Tish's Corner
September 2008
Hey, it's September!
Where did the year go?! It has been a very busy summer for me, hence no Tish's Corner in a long time. I hope your summer has gone well wherever you live and wherever you have travelled. I had a nice tour in the U.S. in the spring, including some good gigs in Texas and some others scattered around the country. Although all were special and I love that I always see old friends and hopefully make some new ones, the most action-packed event was the weekend at Merlefest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Not much had changed since I was there in 2000, except for that it has grown. The atmosphere was friendly and well organized, and the sounds of great music were coming from all directions. One of my favorite sets was sharing the stage with Peter Rowan and Sam Bush. During our show, I spied Laurie Lewis backstage and asked her to join us for a few songs. It was very spontaneous and fun. By the way, we posted some nice pictures, taken at the festival, on our MySpace page.
On our drive across the south heading to Nashville, we made a stop in Memphis. Some highlights there were, of course, Graceland and the Stax Records and the Civil Rights Museums, but the most spectacular moment was visiting Al Green's Full Gospel Tabernacle Church on a Sunday morning! The reverend himself was present and in great form, preaching and singing with a beautiful and enthusiastic choir and a full accompanying band. The place rocked! I'm sure services like that really make God smile. It certainly brought smiles to the congregation and to us visitors, who they made feel very welcome.
While I'm on the subject of catching great performances, a little later in the summer, my husband, some friends and I went to see Kris Kristofferson in concert in Berlin. Again, a powerful performance and a set full of songs that can surely tear open the soul. Although Al had a full ensemble on his "stage" and Kris only a guitar, they both have messages that hit the mark.
The rest of my summer in Hamburg found me doing a lot of personal traveling around Europe. My daughter visited for a while and we took a train ride to the beautiful city of Prague. We also gotb to see some majestic mountains in the Alps and many of Germany's historic castles. I was particularly impressed by the castle of Neuschwanstein and by the personality of its builder, the eccentric and mysterious Bavarian king Ludwig II.
When I wasn't on a train or in a car or enjoying the company of friends and family, I was working hard on finalizing the last details of my newest CD. I am happy to announce that it will be released October 2008 in Europe, on CRS Records out of Holland! Marvin Dykhuis and I produced it in Austin and wrote the title song together. It is called "Our Little Planet". For those who have my other recordings, this one is likely to be their "country cousin". Although, in my usual way, a couple of songs have Spanish lyrics. The CD is instrumented with simple acoustic sounds and arrangements, with lots of country-style harmony. I co-wrote a couple of songs with a long-time Nashville friend, Buddy Cannon, and another one with David Rodriguez, an old friend of mine and of the Austin scene, now living in Holland. Marvin played most of the support tracks, with help from some of Austin's best: Glenn Kawamoto and Dave Caroll on bass, Chip Dolan on accordion, Richard Bowden on the fiddle, and Randy Glines on the harmonica. Other special guests gracing this recording are the legendary Greg Leisz on pedal-steel, and some more cool country legends, rebels, and rising stars joining me on duets: Rosie Flores, Dale Watson, and Carrie Rodriguez. I hope you'll love it! Please check CRS's website for the CD's availability. Also check www.mundotish.com for updates on an upcoming U.S. release.
Stay tuned to mundotish.com, and sign up on the e-mail list, on which we will announce release schedule and tour dates. Thanks very much for checking in. I hope to see you somewhere down the road.
Don't forget to make yourself a note to get the new CD, "Our Little Planet"!
With warm wishes always,
tu amiga,
Tish
P.S: You can listen to two of the songs from "Our Little Planet" on our MySpace page.
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