Grits & Soul on Fox 40 and Friends in Jackson

Hey friends -

Hope you are doing well and having a great Friday.

This week, me and The Grits & Soul Band were Fox 40 and Friends featured artist.  We went into the studio, played a couple of tunes for them and had a blast!

What a ride we've had lately.  Doors of opportunity just keep opening for us and it's a great feeling when all the hard work pays off!  Looks like our fall will be heating up with visits across the state to play for folks from DeSoto County to the Coast.  We're STOKED!

If you missed the performances (and I'll admit I did because of work) then you can see them ri'chere!  We have two more besides these that we'll get copies of soon so's we can share with ya.

Visit this link to watch/listen to "Shame On Me" and "Flood Waters."

Have a great weekend!

What? Who? Oh yeah. Me.

I have been MIA.  

Oh.  You noticed?

Well, it so happens that since May I have been fighting some kind of non-sinus (so the x-rays say), apparently allergy-related thing that has morphed into a respiratory funk complete with stopped up nose, a bit of low grade fever here and there, a touch of laryngitis with a side of rattly chest and cough.  

Don't ask because even I don't know what it is, where it came from or why it won't go the hell away after 3 separate rounds of meds.  *Update: As of this morning, make that FOUR and a fever of 99.7*

Seriously.  I give.  Needless to say, I've felt under-the-weather and not my bright, squirrely self.  (Just ask the poor husband.)  It also puts a wrench in my singing and performing for the moment, too, but you won't get away with it for long whatever-you-are!  

Now for a word from our sponsor:  (If you haven't heard my music yet, pop on over to my Facebook page, or the MySpace page or even at Cellular South's EMERGE artist website.)

In the meantime, I've been revamping my diet and nutrition.  So instead of playing damage control, I'm trying to get a consistent thing going with vitamins, getting off of caffeine and trying this to see if I can turn this annual crudfest into a healthier me.  (Will let you know how it goes)


So, in the meantime, I've got so many stories and just as many photos to share with you from the past few weeks.


Like these from the 3rd annual watermelon party.  

It was a smaller affair this year but still lots of fun.  I will now tempt you with photos of my watermelon salsa...!

It was deeeeeelicious!  

I want you to feel the full effect.  Here's the party set-up...complete with watermelon sweet tea (with Smith County yellow watermelons), a crock pot going with watermelon-marinated chicken (for soft tacos), watermelon vodka slushies, watermelon mojitos, and more.

What fun!  Next year, you'll be on the invite list for sure.

 
No doubt if you have friends in the area, you'll have heard about the lovely fall-esque weather we have been enjoying.  A friend burst my bubble yesterday and said the hotter weather was coming back.  I don't care!  Summer let its guard down and we found her weak spot.  

My Mother called recently to rub in the fact that she and my dad been making apple/pear butter and preserves.  Which is basically serves as a fog horn through the night, calling my soul home to Hernando.  Won't be long at all until I've got some in my grubby little paws.  Heh heh! 

Hope that your summer has been a good one!  

What do you have planned for fall? It's State Fair season (and yeah, ok, football, too)!

Going to the state fair??  Here's what we did last year at the Mississippi State Fair.

The Week (and month) Ahead

On May 10, The Guv'nah will announce the birth of the Culinary Trail.  

I'm as serious as a heart attack (and doing a happy dance!). 

 

It's a bouncing, breathing baby [culinary trail?] with legs and all.  The itineraries will be on the web with a nifty interactive map.  (Not like what's there right now which ain't much-a nuthin', although the recipes are pretty cool.)  

I can't wait to see it and will share the link when it is up.  It is surreal to be at a point of relative closure!

Now that the bulk of the writing and research is out of the way (kinda sorta), it gives us (me) plenty of time to make a list of places to visit, people to interview and foodways to capture on video.  

I'm also looking forward to potential collaboration with a couple of other groups in the process to gather oral histories and video footage.  There's also another project or two in zygote form...More on all that when it is set in mud.

