Merrily we go 'round...

Have you visited Bear Mountain recently?

Enjoyed a picnic this week with my parents who were visiting.

You're never too old to

hop aboard a merry-go-round and enjoy spinning like a record. : )

This week in our Hudson Valley Artist Spotlight, we heard a song from Grammy winning singer-songwriter, humanitarian, storyteller and proud grandfather, Tom Chapin . Maybe you have one of his 20 recordings? Tom's most recent CD for adults is titled, Let The Bad Times Roll and he mentioned that he's just about ready to release a new album called Broadsides. The fun tune we heard was Puppy At The Pound, found on his collection called Some Assembly Required.

I'm pretty sure he plans to play it this Saturday, 7/24 at a benefit for the Putnam Humane Society that begins @ 1pm @ Mayors Park in Cold Spring. Kathleen Pemble and Cold Spring theBand, Hope Machine & Hailey Knox are in the 'Dog Day Afternoon' line up. Tom also mentioned an upcoming free family show @ The Levitt Pavilion in Westport, CT this Wednesday, July 28th @ 7pm or have a night of his music for adults @ The Turning Point in Piermont on Sunday, 8/1 @ 7pm. Swing by Tom's web abode to find more shows, great songs and info. about how he and his family carry on his brother Harry Chapin's legacy of addressing hunger and poverty in our world through Why Hunger. One of Tom's beautiful songs is not only familiar to children and their families, but it has also been the 'wake up' song for John Glenn and other space shuttle astronauts--music in space! Check out this sweet live version...

Gently with music,

Catherine

Time in a bottle...

...is Jim Croce's beautiful idea and poignant melody. A nostalgic and heavy hearted week for Yankees fans with the passing of George Steinbrenner, who in another career lifetime, I often heard referred to by a few folks who worked for him as "the man upstairs." Imagine what it must have been like to serve the Yankees in the way Bob Sheppard did? Fifty-seven years of announcing players who have created the American legacy that is the New York Yankees...and making fans feel welcome. : )

Have you been noticing more of the new blue and gold style NY license plates around? Finding this one the other day made me wish New York was a state where only one plate was required.

My friend Karen, who I've known since we were four-year-olds, visited this week...made me think about the timelessness of friendship--and classic television!

This week in our Hudson Valley Artist Spotlight, we caught up with Matt Turk and heard his gorgeous a capella spin on the Pink Floyd tune On The Turning Away. Matt's new album is titled American Preservation and includes traditional Amercian tunes and stellar interpretations of classics from artists like T. Rex, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jim Croce.

An American treasure from start to finish. Check out Matt's original music too, and find out where he's performing at his site or space. He mentioned two shows this Saturday, 7/17: Wave Hill in the Bronx with Fred Gillen Jr. and Jim Keyes from 1-3pm and a solo show @ Le Pain Quotidien in Rye from 4-6pm. Matt has a CD release show @ The Living Room in Manhattan this Wednesday, 7/21 @ 8pm.

The fictional Ricardo's and Mertz' lived in a brownstone on 68th St., Jim Croce and his wife Ingrid lived and played for a while in NYC and Frank Sinatra knocked one out of the park singing this game winning ditty...

It's up to you...
Catherine

Fuerza Bruta!

You could say mother nature exacted her heat force on our portion of the globe this week. Fuerza Bruta is one of the most unique theatrical experiences I've had recently and it's an ideal summer show because the audience does get sprinkled with water at times. : ) It's not a sit down night, so if you go, be prepared to dance and have a blast! I caught a few brief moments on video--probably the most "how do they do that?" part is the overhead sort of water ballet that moves downward to just inches above your head...incredible!


In our Night Rhythms Livebeat this month, Connecticut State Troubadour, Lara Herscovitch adorned the WHUD airwaves with beautiful songs in our Friday night. We heard Mirrors and Smoke

from her album, Through a Frozen Midnight Sky.

Lara performed Like I Do and my favorite from the album,

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. We also heard Lara's tongue-in-cheek tune, Blah Blah Blah (a love song) found on her album Juror Number 13. The John Street Jam in Saugerties is where you'll find Lara this Saturday night, 7/10 @ 7:30pm. Check her busy touring schedule, including a stop @ The Connecticut Folk Festival on Saturday, 9/11 @ 5pm.Lara mentioned she's working on new songs, and you can hear more from Through a Frozen Midnight Sky at her web home.

Hope you're keeping cool as our hot sun experiences a total solar eclipse on Sunday. : ) Not sure if he's been noticed by Oprah, Simon or Ellen yet, but Sungha Jung is definitely a star...

