Judith Avers: News/Journal

Hi folks,

I hope this finds you cozying up to a warm cup of cider with all of your Holiday shopping and creating done and ready to be mailed.  But just in case...

 I've got a special Holiday Sale offering for those of you looking to give something a little different this year. I will write and record a 2-3 minute-long song for the young person in your life.

You give me a little info about them and I will do my best to create something simple, sweet and special for them. (Adults are okay, too!) $50 includes a recording of the song, handwritten lyrics and a holiday card from me.

If you are interested, email me at info@judithavers.com and I will ask you for a few special details and stories and then I'll get busy writing. 

Here is a sample I wrote for a young lady I was babysitting.  She is 10 years old and loves reading, singing, magical stories, Red Maple trees and her sister told me she is very kind to others. 

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you,

Judith

Hey friends,

I recently did a radio show in Pittsburgh for Neighborhood Voices (neighborhoodvoices.org) and the

Saturday Light Brigade Radio Show. 

Here is a link if you'd like to listen to the show:

http://neighborhoodvoices.org/live-music-judith-avers

Hope you are having a beautiful Fall and a lovely November,

Judith

A little humor on this cloudy September night.  (I've been missing West Virginia.)

Q: How many bluegrass musicians does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Just one...but the rest of the band stands around and complains about it being electric.

Hi folks -

I wanted to stop by and express my apologies for not making it to Nettlefest this year AND for getting my CD out a little bit later than I had hoped. 

My sister, Alicea, died and we have been focusing our energies on our family. 

We are all doing okay and I expect to get back to the album soon - it is recorded and mastered and almost ready!  I am planning on booking a couple of short tours to get it out to you so please check back for dates. 

Also, if you'd like to book a house concert or if your church or venue would like me to stop by and sing some songs, please email me at booking@judithavers.com. 

Thanks so much for listening and for all of the kind words,

Judith

Congratulations to Annie Kitchen of Colorado!!  Her cover was chosen after much deliberation as the winner of the God Bless the Brooders CD art contest. 

I would also like to congratulate Rae Munroe of Philadelphia who was the runner up.  We went back and forth and forth and back trying to decide.  You both did incredible covers!!

Rae's entry:

 Annie's contest entry will be the official CD Cover and she will receive $100.  A few of the contestants will also be notified about the possibility of us using their designs on future posters or T-shirts.  So cool!

I want to thank each of you for your entries - they are all so beautiful.  I love that you entered and all of these mean so much to me. 

Much love and thanks for your patience while we were all trying to decide,

Judith

 A few of the finalists:

Hello!

Thank you to everyone who entered the CD art contest!!!  We received some great entries - I love them all.  : )

To those of you who entered - there are 5 judges (myself included) and I am sending out the submissions this weekend.  We will have a winner in the next week or two. 

Thanks for your patience and we'll keep you posted!!

Muah!

Judith

Due to a family emergency, I will be unable to attend Folk Alliance.  I hope the folks there have a glorious time.  If you happen to attend  - please stalk Mark Olson for me.  As far as melody makers and harmonies go - he is untouchable in my humble opinion. 

Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause,

judith

The CD art contest is upon us!!  Details above.  Good luck and I can't wait to see what you come up with!!

Love,
Judith

We are funded!! As of yesterday morning, the project is funded!!! I cannot express my elation and relief. Thank you - each and every one of you. I called Frances and told her the news and we were both so touched.

