It's been a while, but I'm coming back into the fold...hope you've all been well! This is the last weekend of summer, 2008 and I am looking forward to the fall. An upcoming event: I've been asked by my pal Mary Coppin to perform a Writers in the Round at the upcoming weSpark Charity Celebrity Golf Tournament. It's an annual event in honor of Mary Jo Sperber which will take place Saturday, September 27, 2008, Santa Barbara, California. Performing (also!) will be outstanding artists Mary Coppin, Kevin Montgomery, Linda Good, David Vidal, Trevor Davis, and others. The show begins at 9:30 p.m. with a jam following that ends ? Just seeing that question mark makes me sleepy. . . anyway, come on out!
Pacifica Suites Santa Barbara
5490 Hollister Avenue
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
Toll-Free: 800.338.6722
Phone: 805.683.6722
www.pacificasuites.com
Out of hiding!
2007 Sawdust Art Festival Announcement & Winery Music Awards Update
The summer cometh . . .
Hey all!
I hope you’re planning a proper summer blast for your 4th of July!
I wanted to let you know the dates I’ll be performing at this year’s Sawdust Art Festival, so please see the announcement here attached. Laguna Beach is a wonderful way to spend an event in the California sun…and I hope you can find a way to enjoy it with me. The Sawdust Art Festival is an incredible bounty of gorgeous art, and there are wonderful spectacles of creativity, good food, and really cool entertainment…to entice you to spend the $3+ per gallon of gas to get there, I can promise you, it is a lovely time. Oh yes, again, the entertainment will be stellar (ahem).
On an earlier note, I had a wonderful time at the Winery Music Awards! Below are photos, one of me with our esteemed hosts, Andrew Firestone and Janie Terrazas. (I came in 3rd!) Paso Robles is another stunningly beautiful environment, the wine was superb at Malloy O’Neill Winery, and I met the coolest people. Two of the photos below were taken by my new pal, Ruth McCartney, one of the judges of the Awards. Thanks for capturing my better side, Ruth!
Happy 4th of July, everyone, and I hope to see you at this year’s Sawdust Festival!
All my best and much love –
Rocky
Winery Music Awards
Sideways -- My Way!
Wish me luck and say cheers!
I am on my way to what is called the First Elimination Round as a semi-finalist for the 2007 Winery Music Awards being held this coming Saturday at the Malloy O'Neill Winery in beautiful Paso Robles.
I'm looking forward to new friends and good wine, both excellent ways to share music.
Meanwhile, look me up here: http://www.winerymusicawards.com/whos_next.php
Can't imagine a better reason for a trip to Paso Robles...come on down or come on up from wherever you are! Or, I'll put it this way:
Cool breeze
Warm fire
Full moon
Easy chair
Empty plates
Soft words
Sweet songs
Tall tales
Short sips
Long life
-John Egerton
Hope this finds you well, and you'll be seeing my coming appearances at this year's Sawdust Festival schedule shortly.
All my best and much love,
Rocky
No Cover Magazine!
Attention, pals!
Please hit your local Barnes & Noble Bookstore, B. Dalton Books or Barnes & Noble College Store, to get your copy of the current No Cover Magazine. I've been selected as part of a double-disc CD compilation of No Cover Magazine Presents: Groupies Suck, Vol. 9. No Cover Magazine is distributed nationwide, and all the Barnes & Noble bookstores carry the copies containing the compilation CD.
Look for me! "Black Stone" is #22 on the disc!
Hope 2007 is treating you well --
Rocky
October Greetings ~
I have a birthday coming in two days! Yay!
It is Autumn. We're all on the receiving end of a lot of things to read which mention words for images like football, hot chocolate, hayrides, mittens, Halloween, apples, foliage, coming holiday season, school, and all those lucky sound bytes.
Those words go a long way in creating an atmosphere, don't they? I can't help but mention though, that for me, I have had several fall seasons with other dominant words like flood, illness, unemployment, or broken-timing-belt-leading-to-the-death-of-my-car, types of things, so believe me, I am not starry-eyed about the fall, even though it IS my birthday!
But my niece Ellesha was born in October, too. My niece Alexis and my Dad have birthdays in November, so these other "fall" words are certainly balanced and tempered by some of God's greatest gifts to me! With the help of my family and friends, including the many new friends I made this past summer performing at the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, I can only be grateful. I am here to tell ALL the tales!
Here's one -- and, 'tis a fact, lest you misinterpret me: I have received a huge honor. I am invited to the 2006 North East Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) as a formal showcase artist!
The NERFA (www.nerfa.org) event is of the regional chapter of the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance organization (www.folkalliance.org). NERFA is a regional yearly conference, a gathering of folk artists and presenters, which gives us all a chance to rub elbows. It includes: "workshops, panel discussions, seminars, an exhibit hall, Formal Showcases [that's ME!] in the nightclub, the TriCentric Showcases and private and guerilla showcases in one large designated area." The conference takes place in November, at Kutsher's Resort in Monticello, New York, in the Catskill Mountains.
As a formal showcase artist, I feel I've got a kind of date-to-the-prom! If you are viewing this in anticipation of attending NERFA, I look forward to meeting you! I'll c-ya there.
[I'm also attending the FAR-West Regional Conference being held the following weekend in Sacramento, California, so again, if you'll be there, the same applies. I'll be showcasing in a few guerilla showcases.]
Another new development: I can now be contacted for booking opportunities through Steve Lundquist. Steve can be reached at (253) 265-1240 or at lundquiststeve@comcast.net. He currently manages Cliff Eberhardt and Danny O'Keefe, and is the founder and organizer of the Gig Harbor Folk Festival, held annually in Gig Harbor, Washington. He's a great folk adventurer, and I'm very fortunate.
Back to NERFA!
I am thoroughly excited about this opportunity. Many of you know, I was born in Maine, and I spent many of my formative years on the East Coast. I'm looking forward to reconnecting memories and places that make me who I am.
I want to thank everyone I know for all the encouragement I draw from you, bidden or "un!" I'm following the lead you give me in all your support.
So I've got a cool birthday present this year. I hope this is finding you well and happy. Check my website, and I'll report back to you on all my new findings.
Strange to feel so identified with the West all of a sudden. If I'm not Texan, I'm Californian; stands to reason!
God bless you all,
Rocky