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
Monday, March 28, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Winter's Grace
Hello Dear Friends,
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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 and Jean |
 |
| George Pickow |
"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
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.
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!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
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
An August for Memories of Summer
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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
 |
| 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 |
 |
| 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)
 |
| 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 |
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
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
July Rides!
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.
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!
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. 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!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
June - No Gloom!
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
Monday, April 5, 2010
April Springs Eternal!
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 s
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 B
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"
Visit the Susie Glaze Website and click on "Upcoming Shows"
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
March News
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!
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
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