It isn't always a simple thing - making money for music. At times I wonder if pursuing a career in music is wasteful or frivolous. Do you ever get that feeling? I wonder if most artists feel that way at some point. But then a memory comes back to me:

I'm in Lakin, Kansas at my friend Wade's house. It is 1994 and it is early in the morning. There are beer bottles everywhere and we are all hungover from the night before. The sun is shining in and I see Wade walk into the room and flop himself into in oversized puffy chair (red?) in the livingroom. His overgrown blonde hair catches the sunlight and he rubs his face. He leans over to the stereo and starts picking out a tape to listen to. I am lying on his couch in the clothes I wore the day prior looking at the mess that is his house. I hear a woman's voice. I am gone. I don't know who or what this music is. I'm still at the desperate phase of trying to impress my new strange friends (Wade, Brian, John & Chris) out here in this weird Kansas town and am instantly aware of my limited music knowledge.
In Liberal (the town I grew up in), I was raised on country music - Loretta Lynn, Patsy, Willie Nelson, The Mandrel Sisters, and so on. Later, I listened to any music I could get - REM, heavy metal, punk, alternative - always thinking I was pretty musically evolved compared to the rest of my classmates (yeah, right). Lying on the couch listening to music at Wade's house, I was instantly reminded that I was a novice...a newbie......living in a musical microcosm. It wasn't mortifying like you might expect. The music was so smart. The melodies were so familiar yet so strange to me. I wasn't about to pretend to know what I was talking about (as was my style at the time.)

Me: what is this
Wade: Lucinda Williams
Me: Lucinda.....

I hear another song. Two men singing harmonies that sounded like running down the street in the sunshine.

Me: what is this
Wade: The Jayhawks

Another song. A man singing. Deep and full and like Kansas. Beautiful poetry that erases years of pop shmop from my head.
Me: What is this
Wade: Uncle Tupelo

We go on like this - he talks about music with me. He is not trying to teach me anything. He is not trying to convince me to listen. He is just listening to music on a Saturday morning. He makes me a copy of a tape. The first of many that will follow. Years later, I will still be playing that tape at a gas station in Colorado as I check people out at the register. I will be writing pretty lame songs in my sister's basement and trying to reach some level of poetry...some heartland melody...

It's 2011 and I'm still friends with Wade. He gave me a stack of CD's the last time I saw him - I haven't made it through them all. I give him CD's too. He took me out to "help" him feed the cattle and wrangle a bull back into it's field. He and his family cooked while I walked down long dirt trails at his family's ranch - surrounded by fields and sunflowers and grasshoppers that were excited for the company. I'm still a musician and I'm still trying to write music that makes me - and hopefully others - feel the way I did that honeyed morning in Lakin.

Music is the only thing in my life that has ever "stuck." For better or for worse, we are together....these songs and I. I am blessed with a wife who finds value in what I do and who doesn't care if I make twenty bucks at a show or two thousand. I am blessed with artist friends who share their gifts with me. I am blessed with a beautiful pocket of fans who saw it fitting to donate some of their hard-earned money or time to support my latest album.

Overall, I'd say I have it made.

Thank you so very much for giving. I can't wait for the opportunity to do the same.

Much love,
Judith

Hello there!

Thanks for stopping by my website.  We have 28 days left of our Kickstarter campaign!!  In case you don't know about Kickstarter, it is an online organization that helps artists like myself get their projects funded!! 

We are more than half way to our goal of $3000 with 28 days remaining.  Wow!  It is wonderful to see the support and I am so very grateful to those of you who have backed my new album, God Bless the Brooders. 

If you would like to check out my Kickstarter page and see how you can be a part of it, please check out my page at:

http://kck.st/dUfbgd

I also am posting a new video update below. 

If you know anyone who might be interested in my music or supporting this new CD, please pass along this along!  Thanks to each and every one of you.

Hope you are warm and cozy and that the tea is flowing!!

Much love,

Judith

VIDEO UPDATE:

Hello!

I hope you are having the happiest of days wherever you are - 2011 is snowy and beautiful here in Pittsburgh, PA.  I've been busy since I last wrote! 

I snuck away to Massachusetts in November to record my 8th album which will be called "God Bless the Brooders."  Anand Nayak - the producer of "Mountain and Shore" and a dear friend of mine -  spent 5 days and 5 nights with me at Slaughterhouse Studios working on this album.  We had a limited budget and it was just the two of us (with help from the talented and lovely Mark Allan Miller.) 

