Monday, August 3, 2015

August … the Wish For Water

August … the Wish For Water

“… the meagerness of summer, the dry
twisted shapes of black elm,
scrub oak, and chaparral, a landscape
August has already drained of green …
the empty sky, the wish for water.” (California Hills in August, Dana Gioia)


“I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
I'm as normal as blueberry pie.
No more a smart little girl with no heart,
I have found me a wonderful guy!” (Rodgers & Hammerstein, fr. South Pacific)

 

That is our wish on the West Coast this season, to hear the flow of creeks and rivers, the splash of puddles. Speaking of rain, we were drenched a bit in the downpour that hit Los Angeles the Saturday we left to drive back to the Bay Area. A bit of the Mexican hurricane came up and whacked the city with a rain storm on July 18. Unfortunately one of the outdoor shows our friends were playing got rained out.

We totally enjoyed our gigs down south, and the chance to visit with folks. It was great to see Shelley Ross, Ed Pearl and Jeff Landau among many others at our Coffee Gallery gig. Steve Strickland shared his wonderful photos (see the one of Shelley meeting Ed).  The freeways may be full of madness and collisions, but the musicians continue to fill the air with beauty and song.

Tuesday, August 4th at 7pm, Dave will be reading from his new poetry book, “I Heard the Mountain’s Voice Singing,” at the Apple Box CafĂ©, in Petaluma as part of the Marin Poetry Center Traveling Show hosted by Mark Meierding, and featuring poets Dave Holt, Sy Margaret Baldwin, Jodi L Hottel, Bonnie Long, and Phyllis Meshulam. Address: 224 B Street, Petaluma CA 94952, Phone: 707-762-5222.
 
We’ve included the group photo taken at theBread & Roses volunteers gathering. Many of us had the opportunity to hear each other’s music at the three or four stages placed around the property. We enjoyed hearing Maurice Tani’s soulful songs for the first time. Much fun!

If you’d like to order our new CD, Stone & Fire, directly please send a $17 check (includes $2 shipping) payable to Dave Holt to 1335 Kenwal Rd., #A, Concord, CA 94521. Use the links on each CD title to purchase downloads of Wings of the Morning and Stone & Fire. Please review our CDs at Amazon and iTunes if your are able to. Here’s the Amazon link.

We played a house concert in Portland this spring to an enthusiastic group. If you are interested in having us play a house concert in your area, please contact us by replying to this newsletter. Don’t forget to like the Chappell & Dave Holt band page, AND the Chappell Rose Holt artist page on Facebook.‎









Have a wonderful summer. As the song says, we’ll “See You in September,”
Chappell & Dave