Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band - Blog Here!

February Shows and News

2012-01-27T16:23:00.000-08:00

"Evangeline" is Ernest Troost's song about mistaken identity, crime and heartbreak.

Hey Friends!

February finds the band traveling a lot, running to and fro! We've spent the last month developing our show for the tours coming up and we're excited to be polishing our current work while working on some great new songs from Rob Carlson, Ernest Troost and Tom Waits.

Our first show of the new year is here in town with our good friend Ernest Troost at his “Juke Joint Gang” songwriter’s show at the Talking Stick in Venice. We then hightail it out of town to join the great band Houston Jones at the lovely Palms Playhouse in Winters, California (with a special surprise guest!). We toodle on down the road later that weekend to join the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival (http://www.sfbluegrass.org/) for their first weekend of what looks like a great line up this year. Concerts at Studio 55 Marin and The Freight and Salvage are our part of this festival of concerts over a 10 day period throughout San Francisco area. We share the stage with some remarkable musicians for those shows, including the wonderful Kathy Kallick band at the Freight & Salvage. AND, excitingly, our show at the Freight will be streamed live over a webcast to anyone who would like to sign on! Wherever you are in the world, you can tune in! Purchase online tickets for $3 any time the day of the show at www.concertwindow.com/thefreight. The show will not be taped, but you can watch it live in HD. Payment can be made using PayPal or a credit/debit cards.

We're excited also to be attending the International Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis this month where we showcase with some of the greatest in the business. Check out the Folk Alliance at http://www.folk.org/.

Thanks to our friend Pattie Van Over on the camera and our own Mark Indictor as editor, we have five brand new videos on our YouTube channel from our show in December at the Grand Annex with Fur Dixon and Steve Werner. See them at Our YouTube Channel. In fact, thanks to Kim Grant of KG Music Press, find a great group sing video from that show posted on No Depression's Los Angeles Page.
Speaking of No Depression, our friend Carl Gage did a great review of our last release "Live At The Freight & Salvage" there last fall: Review of "Live At The Freight & Salvage" on No Depression
Stay tuned for more good news! Please visit our website, drop us a line on Facebook, and plan to join us at a show.

Blessings and Love,

Susie and The Hilonesome Band

Rob Carlson, Steve Rankin, Mark Indictor and Fred Sanders

February Shows

Saturday, February 4th, The Juke Joint Gang at the Talking Stick Coffee Lounge

Ernest Troost's monthly gathering of songwriters at the Talking Stick.
1411 Lincoln Blvd., Venice, CA 90291. FREE. Shows begins at 8:00. (310) 450-6052 http://www.thetalkingstick.net/

Saturday, February 11th, Live on KDVS 90.3fm radio show The Saturday Morning Folk Show" 11:00 a.m. With Houston Jones. Listen live at http://www.kdvs.org/

Saturday, February 11th, The Palms Playhouse, Winters, CA
On a double bill with Houston Jones. Show time 8pm. Doors 7:30.
Palms Playhouse, Winters Opera House, 13 Main St., Winters, CA 95694. http://www.palmsplayhouse.com/

San Francisco Bluegrass And Old Time Festival Shows www.sfbluegrass.org

Sunday, Feb. 12 Studio 55 Marin
With Houston Jones 1455 East Francisco Blvd., San Rafael, California http://www.studio55marin.com/. Find tickets at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/216746

Kathy Kallick Band

Monday, Feb. 13 Freight And Salvage Coffee House
With the Kathy Kallick Band. 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $20.50 in advance and $22.50 at the door (half price for 18 and under, seniors and Freight members get $1 discount).
2020 Addison St., Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 548-1761.
http://www.thefreight.org/ Info on tickets: http://www.freightandsalvage.org/ticket-information

We will be live-streaming our upcoming concert at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse on Monday, February 13, which starts at 8 p.m. PT. Wherever you are in the world, you can tune in! You can purchase online tickets for $3 any time the day of the show at www.concertwindow.com/thefreight. The show will not be taped, but you can watch it live in HD! Payment can be made using PayPal or a credit/debit card.

February 22-26 Folk Alliance International Conference, Memphis, TN
http://www.folk.org/

Happy New Year From the Hilonesome Band

2012-01-09T11:26:00.000-08:00

"It is the time so well we love,
The time of all the year;
When winter calls with chilling breath,
For fireside and good cheer."

From Jean Ritchie's Winter Grace

See Our New Video "MillWorker" on YouTube

Happy New Year!

Wow, isn't it weird to write "2012" and have it actually be a number of a year that we're living in? Having been raised in the '60s and '70s (I'm dating myself here) this kind of over the 2000 mark year is a little unbelievable!

But here we are! The Los Angeles weather has been spring-like and even though the days are short and the sun is low in the sky, we've been enjoying the early winter blue skies. We've also revved up the machine once again from our holiday hiatus and hibernation and are now busy planning for the upcoming year. There are some exciting things going on! We begin the year with the trio playing at the NAMM music industry convention in Anaheim for our friends at Shubb Capos. The rest of January will be a wood-shedding month as we prepare new songs and polish the act for a busy wintertime. February will find us returning to Ernest Troost’s “Juke Joint Gang” songwriter’s show at the Talking Stick in Venice and on the bill once again at the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival, this time sharing the stage at the Freight & Salvage with the wonderful Kathy Kallick band as well as sharing a bill at the Palms Playhouse and Studio 55 Marin earlier that weekend with Houston Jones. Later that month we scurry off to Memphis for the International Folk Alliance Conference and some site seeing to Graceland and awesome barbeque! I can't wait to see the ducks at the famous Peabody hotel and visit Sun Records!

Other great things coming for 2012 include a possible short tour for me and Steve to the UK in April (we're working on it!), as well as a new band album we'll record this summer. We'll be presenting 4 new songs from Rob Carlson, along with works from Ernest Troost, Steve Earle, James Taylor and Jean Ritchie. And for those of you who've been waiting patiently, we're finally going to record Fred's great song "Rockin' In Your Grand Daddy's Chair" along with other surprises. We hope for a new CD release right around this time next year.

Thanks to our friend Pattie Van Over on the camera and our own Mark Indictor as editor, we have five brand new videos on our YouTube channel from our show in December at the Grand Annex with Fur Dixon and Steve Werner. See them at www.youtube.com/susieglaze And also check out a very cool article published in late December in Pasadena's The Rose Magazine written by our friend Michelle Mills called "Fiddling Around in Space" about Mark. Find it here:  Rose Magazine Article

And if you didn't catch it, our friend Carl Gage did a great review of our last release "Live At The Freight & Salvage" in No Depression in September: Check it out at No Depression Review of "Live" CD by Carl Gage

So please stay tuned for more good news! Make sure you visit our website, drop us a line on Facebook, and plan to come see us at a show.

We send you all love, and best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year. To that end I'd like to quote Mark's New Year prayer: "May we all know the joys and sorrows of all living things as our own, and may our 2012 be filled with love, kindness, compassion, health, abundance, peace and blessings. Amen."

I couldn't say it any better.

Susie and The Hilonesome Band
Rob Carlson, Steve Rankin, Mark Indictor and Fred Sanders

January and February Shows

Saturday, January 21, the NAMM ShowSusie and the Hilonesome Trio play at The Shubb Capos booth at 4:00 p.m. Anaheim Convention Center http://www.nammshow.org/ Check out Shubb capos at http://www.shubb.com/

Saturday, February 4th, The Juke Joint Gang at the Talking Stick Coffee LoungeErnest Troost's monthly gathering of songwriters at the Talking Stick.   1411 Lincoln Blvd., Venice, CA 90291. FREE. Shows begins at 8:00. (310) 450-6052 http://www.thetalkingstick.net/

Saturday, February 11th, Live on KDVS 90.3fm radio show The Saturday Morning Folk Show" from 9am - 12noon. With Houston Jones. Listen live at http://www.kdvs.org/

Saturday, February 11th, The Palms Playhouse, Winters, CA
On a double bill with Houston Jones. Show time 8pm. Doors open at 7:30.
13 Main St., Winters, CA 95694.   http://www.palmsplayhouse.com/

San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival Shows:

Sunday, Feb. 12 Studio 55 MarinWith Houston Jones 1455 East Francisco Blvd., San Rafael, California http://www.studio55marin.com/

Monday, Feb. 13 Freight & Salvage Coffee House
With the Kathy Kallick Band. 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $20.50 in advance and $22.50 at the door (half price for 18 and under, seniors and Freight members get $1 discount). 2020 Addison St., Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 548-1761. http://www.thefreight.org/ Info on tickets: http://www.freightandsalvage.org/ticket-information

November-December is Gold!

2011-11-18T12:55:00.001-08:00

Hello Dear Friends,

Susie with Rob Carlson, Mark Indictor, Steve Rankin and Fred Sanders
Photo by Andy Sheng of Otis & Lucy Photography

The brilliant Autumn color has really turned on in our neighborhood, and even though the days are so short of light, those golds and reds cheer my heart.

We welcome Steve Rankin back to the fold for our two December shows, our last of the year, at two wonderful venues ~ the first at the Grand Annex in San Pedro on December 3rd and the amazing Claremont Folk Music Center on December 10th. If you're in the area, you should see the Claremont Folk Music Center just for the sheer museum of musical instruments from around the world.