It was a very different recording process than what I've done in the past.  We both had big life things happening and it was literally a saving grace for me.   I was so grateful for the chance to play music into the wee hours of the morning with someone as thoughtful and respectful as Anand.  He is my favorite musician to play with and the the most compatible producer I've ever worked with.  We really listened to each other and each one of us had a say in what happened. 

When I listen to the music on God Bless the Brooders, I hear myself singing in such a relaxed and peaceful way.  I hear the two of us just allowing the music to happen instead of me trying for the perfect take.  I'm very proud and grateful and credit Anand for really knowing how to make it all happen. 

I am hoping to release the new album this Spring or early Summer, but I need a little help to make it happen.  I have just launched my Kickstarter campaign and I would love it if you checked it out!  Kickstarter is a cool organization that helps artists fund their projects.  They make it very easy for the artist as well as the backers of the project.  I am posting the information below.  The money I am raising will go to pay for duplication, mastering and additional production fees.  The exact amounts are outlined on the page.

I had to make a video and some of you know that I am a little behind in the technical department, so I did my best.  It's a little goofy, but I guess I am a little goofy.  I will be updating it weekly and keeping you all posted on the process.  As you can see on the site, I have until the third week of February to raise the money.  With your help, I think we can do it!!  (Did I mention the cool rewards???  We thought them up on a big hike...we were a little exhausted so that might explain why we think our cinnamon candy is so fabulous.)

Much love to you all and thank so much for checking the campaign out! 

Judith

To see the Kickstarter campaign and to learn more about it, please click this link:

 http://kck.st/dUfbgd

To hear a sample of a song that is going to be on the album, here is a video of me performing "I Am What I Is" in Great Bend, Kansas:

Hi folks!

Hope this finds you feeling good and loving the Fall - wherever you are.  

I'm just writing a quick note to let you know that I'm alive and kicking.  I haven't checked in for a little while and I'm going to be out of comission or a tiny bit more. 

I will be letting you all know about the new album soon!  I promise!!

In the meantime, please be good to yourselves and each other.  No matter what happens - we are all we've got. 

love,
Judith

Hi everyone!  Thought you might like to see an article that recently came out in the Arts & Entertainment section here in our new home.  Many thanks to David Goldberg and the publishers for the lovely article. 

 Sure do love me some Pittsburgh! 

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5779472/judith_avers_national_singersongwriter.html?cat=2

Hope you are warm and cozy wherever you are,
Judith

Hello! 

I am in beautiful Colorado and loving it - the sunshine, the mountains, the clean air, the    S   P   A   C  E  .....

it is heavenly. 

The shows have been great and the people....even better. 

I wanted to let you know that I added another show to the schedule - this Sunday I will be playing the Unity Church of Ft. Collins, CO. 

I love this place and would LOVE seeing you there.  Please check the tour schedule for complete details.

Tour de Fat is this Saturday!!  Can't wait!

Hope you are happy and content exactly where you are - thanks for being here,

Judith

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood - a beautiful day to be neighbors,

Would. You. Be. Mine?  

Hello from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - I hope this finds you feeling mighty fine.  I rushed home from my morning walk to write a little here - I got inspired.

It all started when my friend lent me her iPod.  That's right - we are CONSIDERING buying one and actually transferring our discs over.  It freaks me out - truthfully-but I am listening to less and less music as technology gets more and more advanced. 

I digress.

I've been listening to this iPod or jamming out in our car (which only has a discman to play CD's) and my batteries kept running out yesterday.  So I turned on the radio.  It was late.  We had just went to a  beautiful open mic at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh and our dear friend Laurie just finished taking her Boards exam for medical school - we were celebrating.  I needed to dance.  Frances needed to dance.  Laurie needed to dance.  So inspite of me losing major cool points with the hipsters and folk fans alike - pop music was the ONLY answer.  Yes.  I listened to it.  And I'm not ashamed.  (Anymore)  And this is why:

I'm a lyric snob.  I want the music I listen to- to be so good that I feel like a failure at writing, playing and singing.  I want to literally quit music after each concert I attend - that's how good I like it.  It inspires me and keeps me focused on trying to improve and not just settle for some sappy crap.  It helps me to feel this pain.  Truly. 

