~Henry David Thoreau

These days, every single time we have a sliver of a chance to perform, rehearse, or go out to hear music is truly cherished. Everything’s been concentrated essence. More dates to be added soon as they’re confirmed–we’re also both feeling a need to perhaps play in non-standard venues, to bring the music out in different ways. The form, the “how” will develop soon enough.

Tomorrow night 4/7, The Crimson Moon Cafe in beautiful Dahlonega. Go online to reserve good seats that remain! Humble Tripe opens.

Saturday 5/5, we’re happily returning to The Hungry Ear Coffee House in Sandy Springs, sharing the evening with Keltic Kudzu.

Doors that feel like wind, river, air, earth, and the nameless. Sometimes they swing open. Sometimes they’re like tunnels. No way to describe them adequately. Music comes close. We’re glad you’re here again.

This Saturday 2/25, we’ll be back at one of our favorite places to play, 45 South Cafe in Norcross, at around 7:00. We’ve added two -ars and a few new songs, any of which may make an appearance. Some are Ron originals, some are re-workings–much variety, but all Out of the Rain. 45 South is a casual, friendly place with good food and drink where we enjoy trying out new material, particularly when the espresso machine runs or the train goes by.

December/January was a good, good time of playing in new and familiar intimate spaces, seeing old-new friends and listeners, and resting. We were thrilled by the response of radio stations (and many of you) to our very limited release of Ron’s arrangement of Auld Lang Syne, now on iTunes. It means the world to us–that recording process, we’ll never forget.

Steadily, we’re adding dates to the 2012 calendar, and making more time for the studio, too. On March 10th (Saturday), we return a little after 7 to Chocolate Perks – Your Neighborhood Cafe in Duluth. Check back here often! If you’d like to be on the email list, just enter your email address in the form to the right and we’ll add you promptly.

In the meantime, Ron’s working with conception and construction, and Carol’s finding visual and tactile inspiration for sounds.

More Blake? Visit the archive.

We’re extremely honored to have been asked to perform the theme song from novelist Jodi Picoult’s Sing You Home for the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) annual conference. Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer will be at the conference as well, spreading their genius and ukelele love.

This coming Saturday 11/5, we return to 45 South Cafe in downtown Norcross (one of our favorite haunts . . . oooo, sorry!), and we’ll start around 7:00 or as-soon-as-we-can-get-our-sound-absolutely-right.

Then, more fun in some pin-drop listening environments! We’re thrilled to be back at Ragamuffin Music in Roswell on Saturday 11/19, a place that has a vibe like no other–you can truly feel the warmth and joy in there. Then on Saturday 12/10, our first house concert. We got a chance to hear Pierce Pettis at Acoustics at Oaks End in Smyrna months back, and the gorgeous wooded (indoor) setting, great food, company, perfect sound, and hospitality were enchanting. For those of you who attend the Smyrna house concert, a gift. There you’ll receive a free track (on CD) of a holiday-themed song from the yet-to-be-titled second album. On 12/17, we return to the cozy and beautiful Zen Tea.

Hope to see you one of those times, or more. Peace to you in the coming season.

It’s easy to find promotional clips and histories regarding this famous house, built in 1839. Somehow, the stillness in this video feels like music.

Fiction writers are admonished to “show, don’t tell.” In folk music (and in its conceptual videos), one hears and sees both.

More, from his Metalogues:

“What did you mean by a conversation having an outline? Has this conversation had an outline?”

Oh, surely, yes. But we cannot see it yet because the conversation isn’t finished. You cannot ever see it while you’re in the middle of it. Because if you could see it, you would be predictable – like the machine. And I would be predictable – and the two of us together would be predictable -

“But I don’t understand. You say it is important to be clear about things. And you get angry about people who blur the outlines. And yet we think it’s better to be unpredictable and not to be like a machine. And you say that we cannot see the outlines of our conversation till it’s over. Then it doesn’t matter whether we’re clear or not. Because we cannot do anything about it then.”

Yes, I know – and I don’t understand it myself . . . but anyway, who wants to *do* anything about it.

Interestingly, Bateson heavily influenced violinist/multimedia artist Stephen Nachmanovitch (who wrote Free Play, a stunning book that electrified C. in the late ’90s).

