Countdown to Christmas ... Family Traditions

I have been thinking all week about NOT getting behind the 8 ball this year for Christmas, because I want to have enough time to create the musical concert I have heard in my dreams for years now.   It is on me to retain family traditions, now that mom & dad, and my baby brother and sister have passed over (the real souls of Christmas spirit), so despite all the "Scrooge" overtones lately in discussions with disgruntled siblings, I am going to make this a Christmas to remember.

You won't believe the goldmine I stumbled upon last night when pouring through old cassette tapes to find a Christmas song I was convinced I had written a decade ago, but could no longer remember or find.  There it was, tucked among other worn cassettes, just waiting for me to blow off the dust and pop it in the player.

And as the music played, all the memories flooded in again, and I was transfixed, listening to "Family Traditions", a song I wrote for my brother in November of 1998.  I was far away from home at the time, living in Boston, and ached for a connection to Christmas, the family we used to be, rich in love and tradition, especially this time of year.

"Do you remember, the way I do?"  The first chorus begins .... (stay tuned, I will post the song soon, once I spruce it up a bit, get all that dust off ... )

Songcatching in the Sequoias ...

Well, here I am, down to the wire as usual, tryin' to pack up and get out of Dodge.  Tomorrow I hop a plane and take off for new adventures underneath the Sequoias in Ben Lomand, CA, where I will be joined with songcatchers and tunesmiths from all over the world in a mystical week of spirit, song and brand new creations.

 

I won't have much time to blog, but will try and get a note or pic out every once in a while, to let you know how the retreat is going.  It was a really long 2009, and I have waited a long time to do this again, because I am always fulfilled, renewed, in sync with self and soul when I return from these spiritual retreats.

 

It was my gift to myself this Christmas, so I am really looking forward to the down-time.   But most of all, to creative energy and fellowship again, among some of the most talented, gifted, energetic souls in the universe.

 

I am always humbled, in awe of spirit and passion, so may I embrace this opening with an open heart and willingness to surrender all of the angst and 'old stuff', permitting the love to enter in and heal again, this troubadour's soul.  Amen.

California here I Come ...

January 10th I head out to my annual songwriters retreat in sunny California, where I will finally have the spiritual space and time I need to cleanse and decompress my soul, which appears to be trapped at the moment in very non-creative space! 

Honestly, I think it has to do with finding a stress-free zone post holiday festivities, to get back on track with all of those creative goals I started out with in 2009.   I promised I would devote energy and time to my music last year, forcing myself to go public in a really big way and I did exactly that by getting out on the festival venue ...  

So, this year, I hope to take more creative risks ... seizing opportunities which may, at first glance, be absolutely scary going in, but if you've learned anything at all about me in all of these blogs, by now, it's that I'm all about leaping tall buildings!

Stay tuned for updates on Ben Lomand, CA, Jan 10-17th.   Always an exciting gig, because I meet other songwriters from all over the world, and get to create and co-write in spiritual "Sequoia" space.

Oh Holy Night: A Mini-Christmas Concert ...

A little concert I put together 'on the fly' the other night, to celebrate the season.   Two traditional ballads, and one I wrote (Christmas Lullaby) when my niece was born.  Merry Christmas!

 Playlist : 

 

Christmas Lullaby (Travis),

Oh Holy Night (Traditional)

Silent Night (Traditional).

Christmas Tracks - Open Mic

On Sunday, as you know, I grabbed my 11 year old nephew, T-sport, who grabbed my guitar case (he takes his job as my sound man and engineer very seriously) and recording gear, and off we went to open mic again at JP Hopps House in Houston.   I was expecting a huge crowd, thinking it would be packed because so many folks are off this week, but there was almost no one there.   You'd think I'd breathe easier knowing that, but I was far more nervous with just a handful of listeners in the audience than I was with a pakced house!  Go figure!

 

As sets go, can't say it was one of my best, but I did get to try out a new tune (Sawdust Sunlight), the song that got me an ISSA nomination as singer-songwriter of the year (2009), plus a few traditional Christmas Carols.  It is always a lot more fun to have the audience participate, so the end of the set we were really rockin!  I've put up the Christmas tracks below, and again on the "Events" page, so you can hear the set.

 

It's all unedited, so you get to hear the concert live:   JP HOPPS HOUSE, Houston, TX, Dec 20, 2009

 

 

Playlist : 

 

Sawdust Sunlight (Travis/Daniels),

Christmas Lullaby (Travis),

Oh Holy Night (Traditional)

Silent Night (Traditional).

 

I hope you enjoy the concert!  Feel free to share and pass it on!   Sawdust Sunlight and Christmas Lullaby are both available for purchase as instantly downloadable tracks here.   Merry Christmas!