I listened to NPR like any self-respecting folkie would.  I do.  BUT...last night I needed more.  I didn't want to connect with the organic farmer in Iowa who is experimenting with a cacti that will improve the taste and quality of his soybeans.  I wanted to shake my booty.  And I did. 

We were driving in South Side and got stuck in a bit of traffic and were dancing like crazy in our car to some pop song that sounded like any other pop song - goofy lyrics and over synthesized vocals- when it happened.  A lovely gentleman was on the street waiting for the bus, saw us dancing and then he started dancing.  The car in front started bopping along and then the car behind us (a lone female with a disability sticker)  started dancing too. 

The light turned green.  We all waved and danced along our own seperate paths. 
I know this happens to other people.  I am not naive enough to believe that this is a first - in any way-  and we've been car dancing for years, but it WAS a good reminder for me.

I've been noticing a touch of cynnicism creeping up.  A judgemental tendency that I don't like.  A little bit of a darkness.  Maybe I have been reading the news too much.  Maybe I'm tired.  Maybe I'm adjusting to a new place and that's my initial response - I don't know.  But dancing with those strangers reminded me of a goodness.  EVEN in something as silly as pop music.  Who am I to judge it?  Why do I do that so much?

Truthfully - when was the last time that NPR got your booty shaking?  I'm not saying that I won't be listening to NPR - I love it and won't stop - but I am saying that I'm going to ease up on the criticisms.  Dancing last night was just the thing I needed to get out of my funk and to celebrate with my sweetie and our friend. 

In the words of Katy Perry:  "It felt so wrong, It felt so right"

and it did.

I Will be in Colorado next week - hope to see you there!

Love,
Judith

Well hello lovely folk! 

Thanks for stopping by.  I am home safe and sound from a successful and beautiful Nettlefest.  A small but mighty crowd, yes, but more importantly...the music was AMAZING.  Mary Gauthier, The Honey Dewdrops, Shaun Cromwell, Larry and Jenny Keel and MORE.  What an amazing day of music.  Makes me so happy to be a musician.

If you've been following this for any amount of time, you will have noticed that I've been focusing on some major changes in my part of the woods.  Moving to a new town, graduation (Frances'), a wedding (yeah!), teaching at High Rocks camp (music production) and organizing Nettlefest.  It has been very important and very fulfilling to work on all of these thngs, but it meant that my music has had to be put on hold a bit.  (My own choice of course.) 

The time has come for me to re-focus on what is next in my life and that is:  making two new records and getting acquainted musically and personally with our new city:  Pittsburgh! 

I'm so excited to figure out how to get these albums made and will fill you in as I know more.  I can't wait to share some of the new material with anyone who is interested and I cannot wait to submerge myself in the beautiful city of Pittsburgh. 

I just added a couple of cool shows to the calendar and hope to see you soon!

See you out there,
Judith

Hello friends!

I will write more of an update soon, but wanted to let you know that the community festival I've been organizing in Southern WV is this weekend!!  Nettlefest is THIS Saturday and I am so excited!!!

For the details, you can click on my calendar or visit www.highrocks.org

Are you feeling a little blue and secretly wishing you were somewhere beautiful with an amazing community full of talented and bright young people?  How about a road trip to see us?  It is such an impotant part of our High Rocks year and I am thrilled about the art, music, games and community activities. 

I would love to see you there and am so proud of the job we've done.  See you there everyone and thanks for checking in!!

Love,

Judith

Nettle fans,

Guess who's coming for dinner?  (metaphoric musical dinner, that is.)  Saturday, July 31st.  I'll be there....will you?

 click here to see! 

Ahhh....the sweet quiet of a new home.  New city.   It feels so good.  A lot has been happening in these parts (as I'm sure things have been happening in your lives as well!)  Life is good and full and love really is in the air. 

