I’m getting ready for a gig this Saturday and thought that I’d post my set list. I put a lot of thought into my sets and most of the time I play them as I practiced, but sometimes I deviate depending on the crowd or my mood or even how my voice is feeling at the time. I hate putting two songs in the same key next to each other and I try to have the set ebb and flow – usually ending with a funny song or an upbeat blues.
What’s your set list ritual?
See you at the gig!
I learned last year that the time to plan a summer tour is 6-7 months in advance. I just find it hard to think that far ahead, but you have to.
The easiest part of touring is deciding where you want to go. I usually end up in Cleveland because I have friends and family there that will come out to a show or host a house concert. So what I do is start at the end, in Cleveland and then trace backwards from there.
This year I’m going to tour around Lake Erie by starting in Buffalo, NY then off to Toronto, Canada, heading West to Detroit, Michigan, then Chicago and then back to Cleveland. I’ve already booked in Toronto and Chicago, now I’m looking for slots in Buffalo, Michigan and Cleveland.
Let me know if you have ideas in those areas – I’d love to play a house concert if you’re willing to have me!
Love and peace
As I sat down to write this year’s Christmas song I rummaged through the attic in my brain for topics. I just couldn’t seem see past the boxes of junk filled with how much our family has endured in the past few years – snow storms, hurricanes, and too many friends and family gone.
I think one of my favorite Christmas songs is “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and it’s use of the word ‘muddle’. I recall many Holiday seasons where I muddled through and I think that this 2013 season will be that for many in our neck of the woods. But we’ll get through because we’ll still go through the motions albeit with a few gaping holes here and there.
“Christmas With You” is not a song about a specific time or place or person. We could be missing distant friends, children away at college, service men and women and this song will still hit the mark.
Peace to you all this season -
We Choose Love!
* Normally I give my holiday songs away for an email address, but this year I’m asking for your donation. All proceeds from the sale of this song and the digital album of my 5 Holiday Songs will benefit the Wilson Gregory Cancer Fund.
Christmas With You
The snow’s fallin’ down like angels tears
On a winter’s night like the one’s we shared for so many years
But now you’ve gone so far, so far away from me
And this time of year just ain’t the same as it used to be
I’ll light the candles and place them in my windows
Like a star for the Kings they’ll help you find your way back home
And I’ll think of moments lost
Like our breath when it turns to frost
I’m closing up my presents with ribbons and rue
And I dream about spending Christmas with you
I keep our old traditions close to my heart
I still trim the tree, light a fire, even though we’re apart
I pour a glass of wine and toast some cheer
And somehow, I seem to muddle through, even though you’re not here
I’ve written out my last card and put them all in the mail
I’m not sure if the one I wrote to you will ever find your door
I wait for one last kiss
Under the mistletoe I make a wish
I sing a few notes of a carol we both knew
And I dream about spending Christmas with you
Dear Reader,
Happy Halloween to you Trick-or-Treaters out there! I hope you’re all settling in the to the busy season and adjusting to the cold snap (I know we’re having some cold weather here in New England).
I’m sending out this newsletter to announce a benefit house concert on Ridgefield, CT on Saturday, November 9th. Light finger food starting at 6PM followed by music at 7PM. Please RSVP by contacting Gwenann Reid-Higham at ggreidart@gmail.com.
I normally try to fit my performing schedule around my teaching schedule and therefore I usually don’t do many performances in the Fall. But, a special circumstance has come up where I felt that I needed to produce a house concert now. My nephew David Gregory and his wife Katie have two sons ages 4 and 1. The youngest, Wilson, was diagnosed with high-risk, stage 4 Neuroblastoma in May 2013 when he was 11 months old. His parents noticed two small bumps behind his left ear and brought him to the ER expecting to be treated for an unresolved ear infection. Instead, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. These moments happen everyday I’m sure, but when they happen close to home you stop and pay attention because it is your family being affected. But I believe we are all family and when we become aware of need we should all step up and help in whatever way we can.
I can’t fly out to Chicago to sit with Wilson or babysit for his older brother Harry. What I can do is have a benefit house concert to help raise some funds to help off-set the extreme cost of dealing with the treatment of a life threatening disease such as this. Katie and David will have to take off from their work at some point to be with Wilson as he spends a month in ICU after chemo therapy renders his immune system inoperative. There is no safety net in our healthcare system for unpaid leave from a job, so we step up and help by contributing dollars. Contributions from immediate family is not enough, so I am asking YOU, my musical family, the “fan” who may be connected to me through song to step up and help by coming to the house concert or making a donation.
If you can’t attend the Wilson Gregory Benefit House Concert and you would still like to help you would like to help, please visit: WePay.com ~ Wilson Gregory Donations to help defray the costs associated with Wilson’s hospitalizations.
I am so lucky to have friends like the Reid-Higham family who are so willing to open their house and invite people in to listen to me sing and play. I am also excited to have my friend Chris Belden joining me on the stage to add his music and voice to this benefit.
Please contact Gwenann Reid-Higham to RSVP for the house concert. Since this is a private residence we will only give out the address once you have told us you are coming. The concert is limited to the first 50 people who respond. We are asking for a $10 donation at the door and all sales of CDs and other merchandise will go directly to the Wilson Gregory Fund.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and I hope to see you at the concert!
Peace