I read some blog advice somewhere recommending that you don't ever need to apologize on your blog about not posting.  People say it all the time and I don't remember why she said not to - and you see, now I'm losing focus...  

Well, it's been a minute since I've posted - lots going on around here while juggling a few deadlines, Crossroads Film Festival (W & I are board members; I had two gigs that weekend:  one at the Festival's opening reception and a St. Andrew's Parish party), wrapping up the Culinary Trail and going to Cleveland this weekend.

I will post pictures and video soon from the Film Festival reception. 

 W, me and our friend, Chris M.  
 Love this pic below!

My friend, Daniel was kind enough to come by the reception and snap a few pictures of us and shoot some footage of the performance. Yay!  It ended up being Anna Kline + friends - with my buddies Lizzie Wright and Emily Baker joining me on some O, Brother Where Art Thou? tunes and other things.  Emily's friend, Cindy Woolf, was in town with her partner in crime, Mike, who played upright bass.  They joined in on some tunes and I invited them to play a few while I took a break.  I love the energy in collaborating with other people.

Above picture taken by Karen Guilder 

Our sweet friend Dawn gave us a gift certificate to Christina Foto as a wedding gift, so W said it was ok by him if I used it for a studio session.  Thursday I got some photos taken to use for headshots and press kits.   So, I look forward to seeing how they turned out.


Now about Cleveland:  I'm heading to Delta State University's Delta Music Institute to record for two days.  Professor and songwriter, Tricia Walker, has been kind enough to help me get a little studio time to record some new music.  Have I mentioned yet how excited I am?!

I am backlogged with photos and posts.  They will surface soon!

The Grits and Soul Band...is coming!

So my co-worker turned me on to Scrapblog a few months ago which I used to make my "Grits and Soul" blog header.  


A few nights ago, I was up until 2 a.m. creating a happy band logo and it made me sorta feel like my own version of Lucinda Williams or something.   



This idea has been tossed back and forth amongst the gray matter for some time now...and I kinda like it.  It inspires me.  As a matter of fact, I'm going to play a Crossroads Film Festival reception in April and I'm bringing back up!  I'm going to inform them this weekend when we gather for brunch and jam (not jam as in jelly by the way...)

Happy New Year!

My year ended with quite a bang, to say the least. Me & QB got hitched at Thanksgiving! Then we headed straight into the Christmas holidays, traveling to Hernando to spend time with my family and on to Dallas where we enjoyed our white first Christmas with his family. We ended up having a quiet New Years at our house, dancing in our sock feet and toasting with champagne.

What's funny is there are quite a few blogs and people saying how they are glad 2009 is over. It was a bad year for some but it was a fantastic year in my house. Not everyone had a bad year (but I've been there all too recently where it was nice to have a yucky one out of the way)

• Coordinated 3 months of songwriters' showcases and got a great group of musicians to collaborate with - gigs and all - out of the process. An incredibly talented and supportive group of friends.
  
• I began a new career path as a writer and artist.
• Portico Mag hired me as their monthly Edibles writer.
• met a French woman in Indianola who is writing a Blues cookbook and I'm helping her with editing and a little bit of research.
• Life coaching is still going strong and helping tremendously.
• started Guitar lessons!
• I got engaged and married - DUH!
  

The new year always brings the prospect of change and I am continuing some previous intentions and jump-starting new ones.

I don't do a resolution list but a word to focus on for the new year. Life coach and singer-songwriter, Christine Kane created a worksheet if you need a nudge figuring out what a good word for your year can be.

This year, I chose the word "SOAR."

That's the picture I made and put on my wall above my desk. Each letter, as you can see, sets a specific intention: opening myself to $$ opportunities and letting go of old stigmas and fears; the owl, my special birdie, which Native American lore says accompanies a newly freed soul; radiance - "hide it under a bushel, no, I'm gonna let it shine;" and musical ambitions with my purple Taylor!

