWorks, sharing the great
writing of our friend, Terry Roland, in his article "Unsung Heroes of
Americana" which originally appeared in No Depression. The article includes some wonderful video
from Jean Ritchie's documentary on her life and work, "Mountain
Born." Find it at www.folkworks.org
As always we send you all our very best and hope to see you
at a show!
Susie and the Hilonesome Band: Mark Indictor, Rob Carlson, Steve Rankin and
Fred Sanders