I am hard at work on Nettlefest - the music festival that High Rocks for Girls puts on every year.  (July 31st - hint hint.)  I can't BELIEVE the incredible music we have!  I'm stoked. 

People are always asking me about High Rocks and why I love it so much.  I know there are amazing and important non-profits everywhere in this fine country, but this one just seems to hold onto my heart.  I love working with teenagers.  Maybe it is my subconscious learning how to love and work with myself - or maybe it is just so darned beautiful and magical up in those hills that I can't stay away - or maybe it is the amazing women I get to work with every summer.   There is no. one. answer. as to why I love this organization so much. 

Recently, High Rocks asked me to write a small essay about what summer is like at High Rocks.  I thought I would share it with you as well.  A little sneak peak as to why I've missed so many "good-for-my-career" festivals and touring opportunities.  A little look into my heart, I guess. 

I hope you like it and that you also have some place that moves you in any way to give more to this fantastic world we are a part of.  I am eternally grateful for High Rocks and for each one of you. 

Much love,
Judith

P.S.  I'm STILL looking for a hot air balloon adventure for the girls.  Know of anyone?  ; )

Anything is Possible

Come work the summer.  Cook in the kitchen.  Let’s get the girls to love produce.  Ripe, juicy tomatoes and freshly smashed garbanzo beans drizzled in olive oil and lemon.  Here is the meat from our farm.  Put it in the pan at six a.m. and the girls will start to roll in.  They can make the eggs.  They can teach us their family recipes and we will not notice the rock biscuits or the mud gravy.   While you peel the apples, you will hear the pounding of hammer and wood - the sound of the girls making something with their hands - and it will make your food-making feel more important.

Come work the summer.  Teach them art - whatever kind you want.  Sit under the big trees on the porch that the girls built last camp.  Walk amongst strewn girl bodies and teach them the art of relaxation through meditation and focused breathing.  Draw them out of their journeys with assignments of painting the way a color feels.  No, there are no rules.  How does red feel?  How does blue feel?  You will have no answers for them.  They will have to listen to their own.  They will roll their eyes at you.  You will know they will hang their paintings up on their walls later when no one is looking.  They will be sent to look at leaves, rocks, sticks, dirt.  They will see the world’s masterpieces and bring you evidence of their discoveries.  You will need an extra bag when you go home.

Come work the summer.  You can work in Girls Group.  We can’t tell you what to do.  It’s private.  It’s very important.  You can see magic happen.  You will see the beginnings of personal responsibility.  You will see girls change from dragon to slayer to philosopher.  You will see the dreaming happen, the expansion of possibility, the daydream believers.  You will hear yelling and see crying.  You will fall off your chair once, possibly twice, from laughing too hard.  Someone will bring you fresh fruit and you will eat it on the floor with your dirty hands and hear about all of the things that have happened here:  camping in the woods alone, winning the prize in Math, discovering slimy, slithery, slippery things in Science, losing yourself in a cave, finding yourself in the waterfall, poetry to read at campfire, songs written, jokes you will be on the outside of.  You will hear it all.  You will send them on their way to dinner where you will be, for once, the quiet one.  Listen to them say their Gratefuls for over an hour.  Wait for your name…it will come.

Come work the summer.  Sing your songs around the campfire.  Practice Appalachian folk songs with the staff in the bear shed with the humming of the three camp refrigerators and the rain pouring down on the tin roof.  Do not worry, the rain will stop.  The girls will scoop out the sooty water in the bottom of the fire-pit and have a roaring fire going in no time.  We will all sing songs that Susan taught us.  You will see the girls pull out a copy of the lyrics they wrote down, using the i-pod they have been hiding from you as a guide.  They will sing one of your songs and their voices will crack and you will cry next to us.  You will go to tuck-ins with your pants wet from sitting on the wet logs.  You will walk to the girls’ shelters without your flashlight- sometimes -because Sarah will show you how.  The girls will scare themselves and make you laugh.  You will feel young again.  You will tuck them in and they will jump up as soon as you leave and tell ghost stories and read each other poetry from the books you brought. 

