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Ok, I’m back.  :)  This year’s Cayamo is has a MONSTER line-up and I am thrilled and honored to be a part of it!!  This will be my third Cayamo, and it just keeps getting better.  Did you know that Marty asked me to marry him on our first Cayamo?  :)  Good stuff.

So I got my schedule for the boat and it is AWESOME.  I am hoping for some surprise guests to sit in with me, fingers crossed… Here goes:

Sun, Feb 5 — Atrium Bar — 12:30-2 pm.  I am so excited to serenade everyone as they board the ship!!  I am the first music on the boat and SO happy to kick things off.  Also glad this is before the superbowl and the life boat drills.  :)

Tue, Feb 7 – 11pm-midnight – Bar City

Fri, Feb 10 – 7:30-8:30 pm — Spinnaker Lounge — Cayamo Sessions at Sea!!  This will be me, Shannon McNally and Anne Heaton playing the songs we wrote together along with some other faves.  Kick-ass women!

Sat, Feb 11 – 9:30-10:30 pm – Spinnaker Lounge — my buddy John Felty from Jupiter Coyote will sit in for some of this one!

boat inspiration...

Tues, Jan 10 at 7 pm

41 Entertainment Studio – Addison, TX.  A private event taping a live performance and interview with Billy Crockett. EMAIL your request (with a count of the number of people you’re bringing) to info@41entertainment.com SPACE IS LIMITED – Request your invitation now! Doors at 6:30.

At the Sisters Song Academy a couple years ago, my friend Chris Kokesh and I had the idea to perform this song with the great Peter Mulvey singing the Kate Bush part.  He sang it low and his gravelly voice gave us chills.  The final awesome touch was Patrick Pearsall playing bad-ass bass.  We performed the song at the Sunday morning community celebration and it felt like a giant wave rushing over me.

I have played it many times now since that day.   Sometimes by myself, sometimes enlisting the help of friends.   It speaks to me now because of these tough times when all are struggling.  It speaks to me now as I struggle to survive and maintain the artist’s life.  Every time I sing it, the song acts like a balm, a pep-talk, and a dose of adrenalin straight to my heart.  “Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up”, and I almost believe we can make it good, that there’s a place where we belong.

Thank you Nathan Brown, Dirje Smith & Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse!

The Blue Rock Review is a literary journal put out by our friends Billy & Dodee Crockett and The Blue Rock Foundation.  The folks at the BRR choose a theme, then call on writers, painters, poets, sculptors, songwriters, photographers to respond with text and images. In their  juried selection process, the work is read, viewed, and discussed, and the most compelling pieces become a part of the new release.  Here’s a little bit about this year’s edition…  if you are interested, you can order your own copy here!

The Blue Rock Review, Volume 7, WATER

Water and stories go together.

In the seventh year of the Review, we went looking for water—to wash, to swim, to float, to drink, to sink and splash in it. Our hope was to find stories and images to name the currents within us. Because water is never only water. Like a dream, it calls from the other side, becoming metaphor and symbol—which means it wants desperately to say something about life and death, and all the imponderables, which must be pondered. Hey, what’s the first word in “ponder?”

FEATURED ARTISTS: Guy Laliberté (founder of Cirque du Soleil), Jimmy Webb, Julie Speed, Mary Gauthier, Bill Wittliff, Sam Baker, Stephen Harrigan, Danny Schmidt, Sarah Cortez, Alan Birkelbach, Sarah Webb, Billy Hollis, Doug Jaques, Beth Wood, Karla K. Morton, Neil Ellis Orts, Robert Ashker Kraft, David Berkeley, Jamie Barnard, Phil Busse, Rodney Bursiel, Carrie Elkin, Abigail Keegan, Sou Vai Keng, Denny McCoy, Bob Phillips, Steven Schroeder.

12/2 – Dallas, TX – Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse
12/3 – Conroe, TX – Corner Pub
12/4 – Ft Worth, TX – Concerts in the Attic
12/7 – Mountain Home, AR – UU Fellowship
12/9 – Webb City, MO – Second City House Concerts
12/10 – Shreveport, LA – Shreveport House Concers

Here’s all the details…can you help spread the word?

Fri, Dec 2 – Dallas, TX – Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse. 9555 N. Central Exp. Uncle Calvin’s is a not-for-profit weekly music venue held every Friday night in the fellowship hall of Northpark Presbyterian Church in Dallas, TX. Calvin’s features live acoustic music in a smoke & alcohol free listening room. UC features many well know singer/songwriters and performing groups from around the country and has a reputation of having enthusiastic audiences that love and support live music. The coffeehouse is staffed and run by dedicated volunteers from the community. $12 advance/$15 at the door. With Nathan Brown and Dirje Smith! 8 pm.

Sat, Dec 3 – Conroe, TX – Corner Pub. 302 North Main. 936-788-2390. Songwriters Series with Connie Mims. $10. 8 pm.

Sun, Dec 4 – Ft Worth, TX – Concerts in the Attic. Concerts in the Attic is a not-for-profit house concert series hosted by Steve Long and Ed and Sarah Rogers. Held in the attic (that’s right, the attic) of Ed and Sarah’s one-hundred-year old house in Fort Worth’s historic Fairmount neighborhood, the series features top-notch singer/songwriters performing in an intimate setting for an appreciative and attentive audience of music lovers. Concerts are followed by an acoustic song circle until 11pm. Guests are encouraged to bring acoustic instruments, potluck dishes and their beverage of choice. Seating for each concert is limited to 30 guests and is by invitation only. To request an invitation, please send an email, with the name of the performer in the subject line, to Steve Long at steve [AT] concertsintheattic.com. Guests are encouraged to arrive thirty minutes to an hour prior to showtime so that shows are not delayed.
$20 suggested donation. 5 pm.

Wed, Dec 7 – Mountain Home, AR – UU Fellowship. 401 E. 9th Street. Acoustic In The Round Concert with Kim Richardson, RJ Cowdery, and Louise Mosrie!! 7 pm.

Fri, Dec 9 – Webb City, MO – Second City House Concerts. $15 suggested donation/$25 per couple. Space is limited, so reservations are required. For reservations and info, please contact Mike at mike [AT] songcraft.com or 417-434-8040. 7 pm.

Sat, Dec 10 – Shreveport, LA – Shreveport House Concerts. 1510 Fairfield Ave. Help yourself to original live music, performed in a warm, intimate setting at the Shreveport House Concert Series. It’s a monthly, all-volunteer event hosted at Fairfield Studios and features nationally touring singer/songwriters and musicians. $20. All ages welcome. For questions or to make a reservation by phone: 318-219-7688. 7 pm.

I listened and was moved…her voice, the melody, that song.  Dammit!

After much floor pacing and hair pulling, Billy asked if I was ready to give up on the song because of that and I said no.  I’m glad we stuck with it.  And just like my hometown, these songs are somehow different, somehow the same. These are the memories that came flooding out when I stood in front of my childhood home in Lubbock, TX…