The Sun That Brief December Day …

The Sun That Brief December Day …

“Got laid off down at the factory and their timing’s not the greatest in the world,
Heaven knows I been working hard, wanted Christmas to be right for daddy’s girl,
I don’t mean to hate December, it’s meant to be the happy time of year,
And my little girl don’t understand why Daddy can’t afford no Christmas here.”
(Merle Haggard, If We Make It Through December)

“The sun that brief December day
Rose cheerless over hills of gray,
And, darkly circled, gave at noon
A sadder light than waning moon.” (Snowbound by John Greenleaf Whittier)

Hello Friends, Music Fans, and Neighbors,
 

This Friday, December 9, we will play at the Amos White/Dillon Vado production, “Beyond Words: Jazz and Poetry: Stand with Standing Rock,” 8  – 11 pm, at The Backroom in Berkeley, CA, 1984 Bonita Ave.


Chappell & Dave Holt are FAR-West touring musicians from the SF Bay Area; Cristina is a Minnesota fiddling champion, originally from Southern California, who has toured world widely over the last 25 years.  Drawn together by a mutual love of the broad landscape of American music, they play and tour together as often as possible.
"Coconuts" (by Mark Wise)

They will perform together at a Friday, December 30th house concert in Santa Cruz: Chappell & Dave Holt with Cristina Seaborn (fiddle) and Francyl Gawryn at 7 pm. Please respond to this email to request details and the address if you would like to attend. The next night, on New Years Eve, Saturday, December 31, 2016, we will play another house concert in the nearby neighborhood of Bonny Doon with the addition of singer/songwriter, James Woodward.

Mother Hen Promotions has posted a Christmas compilation called “Mom Hen Layin Some Christmas on Ya” on RADIO SUBMIT featuring Holiday singles from Chappell & Dave Holt among other musicians.

Dave will be playing the Christmas Eve service at Unity Center in Walnut Creek. If you want to participate in the worship from home while wrapping your presents, go to http://www.unityofwalnutcreek.com/watch-live.

Chappell’s Holiday song, “Cause to Celebrate,” (Dave on piano) is being played on Women of Substance Holiday music podcast on December 8th. Click on Listen Now.

House concerts, live music in the intimacy of a home, are a great way to experience music! Please contact us if you’re interested in hosting one in your area by replying to this newsletter. Don’t forget to like our band page and support live music, and Chappell’s Facebook artist page.  If you’re on Instagram, you can find Chappell at her name, lower case, one word. Follow us on twitter @chappellanddave.

With holidays just around the corner, remember that you can check out Chappell’s shop on Etsy for gift ideas.

We look forward to seeing you at our shows!
Chappell & Dave Holt

Know the Love of Bare November Days …

Know the Love of Bare November Days …

“Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise.” (My November Guest, by Robert Frost)

“A cold November wind will catch you by surprise.
You think you're safely wrapped in love till the wind begins to rise.
And after all the warmth of a love that had it all,
A cold November wind is the hardest way to fall.” (Willie Nelson)

Hi Music Friends and Family,
 

We hope to see some of you at our upcoming feature at the First Saturday Poetry Reading at La Promenade Café, Address: 3643 Balboa St., near 38th Avenue, in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond; date is Saturday, November 5, 7-9:30 pm.

We will play music for the opening when emcee, Bill Mercer, puts up his painted scrolls, and use their baby grand piano during our 20 minutes of original songs as well as poetry. This performance will be followed by an open mike emceed by Bill.

Then on Sunday, November 13, Chappell & Dave return to Unity of Walnut Creek, 1871 Geary Rd., Walnut Creek, CA.  We will be the featured music for the two Sunday morning services, 9:30 & 11:30 AM doing original spiritual songs and rockin' gospel. Remember you can watch the service online at this link.

Bree Noble of Women of Substance radio invites you to listen to our music that will be played on WOS Radio in the month of November, either on the "What’s on my iPod New Music Show," in rotation after debuting on the New Music Show, or on our "We’ve Got It Covered" Series featuring cover songs. Our version of “A Satisfied Mind” will be played.  Here is a consolidated run-down of how you can listen on WOS Radio.”
Here’s How To Listen: On your computer you can listen at WomenOfSubstanceRadio.com.  They just updated their FREE Branded Mobile Apps. If you downloaded them previously, please download their NEW updated FREE Apps for IOS & Android as follows: On IOS Devices  or On Android Devices

Announcing the Sometimes Annual Bonny Doon Holiday Concert
Hosted by Larry & Elizabeth Jones at their beautiful home and featuring Cristina Seaborn on violin. We hope singer/songwriter, Francyl Gawryn, will join us, Saturday, December 31st. Time: 4 PM Pot Luck Dinner, 7:30 Concert. More information and directions will follow.