Shine,
Catherine

America the beautiful...another year older and still growing...

Hope you have a memorable and delicious July 4th weekend! Love to our troops at home and abroad who courageously represent our star spangled banner. One of my favorite writers and bloggers is Paulo Coelho--who posted this today:

An Indian legend tells of a man who carried water to his village every day, in two large jars tied to the ends of a wooden pole, which he balanced on his back. One of the jars was older than the other, and had some small cracks; every time the man covered the distance to his house, half of the water was lost.

For two years, the man made the same journey. The younger jar was always very proud of its performance, safe in the knowledge that it was up to the mission it had been made for, while the other jar was mortified with shame at only fulfilling half of its allotted task, even though it knew that those cracks were the result of many years of hard work.

It was so ashamed that one day, while the man got ready to fetch water from the well, it decided to speak to him:

"I want to apologize, but because of the many years of service, you are only able to deliver half of my load, and quench half of the thirst which awaits you at your home." The man smiled, and said:
"When we return, observe carefully the path."

And so it did. And the jar noticed that, on its side, many flowers and plants grew.

"See how nature is more lovely on your side?" commented the man. "I always knew you were cracked, and decided to make use of this fact. I planted flowers and vegetables, and you have always watered them. I have picked many roses to decorate my house with, I have fed my children with lettuce, cabbage and onions. If you were not as you are, how could I have done that?"

I loved reading that story as we celebrate our country this weekend...there's a song in there somewhere...

This week in our Hudson Valley Artist Spotlight, we caught up with storyteller and singer/songwriter, Marc Black. Can't remember the last time I laughed so hard in an interview. : ) We listened to his beautiful song, The Moon Whispered, from his new album titled Pictures of the Highway, that he dedicates to his father.

Undoubtedly, what Marc shares between songs will be as entertaining as his music, and you can catch him live @ the Towne Crier Cafe in Pawling on Saturday, July 24th @ 9pm. Be sure to check out the videos at Marc's web abode--especially the Junkyard Jam! Brilliant, and it might change your perspective about the hot weather this weekend. ; ) Find the Mets tribute he mentioned, and if you are someone who is loyal to the beans of life, you'll dig Ooh I Love My Coffee here.

Watching this Ben Harper video kind of reminds me of the spirit that defines our country...

Be like the eagle,

Catherine

Bravo! Congratulations to the Class of 2010!

It was kind of an emotional week we've had with song dedications...hearing the pride & love in the voices of parents celebrating their graduates...excitement from our young friends who took their last bus ride of the school year and arrived at summer vacation... LI friends rallying around Joan in Sunnyside whose son was deployed to Afghanistan--Godpseed in your mission, Matt & THANK YOU for bravely serving our country! Every generation is handed the wheel of the ship of the future and expected to sail it carefully past familiar and uncharted territory. Does this time of year take you back to when you first set out on the water?
Happy sailing to the Class of 2010, may you arrive at every port o' call you dream of. : )
This photo is from one of my favorite spots in the world--South Cove in Battery Park City--where public art is in abundance. So is the sunshine.

This week in our Hudson Valley Artist Spotlight James and Alan of the band Solar Punch fascinated us with how they power their live shows with the help of our Sun! We heard the song Let The Sun Shine On Us from their album titled Surya.

When you open the CD, you find the words: The journey is in the music. The solution is in the action. Surya is a collection of songs dedicated to a Climate Solutions Road Tour they were part of in India in 2009. Solar Punch's songs are rockin' to listen to, and remind us to be conscious of how we consume and view the resources of our planet. They celebrate the many benefits of the big star in the center of our solar system and you can check out a solar powered Solar Punch show @ the White Plains Clean & Green on Saturday, July 17th from 11-3. Hear music, learn about their environmental work and find out where you can experience one of their solar powered shows at their web home.


We also caught up with Anna Nyakana who is part of an Idol-like singing competition that airs this weekend for our CT friends. Please visit her site, tune in for her performance and cast your vote to help her win.

What's sweeter than Cream's spin on the sun?

Happy Summer!

Catherine

Pioneers of kindness

Do you ever wake with a phrase in your mind unable to recall where it came from or what it's related to in your thoughts? Pioneers of kindness...maybe it's the story of many people we know.

