A New Year...New Sounds...New Gelato Flavors...

How's your 2010 going? In this month named for Janus, the Roman god of doorways who is depicted with one face looking back and the other to the future, hope you find light in both directions. : )

This week in our Hudson Valley Artist Spotlight, we met Sean Schenker from The Trapps. We listened to the song Lullaby, from their latest album Cheap Seats.

Isn't that a great image on the cover of the album? Sean mentioned that it's a train car near Kingston, and if you're wondering, The Trapps do take their name from the scenic Shawangunk Mountain spot that is now on my list of places to visit near New Paltz. This Thursday night, 1/14 @ 8pm, Sean will be a featured artist in the songwriter series @ Whistling Willie's in Cold Spring or you can check out the full band show there on Saturday @ 8:30pm. The Trapps also play on the other side of the river, at Casa Del Sol in Nyack on Friday 1/15 @ 9pm. View the rest of their calendar and connect with The Trapps at their site or space.

This Sunday @ Via Vanti in Mt. Kisco, they're unveiling the Dogs in Party Hats Wall of Fame @ 4pm! Carla Gambescia, who is a gelato artist in my estimation, is supporting Yorktown Heights based Guiding Eyes for the Blind with a year-long effort. For each month, a unique flavor of gelato celebrating a doggie winner, has been created and will be served at Via Vanti with proceeds to Guiding Eyes for the Blind. In fact, the April honoree and official spokesdog and ambassador for Dogs in Party Hats is a peach-of-a-pooch I've met a few times at events with the SPCA of Westchester, his name is Bocker the Labradoodle (yes, you can friend him on Facebook!) and his flavor will be Bocker's Doodlelicious Swirl. : ) This month of January, it's O'Malley's Yum Rum Raisin...visit the site to see his fantastic pirate hat! Dogs rule...

And all this talk about gelato and listening to Bocker's song brings a dance to mind...

Tanti baci,

Catherine