Two weeks ago, I got to to play some out of town shows. I took a bus up to NYC, walked the whole Highline with my guitar in tow, and made it to the Living Room in time for the Folk’d Up show. I shared a bill with Lauryn Peacock, Skye Steele, and Bonsai.
The following day, I met up with a group of people at Grand Central Station, and we took the Metro North up the Hudson River valley to spend the whole day hiking along Mt. Taurus. Dan Goldberg runs a music series called The Mountain Shows, where a few performers set up along various trail landmarks and share music during hiking breaks. I got to play at the ruins of an old barn under a lush, verdant canopy, accompanied by cicadas.
photo credit: Matt Gajewski
collage map I made for our musical hike
And on Sunday, I got to share another show with Lauryn Peacock and Skye Steele in Philly. Larkin Grimm, one of my all-time music heroes, played as well.
From left to right: Skye Steele, Lauryn Peacock, Larkin Grimm, Devin’s head, me, and Jesse Sparhawk
My little weekend getaway was jam-packed with so many enriching moments. I’m glad I had a chance to connect with everyone, from all of the musicians to many of the mountain hikers. On Monday August 17th, still riding the high from climbing a mountain with a guitar over my shoulder, I got some more exciting news: Bandwidth premiered a song off of Spirit House! You can listen to “Kapunkah” and read a short interview here.
drawing by Vianney Paul
And on Thursday, August 20th, DC Music Download featured my song “Legend of the Neighborhood”, which is a celebratory tribute song to my friend Aaron Brown. Aaron would have turned 28 yesterday. The song is available as a digital download, and all proceeds from sales go towards Music for Life, an after-school music program established in Aaron’s memory. So far we’ve raised $110 dollars! Read the feature and give the song a listen here, and if you can, download the song and help donate to an important cause!
Spirit House arrived as well, and I can’t wait to share the album in its full form with you!
There are two big release shows coming up with the full ensemble:
The Baltmore release show on September 4th at the Creative Alliance and the DC release show is on September 23rd at the Capital Fringe. Please RSVP! The tickets may seem pricey, but it’s because I have a lot of production costs to take care of. There will be a discount code for Creative Alliance tickets (tickets will be $15 for friends at the door), so if you’d like to access that, please send me an email.
I’m also working on putting together a fall tour at the end of September, and have a few holes in my route! If you know of any house shows/listening rooms/art galleries/etc. in Upstate NY, please let me know.
Whew! See what I mean by a lot of little things to manage and everything happening at once? Well, I’m glad to to fully immersed in all of this activity, and to be so close to releasing this music!
Much love and gratitude,
Marian