Chappell’s Arts and Crafts:
Next year the De Young Museum is mounting a show next April to celebrate The 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love. The store Chappell does most of her contracting with, Decades of Fashion on Haight Street in SF, is being featured in the show, including an old hippie restyled Edwardian dress she restored, actually completely rebuilt from Edwardian bits and pieces. It will be the centerpiece and she gets credit for the work! Chappell has started working on what she’ll be wearing in preparation for the Gala opening of the De Young show “40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love.” She’s making a handbag with a 100 year old Oddfellow’s collar that she beaded over and attached to leather from an old jacket and also beading a fringed leather jacket for Dave!

Happy Birthday Joni Mitchell this November 7!

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!
Chappell & Dave

October: Kingdoms Rise and Fall But You Go On and On …

October: Kingdoms Rise and Fall But You Go On and On …

“October, and the trees are stripped bare of all they wear, what do I care?
October, and kingdoms rise, and kingdoms fall, but you go on and on ….” October, by U2

“Five a.m., at the burnt end of a fierce October.
It’s dark, quiet. I wish I were on the road,
traveling, a thin paper cup of coffee
hot in my hand, dawn coming up
on the horizon …” Migration, by Deborah Miranda

Hello Friends, Music Fans, Family, and Neighbors,
 

Don’t miss our show Tumbling Tumbleweeds with a Touch of Hawaiian this weekend. We’ll be joined by the Jubilee American Dance Theatre, featuring dance and live music on a Western theme at The Cue, Saturday, October 8, 1835 Colfax Street, Concord, CA., 7 PM - 9 PM. Get your tickets at this link.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, Dave will be joining The Red Indian Road West (RIRW) poets reading for the Museum of the American Indian fundraiser. This event will be held at the museum, 2200 Novato Blvd., Novato CA  from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The reading will be at 5:00 p.m. Readers will be: E.K. Cooper (Pomo); Nanette Bradley Deetz (Cherokee/Dakota); Dave Holt (Anishinaabe Ojibwe) and Cherokee storyteller, Jim Goss. The RIRW group’s anthology will sell for $18, with 50% of the revenue going to the museum.

Look for Chappell and Dave at La Promenade Café, 3643 Balboa St. at 38th, San Francisco, CA, on November, Saturday the 5th. This poets evening hosted by Stephanie Manning will feature music and poetry this time!

On Friday, Sept. 16 at Chappell’s feature at the Black Pug in Alameda, we were joined by Carlos Reyes on violin and had such a great evening. Thank you, Carlos, for adding so much to our music.

With holidays just around the corner, remember that you can check out Chappell’s shop on Etsyfor gift ideas.

House concerts, live music in the intimacy of a home, are a great way to experience music! Please contact us if you’re interested in hosting one in your area by replying to this newsletter. Don’t forget to like our band page and support live music, and Chappell’s artist page on Facebook. If you’re on Instagram, you can find Chappell at her name, lower case, one word. Follow us on twitter @chappellanddave.

We look forward to seeing you at our shows!
Chappell & Dave Holt

Maybe September a Rainbow Will Catch Me …

Maybe September a Rainbow Will Catch Me …
 

“Maybe September I’ll love again,
Maybe a rainbow will catch me then,
This little boy lost will find his way once more
Just like before …”
(Maybe September by Evans and Livingston with Percy Faith, sung by Tony Bennett, 1966)
 

“The morrow was a bright September morn;
The earth was beautiful as if newborn;
There was nameless splendor everywhere,
That wild exhilaration in the air,
Which makes the passers in the city street
Congratulate each other as they meet.”
(The Student’s Tale by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

 

Hi Friends, Family and Music Supporters,
 

We’ve sure had an unusually cool summer in the Bay Area, but there’s always hope for you heat lovers. Sometimes we experience our hottest weather in September and October.

