It's been a great ride so far

The past year has brought some very interesting and exciting musical experiences! I've been doing lots of new material, and my songlist is well over 500 songs now. In the spring of 2007, I performed a few concerts in Frankfurt, Germany, with some great musicians. Over the summer months, while spending time with family in the U.S., I rubbed shoulders with some of the best musicians in bluegrass and country music. And then in the fall, I found myself in northern England and Scotland performing in hotels and restauraunts.

With newfound confidence and a broader repertoire, I returned to Frankfurt and hit upon an ambitious plan. I wanted to explore music -- lots of music! So I set up a series of concerts and got to work. In just over three months time, I performed ten concerts and worked with fourteen different special guests, singing a wide variety of styles. We did music from the fifties and sixties, rock, country, blues, jazz, pop, bluegrass, classical, broadway, and more. The songs included covers of Sinatra, Elvis, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Everly Brothers, The Platters, Buddy Holly, and Simon and Garfunkel, to name a few. We've had several configurations of musicians and bands, and we've covered lots of music.

It's been a great adventure so far! Thanks for joining me along the way. The repertoire is continually growing. I keep working with new songs, styles, and musicians. Every musical engagement is different. And we keep making new friends along the way. Come see for yourself!

Working on gigs

I'm having a great time working on so much different music with so many different musicians. It was a such a thrill to do a show with my great friend Kathy Bird last week. She can play anything you put in front of her, she is such a professional, plus she is always so much fun to be with! I've also been singing with Bob Crook music from the 50's and 60's. He's really taught me a lot of songs and is doing a great job helping me move from solo to band. And I really appreciate the contribution of Cisco Ruiz and Dan Carter to my recent gigs.

Now there are more shows ahead. Saturday Mr. T will be there as we do a show of rock and blues. To be honest, I never really played the blues much, but I think the way life is sometimes, I can handle it. Chris Palmer will be back with me at the Rotlint Cafe on 18 January. Everyone enjoyed the sketches we did together last month. The Rotlint is a great venue for this kind of thing. On 26 January, Jogi Kirschner will be along to show us how jazz is done. Jogi can play all my styles; he's such an excellent musician and he's loads of fun. And then I've planned a concert in February that I call "Thistle, Shamrock, and Bluegrass", where I look at the connections among the music of Scotland, Ireland, and Appalachian. Don Lupo will bring his banjo along and we'll be doing some great downhome music.

So why I am doing all these differents styles? Why not stay in one style, like pop, jazz, or country? My answer is that frankly I am so curious and interested in exploring the variations in music. Then where do we go from here? Reggae? Yiddish? Punk? Not telling. I hope you'll join me in the wonder of musical discovery.