March 17th, 2007

Greetings everyone ~ (And Happy St. Patty's Day!)

It has been a long time since I wrote a 'what's new' or 'notes from the road' entry for all of you - perhaps mostly because I have not been on the road for a while. I have, however, been working on a new album, with long-time engineer producer partner Steve Drown (Dames Rocket, Shunyata) and arranger Glen DaCosta.

This album has been in the works for a long time. I came off the road touring 'Indiana' in late 2003 and became side-tracked (in a good way) by trips to Ecuador, and Jamaica - an emersion into perspectives outside the US and a musical partnership with an amazing reggae musician, Glen DaCosta of Bob Marley and The Wailers fame. I was also side-tracked last year as I spent the better part of it managing a struggling non-profit performance space (Opera House in Boothbay Harbor, Maine), which is now a bit more 'on it's feet'.

Travel outside the US and work with Jamaican musicians helped inspire a number of tunes on my upcoming album, entitled 'Invocation'. I now have 10 tracks close to completed. I am heading to work next week into early April to finish with Steve here at the Studio in Portland, Maine. More than likely, I will put this album out myself, on my own independent label 'Kakelane Music', but that is to be confirmed and determined in the months to come.

It is good to get back to music, to performing and recording and thinking about the future, which with the grace of God will include travel. I have missed the road terribly. I have missed visiting different parts of the US and have missed seeing you along the way. I've played a few shows here in Maine in the past months and thank the Maine fans for coming out and experiencing the new tunes for the first time. In December we had the luck of having Mr DaCosta in our midst and we played as a trio with Jeff Rojo, a very talented Mexican classical guitarist who has joined me on stage in the past year.

Last week I was honored to be a part of a very moving tribute to a courageous young woman from Maine, Hanley Denning. Ms. Denning started a wonderful non-profit organization called 'Safe Passage' (check out safepassage.org). Tragically she was killed this past January in a car accident in Guatemala. Nearly 2,000 people attended the sold-out event at Merrill Auditorium here in Portland (several hundred were turned away) on March 9th (Hanley's birthday). I was asked to perform several songs in between the speeches and films including ' Recycled Life' - an Oscar nominated short documentary which highlighted the area in which Hanley worked. Talented trumpeter, Marc Chillemi joined me on stage for the first time and the music felt inspired. Hanley Denning will be dearly missed - but her organization and work will live on for years to come.

Shows coming up are localized here in Maine for now - until the album is done and I can work it into other parts of the US and start planning tour dates. I will keep all of you posted about the arrival of 'Invocation' and let you know if there will be an opportunity to buy advanced copies (stay tuned!).

Even though today we are being blasted by another snowstorm and Winter's stubborn refusal to step aside for Spring, I am excited at the prospect of warmer weather on the way - new music - new connections - renewed emersion into the creative life. I hope all of you are doing very well on the heels of the most demanding of seasons.

'Notes from the Road'

Dec 7th, 2004

After the disturbing results of our US election, I thought a trip out of the country was in good order. So, on Nov. 4, I flew to Quito, Ecuador. I toured with a dozen + people from all over the US through the 3 distinct regions of Ecuador to study gender equity (and other issues) in the 3rd World with the guidance and leadership of Heifer International and Funedesin. Aside from opening my eyes and heart and sparking my desire to strengthen my Spanish speaking skills, the trip gave me a visceral understanding of the stress put upon developing countries by a modernizing world. (Just to give you some perspective; the average income per year, per capita in Ecuador is $300 -- basically what J.Lo pays to get her poodle shampooed).

I was struck by the openness, humor, intelligence and grace of the people I met in Ecuador. In the Highlands, near the region of Cotopaxi, we visited with a community of Indigenous people who are working with Heifer International. Heifer is providing them with guinea pigs and alpaca. These people are also organizing and learning to read and write in order to, among other things, avoid further disenfranchisement by establishing a unified voting voice. (Heifer, I must note for accuracy, is not a political organization. They solely work within the community to end hunger and poverty – by working with livestock and training. In communities they usually work 3-5 years and then get out of their way. They usually just work themselves out of a job).