Dave just returned from Ontario, Canada, also having cool weather, where he and his nephew Dylan Switzer provided music for his mother’s memorial service (see pic of Dylan’s Toronto band, The Detours).

Chappell will share an end of summer bill with Carl Solomon from Portland, Oregon, in a performance at the Black Pug Café, each sharing their unique styles at an upcoming event, Two Voices of Americana Music. Dave Holt will add his gorgeous piano support. They will play the Black Pug on Friday, September 16, at 1303 High Street, Alameda, CA 94501. Advance tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets.
 

Our poet prize winner, Dave, will read at the Dancing Poetry Festival to be held at San Francisco’s California Palace of the Legion of Honor: he will read his prize-winning poem along with other winning poets from around the world (pic shows him receiving 2013 award). At least ten additional dance acts will present choreography combining poetry and dance as a unified dance form on Saturday, September 17, 2016, from 12 noon to 4 pm, at the architecturally beautiful and prestigious California Palace of the Legion of Honor, in the elegant, neoclassical Florence Gould Theater, Lincoln Park, 100 34th Clement St., San Francisco.
 

That same day, Red Indian Road West: Native American Poetry from California, the anthology Lucille Lang Day co-edited with Kurt Schweigman, will receive a Gold Seal Literary/Cultural Arts Award from Artists Embassy International at the same event, the Dancing Poetry Festival. Dave’s poem about the Dry Creek Pomo tribe of Sonoma County, “Murder in the Modern West,” is included in the anthology.

Watch for our upcoming show with the Jubilee American Dance Theater (see pic from our show last January 10th). It’s coming up Saturday, October 8th at Cue Productions, 1835 Colfax Street, Concord, CA.

House concerts, live music in the intimacy of a home, are a great way to experience music! Please contact us if you’re interested in hosting one in your area by replying to this newsletter. Don’t forget to like the band page and support live music: https://www.facebook.com/ChappellandDaveHolt/, and Chappell’s artist page on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/chappellroseholt/?fref=ts.  If you’re on Instagram, you can find Chappell at her name, lower case, one word. Follow us on twitter @chappellanddave and please visit Chappell’s shop on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/people/chappellholt 

Celebrate back to school with live music. We hope to “see you in September” at our shows,

Chappell & Dave Holt

Under An August Moon Shining above …

Under An August Moon Shining above …

“Under stars chilled by the winter,
Under an August moon shining above,
You’d be so nice, you’d be Paradise
To come home to and love.”
(You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To, by Cole Porter, our favorite version sung by Ella Fitzgerald)

“What plant we in this apple-tree!
Fruits that shall swell in sunny June,
And redden in the August noon, 
And drop, when gentle airs come by …” (The Planting of the Apple Tree, William Cullen Bryant)

 Hello Friends and Family,
 

We hope you will come out on the town this Saturday, August 6, to The Back Room in Berkeley. It’s a beautiful new listening room with a grand piano and great sound! Musician extraordinaire Karl Hartmann will accompany us on bass (see pic fr. street fair). We’ll share the evening of original jazz, blues and rock with WoodBarry, an Americana Rock/Country group featuring Woody Trevorrow and Barry Silverblatt from the legendary Bay Area band Hearts on Fire. Fellow "Hearts" and Houston/Jones veteran, guitarist Glenn Houston, along with Nancy Hall from the Curios, will be joining them onstage.
As Barry said, “forget politics (ugh!!) for a night and find your groove!”

See http://backroommusic.com/events-1/2016/8/6/chappell-dave-holt-with-woodbarry
 

We were pleased that Women of Substance Radio & Podcast has accepted our recording of A Satisfied Mind. It’s a song Chappell had been performing for many years when we decided to add it to our original song lineup on our CD, Stone and Fire.
An on-line DJ from South Carolina, Uncle Shag, has played it and he tweeted his review saying he considered our version to be THE version.A Satisfied Mind will be featured on the “We've Got It Covered” series in late August. We’ll post the details when they become available.

Chappell will be opening for Portland Oregon songwriter, Carl Solomon, at The Black Pug Café, 1303 High Street, Alameda, CA, a new venue in the charming Victorian that was previously the High Street Café. Their performance will be Friday, September 16, details to follow. Check out Carl’s music at http://carlsolomonmusic.com/

Dave is a prize winner in the 23rdAnnual Dancing Poetry Festival put on by Artists EmbassyInternational. We are looking forward to his reading of the poem at the Festival to be held Saturday, September 17, 2016, from 12 noon to 4:00 pm, at the “architecturally beautiful and prestigious California Palace of the Legion of Honor, in the elegant neoclassical Florence Gould Theater, Lincoln Park, 100 34th Clement St., San Francisco.”