My father grew up in a small southern Italian town called Pomarico. As a child, stories of how he lived, worked and played were magical to me. I can remember being in our backyard in the summer time, which was always teeming with homegrown vegetables, fig and peach trees, even a few grape vines-- and being regaled with tales of experiences like finding shelter under a donkey in a rain storm. My father's father passed when he was just seven years old, so he began working on farms in Italy at a young age. He often talked about coming to America aboard a ship as a teenager, clearly full of pride for his heritage, but ready to experience the promise of American life. An appreciation for being outdoors, the satisfaction of do-it-yourself, and the motivation to work toward goals are all things I've learned from him. There have been many times when we didn't see eye-to-eye, but I hope my father has some idea of the magnitude of my admiration and gratitude for the person he is and the life he has created and shared. I'm hoping to visit Pomarico this year and I await the awakening of the gardening gene in me. Tomato sauce 'from a jar' in my family was the result of my father cultivating, planting and picking and my mother laboring over Mason jars. My father is retired now and spends his days planting golf balls and zooming around in this hot rod. : ) And he'll always be a gardener...Tonight in our Hudson Valley Artist Spotlight, we heard a song from Fred Gillen Jr.'s new album, Match Against A New Moon. Come And See Me is part of this recording, for which the phrase, "flows like an insightful river around rocks of mystery," came to mind. Fred avidly supports, records and produces many local artists at his Croton studio, Woody's House and is a member of the harmonious community of Tribes Hill artists. It was my honor and pleasure to recently become a member and experience the spirit of collaboration and love of gathering together in song.

You can be part of the circle of song with Fred and his band Hope Machine this weekend @ Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, at Croton Point Park, where pioneering Hudson River visionary and American music treasure, Pete Seeger, will also be onstage. Fred mentioned that it's a solar powered event (neato!) and you can sing along with Hope Machine on Sunday @ 4pm. Catch Fred performing songs from his new album at The Peekskill Coffee House this Friday, June 25th @ 8pm or swing by The Bean Runner Cafe in Peekskill on Saturday, July 3rd @ 7:30pm for his CD release party. Learn more about his music, writing and projects at his web home. As we approach the solstice on Monday, something tells me this summer is going to sail by...hope you enjoy every minute of it!

There was a time when my father sported a beard and was frequently told he looked like Pavarotti. He would jokingly sing "O Sole Mio..." but I'm partial to this Italian gem...

Happy Father's Day!

Con un bacio sul vento,

Catherine

"We are the points of light...

...separate and finite, yet traveling together along this infinite circle of life. Anonymously we illuminate one another, mutually casting our shadows for one fleeting moment before passing on." ~Tom Wilson, Ziggy cartoonist

Thanks to my friend Mike, who generously gave me the book Zig Zagging, a memoir by Tom Wilson, the source of the above quote. It's written by the son of the creator of the Ziggy character, who has carried on the comic strip legacy, and it's simply a great read. It's arrival was timely--after experiencing the Long Island 2Day Breast Cancer Walk last weekend. My feelings and observations too lengthy to share, but that Tom Wilson thought sums it up perfectly. Heather, Kim, Jackie, Apryle, Karen, Colleen & Karen: I can't wait for next year! And WOO HOO to Patti the mobile motivating jukebox!

Derek Jeter was somewhere in the first 20 miles...ok, it was cardboard but he's workin' that pink feather boa! : )

This stellar performer was singing Hold My Hand, by Hootie and the Blowfish at the pivotal 20-mile end of day one. We LOVED him!

After finishing our 35-mile walk, we crossed the bridge into Smith Point Park to the sound of bagpipes & drums, and in awe of the pink-shirted Breast Cancer survivors who made the journey with us. Truly inspiring! There are moments in life that have a way of shifting your thinking about everything...it was one of those moments. : )

It really is a gift, the abundance of stellar local musicians we're surrounded by. Friday night in our Night Rhythms Livebeat, The Trapps brought their dynamic, beautifully jamming sound to the WHUD studio. Sean, Jason, Warren and Seth give props to their New Paltz hometown with their band name, a reference to rock climbing in 'the Gunks'.

We heard the song Feelin' the Light, from their album Cheap Seats.

We also had a preview of the album they've just started working on, with the song Grab It & Run. Check out their new video for the song Hope...

We enjoyed the song Lullaby, found on the Cheap Seats CD. If you missed their Howland Center gig on Saturday, find lots of upcoming performance dates and hear more music from The Trapps @ their web home or space. Find them at home in New Paltz @ Bacchus on Friday, June 25th @ 10pm or if you're in Manhattan on 6/26, The Trapps are onstage @ Rockwood Music Hall @ 9pm. Thanks to Jason for not only the upright bass sounds, but his engineering expertise. : ) Details about his Split Rock Studio here.

If you missed the performance, listen to the podcast and get to know The Trapps!

Any long walk is bound to give you blisters, but this sound at about mile 26, was all it took to work through it...

Triumphantly with music,

Catherine