In the last couple of weeks the band and I have been doing some lovely work on a new song from Ernest Troost, "Harlan County Boy" which is a natural hearken back to the Carter Family classics. We will be doing a new studio album next year and hope this one makes it on that collection, which will include four new songs from Rob Carlson, another of Ernest's ("Evangeline"), a classic from Steve Werner, Jean Ritchie's gorgeous "The Soldier" and a song I've been aching to do for a long time, James Taylor's "Millworker." Also, for those of you who have been asking for years now for a recording of Steve singing Steve Earl's "Me and the Eagle" and Fred's "Grand Daddy's Chair" you will get your wish on this one ~ it's time for those to hit the light of day!

I've been really enjoying a great read recently bought and currently relishing, Judy Collins' new book "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes." I had the pleasure recently of seeing Judy in concert here in LA and it made me want lots more of her. Her new album "Paradise" is also really wonderful and I recommend both the book and new recording to you Judy fans out there.

I've also been busy planning for the band for 2012. There are some exciting things happening...we start the year with the trio playing at the NAMM music industry convention in Anaheim at the booth for Shubb Capos for which we are representative artists. February will find us on the bill once again at the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival as well as sharing a bill at the Palms Playhouse with a wonderful Northern California band Houston Jones. We then scurry off to Memphis, Tennessee for the International Folk Alliance Conference for which we're official showcase artists. Lots of other great things coming for 2012, so please stay tuned! We will probably be going into the studio this summer so should have the album out by this time next year or early 2013. Be sure to visit Our Website and our YouTube channel for some very cool show video.

We send you all love, and best wishes for a fun and happy holiday season,

Susie and The Hilonesome Band

December Shows

Saturday, December 3, The Grand Annex at the Warner Grand
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band in concert at Live at the Grand Annex Concert Series in San Pedro's Harbor area along with songwriters Fur Dixon and Steve Werner. http://www.grandvision.org/default.asp The Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St. San Pedro, CA 90731, Tickets $15.00 advance/$20.00 at the door, doors open at 7:30, concert at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 10th, Claremont Folk Music Center
In Old Town Claremont, California. Doors open at 7:00. Showtime 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $12.00.
220 North Yale Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711-4773. Call for information (909) 624-2928 or visit www.folkmusiccenter.com

Leaves Are Falling ~ Late September Songs and News

2011-09-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings Friends!

I've been remiss in getting this letter out to you ~ my timehas been taken up with new website renovation and other promotional duties forthe band as well as a bunch of shows in August and September, so forgive me! The good news is that you can now go to ourwebsite and check out all the great new content there, including our fantasticnew band photography from Andy Sheng of Otis & Lucy Photography on theContact/Press Kit page (here is one of Andy's great shots), our Summer tour pictures on the Photo Gallery page, anew "About" section with bios on the guys (they are veryinterestingly cool people!), and watch the photo scroll on the Home page withtour photography by our own Pattie Van Over. We'll be sharing new video with you also very soon of our show at theGood Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival, provided by Brandon Rose ofbeekerstudios.com. Click Here to Check out Our Rennovated Website!

Our travel is beginning to wind down now after a whirlwindsummer, and our shows for the rest of this year will be close to home, althoughthis weekend takes us to beautiful Julian California for the Julian MusicFestival. We're starting to plan for anew CD project next year, including four new songs from Rob Carlson, ourcomposer in residence, as well as songs from Ernest Troost and Steve Werner.

Our upcoming shows are below, and we look forward to seeing youat one or all of them. Make sure tocheck out the new Live album and come say hey when you're at a show!

We send you love, and thanks for being on our list!

Susie and The HilonesomeBand ~ Steve, Rob, Fred and Mark, too!

Sunday, September 18^th,41^st Annual Julian Back Country Music Jamboree

Frank Lane Park, Julian CA. Tickets: $35 for both days. Children under 16 free with paid adult. Individual tickets $20 per day at the gate/$15 if purchased beforeSeptember 1, 2011.

Our stage time is at 4:00 p.m.. http://www.julianbanjofiddle.com/

September 24^th,Noble House Concerts

Sherman Oaks, CA 8:00p.m. Suggested Donation: $15 per person (all proceeds go to the musicians) RSVPto: barb@noblehouseconcerts.comor call (818) 780-5979 (Directions given upon RSVP) Contributions to the appetizer/dessert buffetappreciated. http://www.jrp-graphics.com/noblehouse

Just added! Saturday, October 8, Underwood Farms FolkFestival

3370 Sunset Valley Road, Moorpark, CA 93021. Stage time is 2:00 p.m.

http://www.underwoodfamilyfarms.com

http://www.underwoodfamilyfarms.com/Folk_Festival_Weekend_0MXA.html

Friday, October 28,Coffee Gallery Backstage

Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band on a double-bill withWestern songwriters Fur Dixon and Steve Werner. 2029 North Lake Blvd., Altadena, CA 91001. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets $20.00. Contact: (626)798-6236 Website: www.coffeegallery.com

Saturday, December 3, The Grand Annex at the Warner Grand
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band in concert at Live at the Grand AnnexConcert Series in San Pedro's Harbor area along with songwriters Fur Dixon andSteve Werner. http://www.grandvision.org/default.asp The Grand Annex, 434W. 6th St. San Pedro, CA 90731, Tickets $15.00 advance/$20.00 at the door,doors open at 7:30, concert at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, December10th, Claremont Folk Music Center

In Old Town Claremont,California. Doors open at 7:00. Showtime 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $12.00.

220 North Yale Avenue,Claremont, CA 91711-4773. Call for information (909) 624-2928 or visit www.folkmusiccenter.com.

AUGUST NEWS

2011-07-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Dog Days Friends ~

We hope Summer is treating you well and you're having a fun time with family and friends, whether traveling or staying around home, and that you're enjoying some great music along the way.

We had the good fortune to catch Ernest Troost live at Westside Music here in Los Angeles on July 23rd, with his fine band. And we just published a review of his great new CD, "Ernest Troost Live at McCabe's" on Folkworks. Read it Here: http://www.folkworks.org/reviews/cd-reviews

There's new band photography coming up with Andy Sheng of Otis and Lucy Photography. Andy is known mainly for great animal photography, but we like his work with musicians also, so we're headed in with our brushes and combs and powder for some new snapshots of the band. Check out Andy's work Here: http://www.otisandlucy.com I think it's probably safe to predict that our Megs will end up in the shots.

Our July tour was FANTASTIC, and we have lots of people to thank ~ Rick Nagle at the Westside Theatre in Newman, Alan Molho of Landfall House concerts in the lovely Watsonville, Houston Jones with whom we shared an awesome night at Don Quixote's in Felton near Santa Cruz, Mike Russell at KKUP in San Jose, Michael Hall of the Northern California Bluegrass Society for his great interview, Lois Kellerman for her great interview and playing our music at KZSU at Stanford University, Steve Baker and Brian Walker at the Freight & Salvage, the great Bill Evans for sharing an awesome night of music with us there, Evangeline Elston, Kim Rogers at KVMR in Nevada City, Steve and Donna Friedman at Mama Llama's in Weaverville and finally Don Murphy and Gene Bach for bringing us back to the Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival for the second year in a row. We especially thank Don and Sandra Murphy for opening their lovely ranch house to us for bunking and rehearsals! We send special thanks also to our photographers on the road, Pattie Van Over who traveled with us and took video as well as marvelous shots of the venues and us, Mike Melnyk in Berkeley, and Charles Nelson in Etna in Scott Valley. Their great work will go with us on the road for years to come. We also give a shout out to Devon Leger for his promo work for us on the tour, Lisa at the Daily Staple in Berkeley for the posters, and Kathy Pomianek for helping with the booking at Don Quixote's. And last but definitely not least, we're so grateful to Lisa Burns and Rick Glaze for use of their homes in the Bay area. Everyone helped us so much along the way ~ thank you to our friends, old and new! It was a trip we won't ever forget!

Our August will take us on the road for only one weekend, on August 12th when we join the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival near Hollister, California. We're looking forward to this one! Later this month we're playing for our first time at the lovely Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena, and a show with Brad Colerick at his songwriter's concert series, also in Pasadena, called Wine & Song. And we need EVERYONE to come out for our FAR-West fundraiser at the Coffee Gallery in Altadena on August 27th, on a great lineup with Merlin Snider and Border Radio. All proceeds will go to benefit the Folk Alliance Regional (FAR-West), so plan to come out for a great evening of music on August 27th! and help this great music organization.

We hope you'll visit our website and check out the new album Live at the Freight & Salvage. In the meantime, happy trails! and we want to see you at a show this month!

Love,
Susie

AUGUST SHOWS

Friday, August 12, Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival
Hollister, CA. The Northern California Bluegrass Society presents the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival, featuring three days of California bands on the main stage. Bolado Park, just south of Hollister, CA. For more information visit: http://www.scbs.org/events/gof/ Our stage time is 8:00 p.m. Saturday, August 13th, Band Workshop: "Original Songwriting For Bluegrass Bands – Featuring band composer Rob Carlson." 1:00 p.m. on the festival grounds.

Wednesday, August 17, Wine and Song Songwriter's Series
Hosted by Brad Colerick every Wednesday evening at Firefly Bistro in South Pasadena, the series features two accomplished songwriters each week. Also special guest performances and some wonderful wine and menu selections. Firefly is located at 1009 El Centro Street and the shows begin at 7:00 pm and wrap up around 9:30 pm. Free. http://www.wineandsong.com/ www.bradcolerick.com. http://eatatfirefly.com/

Tuesday, August 23, Levitt Pavilion
Pasadena Memorial Park, 85 E. Holly Street, corner of Walnut and Raymond Avenues, Pasadena, CA 91103. 6:00 p.m. All concerts at the Levitt Pavilion are FREE to the public!