House concerts, live music in the intimacy of a home, are a great way to experience music! Please contact us if you’re interested in hosting one in your area by replying to this newsletter. Don’t forget to like the band page and support live music: https://www.facebook.com/ChappellandDaveHolt/, and Chappell’s artist page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chappellroseholt/?fref=ts. If you’re on Instagram, you can find Chappell at her name, lower case, one word. Also follow us on twitter @chappellanddave and please visit Chappell’s new shop on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/people/chappellholt

Have a fun summer, hope to see you at our events,
Chappell & Dave Holt

A July Night Serenade

A July Night Serenade  

"The steady buzzzzzzz of the Katydid chorus,
the bass solo of the croaking Frog,
the steady woof-woof-woof a barking Dog -
a summer night's serenade."
(Michael P. Garofalo, Cuttings)

“Many ways to say good night. Fireworks at a pier on the Fourth of July spell it with red wheels and yellow spokes. They fizz in the air, touch the water and quit.” (Good Night, Carl Sandburg)
 

Hello to our families, friends, and fans, hoping you enjoyed a happy 4th of July,

We had a great time playing for the Unity Center Walnut Creek Service on Sunday July 3rd. We will be returning at the end of the month, July 31, for a New Orleans gospel Sunday.

Come out this Friday July 8, to celebrate the Americana Songbook at First Street Café, 440 1st St., Benicia, CA at 7pm – 10 pm. We will be joined by performers Mardi Morello and Mark Comstock.

Reserve the date: Saturday, August 6, at the Back Room in Berkeley, a beautiful new listening room with a grand piano and great sound! We will share this evening of original jazz, blues and rock with WoodBarry, an Americana Rock/Country group featuring WoodyTrevorrow and Barry Silverblatt from legendary Bay Area band Hearts on Fire. Fellow "Hearts" and Houston/Jones vet, guitarist Glenn Houston, and Nancy Hall from the Curios, will be joining them onstage. Seehttp://backroommusic.com/events-1/2016/8/6/chappell-dave-holt-with-woodbarry.

Lots of poetry events this month! Starting this Thursday July 7th, Dave will read at Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael; Saturday July 9th at Museum of the American Indian in Novato, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. where he'll be reading with contributors to the anthology Red Indian Road West: Native American Poetry from California. Readers will include co-editor Kurt Schweigman, as well as Nanette Deetz, Dave Holt, Kim Shuck, Linda Noel, and Sal Martinez. Donation requested from non-members. Refreshments will be served. Full info here.

Then Dave will be featured reader at Sacred Grounds Coffee House, 2095 Hayes St., San Francisco on Wed. July 13, 8 pm. Open mic sign up will be at 7:30 pm.

Dan Herman of Radio Crystal Blue sent us a happy note on June 23rd. “Hello! Your music will appear in the next podcast. I aim to publish sometime in the next 10 days (I am on a biweekly schedule through August).” Here’s where fans can hear the show:

1:My podcast provider:www.radiocblue.podomatic.com  Shows are available for a few weeks.
2:Internet Archive: www.archive.org  I will generate a specific URL once the show is published, which you'll be able to locate via the playlist posts and in social media.
3:Stitcher for iPod, iPhone or Android:http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/radio-crystal-blue
4:Soundbites of every song I air appear on Clammr:http://www.clammr.com/user/radiocblue
5: Chirbit, link/radiocblue

 

Radio Crystal Blue is free to share and listen, in accordance with Creative Commons non-commercial/full attribution/non-derivative license, version 4.0. More about this license athttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0. Dan Herman, Radio Crystal Blue: 253-537-1096 or 215-995-2234, www.radiocrystalblue.net,dan@radiocrystalblue.net, and on Facebook: Dan Herman or Radio Crystal Blue.

“Love Fills My Sails,” recorded on our CD Wings of the Morning has been added to the permanent playlist on Women of Substance (WOS) Radio Music Podcast. Here is the link to our song on WOS Radio and Podcast.