Come work for the summer.  You will sit at the edge of the campground in the grass with the staff in the dark and you will be exhausted.  You will tell funny stories with each other about classes and try not to make a sound.  You will get bug bites and big red spiders will climb the leg and shoe mountains en route to their secret destinations.   Sometime later, you will be daydreaming about adventures you can take the girls on next summer.  Wild adventures that flow out your mouths into the heavens.  You will mention hot air balloons.  Why don’t we take the girls out on hot air balloons next year?   There will be a pause in the dark and then someone will whisper with a smile that yes that sounds entirely…possible. 

Hello dear ones!!

As you may know, I work and volunteer for a non-profit called High Rocks.  (www.highrocks.org)

Every year they host a music festival at the top of the mountain in our campground.  It is lovely, sweet, beautiful and oh so fun.  This year, yours truly has been working intensely on the music and making sure it is a blast for all those in attendance.  We are just finalizing the lineup and I thought I'd let you know!!  I'm so excited and proud!!! 

If you are looking for a way to spend a lovely weekend away, come on up to Nettle Fest.  Everyone is welcome and we would LOVE to have you!!

3rd Annual Nettle Fest Music Festival

A fundraiser to benefit High Rocks for girls

Top 5 cool things about our first weekend in our new town:  Pittsburgh!

1.  We. live. three. blocks. from. an. actual. coffee. house. that. serves. vegetarian. food. only. Holy. cow. alternative.

2.  We ate the BEST chinese food I've ever had on our dear friends' floor in the house they just bought.  We laughed and laughed and shared our Moo Shoo while we daydreamed.

3.  We stopped by the sweetest co-op that is only one mile from our new digs.  At first, I was intimidated by all of the cool hair, but soon we got the hang of it and I can't wait to spend more time there! 

4.  I wanted to go to a UU/Unity/or Quaker service on Sunday.  When I punched it in on googlemaps, there were so many choices for me that I could have gone to a new place every week for months and still have new spots to try.  I love the simple life, but to have choices like these, I was pretty darned excited.  Ended up at a great UU - 2 miles from our place- listening to music all morning and a service on the pursuit of beauty.   Sounds like a good pursuit to me.

5.  There is music on every corner here- if you look for it.  Such a change from our last town.  Wow!  Saw so many posters for concerts and folk gatherings, community pot lucks, farmers' markets, etc.  Instead of going, Frances and I sat in our living room - boxes to the ceiling and all- and played guitar and sang together.  If I do say so myself, we sounded pretty darned good. 

I don't know what we did to deserve this sweet little spot on the planet, but I am grateful.  Thank you, dear Universe, for everything.  And I mean that...EVERYTHING.

And thank YOU for stopping by,

Judith

Aaaahhhh.....to move. 

We are in the middle of a big move to our next city- Pittsburgh.  I am sleepy and sore (piano) and so very grateful to our dear friends for helping us. 

Everything is crazy.  Everything is a mess.  Everything needs done.

Me?  I'm just sitting in an empty room near an open window and thinking about good friends and what a good life this is. 

As far as music goes,  I have some secret things cooking.  Writing some very weird stuff and just got back from a concert in Luray, Virginia.  Got to share the stage with some lovely folks. 

A few highlights:

Beaucoup Blue- These two men are really something.  I always find their harmonies interesting and whenever I see them live, I can't seem to take my eyes off of them.  Very captivating and intense.  Plus, they are professional and kind.  Love it.

Chuck E. Costa- What a sweetheart and such a lovely writer. 

Kipyn Martin - Have you heard this girl sing?  Wow.  Never smoke, Kipyn.  Please. 

