And so I begin with an apology. I apologize that it is now 2007...more than a year after the last update. For those of you who have been keeping up with me via the world wide web, you have probably visited my Myspace account, my Sonic Bids EPK and dropped in a time or two on my performance page to notice that I have been on the road quite a bit lately. Thank you to those of you who have popped in to catch performances in your area. Your support means the world and is the reason I keep writing...keep singing...keep driving I am enjoying my time on the road--seeing America through the windshield of my Chevy Lumina (which has now turned over 200,000 miles). I would love to show you pictures of me singing and smiling in all the interesting places I've been, but sadly and realistically I am usually touring alone...no one there to capture the moments with a camera but me. Needless to say, I have a lot of photos of scenery and buildings.
I am now going to attempt a quick update as to what I have been doing since May of 2005...the month of the release of "A Place To Belong." It has been quite a trip. As I carry on with my work with Wally's World they continue to send me and my music out into the world of colleges and universities. I also continue to appear at coffeehouses and special events around the country. My best friend has become the great and all-knowing Mapquest. I am not sure how anyone managed to navigate their way through the maze of Chicago (and the rest of the US for that matter) without it. Each dot on the map seems to bless me with a multitude of memories and fascinating people...all welcoming creativity and a good chat about the North Dakota weather. I have also become quite the fan of talk radio, thanks to XM. Ten hour road trips are made all the sweeter with sarcastic personalities dissecting the trials and tribulations of Brittany Spears and TomKat. Writing and music, as always, consume me. After graduating from UND in the spring of 2005, touring and promoting "A Place to Belong" and working at a performing arts school in Fargo in the summer, I took the great leap of marriage to my long time, hang in there with me, best friend and boyfriend of almost ten years. Yes, you can do the math...I was only 13 when I fell in love. I guess you hold on tight to the good ones. My marriage has allowed me to move back to the ranch in western North Dakota for the time being and I am enjoying living in my grandmother's home and appreciating the spaces that shaped my creativity when I was young. I am also having a fantastic time playing more music with my dad again. His band, Lonesome Willy, fills small town bars and events with real, soul grooving, retro country and folk music. Lonesome Willy (more than a band, it's an attitude) is a compilation of musicians who play for the love of music. We will be recording a live Lonesome Willy performance in March, so look for updates (I promise I will be better now).
As I write this I am sitting on some time off in Minneapolis between trips to Chicago. I am thankful every day for the chance to play my music for a living, but I am not unrealistic about its challenges. I am always looking forward to what will come from my pen and my guitar next, where my wheels will take me, and who I will meet. I am grateful for wonderful, supportive friends and family and those who offer encouraging words and praise, especially when the road seems so long. I have realized that the world is big, but there is potential to be big in it. I am finding out how far I can go.
The space between home and gone is streets and stones and coffee. McDonalds and gas and sunflower seeds. Dirt and carwashes, lines and signs and detours. Chocolate and gum and dome lights. News radio, talk radio, music radio and a good CD. Old faces, new friends and road rage. Phone calls and U turns, hotel rooms, broken guitar strings and, of course, music. Thanks for listening.See you on the road.
I am now going to attempt a quick update as to what I have been doing since May of 2005...the month of the release of "A Place To Belong." It has been quite a trip. As I carry on with my work with Wally's World they continue to send me and my music out into the world of colleges and universities. I also continue to appear at coffeehouses and special events around the country. My best friend has become the great and all-knowing Mapquest. I am not sure how anyone managed to navigate their way through the maze of Chicago (and the rest of the US for that matter) without it. Each dot on the map seems to bless me with a multitude of memories and fascinating people...all welcoming creativity and a good chat about the North Dakota weather. I have also become quite the fan of talk radio, thanks to XM. Ten hour road trips are made all the sweeter with sarcastic personalities dissecting the trials and tribulations of Brittany Spears and TomKat. Writing and music, as always, consume me. After graduating from UND in the spring of 2005, touring and promoting "A Place to Belong" and working at a performing arts school in Fargo in the summer, I took the great leap of marriage to my long time, hang in there with me, best friend and boyfriend of almost ten years. Yes, you can do the math...I was only 13 when I fell in love. I guess you hold on tight to the good ones. My marriage has allowed me to move back to the ranch in western North Dakota for the time being and I am enjoying living in my grandmother's home and appreciating the spaces that shaped my creativity when I was young. I am also having a fantastic time playing more music with my dad again. His band, Lonesome Willy, fills small town bars and events with real, soul grooving, retro country and folk music. Lonesome Willy (more than a band, it's an attitude) is a compilation of musicians who play for the love of music. We will be recording a live Lonesome Willy performance in March, so look for updates (I promise I will be better now).
As I write this I am sitting on some time off in Minneapolis between trips to Chicago. I am thankful every day for the chance to play my music for a living, but I am not unrealistic about its challenges. I am always looking forward to what will come from my pen and my guitar next, where my wheels will take me, and who I will meet. I am grateful for wonderful, supportive friends and family and those who offer encouraging words and praise, especially when the road seems so long. I have realized that the world is big, but there is potential to be big in it. I am finding out how far I can go.
The space between home and gone is streets and stones and coffee. McDonalds and gas and sunflower seeds. Dirt and carwashes, lines and signs and detours. Chocolate and gum and dome lights. News radio, talk radio, music radio and a good CD. Old faces, new friends and road rage. Phone calls and U turns, hotel rooms, broken guitar strings and, of course, music. Thanks for listening.See you on the road.
To keep updated on my travels and music making visit me on MySpace.
America through my windshield
