Sunday, June 1, 2014

Like a Rose That’s Newly Sprung in June …

Like a Rose That’s Newly Sprung in June …

“Oh, my love’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June;
Oh, my love’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.” (Robert Burns)
 
“Among the bramble bushes grew a rose. It was a vision of beauty, so I chose to leave the darkness I’d refused to leave …” (Anniversary New Moon, from the new Chappell & Dave Holt CD Stone & Fire)
 
“June is bustin' out all over
All over the meadow and the hill!
Buds'r bustin' outa bushes
And the rompin' river pushes
Ev'ry little wheel that wheels beside the mill!”
(Rodgers and Hammerstein, fr. Carousel)

We had many great adventures on our Stone & Fire music/CD promotion tour through Corvallis, Portland (OR), Seattle (WA), finally reaching Summit, Oregon for our last concert at the Summit Community Center (April 30 to May 10). On the way up, our first stop was Eugene to visit Jeanette Lundgren of Mother Hen Productions where the shipment of our new CD Stone & Fire awaited us at her address (we saved on sales tax!)

Next day, we drove up to Portland to play our first gig at Magnolia’s Corner, supported by friends who came out to see us (some of whom drove down from Seattle). Back down to Corvallis for a performance at Imagine Coffee followed by a stay at Karl Smiley’s sheep ranch. Our car starter had conked out the night before so we drove back into Corvallis to get a new one. Karl just happened to have a roommate who fixed cars. Maybe he was a car angel. Our stay there was like a musician’s retreat. I think we played music the whole time except when Karl cooked for us. It began to rain and seemed to rain off and on for the rest of our time up north, a refreshing change for drought ravaged Californians.

We made it to Seattle in time for Dave to participate in a poetry reading at the Cascadia Poetry Festival, May 4th where we met some of the Northwest region poets and the Canadian bards. Dave exchanged books with Métis poet Joanne Arnott. He was also able to meet and talk with award-winning editor/teacher/writer and founder of the festival, Paul Nelson.

Off we went through another rain storm to Conor Byrne pub on Ballard Ave., where we played the first of two open mics we signed up for in this famous music town. The talented genius, Joel Tepp, sat in with us on clarinet/harmonica. Our opening song Indian Maiden, with its western swing jazz sound, wowed the crowd. A couple of nights later we played the Hopvine Pub open mic, where we met enthusiastic young musicians drawn to Seattle to play for this city’s great audiences, like David and Erin of the alternative folk/rock duo Jitensha, a charmingly original act from Vancouver. They recently traveled to our area to play San Francisco.

On our return to Portland to play Beaterville Café and Bar, we were delighted to have some of the fans who saw us at Magnolia’s come back to hear us and buy Stone & Fire and Wings of the Morning CDs. These are just some of the details of so many stories we could tell. Those of you connected with us on Facebook were able to enjoy the daily travelogue we posted, and can still view our tour photos on our Facebook Page Chappell & Dave Holt

“An unbeatable lineup” of Bay Area Mom Hen clients, Chappell & Dave Holt, John Roy Zat, The Keller Sisters, In the Swing, and Karl Smiley will perform an evening of music at Mighty Fine Guitars, representing the Folk Alliance Region-West (FAR-West) organization. Call 925-268-8226 or visit http://www.mightyfineguitars.com/.

Come on out to Stevie Coyle’s Mighty Fine Guitars at 85 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette, support FAR-West, and hear five great music acts for the price of one donation! This show is to help raise funds for FAR-West whose upcoming conference is held in Oakland this October 16-19 at the Marriott City Center. The FAR-West organization promotes traditional, contemporary and multicultural folk music, dance and related performing arts. If you’d like to register, please go to: http://www.far-west.org/far-west-2014.html.  Tickets for the Evening concerts are open to the public with no conference registration required.

We are excited to have the opportunity to open for Caroline Aiken, prominent blues/country /folk/rock songwriter touring from Athens, Georgia, on Thursday, June 19th, at The Monkey House. The Monkey House is a live/work storefront at 1638 University Ave, near Sacramento, just three blocks from North Berkeley BART. It's directly across from the Super 8 Motel and parking is usually easy. Doors open at 7, show at 7:30-10 pm. You can learn more about Caroline Aiken’s music at: http://www.carolineaiken.com/home.html

We will be doing a Bread and Roses concert on Wed., June 18, at The Tamalpais in Greenbrae. This is a private show that provides a great service for the resident seniors. Please visit the website of this important organization at http://www.breadandroses.org/.
 
We have some upcoming house concert appearances in the East Bay and we will share the details once the dates are confirmed. Please contact us if you are also interested in having us play a house concert in your area by replying to this newsletter.

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. You can also purchase downloads (also Wings of the Morning) at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/ChappellDaveHolt