Soar is the perfect word for me because I want to continue to build on what I established last year with food and travel writing, building up my performing career with continued guitar lessons, new gigs and songwriting and letting go of old, stagnant fears.

I plan to soar over and above limitations, obstacles and resistance. Soaring is not complacently gliding - it is embracing oneself, one's talents and abilities. I want to inspire and encourage others in their creative projects; shine in my own right; stay authentic, grounded and present; keep my mind open to opportunities and ways to grow.

This year is going to have its share of fun and challenges. I can't wait!

• I went on my first assignment for DeSoto Magazine and I interviewed Curator Marina Pacini and Assistant Curator Stanton Thomas of the Brooks Museum of Art for their upcoming exhibit Venice in the Age of Canaletto. It's going to be an incredible exhibit, featuring a piece from the museum's permanent collection by the 17th century Italian artist named "Canaletto," complete with video footage of the experience of riding a gondola up and down the Grand Canal, a pale blue and gold damask covered room and other examples of paintings and decorative arts of the era.
  

Me, QB and my Mom are going to the Art for Lunch series at the Brushmark Restaurant in the Brooks - Mississippi restaurateur Wally Joe (KC's in Cleveland) is the chef there - where they provide lunch, a talk and a tour of the exhibit. We're looking forward to that!

Here are some pictures of my old stomping grounds that I took after the interview.

The front of the museum on Poplar Avenue in Audobon Park.

The iron gate sculpture that is near the entrance - isn't it cool?

A side view of the museumTurn around from the previous view to see the alligator guiding
the way to the Memphis Zoo.At the back of the museum is the refurbished Overton Park Shell. So many people have played here! This is where Elvis played an early performance. I sang there for an Earth Day festival several years ago. It's now called the Levitt Shell and lost a little of its ambiance because they painted over the rainbow that used to decorate the back wall. The renovations make the area look so much better, but I still miss the rainbow!The old version of the Shell.

• In December, I finally found out about the status of my grant application from the DeSoto Arts Council. (*DeSoto is the county in which I grew up.) I received a small grant to help finish my short film, memphis, mississippi!! I have an editor lined up and lots of work ahead of me!!
  

• I am celebrating the loss of approximately 25 pounds! Yay! I haven't been watching things like a hawk, but making some minor changes, in diet especially over the past few months - one big thing that helps is not eating out as much and eating more fresh, simple foods. QB and I try to walk around the neighborhood as often as possible...and I swear that I will be a regular participant of my water aerobics classes at Foxy Lady pronto or will cancel the damn gym membership. Hmmph!

• January 6, I played a singer-songwriters night at Hal & Mal's that went really well. I will be getting some recording sessions set up this month so I can get demos recorded and ramp up the self-promotion/getting more gigs process. The picture didn't turn out very well. Believe it or not, that's me! (More on the way from my friend Natalie, who coordinates the songwriters' nights. QB also got some video footage I'll post at some point, too.)

So, that's it from me for the moment.

What is your intention word for 2010?

Chick Jam 06-09

Photos by William Patrick Butler. Incredible Photographer!

This was my first gig in quite a long time. I took a break when I moved to Jackson - uh, almost 5 year ago - sad - ok, that's not entirely true, because I've had a few gigs in Vicksburg and at Songwriters Nights but it's been sporadic.

So, like I was saying, a break to decide what I really wanted to do musically. After performing predominately Celtic music since high school (about the age of 16), I needed a break and wanted to officially spread my wings a little past those boundaries.

It felt so good to be back on stage. Me & my trusty Taylor.

This is the full post on WPB's blog page so you can witness all the lovely ladies that took the stage for the fundraiser before the fundraiser.

Coming soon is a video blurb of me (along with other video clips of the other musicians) performing during Chick Weekend (July 24-25, 2009) on the Chick Ball website.

I'm performing July 24th Songwriters Night right after the play. Be there and support the cause!!