AUGUST NEWS

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!