(pic: Chappell & Dave in Livermore)
House concerts, live music in the intimacy of a home, are a great way to experience music! Please contact us if you’re interested in hosting one in your area by replying to this newsletter. Don’t forget to like our band page,Chappell & Dave Holt, and support live music, and Chappell’s artist page on Facebook. If you’re on Instagram, you can find Chappell at her name, lower case, one word. Follow us on twitter @chappellanddave and please visit Chappell’s new shop on Etsy.


Have a fun summer; we hope to see you at our shows,
Chappell & Dave Holt 

Like A Red, Red Rose Newly Sprung in June …

Like A Red, Red Rose Newly Sprung in June …

“O my Love is like a red, red rose
  That’s newly sprung in June;
  O my Love is like the melody
  That’s sweetly played in tune.”  (Robert Burns)

“Eyes full of sorrow, never wet,
Hands full of money, all in debt,
Sun coming out in the middle of June,
Everyone's gone to the moon.” (sung by Jonathan King, 1965)

Greetings Friends, Family, and Music Followers: 
 

Summer season is off to a great start. First, Dave will be backing up the wonderful vocalist and guitarist John Dilao on keyboard for the first time, Sat. June 11. We’ll be treating your ears to a collection of some of the best jazz, R & B, standards, and bossa nova at Plate & Vine Restaurant, The Hilton,Concord, CA, US from 6:00 – 9:00 pm.

Then on July 3, Chappell & Dave return to Unity of Walnut Creek, 1871 Geary Rd., Walnut Creek, CA.  We will be the featured music for the two Sunday morning services, 9:30 & 11:30 AM doing original spiritual songs and rockin' gospel. Remember you canwatch the service online at this link.

We’re looking forward to another performance forBread and Roses, “hope and healing through live music.” We’ll return to the Veteran’s Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in Livermore this month, June 15, 2016.

Our holiday song “Cause to Celebrate” has been released. You can listen to it, if you’d like to celebrate Christmas early, at our new soundcloud link, or on the usual web site and Facebook.
 

One of our most popular songs, “Love Fills My Sails,” was originally written to celebrate Chappell’s brother, Ken Ekken’s wedding and recorded on our CD Wings of the Morning. It now has been added to the permanent playlist on Women of Substance Radio Music Podcast. Here is the link to our song on WOS Radio and Podcast.

 

We’re on a triple bill show at First Street Café in Benicia on July 8th, with Mark Comstock and Mardi Morillo. You can look them up and listen to their music on Facebook! We’ll go on second, around 8:00 pm.

Mark your calendars for August 6 at The Backroom, a beautiful listening room in Berkeley. Please come out to support this new venue for acoustic, folk, jazz, blues, and traditional music. Bring your friends, too--hear us perform with Sam’s grand piano. We’ll share the bill with the group, Woodbarry.

Dave has a series of poetry readings coming up in July, first at Falkirk Cultural Center in San Rafael with Marin Poetry Center poets (July 7), July 13 at Sacred Grounds in San Francisco; then sharing the stage with Red Indian Road West poets Kim Shuck and Nanette Deetz, July 16, at Beast Crawl in Oakland. Stay tuned for details!

We’d love to have you go to our sites and review our CDs. It would help us a lot. To post reviews at Amazon and iTunes - 1) Here’s the Amazon link. Click on this and it will take you to our CD cover. Next to it you’ll see "Be the first to review this item."  Click on that and you’re ready to write!
2) For iTunes (If you have the icon on your desktop. If you’re not a part of iTunes, just do the one at Amazon): Double click on your iTunes icon on your desktop
Choose iTunes store on left side of page. In the search box (upper left hand corner of page) type Chappell and Dave Holt.
All of our CDs will come up on the page, so click on the cover mini of Stone & Fire
Now you are on the page that lists all the songs from Stone & Fire and below the track listing you will see “Customer Ratings” and “Customer reviews.” Underneath “Customer Reviews” it says “Write A Review.” Click on that and you’re ready to write.

House concerts, live music in the intimacy of a home, are a great way to experience music! Please contact us if you’re interested in hosting one in your area by replying to this newsletter. Don’t forget to like the band page and support live music, https://www.facebook.com/ChappellandDaveHolt/, and Chappell’s artist page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chappellroseholt/?fref=ts. If you’re on Instagram, you can find Chappell at her name, lower case, one word.

Happy spring to all; hope to see you at our shows,
Chappell & Dave Holt