Saturday, August 27th, Coffee Gallery Backstage
Benefit for FAR-West Folk Alliance Regional, with Border Radio, Merlin Snider and Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band. 2029 North Lake Blvd., Altadena, CA 91001. Showtime: 7:00 p.m. Tickets $20.00. Contact: (626) 798-6236 Visit http://www.coffeegallery.com

Out And About! Summer Touring In July

2011-06-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Out and About - July Tour!

As I write, the band and I are eagerly preparing to leave Los Angeles in just about a week's time for destinations North! We have a marvelous Summer 2011 Hilonesome Band Tour planned, and we're "scratchin' gravel" to get goin'! We're excited about seeing friends old and new, playing some of our favorite places from last summer, and just getting out on the road together and having adventures!

The whole tour schedule is below and we hope that if you are in the areas of our shows you will come out and see us, and if you're not, please let your friends and family in those areas know that we're on the way and we have fantastic new music! This year we're debuting four new songs from our own Rob Carlson, and one each from our So. Cal. buds Ernest Troost and Steve Werner. We've also dusted off some of our oldies from the first solo album "Home On The Hill," (including the title cut from that album by our good friend Dan Jenkins), songs from Jean Ritchie's brilliant catalogue of mountain ballads and original writing, along with songs from our faves Steve Earle, Gillian Welch and the late great Hazel Dickens. I'm particularly excited to be working with the great Bay area banjoist Bill Evans on his guest feature with us at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage on July 13th. We'll be doing some banjo/voice material that is profound and beautiful. We hope you can join us there! We'll also have our new album "Live at The Freight & Salvage" with us on the road from last year's concert there. You've gotta get your copy!

Please see our schedule below, and we really want to see 'yall out on the road!
Here's to a great summer, and thanks for reading!

With love,
Susie

TOUR BEGINS!!!

Friday, July 8, West Side Theatre
1331 Main Street, Newman, CA 95360
The theatre is a restored 1940 movie house now serving as a performing arts venue. Seating has been converted to cabaret style. Doors open at 7PM and shows begin at 8PM.
To order advance tickets: go to http://www.westsidetheatre.org/tickets.html
or by calling 800.838.3006 Contact: 209-862-4490. Email: rick@westsidetheatre.org
Website: http://www.westsidetheatre.org/

Saturday, July 9, Landfall House Concerts
500 Lakeview Road, Watsonville, CA 95076, Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Contact: 831-724-9583. Email: amsail@aol.com

Sunday, July 10th, KPIG Live In Studio with John Sandidge on "Please Stand By"
11:30 am on KPIG 107.5FM, Watsonville, CA Listen online at http://www.kpig.com/.

Sunday, July 10th, Don Quixote's International Music Hall
On a double-bill with Houston Jones! 6275 Highway 9 in Downtown Felton, CA 95018, located just 10 minutes from Santa Cruz, CA. Tickets and reservations call 831-603-2294. Restaurant Features Fine Mexican and American Dining. Showtime 7:00 p.m. Tickets: $15.00.
Website: http://www.donquixotesmusic.info/ /

Monday, July 11, Live on KKUP's Monday Nite Bluegrass with Mike Russell
From 7:30-8:30 pm. http://www.kkup.org/ Call the studio (408) 260-2999 for the ticket giveaway for Freight show on July 13!

Tuesday, July 12, Stanford Radio KZSU 90.1 FM with Lois Kellerman (aka – "Sarah Bellum") Special featured program 8-10. Hilonesome Band live in studio performance and interview. 8:30 – 9:30. Listen live at: http://kzsu.stanford.edu/

Wednesday July 13, Freight & Salvage Salvage Coffee House
With special guest, banjo great and Bay area favorite, Bill Evans. 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $20.50 in advance and $22.50 at the door (half price for 18 and under, seniors and Freight members get $1 discount). 2020 Addison St., Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 548-1761. http://www.thefreight.org/ /
Info on tickets: http://www.freightandsalvage.org/ticket-information

Thursday, July 14th, KVMR, Nevada City, CA
We join Kim Rogers on KVMR, 89.5 FM, Nevada City, CA for in-studio live performance and interview. 3:00 p.m. Listen live on http://www.kvmr.org/

Thursday, July 14th, Evangeline's Café
We return to Evangeline's lovely listening room/café in the beautiful Sierra foothills near Grass Valley. 5 Depot Street, Colfax, CA 95713. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $15.00. http://www.evangelinescafe.com/ Phone: (530) 346-8833‎.

Friday, July 15th, Mama Llama's Coffee House
490 Main Street, Weaverville, CA 96093. A great listening room in the heart of historic downtown district of Weaverville, California. Doors open at 7:30. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $15.00 advance/$18.00 at the door. Contact: 530-623-6363 Email: donna@mammallama.com Website: http://www.mammallama.com/

July 16-17, Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival
Our second year in a row at this fine bluegrass festival in Etna, CA. Showtimes: Saturday, 6:00 p.m., Sunday, 12 noon. Contact: 530-467-4144 or visit festival website: http://www.scottvalleybluegrass.com/

June's News

2011-06-06T15:12:00.000-07:00

New Business Partnerships

We're excited to start the summer with two new partnerships, Hearth Music and Unbound Booking.

Hearth Music is a fantastic promotional company in the Pacific Northwest focusing on Roots and Americana artists throughout North America and Canada. Check them out below!

Check Out Hearth Music's Blog
http://www.hearthmusic.com/blog/index.html

…Or read it here:

Songs We Can't Stop Listening To: Winter 2011

We get a lot of music at Hearth Music HQ, and are currently working on a stack of about 30 CDs up for review. We listen to everything we get, of course, and we've been blessed to have received so much great music recently. Still, some songs stand out. Way out. These are the songs we keep listening to over and over. We keep coming back to them for more. It's not always something we can describe, but this music hits deep and stays in our mind for days, weeks, sometimes months.

Thanks to a miserable Winter/Spring (we'd call this blog post "Spring 2011" except we never got a Spring) in the Northwest, we've been listening to lots of dark Celtic and old-time music, so that's seeped into this list for sure. It's now mid-May and still feels like deep winter. Dive into these old, eerie ballads that have been keeping us awake at night.

Susie Glaze: Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender

The high lonesome sound is rarely used to describe women in bluegrass and old-time music, but it's there. It's not as raw and keening as Roscoe Holcomb, but it's a sound that flies over the tops of our heads and nestles in the high rafters of our music halls. Susie Glaze has this sound in her voice, and she knows how to use it.We found this gorgeous cover of the old Childe ballad, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender," on Susie's tribute album to the music of Jean Ritchie. Ritchie, a seminal bard of the Appalachian mountains, is known for singing unaccompanied ballads. These epic songs are melodically difficult to pull off, especially since tradition forbids the cushioning use of vibrato. So the fact that Susie Glaze would approach this song in the spirit of Ritchie, who grew up deeply immersed in the tradition, is impressive. We love Susie's voice on this song. It's as delicate as a crystal goblet, immaculately shaped and conceived, but too pure to survive anything but the most perfect of moments. There's something magical about her singing here, especially when you consider the deep heartbreak in these ancient words.

NOTE: You can hear more from Susie Glaze in Hearth Music's Online Listening Lounge!
http://www.hearthmusic.com/listening_lounge.html

From Hearth Music's Listening Lounge
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band
The high lonesome sound is rarely used to describe women in bluegrass and old-time music, but it's there. It's not as raw and keening as Roscoe Holcomb, but it's a sound that flies over the tops of our heads and nestles in the high rafters of our music halls. Susie Glaze has this sound in her voice, and she knows how to use it. She lives for the ache of a good bluegrass song, and when joined by her ace band of instrumentalists, the Hilonesome Band, her music is an immediately accessible blend of bluegrass, old-time Appalachian, and Americana influences. Joined by veteran folk songwriter, Rob Carlson, Susie incorporates Rob's songs, the Hilonesome Band's rock-solid bluegrass, and a wide selection of traditional songs into her signature sound. In a fantastically innovative musical landscape, it’s sometimes refreshing to harken back to some pure roots —not reinvented roots, but the real thing. Susie Glaze takes us there. She is Dolly Parton without makeup or glitz, soaring on the high notes like a mountain bluebird.

With five CDs released in the past 10 years, Susie's a prolific recording artist and clearly draws a lot of inspiration both from the California bluegrass scene, and from traditional artists across the US. Her newest album, Live at the Freight & Salvage, is a joyous live recording of her music with the Hilonesome Band. She tears through some of the favorite numbers from her repertoire, pausing to tell funny stories and to laugh about the good times. Her previous album, Green Kentucky Blues, was produced by Laurie Lewis and featured a host of hot pickers like Tom Rozum, Patrick and Tom Sauber, and Herb Pederson. Her tribute CD to Appalachian bard Jean Ritchie, Singin' the Moon Up, garnered praise from Ritchie herself: "Her true pitch and the simple honesty of her 'telling the story' with the song is the mark of a real folksinger..." We couldn't agree more! Susie Glaze is a real folksinger and she proves it at every turn.

