| Greetings friends and fellow music lovers!! Well I can hardly believe it but June is here. This is a very special time for many reasons. At the top of that list is the arrival of my new CD, “Sometimes Love”, the culmination of a year and a half of hard work and collaboration!! Can’t wait to tell you more below..
But first, I want to tell you right away about these awesome shows coming up. Scroll down for all the details..
Fri, June 6 — Eugene, OR — House Concert with Nathan Brown
Sun, June 8 — Portland, OR — House Concert with Nathan Brown
Mon, June 9 — Portland, OR — Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel
Sat, June 14 — Eugene, OR — CD RELEASE PARTY WITH TYLER FORTIER AND A KICK-ASS BAND!
Tue, June 17 – Portland, OR — Secret Garden Concerts Opening Night
1. GRATITUDE…WOW. My trip to Texas was epic. Thank you to all y’all who helped me on my musical journey! Thank you to Nan & Dave, Ann & Bob, Michael & Liza & Kenedy & Keane, Laura & Mark & Elise & Rachel & Stephen, Mindy & Shawn & Jenna , JD & Chris & Ryan & Jordan…I loved seeing you all! Thanks to Steve & Ginny, Uncle Calvin’s crew, Dirje Smith, Stacy and all at Hot Springs Village, John & Kathy Cook, Judy & Moody, Jaci & Giles & friends, Pam & Jack & friends, Al & Pat Johnson & Donna Hanson and all at Wildflower! Festival! Thanks to Steve Gibson, Mike Meyer and everyone who took part in the Bob Dylan’s birthday celebration/benefit concert for Food For Lane County Dining Room and Opportunity Village…it was a huge success! And thanks to everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes!
2. THE NEWS…Well folks, it is finally here! My ninth CD, “Sometimes Love” produced by Eugene’s own Tyler Fortier with the finest musicians in the west. I almost called this CD “Stone By Stone” because we recorded it one song at a time, a very different approach from the way albums are typically made. The whole time, it felt like we were building something, but it was slow work and took a while to see our progress. Now when I step back and take it all in, I am so proud and amazed!!
It all started with a few seeds that, with time and care, have grown into beautiful flowers!
–Tyler emailed me and said he wanted to start producing more, and could he produce a song for me for free, to gain experience? I said sure. That song was “Whiskey” and it turned out bad-ass. Seed #1 planted.
–Right around this time I had a conversation with my friend Peter Perdichizzi, real life rock star and wise one, in which I was wondering out loud how I was ever going to make another CD, I had no dough, and besides the music biz is changing. Peter took a sip of his beer and said, “Change is good.” Seed #2 planted.
–I got creative and launched my Song Of The Month Club to provide funds for the recording, and lots of you jumped on board with enthusiasm and encourging words! Seed #3 planted and watered.
So thank you to all of you who have helped me make this dream come true!! The Song of the Month Club was such a success that I plan to launch it again once I’ve had a chance to catch my breath. Woohoo!
The official release party is going to be Saturday, June 14 at Cozmic here in Eugene. It will be a very special night as Tyler Fortier is also celebrating a release of his own CD, “Black and White Heart”. That’s right, it’s a DOUBLE CD RELEASE PARTY! We will share a band and rock it in celebration of new works. Eugene peeps, this is such a special, important night for Tyler and me. We hope you’ll come out and support us, and if you can’t, tell your friends!! Thanks to Danny Cowley for the most awesome concert poster ever!!
June 10 is the date that the CD will be available online for sale at CDBaby. I am also a big fan of the old-fashioned person to person method of transaction, so if you would like to buy the CD directly from me, you can do so here at Paypal. I have submitted the CD to Itunes, Amazon, all the various download sites, but it sometimes takes a while for them to process. I will keep you posted! You will be able to download from CDBaby on June 10.
This is also a very special time because my friend Nathan Brown will be in the Northwest, and we will be collaborating on a couple of shows. I am a huge fan of Nathan’s poetry, songs, and musicianship, and he makes a mean margarita. 🙂 Nathan is current Poet Laureate of Oklahoma, and he knocked our socks off at last year’s Sisters Folk Festival and Americana Song Academy. Nathan’s poetry is accessible, humor-filled, poignant and real, and I promise you will love it. We will be doing shows in Eugene and Portland, and Nathan will be leading a creativity workshop in Portland as well. Details are below..
3. CALLS TO ACTION…Eugene friends, we need all the help we can get publicizing our CD release show at Cozmic. Holla at me at bethwoodmusic [AT] hotmail.com if you’d like to help hang posters, spread the word, etc.
Also, I have heard from many fabulous Cayamo alums asking if I will return next year. I would LOOOOVE TO, but it’s really not up to me. If you have a minute, please reach out to Andy and/or your friends at Sixthman and let them know you’d like to see me return! You can reach them here on Facebook or here on Twitter. Let’s do this!