This weekend–Saturday 5/28: Zen Tea at 7:00

Next weekend–Saturday 6/4: Hungry Ear Coffee House at 7:00 (with Tortoise & Hair)

We can’t wait to see you!

. . . come she will.” What are the first song lyrics you remember? While Ron’s recollections are full of Jimmie Rodgers tunes (played by his father), The Kingston Trio and early Atlanta Symphony recordings, Carol grew up with Herb Alpert and Bruckner(!) on Sunday mornings–and the soundtrack to The Graduate. How do all of these memories affect how we make music now? Powerfully, in ways we thankfully can’t measure.

We’re back in Zen Tea this coming Saturday at 7, then on to Chocolate Perks on Saturday, April 23rd. And yes, at Zen Tea we will amplify a bit this time! Both of these local businesses have fantastic food, a great deal of heart, and seating close in–so you can feel the music as well as hear it.

Harshness vanished. A sudden softness
has replaced the meadows’ wintry grey.

Little rivulets of water changed
their singing accents. Tendernesses,

hesitantly, reach toward the earth
from space, and country lanes are showing
these unexpected subtle risings
that find expression in the empty trees

~Rainer Maria Rilke

A few dates we’re looking forward to in March so far: Saturday 3/12, 8PM at Lena’s Place (with Cyndi Craven and Jerry Brunner), and Saturday 3/19, around 7pm at 45 South Cafe in Norcross.

The times at Zen Tea and Catacombs Coffeehouse were sweet and memorable. We’re most thankful to you for lighting up those small spaces.

Atlanta is snowed in, a growing family of instruments is getting humidified, and we’re doing some planning for 2011. We’ve been happy to see Two Hearts reviewed in the venerable publication Sing Out!, as well as a fine photo (by Hawk Reynolds) in the latest Gwinnett Magazine (honoring Chocolate Perks in the “best of” issue).

In the next month or so, we’ll be playing in some cozy spaces. On 1/22, you can hear us in the tranquil environment of Zen Tea in Chamblee, a beautiful community gathering place that offers an incredible variety of teas and tea-related sweets. Then on 2/10, it’s back to the much-loved Catacombs Coffee House at Mt. Carmel UMC in Norcross, one of the oldest churches in Gwinnett County. And, if you happen to be well-known to us and live northwest/west of Atlanta and would like to host a house concert (perhaps in late spring), we’d love to talk with you! One of the greatest resources for how house concerts work is here…contact us privately if you’re interested. House concerts are magical. Warmth and music to you.

Second, when is the next album coming out? Answer: When it’s done, really done. There is quite a bit of recorded material from the earlier sessions, and we’re coming up with new ideas and directions constantly. These days, particularly with events and responsibilities in both our lives, we’ve really wanted to make the end consistent with the means–so that the process of creation is as joyful as the birth. So every step is mindfully (!?!) taken as Ron (w/Carol) brings Two Hearts to new listeners, songs in progress to those who come to hear us often, as well as older material and borrowed tunes often requested. In the meantime, more lyrics and melodies bubble up, we play out, life lives us.

The Avondale Arts Alliance Autumnfest is this weekend, and we’re performing on Saturday, October 23rd at 11 AM. If the festival is half as good as the website, it promises to be a lovely time for all ages. Then the following Saturday, October 30th, we’ll be returning to 45 South Cafe in Norcross for two sets that evening, starting around 7:00.

You might have noticed that it’s easy now, if you use Facebook, to find and “like” us through this page (see right). It’s a wonderful way to share back and forth, and to get news/updates (and our occasionally skewed thoughts) as soon as we’re aware of them. Thanks for listening, making us laugh, and being companions through this uncharted territory. The music truly would not happen otherwise.