We're happy to have just signed with Unbound Booking for nation-wide library appearances. Steve and I will present "From Appalachia to Bluegrass" as a touring duo! Get in touch with Jessica at Unbound Booking and visit their website to find out more:

Unbound Booking Website

JUNE SHOWS

Friday, June 10, Fireside Concert Series

Borchard Community Center, 190 Reino, Newbury Park, corner of Borchard and Reino, Newbury Park - Fireside Room. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets $7.00. http://www.crpd.org/parkfac/borchard/fireside_concerts.asp

Sunday, June 12, Songwriter Sanctum Concert Series

Songwriter Sanctum acoustic music series at the Church in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California. Free with suggested donation. 2:00 p.m. 235 Hill Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Phone: 310-399-1631 http://www.churchop.org/

Saturday, June 18th, Make Music Pasadena

Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut Street, Donald R. Wright Auditorium. 11:00 a.m.

http://www.makemusicpasadena.org/

Next up: Summer Tour!

Newsletter for March-April 2011

2011-03-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Friends,

The band and I have had a most remarkable last few weeks, with shows all up and down the California coast, including the lovely Atascadero and Sonoma County (with a surprise radio set on KRCB's "Our Roots Are Showing" (KRCB Radio 91FM) with host Robin Pressman after our set at the festival. Little did we know, our radio show was streamed into the festival between band sets. How cool is that? We played Sonoma twice that day! Thanks to Robin and everyone at KRCB! And thanks to Mark Hogan, the California Bluegrass Association and The Sonoma County Folk Society for producing such a great festival! We were proud to be a part of it. Also kudos to our pal Lisa Burns who played a blistering great standup bass!

We came home to play mid-month at The Bluegrass Association of Southern California's new venue at the Viva Fresh Cantina. It was a great turnout at a great venue.

We've also been debuting some new material during these shows this past month. Rob Carlson has been writing and has new and wonderful musical stories. We've also been showcasing a song from the great Ernest Troost and one from our pal, Steve Werner of the country duo Fur & Steve (http://www.furandsteve.com/) Our show at CalTech in April will be a showcase of new songs!

New Live CD Is Here!

Our new album "Live From the Freight & Salvage: Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band." is now released! It's gaining airplay in U.S. and Canada already and has a review just posted at the end of March:

"Glaze and her high octane traditional music fits right in at the Berkeley muso club house where the mostly organic programs delight adults that can take the BART right to the front door. Obviously a super star of traditional folk, Glaze and her crew are so on the money it's frightening. Not doing the dusty, moldy fig stuff, she's probably a rocker in her heart but wisely chose to use her clear soprano for it's best purpose. A winning set that'll just knock you off your pins, particularly if you re an old, back-to-the-land hippie. Killer stuff." Chris Spector, Midwest Record http://www.midwestrecord.com/

Recorded on July 15th, 2010 at The Freight & Salvage Coffee House, Berkeley, California, the album features ten tracks, with five originals from lead guitarist Rob Carlson, as well as traditional mountain songs from the Jean Ritchie collection and the great Steve Earle. Bill Evans was our banjo guest for the set.

The album is available on Amazon, CD Baby and DigStation.

Upcoming Shows
There is only one show for April!

Saturday, April 16th, Caltech Folk Music Society

Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band are delighted to return to the Beckman Institute Auditorium, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: Admission: $18, with $5 for Caltech students and children. Tickets may be obtained from the http://events.caltech.edu/tickets.html For information, call (626) 395-4652. or write the Folk Music Society at folkmusic@caltech.edu Website: http://folkmusic.caltech.edu// Phone: (626) 395-4652, Fax: (626) 395-1721, TDD: (626) 395-3700

And on the horizon:

Sunday, May 15th, Topanga Banjo And Fiddle Contest
Susie Glaze presents Mountain Songs on the Railroad Stage. Paramount Ranch near Agoura Hills, California in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation area. Showtime: 3:30 Tickets: Adults: $15.00 - Teens/Seniors: $10. Contact: Telephone hotline: (818) 382-4819. E-mail: info@topangabanjofiddle.org http://www.topangabanjofiddle.org/.

Just added: Saturday, May 7th, Boulevard Music with Tracy Newman
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band join Tracy Newman and The Reinforcements
8:00 p.m. Tickets $15.00. 4316 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230
Call for reservations: (310) 398-2583 and visit http://www.boulevardmusic.com/ for more information.

Sunday, May 22nd, Desert Song House Concerts
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band at the Slater-Lunsford Pavilion, 2804 Kenwood Court, Lancaster, CA 93536-4756. 2:00 p.m. Call 661-478-9039. $20.00 suggested donation. www.desertsong.net

Friday, June 10, Fireside Concert Series
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band joins the lineup at the Borchard Community Center, 190 Reino, Newbury Park, corner of Borchard and Reino, Newbury Park - Fireside Room. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $7.00. Contact: (805) 499-3511 or write Bob Kroll at folksgr1@aol.com

Sunday, June 12, Songwriter Sanctum Concert Series
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band joins the great Songwriter Sanctum acoustic music series at the Church in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California. The concert is free with a suggested donation. Featuring the best of Los Angeles folk artists, Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. 235 Hill Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Phone: 310-399-1631 http://www.churchop.org/

Saturday, June 18th, Make Music Pasadena
Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut Street, Donald R. Wright Auditorium. 11:00 a.m.

Summer Touring Plans

We're excited to be feverishly planning our summer tour 2011! We'll be at the following places up the California coast:

Friday, July 8, West Side Theatre
Newman, CA. To order advance tickets: go to http://www.westsidetheatre.org/tickets.html or by calling 800.838.3006 Contact: 209-862-4490. Email: rick@westsidetheatre.org
http://www.westsidetheatre.org/

Saturday, July 9, Landfall House Concerts
Watsonville, CA Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Contact: 831-724-9583. Email: amsail@aol.com

Sunday, July 10th, KPIG Live In Studio with John Sandidge on "Please Stand By"
10am on KPIG 107.5FM, Watsonville, CA Listen online at http://www.kpig.com/.

Sunday, July 10th, Don Quixote's International Music Hall
On a double-bill with Houston Jones!
Felton, CA 95018, located just 10 minutes from Santa Cruz, CA
Tickets and reservations call 831-603-2294. Showtime 7:00 p.m. Tickets: $15.00.
http://www.donquixotesmusic.info/

Tuesday, July 12, Stanford Radio KZSU with Lois Kellerman
Palo Alto, CA

Wednesday July 13, Freight & Salvage Coffee House
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band with special guest Bill Evans. 8:00 p.m.
(510) 548-1761. http://www.thefreight.org//

Thursday, July 14th, Evangeline's Café
Colfax, CA. Evangeline's lovely listening room/café in the beautiful Sierra foothills near Grass Valley. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $15.00. Contact: (530) 346-8833‎. http://www.myspace.com/evangelinescafe

Friday, July 15th, Mama Llama's Coffee House
Weaverville, CA. A great listening room in the heart of historic downtown district of Weaverville, California. Doors open at 7:30. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $15.00 advance/$18.00 at the door. Contact: 530-623-6363 Email: donna@mammallama.com http://www.mammallama.com/

July 16-17, Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival
Our second year in a row at this fine bluegrass festival in Etna, CA.
Show times: Saturday, 6:00 p.m., Sunday, 12 noon. Contact: 530-467-4144 or visit
Festival website: http://www.scottvalleybluegrass.com/

Love,
Susie

Winter's Grace

2011-02-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

Hello Dear Friends,

Susie and Jean

This winter has been a quiet time of "hibernation" for us since the holidays. The band and I have been getting into our back rooms and working on new songs for the upcoming year of shows and hopefully a new record project. Rob's been writing (in fact we've been developing some of these for quite a while now), and we've also collected some marvelous new works from our friends Ernest Troost and Steve Werner. I'm happy to be bringing all of these into the light of day for our upcoming show year beginning in early March.

George Pickow

Here is one of my recent blessings, my last fall visit with my good friend Jean Ritchie at her home in New York. Jean has been uppermost in our minds since her stroke in December of 2009. Jean also recently lost her dear husband George Pickow. To tell you about George, I include excerpts below of an article which appeared in The New York Times:

"George Pickow, a photographer best known for the thousands of album covers in which he captured the titans of folk, jazz and pop music — including Theodore Bikel, Louis Armstrong and Lena Horne — in their midcentury prime, died on Dec. 10 in Roslyn, N.Y. He was 88 and lived in Port Washington, on Long Island. Working quietly behind the scenes, Mr. Pickow documented the bubbling cultural ferment of New York City, and in particular Greenwich Village, where he and Ms. Ritchie lived after their marriage in 1950.

For Elektra Records and other labels, he photographed folk singers like Josh White, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins and, of course, Ms. Ritchie, as well as jazz and pop artists like Little Richard, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Nina Simone and Louis Jordan.

Mr. Pickow, who helped his wife collect traditional songs from singers in Appalachia and Britain, contributed photographs to many of her books, among them “The Swapping Song Book” (Oxford University, 1952), a volume of songs from the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky.

Also an independent filmmaker, he was a cinematographer on “Festival” (1967), a documentary film about the Newport Folk Festival, directed by Murray Lerner.

From the late 1970s until shortly before his death, Mr. Pickow ran a small record label, Greenhays Recordings, which produced several of Ms. Ritchie’s albums, including “Mountain Born,” “High Hills and Mountains” and “The Most Dulcimer.” Greenhays also recorded folk artists like John McCutcheon, Mike Seeger, Alice Gerrard and Lily May Ledford.

George Pickow was born on Feb. 11, 1922, in Los Angeles and reared in Brooklyn. He studied painting at the Cooper Union and during World War II made training films for the Navy. In 1948 in New York, Mr. Pickow met Ms. Ritchie, who was not yet widely known, at a square dance at the Henry Street Settlement, where she was a social worker. The next day, for their first date, he took her along on a photo shoot at the Fulton Fish Market. The result — Ms. Ritchie perched on the hood of a truck, holding a rather large lobster — was published in a trucking-industry magazine.