In the Southern Coastal region, we spent several days in Quevedo City (which my friend Charlie suggested represented the 4th World – Quevedo City is basically, a 2,000,000-person slum). We met some incredible women there who, in their condition of abject poverty, are organizing and doing what they can to get a foothold towards a better life. Heifer has given them chickens and pigs. These people struggle to just get a living wage, their basic needs met and some kind of basic education, but a few chickens can actually improve their lives tremendously by providing nutrition and income. I saw that these people are also working to strengthen their community and their collective voice in the face of an ongoing corrupt government concerned mostly with special interests…sound familiar?

We spent the last part of the trip in the Rainforest / upper Amazon Basin. On Nov. 12th, we flew into Coca, Ecuador, a town built by oil companies as a gateway into the petroleum-rich regions of the Oriente. We met up with activist and naturalist guide, Miquel Castenel who brought us 4 hours by canoe up the Napo River to Yachana Lodge where we based ourselves for 4 days to learn more about the ongoing struggle between the indigenous people, the Rainforest and the oil companies. Miguel and a man named Douglas from Kentucky, as well as several men from local tribes like the Shiwiar (who, up until the mid 1900’s had no real contact with the western world), got their start working for the oil companies in the 70’ and 80’s. When these men found that the companies they were working for were, at the very least, disinterested in the welfare of the communities and land they were affecting, Miguel, Douglas, and the others, founded Fundesin and built Yachana as well as other eco-tourism ventures as a way to address the problem. I encourage you to check out their work.

The 4 days in the Rainforest were magical for me. And it was somehow familiar. Maybe it reminded me of my hometown. It is the culture of life on the water and the small communities making due with whatever they have. They get 12 feet of rain per year and everything grows like mad. The sounds of the jungle are amazing; birds, bugs and monkeys with no ounce of shyness. Mix that with the rain and you have some pretty raucous nights out in the middle of nowhere. On Saturdays people gather from miles around, traveling by canoe, to a makeshift market where they buy and sell food and basic necessities. They drink, shop, play soccer and visit with each other. The market is canopied by towering mahogany and fica trees (which they call ‘fig’or ‘fic’ trees). Banana, coffee and cocoa trees are in abundance too. There is a strong smell of jasmine and musty dirt. That night we took the canoe a couple miles up the Napo in the complete darkness, cut the engine and drifted back to our camp. The heavy clouds obscured the moon and stars. In the distance, on the horizon, a violent storm was raging and occasionally lit our way. I watched the shadows of the river edge treetops as we drifted backwards silently but rapidly back down the river. If I could bottle the feeling I had that night, I swear that no one would ever want anything else.

I am back in the US now with a deeper understanding of the adverse affects of our consumptive society and the unfortunate epidemic of greed and corruption. It’s made me squeamish about my own lifestyle. I keep running into people who say off the cuff, “I really want to know why the US gets such a bad rap in the world”. I am beginning to get the picture. Oh Lord, the woes of corporatocrisy, capitalism and imperialism. So many of us are consumed by our seductive life of consumption and oddly enough, despite our wealth as a nation, most of us are struggling blindly. I hope your curiosity gets sparked to embrace a deeper understanding of the parts of our world, both outside the US and WITHIN the US, who pay the price for our unabashed greed and our apathetic permissiveness of a corrupt and corrosive government in-bedded with global parasitic economic institutions. (Yeah, I said it).

I can’t promise you that my next entry will be more uplifting. It’s difficult to land back here in the US after a trip like that and maintain a fluffy demeanor so please forgive me for the moment. However, I do feel a very deep connection, love and wisdom growing within many people and crossing cultural lines. It is truly inspiring to see and it gives me hope.