4.JUNE SHOWS…Life is so uncertain…please call ahead!
Fri, June 6 – House Concert – Eugene, OR. House concert in south Eugene hosted by the lovely Margie. Folks are encouraged to bring a snack to share. $10-$15 suggested donation. Please email Margie for reservations and info at margjam57 [AT] gmail.com. An evening of words and music with BW and Oklahoma Poet Laureate (and singer-songwriter) Nathan Brown! 7 pm gathering, 7:30 concert. Here’s our flyer…
Sat, June 7 – Nathan Brown Poetry Reading at Paulina Springs Book Store — Sisters, OR.252 W Hood Ave. 6:30 pm. 541-549-0866. (I’m not playing at this event but I wanted to tell you friends in central Oregon about it!!). Singer-songwriter, storyteller, photographer and poet Nathan Brown will present his newest book of poetry, “Less is More, More or Less” at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters at 6:30 pm. Refreshments will be served. $5.00 admission will be refunded. Come on down before you head out the The Barn for the Keith Greeninger/Dayan Kai concert!
Sun, June 8 – Suzan’s SE Studio – Portland, Or. Creativity Workshop with Nathan Brown, followed by house concert with Nathan Brown and Beth Wood. Workshop from 3-6 pm, followed by dinner at the local food cart court, followed by concert from 7-9 pm. $45 for workshop plus concert; $15 for concert only. Pay at the door. No one turned away for lack of funds. For reservations, call 503-206-8868 or email 2muse1014 [AT] gmail.com. Here’s the flyer…
Mon, June 9 – Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel – Portland, OR. 303 S.W. 12th Ave. 503-972-2670. BW and Nathan Brown will be joining the great Matt Meighan during his weeklong residency at Al’s Den. 7-10 pm, no cover.
Sat, June 14 – Cozmic – Eugene, OR. 199 W. 8th Ave. 541-338-9333. BW AND TYLER FORTIER DOUBLE CD RELEASE PARTY WITH A BAND! (I’m kind of excited, can you tell?) $10 at the door. Colorado singer-songwriter and sustainability activist Gabrielle Louise opens.
Tue, June 17 – Secret Garden Concerts – Portland, OR. At the Northwest Portland Hostel – 425 NW 18th Avenue. 503-241-2783. The beautiful garden is the perfect setting for a summer evening of music and a barbecue. Everyone is invited to sign up to play a song, and featured artists (BW) will play a solo set. German barbecue, with vegetarian options, and beverages are available. Join people from all over the world in the hostel’s beautiful garden for an evening of good music! 6:30-9:30 pm. Free admission, donations appreciated!
Some fun stuff from May…
Uncle Calvin’s was such a blast (as always) with Dirje Childs!! Thanks Ira for the great pic…
I had SO much fun in Ft Worth Jaci & Giles’s house concert!!! Fellow Cayamo fans, music lovers, awesome guacamole makers and very generous folks!
p.s. they have a dog named Sam Bush. Also a cat named Bonnie Raitt who never made an appearance.
Also had a blast at the Neville’s house concert! Such warm and generous and fun folks…
and I even got to do a sound-check version of “Wheels on the Bus”!
MAJOR fun at Wildflower! Festival with Dirje Childs!!!
and more major goofball fun with Ellis, Robby Hecht, Betty Soo & Butch Morgan!
In other news, I planted my garden. I realize this is a hopelessly hopeful gesture as I will be out of town a lot this summer and I hardly know anything about gardening. But what can I say, veggies make me happy! P.s. I love how innocent the zucchini looks right now.
5. THE FUTURE…This summer promised to be jam-packed with awesomeness. I am super excited for another midwest tour with the great Dave Stoddard in July, some gigs around home, my first marathon, and lots of criss-crossing of the country in August along with a little family down time and fly fishing.
In the future I will try to reach as many folks as I can with my new work through live shows, outreach to media, and word of mouth. I am so proud of this CD and I can’t wait for you to hear it!! As always, I thank you for cheerign me on and for following my musical journey. With much gratitude from your fan,
Beth Wood
World Headquarters: BethWoodMusic, PO Box 864, Eugene, OR, 97440
Holler at me: bethwoodmusic [AT] hotmail.com
Here I am on Facebook.
I barely know how to use it but I’m tryin’ on Twitter
Does anyone go to Myspace anymore?
For the love of Pete, somebody please help me with Youtube!
P.S. Here is a poem for today…
Miss Calypso
There is a light in the world
called Maya Angelou
that cannot be extinguished
or even dimmed
but burns bright as ever,
same as the sun
There was a child
who so fiercely objected to
injustice that she stopped
all speaking. The words
grew there in her head,
she let the dough rise
a good long time until
it was ready
Then she sang and sang and
never stopped singing the song
for her heart, for all of our
hearts before she knew it.
Everyday she sings a song
that sounds like the light
of the world. Miss Calypso,
bright bird, flown now but
hardly gone.
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