Perhaps more impressive to Ms. Ritchie was the Appalachian dulcimer Mr. Pickow made for her, a copy of the traditional one she had brought from Kentucky. It proved so successful that for about a decade, starting in the early 1960s, he ran a small family dulcimer-making business, located on the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge and presided over by his uncle, a millwright and cabinetmaker.

Neither Mr. Pickow nor his uncle was especially musical, so Ms. Ritchie painstakingly marked each nascent dulcimer to indicate the placement of the frets.

While Ms. Ritchie was born to folk music, Mr. Pickow came to it by degrees. “I was mainly into old jazz and blues then,” he told The New York Times in 1980, recalling their meeting, “and thought nothing was any good unless it was down and dirty. She wasn’t Bessie Smith.”

But, he added, “I’ve learned a lot since then.""

I was honored to be friends with George and to share in his wonderful work. He was a great artist and friend. We will miss him a lot.

_________________________________________

New CD Coming in March!

We're excited to be releasing our new album in March, "Live From the Freight & Salvage: Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band."

Recorded on July 15th, 2010 at The Freight & Salvage Coffee House, Berkeley, California, the album features ten tracks, with five originals from lead guitarist Rob Carlson, as well as traditional mountain songs from the Jean Ritchie collection and the great Steve Earle. Bill Evans was our banjo guest for the set.

The album will be available on Amazon, CD Baby and DigStation.

Joe Craven Festival Weekend at Coffee Gallery – February 19 & 20th

Make plans to catch Joe Craven on at least one of his three, yes three! shows at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, Saturday and Sunday (with matinees!), February 19th and 20th. He always fills the place, so call to reserve your seats! Reservations/Information: (626) 794-2424 www.coffeegallery.com. Address: 2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena, CA 91001.

Upcoming Shows

Saturday, March 5th Musica del Rio House Concerts
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band Quartet. Atascadero, CA. Sharon and Fred Munroe are the hosts in their living room filled with Música Del Río, "music of the river" in Atascadero, their town in the upper Salinas River Valley of California. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets are a suggested donation.

Contact: Evite@musicadelrio.org. Visit Musica Del Rio Website

Saturday, March 12th, Sonoma County Bluegrass & Folk Festival
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band with guest Lisa Burns on bass. Sonoma County Folk Society, Sebastopol Community Center, 390 Morris St, Sebastopol, CA 95472. Showtime: 2:00 p.m. Tickets: $28 advance, $33 door. Contact: (707) 823-1511 (707) 829-8012, (707) 542-3798
Sonoma Festival Information

Tuesday, March 15th, Bluegrass Association of Southern California at Viva Cantina!

Susie Glaze & The BIG Hilonesome Band. 900 Riverside Dr., Burbank, Ca. 91506. Phone: 818-515-4444, 818-845-2425, or Harley at 818-221-4680. Bluegrass Night is now held at Viva Fresh Cantina, 900 Riverside Drive in Burbank. Free parking across the street at the bowling alley. You can order off the menu which includes some of the best Mexican food in town. Admission is free, but tips are welcome! Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Contact BASC at (818) 221-4680 Email: bascinfo@socalbluegrass.org Visit Southern California Bluegrass Association BASCNight Website

Saturday, March 19 Butler's Coffee
Susie Glaze & The BIG Hilonesome Band. 40125 10th St .West, Suite I, Palmdale, California, 93551. Showtime: 7:00 p.m. Contact: 661-272-9530. 661-273-7703. Visit Butler's Coffee Website

Saturday, April 16th, Caltech Folk Music Society
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band are delighted to return to the Beckman Institute Auditorium, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: Admission: $18, with $5 for Caltech students and children. Tickets may be obtained from the http://events.caltech.edu/tickets.html For information, call (626) 395-4652. or write the Folk Music Society at folkmusic@caltech.edu
Visit the website at Caltech Folk Music Society Website
Phone: (626) 395-4652, Fax: (626) 395-1721, TDD: (626) 395-3700

Sunday, May 15th, Topanga Banjo And Fiddle Contest
Susie Glaze presents Mountain Songs on the Railroad Stage. Paramount Ranch near Agoura Hills, California in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation area. Showtime: 3:30 Tickets: Adults: $15.00 - Teens/Seniors: $10. Contact: Telephone hotline: (818) 382-4819. E-mail: info@topangabanjofiddle.org and visit Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Folk Festival Website.

Sunday, May 22nd, Desert Song House Concerts
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band at the Slater-Lunsford Pavilion, 2804 Kenwood Court, Lancaster, CA 93536-4756. 2:00 p.m. Call 661-478-9039. $20.00 suggested donation. Desert Song Website

Friday, June 10, Fireside Concert Series
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band joins the lineup at the Borchard Community Center, 190 Reino, Newbury Park, corner of Borchard and Reino, Newbury Park - Fireside Room. Showtime: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $7.00. Contact: (805) 499-3511 or write Bob Kroll at folksgr1@aol.com

Sunday, June 12, Songwriter Sanctum Concert Series
Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band joins the great Songwriter Sanctum acoustic music series at the Church in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California. The concert is free with a suggested donation. Featuring the best of Los Angeles folk artists, Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. 235 Hill Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Phone: 310-399-1631 Church in Ocean Park Website

More coming in the summer with a repeat tour to Northern California. Stay tuned for that and keep singing!

Love,

Susie

An August for Memories of Summer

2010-08-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

Well, friends, as I write, the summer seems to be already winding down, and I don't feel like we got enough summer at all. Perhaps I feel this way because when we were kids the summers seemed to stretch out in front of us like years, like oceans of time, like entire eras in our lives. Now, as grown ups, it's a whisper of time….we mark it off as a series of events, maybe a trip or two and bang, it's Fall before we know where all the time went.

Steve at Yosemite

This summer, though, has been full of adventure, joy and profit for us, in music, community and spirit. Steve and I began the summer visiting two great California music festivals, the Strawberry Music Festival near Yosemite Valley and the Live Oak at Lake Cachuma, North of Santa Barbara. We had friends at both places who made us feel at home and showed us the ropes. At Strawberry we actually were snowed on during our first night there and wowie, were we glad to be in our snug little RV that night! Before it snowed, however, it had been raining and it was definitely cold. We had the great fortune to snag our buddies Rodger Phillips on banjo and Lisa Burns on bass, rehearse really quickly in the warm RV, and made our way out into the cold, dark and wet for our debut on the Hog Radio after hours show! We patted ourselves on the back for being professionals as we splooshed through the muddy meadow in the rain with our instruments in their gig bags. Waking up the next morning we looked out the window to see the trees covered in white!

Susie With Fred and Sharon Munroe at Live Oak

It was astonishing to see Camp Mather transform itself so quickly just a couple of days later into a sunny and warm early spring paradise. We played again on the Hog Radio that weekend, thanks to new friend Larry Carlin, at the "Breakfast Club" on Saturday morning, with the same crew, this time adding our pal Dan Sankey from San Diego on fiddle.

Susie with Che Greenwood at KVMR, Nevada City

Michael Lewis Luthier - Working on the OMC

We then began on our July adventures with a feeling for and excitement about travel in our heads. Our Northern California tour began on the 12th of July with the trio appearing on CalPublic Radio in Sacramento with Jeffrey Callison on his show "Insight." We then headed further North in our lovely little van (which Steve packed professionally) to Nevada City and Colfax where we did shows at The Crazy Horse Inn and Evangeline's. We loved getting to know Evangeline and swimming in the beautiful and cold American River on a hot day before our show. It was the peak of the stunning Sierra summer for us. We also loved playing for Che Greenwood on KVMR in Nevada City the morning of our show at Evangeline's. We shared a love of the old masters, especially Jean Ritchie, with Che on his show "Folk Say." We got to visit luthier Michael Lewis that same day out at his shop near Colfax before our show that night. And Michael came to our show just to check on our guitars! (not really – he came to hear the music)

The next day we left the wide open spaces and found our selves back down in the Bay Area urban reality, in Berkeley, playing on a triple-bill at the Freight & Salvage Coffee House. Our new friend Bill Evans joined us on stage and played his great banjo on two songs he apparently learned in a matter of minutes while we drove into town! And he was great!

At The Freight & Salvage with Bill Evans

The next day we said a reluctant goodbye to our newest band member, Mark Indictor (fiddle), along with his wife Pattie (who had taken video for us) and picked up Rodger Phillips (banjo) for our further caravan North! Our comfy little van took to the beautiful Klamath River Valley, traveling through the Mt. Shasta area, to join in the Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival. It was one of the most beautiful parts of California I had never seen. We had a great time with new friends there and garnered an offer to return for next year's festival.

At The Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival

All along the way, we were in the midst of family, whether our actual family (my two brothers, Rob's brother James, Fred's nephew) or those who just felt like family, old and new. It was an enormously enriching trip and I am still unwinding all my memories and good wishes from all those in our audiences.

Now in August, we have some time finally to work on Rob's new songs for a new album project I hope to get started on later this year. We're all excited to get the songs off the ground at last. We'll also be including on this CD project some other songs from friends of ours, also wonderful songwriters, like Ernest Troost, Steve Werner and Jeni Hankins, along with songs from Gillian Welch, Steve Earl and Jean Ritchie.

Now I'm squeezing every bit of summer I can out of August, my true time off, and it feels so good, with our good friends around us, and good fortune to have them. And fine memories of a great summer and plans for the future. We feel really blessed.