Have you ever sat with a Salvador Dali painting? Not online, but in “person.” Of course, experiences are intensely individual, but it can feel like being literally sucked into one’s teeming unconscious–or being thrust headlong into the collective swirl, perhaps Dali’s wild inner vortex, who knows. Is it possible to be chased by an artwork? That’s how S.D. can feel. Atlanta’s High Museum is putting on an exhibition of his late works through January 9th. So looking forward to going, when we come up for air. Wait…

The Persistence of Memory~probably one of the best-known of Dali’s visions. And for some reason, that phrase (it’s also the name of a novel) kept coming back again and again after last week’s concert in Jasper. So many dear friends from Ron’s childhood were there–he was moved beyond words. Carol’s spending much of her time now with family remembrances. Quite a few members of the audience told us how that night felt like a sweet and powerful evocation of the past, gathered and held in the present moment. As it did to us.

Out of the Rain is playing in three very different settings in the next ten days. On Saturday September 25th, it’s a benefit for Parkinson’s research, which is also a birthday celebration for singer-songwriter Bob Bakert (who organized this show), starting around 7:00 at Ragamuffin Music. The night features an incredible mix of great musicians. And we’d be remiss not to mention, with admiration, the very important work being done by wonderful musical companion Bruce Gilbert, hosting monthly house concerts in his home (for the same cause) through this fall.

The Duluth Fall Festival in all its glory is coming up this weekend, and we’ll be on the Gazebo Stage at 3:30 on Sunday. Then on Saturday October 2nd, we’re back performing at The Hungry Ear Coffeehouse on a co-bill with Rick Diamond--it’s like being in a cozy, yet large, mountain cabin. Right in Sandy Springs. What could be better? Bringing of canned or non-perishable foods is encouraged, to support Northwest UU’s food drive. The music starts at 7:00.

And tonight, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event.

Speaking of cool air, and breezes…on Monday, September 13th, we’ll be playing up in picturesque Jasper, GA as part of the Casual Classics Series presented by Jasper Muse, Inc. It looks like a beautiful, warm setting. Music will begin at 7:00, and the location is New Lebanon Presbyterian Church on 389 Bent Tree Drive. We’re honored to be part of this series started by musician/mentor Suzanne Shull that features the performing gifts of Atlanta Symphony musicians and internationally acclaimed classical artists as well.

Two Hearts has continued to chart on the Roots Music Report and on Airplay Direct, with songs being picked up by stations across much of the northern and western US, as well as in Scotland, Canada, Australia, Germany, and The Netherlands.

We’re playing at Chocolate Perks in Duluth for the first time ever on Saturday, August 21st at 7:30. It’s developed into wonderfully welcoming place for acoustic musicians to be heard. Looking forward to meeting you there!

As of 8/16, tracks from Two Hearts occupy thirteen of the top 50 Airplay Direct Global Radio Indicator charts for the week, and as of 8/20 the album is #42 on the international Roots Music Report folk chart.

We’re happy to be hearing about early airplay of Two Hearts on radio stations such as WAMC (Hudson River Valley), WFMT Chicago (included in 6/26 picks), CKUT Montreal, and KBCS Bellevue/Seattle (heavy rotation). Folk music radio announcers put countless hours into creating beautifully crafted programs, the vast majority on a volunteer basis. They (along with so many who perform, listen, write, and organize) keep the singer-songwriter tradition alive.

As of 7/30, the album has landed in the top 50 on the international Roots Music Report chart (folk), and climbed to #15 on the general RMR Georgia chart.

The summer NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in Nashville. Ron: “It’s a ghost town.”  Carol: “help…get me to a silent room, stat!” A lot of exhibits, milling humans, smiles. Many gorgeous instruments, a fascinating dulcimer/banjo/guitar combo called the strumstick, and enough strange and wonderful gadgets to make your head spin.

We’ve been working on new music and revisiting some old (in addition to spreading the word about Two Hearts), and are really looking forward to playing again at 45 South Café in Norcross this coming Saturday 6/26 at 7pm. It’s been a while since we’ve played there and gotten a chance to bask in its great sound and vibe, say and play hello.

Also, we have two performances planned on Saturday, May 8th~10 AM at the Colors Festival of Arts in historic Roswell (right on the square), then we’ll play at the venerable Lena’s Place Coffeehouse on a co-bill with Tony Bolin at 8 PM.

Merry Spring.

Much more music coming your way. Much gratitude to Jackie and Mark of Ragamuffin Music.

The doors open at 7:30. Click here for more information and tickets.