Sunday, July 18, 2021

Music!!

 Rick and Marilyn have been out there! Traveling locally as well as not so local to make music. At first, it was pleasant but strange to sing to people actually WATCHING you back. Talking to you instead of typing on a screen. Walking away as their life takes them elsewhere. 

A little fear about getting too close. LOTS of fear about allowing the use of your personal microphone. I even had to calm down about riding with Rick and no mask to the gigs! 

Ah, but then there is the JOY. We played this past Friday at Morton Library in Rhinecliff. A smallish room, and lots of folks... but never too close and always respectful. VERY happy to be listening to and making music. The host literally JUMPED UP AND DOWN in joy a few times, while telling us how happy he was (originally, he was thinking of dumping this monthly gathering), how good it was to see people. One of our songs was designed to be a sing-along because I firmly believe in the power of music to heal, and it gets into your soul best when you MAKE it! And they SANG. A room full of folks, singing, 'The answer my friend is blowing in the wind'. Wow. That moment helped me make it through the rest of the lonely, rainy weekend (my houseparty got rained out), to today, where we will be making some music in Craryville for the lunch/brunch crowd today, singing on the porch because of the rain. 

We are also looking forward to leading an Open Mic at the Hudson Brewing Company tasting room on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month. That is in the corner of the old L and B building, which looks like a giant warehouse, back behind Basilica near the solar panels. Come on down if you are in the area! 

Check out the 'SHOWS' tab for where we will be playing. I hope we will play near you! As a matter of fact... let us know of places near you that are booking music and we will look into it. Several of you already do that, and I have to say we are SO grateful. Remember us if you come across anything!

And stay safe. And get vaccinated.

And lets love each other. 

Thursday, May 13, 2021

 Marilyn writes:

This past weekend, I went to Levons Barn, down in Woodstock. A magical place. Here are some of the thoughts I had after:


Being at Levon's is like being at church... a church I BELIEVE in. I believe in the music. I believe in people who make music. I believe in the power of song to lift people higher, make them FEEL, bring them together. I believe in MUSIC!  And being at Levon's place there in Woodstock, with all the musical history, is like worship. Has there ever been a time that music was as universally revered as when my heroes, like Levon and the rest of the band, were beginning to write and play??


Music is a healing force. We know that as a fact. It heals, it cures, it brings good feeling and explains the bad. It is part of the human soul to make music, right along with the birds that sing and the bugs that chirp. Music is a force of the world and I love it.


Wow.


Yes.


Be safe folks!

Monday, February 1, 2021

Stripes and Stars

January 6, 2021.  Armed insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in Washington D.C.


We watched it on the internet or on TV, just like 9/11.  It seemed unreal, just like 9/11. 


We saw the confederate flag waving in the capital of our nation, alongside Old Glory.  A previously defeated flag, which stands for beliefs that are counter to the ideal of our nation regarding liberty and justice for ALL. That disturbed me, and I hope it disturbed you. 


So, I have a copy of the Constitution of the United States, and I actually READ it. I had been aware of comments about the idea that our Founding Fathers were slave owners and that parts of the Constitution were based on the idea that liberty and justice for ALL meant just white men.  But that is NOT what I read. Granted, it took some years to include people of color and women, but they are there and presented as equal. Ideas that are progressive and that we can be proud of, are THERE. 


And I started thinking that the red, white, and blue flag stands for that. Yeah, it gets flown a lot around war activities, too. But right now, I am just thinking about that flag as a symbol of the ideas of democracy, freedom, and justice that our republic is built on. No, we are not THERE yet, but this nation is rooted in these ideas, and still moving forward. We have to and can realize them more fully.


So, I wrote a song about it. And here it is, performed by Rick and Marilyn....