Enjoy the rest of your summer! Fall will be here in the blink of an eye!

With love,
Susie

July Rides!

2010-08-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends,

Steve and I had a great time in June getting around to music festivals in California and enjoying the new friends we've made there. The Live Oak and Strawberry Music festivals were such fun and I recommend them both to you if you haven't been. A wonderful family feeling invests both of these events and it's so great to experience live music outdoors in California's golden spring! We've seen some wonderful artists ~ so inspiring!

As I write, we're excitedly preparing for our July tour to the wilds of Northern California mid-month. We also have a couple of shows here in So-Cal in July, both return trips to great venues we know and love. On the 10th we're back at the Fret House in Covina, California, then on the 12th we embark on our travels. The crown-jewel of the tour is our show at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on July 15th in their beautiful new location. We hope to be filming that show, so if you're in the area or you have friends who are, please come see us and land in our movie!

That weekend we'll be driving up to the Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival in beautiful Etna, California near the Klamath National Forest, and then at the end of the month we return to old stomping grounds at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Pasadena with our good friend Ernest Troost opening the show for us. If you don't know Ernest, he was the Kerrville New Folk winner last year and is a truly gifted songwriter of new Piedmont blues -inspired songs. That should be a great show for all of you in the greater LA area.

We look forward to seeing you all out there on the road!

Happy Summer Trails!

Love,

Susie

PS: The Martin Guitar official newsletter for July "The Sounding Board, Vol. 29" featured us in June! More about that next letter. Stay tuned!

June - No Gloom!

2010-06-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!

Our show at the Topanga Festival last month was really fun and so many people made it out to the Paramount Ranch this year! We visited with old friends and met new ones and basically had a great day - and got to sing with Fur and Steve just by happy accident! Right is a photo of Steve and me on the Railroad Stage, captured by new friend Patricia Van Over.

We meet up with June having just come back from our very first trip to the Strawberry Music Festival near Yosemite. It was an amazing adventure, full of the beauty of the Sierra Nevada in Spring, and great music with a stellar lineup of artists. I was really excited to meet the great Lisa Burns (www.lisaonbass.com) and play two short sets with her on the Strawberry Hog Radio, along with our friends Rodger Phillips and Dan Sankey. Lisa rocks! and I have a new girl buddy in music! This was the best part of Strawberry for me this year. Here's a picture of Lisa playing her bass.

Back home now, we're getting ready to play again at the Talking Stick in Venice, this time with our newest member, Mark Indictor on fiddle (here's a photo of Mark at Topanga, also by Pattie). I so enjoyed meeting Mark last January at the Benefit for Haiti in Culver City I invited him to work with the Hilonesome Band. He'll be joining us on tour to Northern California in mid-July as well (more about that in a minute), and will be with us at the Coffee Gallery on July 30th.

Another very cool thing coming in June is the AMAZING Joe Craven will be visiting Southern California for two shows and I want you all to do everything possible to make it to at least one of them (that's Joe below with his banjo). This is a world-class artist in our midst folks, and you owe it to yourself to experience the great Joe! He's had an amazing career, including his long-running association with the David Grisman Band. From Joe's website:

"Joe is a musical madman with anything that has strings attached; violin, mandolin, tin can, bedpan, cookie tin, tenor guitar, mouth bow, banjo, berimbau, balalaika, boot 'n lace, animal bones, squeeze toys, cake pans, waste cans, umbrella stands, martini shakers and; himself. Educator, former museum curator, visual artist, actor/storyteller and festival emcee, Joe has made music with folks ranging from jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli to Grateful Dead Guitarist Jerry Garcia to The Persuasions. An advocate of the folk arts, Joe's educational mission is to empower individuals to take possession of what they already have and tell their stories by 'demystifying' art through self-expression as a daily ritual. No matter who he's connecting with; a community workshop in Costa Rica, a university lecture demonstration in California, or on stage in front of thousands of school kids in Scotland, he's at home and loving every minute. 'Everything Joe touches turns to music,' says David Grisman, who Joe played with for almost 17 years. No one who saw Joe wring a percussion concerto from his garbage-bag raincoat during a downpour at the Strawberry Music Festival could disagree."

Joe's appearances in Southern California are rare so I urge you to check out his shows and plan to treat yourself to a master, virtuoso, and the best student of music and art I've ever seen. Joe will be at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena on June 25th and on June 26th at Russ & Julie's House Concerts in Oak Park. Visit Joe's website and his schedule and read about his brilliant work at Joe Craven's Website.

We'll be spending the rest of June getting ready for our July tour to Northern California and are totally jazzed that we'll be playing the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley for the first time! Incidentally, we hope to be filming that show, so if you're in the area or you have friends who are, please be in the audience and probably in our DVD! We start in Sacramento on Jeffrey Callison's radio show "Insight" on Capital Public Radio. We then head up to beautiful Colfax and Nevada City near Grass Valley to meet up with KVMR and sit in on Che Greenwood's radio show. That night we play at the lovely Evangeline's Cafe in Colfax, then it's on to THE FREIGHT & SALVAGE in Berkeley. That weekend we'll be part of the Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival in Etna before coming back home. All the details are below, so we hope to see you or friends you know in July up north! I'll remind you about all the tour stuff in next month's newsletter, so stay tuned!

Happy June (No Gloom) Summer, Friends! Make sure to get outside and play with your dog or dig in the dirt, plant some flowers and vegetables and wear sunscreen! We look forward to seeing you out there!

Big Love and Blessings to all,

Susie

April Springs Eternal!

2010-04-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

Joyous Spring!

Easter was glorious as I again joined the All Saints Canterbury Choir for a joyful singing marathon during Holy Week, including some solo a capella on Saturday night's Great Vigil of Easter. Picture it if you will: in the dark, candlelit church, hundreds of people droning on a C...while I pour out an old Appalachian lament from the balcony........it was as always a most transcendent moment, and deeply gratifying to say the least.

"Oh, Father, won't you come and go along with me

For Heaven is my aim

Jesus is gone, but he's coming back again

To take his Children home.

Look the way, look the way, look the long lonesome way

You can see the promised land

Look the way, look the way, look the long lonesome way

You can see the promised land."

Some of you might remember that my dear friend and mentor Jean Ritchie (from whom the Appalachian sacred ballads spring) had suffered a stroke on December 4th, and many of you have asked about her condition as the weeks and months have gone by. I'm thrilled and amazed to tell you about an almost unbelievable Easter resurrection miracle.

As I prepared Jean's songs for the Vigil service, I had not heard lately of her condition which had been at many points during the last four months extremely grave and I had often been so worried. As I was getting ready to share her songs and her legacy with All Saints, I received an email out of the blue, partially written by Jean herself and the rest by her son Jon, stating that she had gotten all of our letters and that they loved us all. Her son wrote that she had typed this short note with very little help and that Steve and I had been the first mail that she had sent since the beginning of her illness.

Now to see Jean's words again and to hear her voice was a gift I could not believe. I send this story to you with gratitude and joy, and feel the Easter presence is alive again in our world. To quote a great leader of mine, Ed Bacon: "Love will always rise!" Alleluia!

March Adventures

Our return to the Coffee Gallery Backstage in mid-March was an amazing night! The place was packed and we had a great time, especially as we got to introduce the wonderful Shaun Cromwell who opened for us. Later in the month we headed down to San Diego for a couple of new and interesting dates, scooping up our friend Dan Sankey to play fiddle with us. The San Diego Indiefest was a rollicking and wild bunch of fun, and the show up at the beautiful Wynola Springs that evening was also great. It was wonderful to see Spring popping up in the beautiful Julian Valley. We hope to get down there again later in the year, hopefully around September.

Great American Song Contest Finalist

Just got the news that Rob's song "Albuquerque" (from our "Green Kentucky Blues" CD) was a finalist in the Great American Song Contest (Country category)! Congratulations, Rob!

April Coming Up

We have two good ones coming up for this month: we'll share the stage at Boulevard Music in Culver City with the Ray Doyle Band on April 10th. Ray is the guitarist with famed Wylie & The Wild West (the "Yahoo!" yodeler), and will be serving up songs from his critically-acclaimed album "The Emigrant Trail" with classic songs of the heritage of the west. Then the next week we'll be at Concerts in the Library in El Segundo (Saturday, April 17th), presenting our "Appalachia to Bluegrass" show. The Hilonesome Band traces the roots of modern bluegrass music and its evolution from Appalachian ballads and story songs--featuring the work of American folk music legend Jean Ritchie, along with contemporary songs from the Hilonesome Band's lead guitarist, Rob Carlson. We welcome our guest Mark Indictor on fiddle. All concerts are free and light refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Library. All show details are below.

Radio Airplay

"Green Kentucky Blues" as well as our earlier title "Blue Eyed Darlin'" have picked up airplay on roots radio in the U.S. and Canada:

KGLT/Americana Backroads - Bozeman MT
WMMT/Art Menius - Whitesburg KY
KVMR/Four Strong Winds - Nevada City CA
WNEC/Out of the Woods - Henniker NH
WYEP/An American Sampler
WRFL/Hard Travelin' Revue - Lexington KY
WEFT - From the Joshua Tree Inn - Champaign IL
WVGN - Virgin Islands
CIUT - Radio Boogie - Toronto
KBOO - Saturday Morning Gumbo
KCSN - Bluegrass Etc., Northridge, CA

"Children, now our meeting is over, and surely we must part,

And if I never any more see you, I will love you in my heart.