I know I'm supposed to be packing, but I wanted to drop a quick line here.  I have moved quite a bit in this little life o'mine.  Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, West Virginia and now Pennsylvania.  I don't know what is in store for us in our new spot or what kinds of adventures or writings will come from it,  but I am so thankful that we are safe and sound and filled to the brim with love.  The rest is up to...well....the rest just IS, I guess.  Maybe that's how it works?  Good things and tough things flying at us and us on this side just reaching out and grabbing what we can. 

I hope you are just where you want to be and that you are grabbing as much of the good as you can reach. 

Much scattered and unorganized love to you and yours,

Judith

What is a maverick? I went to a dictionary and here is what I found (thanks, dictionary.com)

1. Southwestern U.S. an unbranded calf, cow, or steer, esp. an unbranded calf that is separated from its mother. 2. a lone dissenter, as an intellectual, an artist, or a politician, who takes an independent stand apart from his or her associates.

hmm....clearly both apply. 

Happy April 26th everyone!  It is a good day to be alive.  (Aren't they all?)  It has been a good week on the Judith Front.  I've been in southern WV working with the High Rocks girls- helping with an empowerment workshop, recruiting new girls, a big ole river race and playing songs to the girls by the fireplace.  They are amazing and so funny.  I wish you could see them grow!!  Like little zinnia seeds.  At first, you think to yourself, "are you going to sprout?  are you going to bloom?" and then one day you see them in all of their glory and you can't imagine them not being these jewels in the world. 

There were three big music moments this week.

1.  Listening to the High Rocks girls singing and laughing- a great chorus and I loved it.  I played part of a new HR anthem I'm writing - checking for their approval- and they responded beautifully.  They also know the words to my song "all of it" better than I do.  It chokes me up every time.

2.  Sitting in my friend Serah Morningstar's house and listening to her play new songs for me.  Serah is one of my favorite singer/songwriters of ALL TIME.  Frances too.  We are more than a little obsessed with her music and every time I hear it, I feel challenged and inspired to make sure I always reach as far inside as I can when I am writing.  Serah is a to-the-soul writer and she doesn't mess around.  I wish she had a CD or a website you could access- someday.  You might just have to trust me for awhile.  Beautiful.

3.  While leaving Serah's house, (I should mention here that she lives outside of town, so when you leave the house, you are enveloped in blackness and stars and the rolling hills of WV) I was walking to my car and heard music.  Beautiful music, but I couldn't quite place what it was or even where it was coming from.  It sounded like loud music from a car, but there were no cars in sight.  I stood by our trusty Subaru (of course) and waited...and listened...and looked at the sky..and listened.  And then it hit me.  This was a band of a different sort.  This was a huge group of cows.  Singing!  Have you heard this???!!!  I grew up in Kansas surrounded by feedlots and everyone in town worked at the meat packing plant.  Those cows didn't look or sound like these cows.  These cows were roaming over the hills eating lush grass and singing.  I swear to you!!  It was a beautiful chorus of voices- some were singing high and some were singing low.  Some were singing short little notes and some held the notes for a loooonnnng time and it was amazing.  I leaned up against the car and listened for as long as I could.  I wish I could have recorded it for you or better yet- that you could have just been standing along the country road somewhere listening for yourself.  It sounded a heck of a lot better than anything I've written or heard lately, that's for sure. 

And to think, we think we are at the top of the food chain.  Paaallleaaase.  These cows and trees definitely know more than I do or probably ever will.

Started a new song and made it home in one piece.  I am playing a couple of cool shows this week and spending time with my love.  What a blessed life this is.

Hope your hearts are full and your cows are a'singing,

Judith

p.s.  I read a great quote today and thought I'd include it:

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find, in each man's life, sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

For those of you who are familiar with my "Maverick Mondays," you will be surprised to find me posting on an ACTUAL Monday!  I'm pretty impressed with myself.  It's the little things...

It has been a week of reflection and listening.  Some lovely friends in Buffalo, NY treated us to tickets to see the Cowboy Junkies at Babeville.  (www.cowboyjunkies.com)  Are you familiar with them? I've been listening to them off and on since I was 18 or so.  It was wild seeing them live after all of these years.  The venue is beautiful old church that Ani Difranco has had renovated and remodeled.  It is stunning and full of life.  We sat in the balcony.

The show was strange.  I was sitting in the balcony and listening to Margo sing, trying desperately to understand the lyrics and failing miserably.  Normally, I would have minded, but it was almost a blessing.  The music and her tone were so passionate and touching.  They sent me to a different place.  I was 18 again in Lakin, Kansas-drinking beer on my friend Wade's porch and learning how to wonder about things. 

The Junkies were just a part of that time in my life.  Ani Difranco was there, Uncle Tupelo, James McMurtry, The Jayhawks, Lucinda Williams and many others were there too.  This show was just a reminder of all of them and all that has transpired since. 

Never in a million years would I have guessed that I was to become a musician.  I don't recall having too many big hopes for my future.  I had dreams, that is for sure, but no real idea that they would happen.  Music, while always present, wasn't even on my radar.  Writing was there.  It was always there.  Seeing the Junkies reminded me of that.  How much practice has gone into my music and lyrics since I was on that porch or driving on those lonely Kansas roads.  They have been together as a band for over 25 years I think.  Wow!  What an accomplishment.  And to see them as a musician, to KNOW about the behind-the-scene things that I know about music and to know the little secrets of being in a band was....well....touching.  They were polite, professional, sincere and gave each other room to move around in the music.  They truly did.  They know what sound they are going for and they GO for it.  It is definitely their own thing and it is beautiful.

During the show, there were folks yapping and requesting "Sweet Jane" and being kind of annoying, but the band didn't even seem to notice.  What a tough thing to do.  I left with my original respect for the band intact and with a whole new level of admiration for the beautiful work they are doing.

As we were leaving Buffalo on Saturday (gotta love Buffalo), we discovered that our friend had snuck a copy of the new Junkies album in our bag.  The record just came out and is called Renmin Park.  The title track, Renmin Park, is absolutely stunning.  There are two versions of the song and both are fantastic. 

Tonight, as I was driving down the back roads of Lewisburg, WV with a couple of brilliant teenagers, we rolled the windows down and turned the volume way up.  The grassy hills and mountains were something out of a novel and the music?  Well, it was our heroine.

"meet me in the middle of Renmin Park

where the stone bridge meets the pond

we'll watch the ducklings gobbling bread

and the stealth of the approaching swan"

there is so much more...

isn't there always?

I hope this finds you all thinking back and feeling like you are living every little drop of this beautiful life.

I sure am a'tryin,

Judith

Welcome to Spring folks! 

Today finds me WORN out.  Last year I posted a bit about our town's official "Dump Week."  Do any of you remember?  I think most towns have them:  a day where anyone can throw out ANYTHING for free and the town will pick it up and "dump" it for you in the landfill.  It's a very strange sight.  My old town in Kansas used to have them except you had to haul your trash to the dump and then dump it in yourself.  (Very humbling and freaky to see the giant hole of crap)

Anyway, as we are getting ready to move, we had plenty to add to the curb ourselves (with the intention of donating whatever didn't get picked through of course) and then we were off in search of...bookshelves.  We were victorious.  Wooden bookshelves tossed aside will now find new life in our humble new abode.  In addition to the shelves, we were also hunting dining room chairs and MAN did we hit the motherload of home-made beautiful old chairs.  None of them match and some have been chewed on by goodness knows what, but what do we care?  They are lovely. 

While hunting, I found this little piece of art done by a woman named Gladys.  She had done this velvet rose wall hanging thing and it was so darned sweet I had to have it, much to Frances' dismay.  It sort of reminded me that maybe it isn't the art that I love.  Maybe it's just that someone was sitting and working on something creative.  Yes.  Maybe that is it. 

Anyway, I hope you are out there sitting and working on something creative in your neck of the woods. 

I've been sitting and working on a new song about necrophilia.  It's a love song of sorts.   Who knew?

: )
Judith