The Lord will land on the sea, the Lord will land on the shore,

The Lord will land on the sea, and we'll shout forever more!"

Blessings and love to all of you, and Happy Easter!

Susie

Visit the Susie Glaze Website and click on "Upcoming Shows"

March News

2010-03-02T22:24:00.001-08:00

Fab February and Martin Family

Our February was amazing - we were on the road for a music-filled President's Day/Valentines Day weekend. We debuted everywhere we went, first at the Fireside Concerts in Newbury Park, and the triumphant San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The fans in SF were great and loved the band! Kudos to my brother Rick Glaze who chauffeured us around all weekend and let us stay at his lovely home and to Laurie Lewis who so generously lent us her beautiful Eminence bass. It was beautiful and Fred had a blast playing it. It was great to feel the glow from the new and growing fan base in Northern Cal, and we're looking forward to getting back there! A big surprise was that my brother Rick sent me home with another Martin guitar he gifted me from his collection, one that I borrowed to play the shows with - a beautiful OMC which is Orchestra Model Cutaway. The photo below is of our entire Martin family!

March Shows
This month I'm excited to be sharing the stage with someone I'm a fan of, Shaun Cromwell. He's opening for us at the Coffee Gallery Backstage on Friday, March 12th and I hope you'll all come out! We've got a rousing group joining us and new songs, and you've got to hear the great Shaun. We're headed down to San Diego later in the month to join the San Diego IndieFest and our great friend fiddler Dan Sankey will guest with the trio.

Radio Airplay
"Green Kentucky Blues" as well as our earlier title "Blue Eyed Darlin'" have picked up airplay on roots radio in the U.S. and Canada:

KGLT/Americana Backroads - Bozeman MT
WMMT/Art Menius - Whitesburg KY
KVMR/Four Strong Winds - Nevada City CA
WNEC/Out of the Woods - Henniker NH
WYEP/An American Sampler
WRFL/Hard Travelin' Revue - Lexington KY
WEFT - From the Joshua Tree Inn - Champaign IL
WVGN - Virgin Islands
CIUT - Radio Boogie - Toronto
KBOO - Saturday Morning Gumbo
KCSN - Bluegrass Etc., Northridge, CA

Thanks to press agent Teresa Conboy for her good and creative work!

Spring!
In LA we're just starting to see the first hints of Spring. It's always a new joy every year when it rolls around.

More than the little extra light, more than even the faint aromas, there is a new presence in the world, in the air around me. I feel it clearly, though it is tiny and timid: it's opening my eyes and ears and heart, and re-lighting that little bit of hope I thought had been buried in the dark.

You have no idea how closed in you've been until the first bright rays of sun find you in your dark room.

Here's a quote for Spring Faith and Spring Hope:

"Listen to your life.

See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.

In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness:

touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it

because in the last analysis all moments are key moments,

and life itself is grace." -- Fred Buechner

Love and Blessings for a hopeful Spring and Revival of the Presence!

Susie

2010-02-16T17:02:00.000-08:00

We had the most awesome time in San Francisco last weekend! Just home now and starting to recover from a whirlwind weekend! Fireside Concerts in Newbury Park on Friday, SF Bluegrass and Old Time Festival on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon and zooming home last night - the fans in SF were so warm and loved the band! I think we'll be asked back! Kudos to my brother Rick Glaze who chauffeured us around all weekend and let us stay at his lovely home and to Laurie Lewis who so generously lent us her beautiful Eminence bass! It was gorgeous and Fred had a blast playing it. It's great to feel the glow from the new and growing fan base in Northern Cal. We're looking forward to getting back there!

Late January 2010

2010-01-26T22:16:00.000-08:00

Well folks, the New Year is not even 3 weeks old yet and there’s already been a lot going on!

New Band Photography

We started everything off with a bang and a snap the first week by asking our friend Cam Sanders, a great photographer, to create new band photography for us and the wonderful results can be found on our website’s gallery page: http://www.susieglaze.com/gallery

New Sounds!

Also early in the month, our friend Ken Lopez from USC did us a big favor by helping us to find new sound equipment which we did with the help of Kurtis Ewing at Westlake Professional Sales. Now we’re traveling around with some fine Audiotechnica mics and are really happy with them. The other cool sound addition to the band is my brother Rick’s Martin 0018. The day before we played Kulak’s he brought it down from Northern California for me to borrow and we love the sound in combo with Rob’s big D28. I hope we get to keep it!

January Shows

The month has already seen two shows – we had a great time at Kulak’s Woodshed in North Hollywood with Tracy Newman and the Reinforcements on January 9^th, and the following weekend took the Quartet to Tom Lee’s Songtree Music Series in Goleta California where we had a great, great experience. It’s a beautiful new space for concerts and a large and wonderfully warm audience.

Lastly this month it’s the Concert for Haiti benefit concert on Sunday, January 31^st at the Culver Culver-Palms United Methodist Church, 4464 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City 90230. Artists include Laurence Juber, Amilia K. Spicer, Brad Colerick, Robby Longley, Freebo, Bernie Pearl with Mike Barry, Matt Cartsonis, Renaissance, James Lee Stanley, Severin Browne, Michael Richards & Doctor Fun, Tracy Newman, Bonne Musique Zydeco, Sage, Tim Tedrow & Terry Vreeland, Robert Morgan Fisher, Dale LaDuke, Dave Morrison Band, Dafni, Duane Thorin, Lisa Turner, Kara Grainger. Call the Culver-Palms United Methodist Church at 310-390-7717 for more information and plan to come and donate for Haiti earthquake relief. Organizations represented will be Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health – PIH, CARE, Oxfam, Americares and others. Visit their website for more info and flyers. http://www.hope4la.org/.

NAMM

Steve and I attended the NAMM trade show (National Association of Music Merchants) a couple of weeks ago in Anaheim, where we ran into many of our buddies hanging at the Martin Guitar exhibit. Thanks to our friends at IBMA (thanks Jill!), we attended as members of that organization. At Martin we were incredibly lucky to meet with Dick Boak who handles Artist & Public Relations, and is the editor of “The Sounding Board” (Martin's official newsletter). We shared with him the unique story of how our D28 came to us, and he offered to add a listing about our band and our Martin story to the newsletter, published twice a year. The story in short: Our Martin D-28 (pictured in the banner photo on the top of our website) came to us by way of Steve's good friend, actor John Goodman. John worked with Steven Spielberg in the movie "The Flintstones" and was given the guitar as a gift from the director. John found he didn't play the guitar very often and offered it to Steve who promptly jumped at the chance to own this gorgeous instrument. We've featured it in our concerts and recording sessions ever since.

We should be in Vol. 29 of “The Sounding Board” this summer.

Also while at the NAMM show we were delighted to set up artist relationship agreements with Shubb Capos (http://www.shubb.com/) and Deering Banjos (http://www.deeringbanjos.com/). Steve ordered a Vega Old Tyme model from the Deering booth and we’re excited to have it arrive soon. Watch out for some old fashioned plunking from Steve coming soon…!

Writing

I’ve started my CD review writing for Dirty Linen (http://www.dirtylinen.com/) and my first byline will appear in their March/April issue. On Folkworks (http://www.folkworks.org/) my review of Jeni & Billy’s CD “Jewel Ridge Coal” is currently CD Review of the Week.

February Shows

As I write we’re preparing for our February shows, including our first time in the San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival (http://www.sfbluegrass.org/). All the details for February are here:

Saturday, February 6, The Juke Joint Gang At The Talking Stick

We join Ernest Troost's monthly songwriter show. 8:00 p.m. FREE! 1411C Lincoln Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291. http://www.thetalkingstick.net/

Friday, February 12, Fireside Concerts

Borchard Community Center, 190 Reino, Newbury Park, corner of Borchard and Reino, Newbury Park - Fireside Room. 8:00 p.m. $7.00. For more information call (805) 499-3511 or write Bob Kroll at folksgr1@aol.com

February 13-14, San Francisco Old Time-Bluegrass Festival

Susie and the Hilonesome Band join the Old Time Bluegrass Festival for our first time this year. Saturday 2/13 McGrath's Pub, Alameda. 8pm - 11pm. Sunday 2/14 Mayflower Inn, San Rafael. 4pm - 7pm. Find the whole schedule, locations, etc. at http://www.sfbluegrass.org/

Jean

As I write, my beloved Jean Ritchie ails in a New York rehabilitation center. She suffered a stroke on December 4^th and is now recuperating with loved ones nearby. I’ve included some random things from Jean and from me, just in conjuring up her spirit for myself these sad days:

Here is a recent letter exchange between a fan and myself:

“Dear Susie,

I am writing with an inquiry about the CD Singin' the Moon Up, The Voice of Jean Ritchie. First let me tell you how much I enjoy the work on that CD. Having enjoyed Jean's music and meeting her has been a highlight of my life. When the CD started playing the first time at my home your voice literally brought tears to my eyes because you ''captured' her spirit and her voice so well. Very, very nice work. I can only imagine how Jean must have felt hearing your lovely voice singing her songs/her life. Blessed, I'll bet. Carroll”

My reply:

“Dear Carroll:

Thank you especially for your reflections on “Singin’ the Moon Up.” It was a labor of love as the saying goes, a joy of my life, made unforgettable by Jean's participation, as well as the presence of her husband George (his photographs) and sons Jon and Peter in the show with us. Jean’s been an inspiration to say the least, both as an artist and as a woman and human being. Jean's brand of Grace is becoming more and more obsolete in this world, sadly. It is in attempting to obtain her level of purity that I've been able to emulate her skill, and I am honored and gratified that it has resonated for others.”

From Jean to me:

“The wonderful thing to me is that when I hear your recording of any song of mine (L&N definitely included), I feel as though it is myself, singing. I don't know if you realize it, but you're the only one who respects my melodies enough not to reinvent them, "make them my own," as most singers describe this process. I don't usually mind, or not within reason, but you're the only one who can manage to "make it your own," and still present the original tune recognizably.” “Susie, I love the way you do the song. You sing it in a wonderful, honest style, and get all the things I feel into your performance of it. It cannot be sung better- differently, but never better. So- you can quote that if you like!” “I just am supremely grateful and happy that you like my efforts at songwriting, and that you have sung and recorded them so beautifully over these few years blessed with the warmth of our friendship.”

Jean Ritchie Mudcat Post from May 7, 2009:

“Here. We're back- son Jon from a two-week hospital stay, still having tests after getting home as they still can't find what the trouble is. George from another series of test, taking 18 different pills a day, soon to be told to start dialysis. Myself growling around the house with a hundred aches and pains. I can see and feel big changes coming, and know that this long Growing-Old part of our lives is coming to an end--- We ARE old! I start reading sympathetically about poor OLD people, and suddenly it hits me: What? I myself am 86. What do we do with our house? Man- all these taxes, who'll pay them next year? Will we go to a nursing home? Have a live-in nurse? I tell you, it's so hard when you finally realize that Life makes you keep on learning- right up to the end. I guess, as long as I can understand Life's messages, I'll be able to go on.

And I tell myself, "Just think of all the people that ever lived in this world. How many problems and worries and tragedies have they endured, along with the fewer joys and goodtimes and successes? And, when you come down to it, one is one and all alone and evermore shall be so. Or another way of putting it, You got to cross that lonesome valley by yourself.

I don't dread it, once I accept it. I have so loved my Mother and Father, all my gaggle of sisters, my three brothers (only one out of all of them is still in the world with me). We hurt with them if they have pain at the end, but we cannot go with them or ease that journey. Someone said, "The dead always look peaceful." I believe they are. I believe that they have walked the valley and found at last the destination we all are are striving to find. What else is Life, but a trip towards something higher and better? People who have almost died, have talked of being in a dark tunnel with a faint but bright light far ahead; then their passage is forbidden and they have to turn from the light and return to Life- to do an unfinished task there? To help or guide someone else for awhile longer?

I wonder- but it doesn't matter, does it? None of us can live forever. We must live Life to the fullest, then give those behind us a loving farewell. That's what I hope I can do.

I'll stop, because I don't know what I'm trying to say, but I thought it ought to be said. I guess I was trying to understand, myself, that not all of us CAN live to be old, or WANT to, and so arrive earlier at that entrance into the next world. In my personal prayers, I always say in my thoughts, "Lord, I'll stay as long as You need me, so show me what to do..."

Big Mick, feel better, and I hope that Fate, or Karma, or whatever, eases up on you. I know you'll be needed in this Life for a long time, so take the reins that have been handed to you, and have a good, long run. You have many who love you and are running along with you, and that lonesome valley is still far away.

Love to you all, Jean

PS: Darn- I bet y'all will think this is a stupid letter, and tomorrow I may think so myself! But it's what I felt like saying.”

______________________________________________

Friends,

I send you Blessings and Love, as Jean would write, herself.

Susie

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks and Happy New Year!

Everyone always says that it's hard to believe that ten years have passed from the Y2K Millenium mark, and you know, it is hard to believe! It was a decade of lots of firsts and I won't go into them here because lots of writers have spent the Christmas holidays writing about them and summing everything up. For me, gosh, it's hard to remember everything that happened, but there were many big things this last decade. And now that I look back over it all I see how much was accomplished and I think a big "wow."

In 2000 I became a recording artist with The Eight Hand String Band on their release "Simple Truth" in January of that year. It was great and life-changing for me and made me want to do more recording. In 2001 Steve and I were married and our dog Megs came into our lives as a gift from good friends the Wright family (for Steve's birthday in April of that year). We did a bit of traveling during the decade, first to the Virgin Islands, to St. John's for our honeymoon, and really fell in love with our cottage "Aerie" built on the side of a hill facing the Coral Bay, up in the trees, designed and built by a local artist. My solo albums were made this decade: "Home On the Hill" was released in 2002 and I was lucky to start my friendship with Jean Ritchie (photo above from the Solstice Festival here in June of 2002). We lost our precious Lily right at the same time the album was released. That same year Steve and I started working with Rob Carlson and we formed the Hilonesome Band to showcase Rob's original songwriting. We spent 2003 woodshedding his songs and playing out, and 2004 working on the new album which would become "Blue Eyed Darlin'" released in early 2005. Also in 2005 the Eight Hand Band recorded and released their soundtrack album in conjunction with our work for the new Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield Illinois, called "Listen to the Mockingbird: Songs from the Civil War Era." "Blue Eyed Darlin'" was released in May of that year, and Steve and I also embarked on our further adventures with Jean Ritchie with our retrospective tribute show on Jean's life and work "Singin' The Moon Up: The Voice of Jean Ritchie" which we debuted at Penn State University in September of 2005. In 2006 I visited London and the Grand Canyon for the first time, in 2007 I started working on the album "Green Kentucky Blues" with Laurie Lewis, and released it in the spring of 2008. I also lost our precious Sassy that year, right before her 15th birthday (photo above). In 2009 we headlined again at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest, opened for Billy Bragg, traveled to Australia, and had our first band road trip in September, traveling to the Napa Valley and Bay area for shows. Zowie!

And now we're here at the 10 year mark in the new century. My world is full of blessings, especially the friendships Steve and I have, our good health, our home, communities, our love for each other and good luck on many counts. I hope for you that God's blessings come to you and your families, and that good music is always a part of it. I'm privileged and honored to sing for you as the years go by and I hope you will keep listening. I can think of no higher calling.

I end with my recipe for New Year's Luck Greens. May they bring you good health, good luck and especially, good eats!!

For Collards, Curly Kale, Mustard or Turnip Greens:
Fill a large stockpot with water and heat to boiling. Fill a large sink full of cold water and stem the greens by holding each green by the stem over the water and with a sharp knife (I like to use a boning knife), slicing down the stem (machete style) so the leaves fall into the water. Discard the stem (or give to the hogs) and repeat with each stem of your greens. When the sink is full of greens, stir them through the water to wash the leaves. Put the greens into the boiling water pot and cover and boil for 6 minutes. When done, drain the greens, fill the pot back up with cold water and plunge the greens into the cold water to stop the cooking process. When cooled, pull the greens up by the handfuls and squeeze all the water from them and place on a cutting board. Spread them out and coarsely chop. In a sauté pan put 2 tablespoons of olive oil, chopped garlic and red pepper flakes to taste. Heat on medium and when the garlic is sizzling, add the greens. Turn them in the oil and when coated with oil, cover them 3/4 of the way with chicken broth, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes and serve. You can also add raw rice (it will cook in the broth), meat of any kind (ham works well) and beans of any kind (I used black eyed peas for New Years Good Luck!).

With love and blessings and hopes for prosperity and health for the New Year!

Susie

Last Show of the Year Coming This Saturday

2009-12-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here's me and Meggsie from Thanksgiving in Los Olivos

So it feels like the calm before the storm today as we've been preparing for our last show of the year at the Grand Vision Concert Series in San Pedro. Check out http://www.grandvision.org/gallery.shtml . Taran Schindler, who I met last spring and runs this great concert series, asked us to do songs from Appalachia to show the connection between Celtic music and American styles, which for me would be the Jean Ritchie collection. We'll be proud to end the year this way, sharing the songs from the great Jean Ritchie's family collection of old country ballads and Jean's originals from Eastern Kentucky. The Hilonesome Band Quartet will be joining me, Rob Carlson on lead guitar and dobro, Steve Rankin on mandolin and guitar and Fred Sanders on bass. We'll be doing alot of our originals from Rob as well as the old songs, and the guys will be singing some of their favorites also. We hope you can be there with us.

I found out recently that "Green Kentucky Blues" has gotten airplay in the Virgin Islands! My press agent, Teresa Conboy, is totally great and should take full credit. She's really making the FaceBook Fan page jump as well!
Check this out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Susie-Glaze/104707790150?ref=ts

I wrote a review today for Jeni & Billy's CD "Jewell Ridge Coal" for Folkworks Online. It's still in process and should show up on the website soon. I'll also be writing one for Beth Wood's new one as well this month, and then onto my new writing gig for Dirty Linen! I'm psyched! Check out Jeni and Billy at http://www.jeniandbilly.com/ and Folkworks at http://www.folkworks.org/.

After our show this Saturday night I'll be all about Christmas and I'm looking forward to it. I sing with an incredible choir at All Saints Church Pasadena (http://www.allsaints-pas.org/) and we're doing Mozart on Christmas Eve, my fave! Then in January the HL Band gets right back to it when we share the bill at Kulak's Woodshed with the great Tracy Newman and the Reinforcements. Make sure to visit our calendar at www.susieglaze.com/calendar. Our show at Kulak's is on Saturday, January 9th. Check this out at http://www.kulakswoodshed.com/ Tune in on the web to see the webcast! How cool is that, huh? As long as I remember to wear black ........You can send us email during the show. Check out tracy at http://www.tracynewman.com/ .

More next week!

Welcome to My First Blog!

2009-12-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone! I'll write more when I get this figured out!