August 22, 2023
(It’s Marvin’s Birthday!)
Hola Amigos!
Yes, it’s been a HOT summer! Looks like Mother Earth is giving us a taste of things to come. On the good side, it is opening our eyes to the reality of where we are and how our little planet is hurting. Also, it is making me/us think about practicing more earth friendly changes and really appreciate those who are out there making big positive changes in the world.
It has been mostly a low-key summer for me. I’ve been catching up on reading, doing some writing, cooking, and spending time with my grand-kids as often as possible. It’s so fun watching them change from babies to toddlers to children that are amazing little human beings.
Workwise – we produced hard copies of the DVD “My Heart, My Life”. It is an audio-visual chronicle of the first 25 years of my career, highlighting my journey through highs and lows in stories and videos from that period. I’m proud of this work and I hope you’ll buy a copy so I can share my story with you. It is now available at the website store, and I’ll have copies available at my shows.
Another thing – I’m producing a single of one of my recent songs called “He Was A Wild One” – about an aging prize horse. Being a part time “ranch gal” now out in Arizona now, I get to observe horses close up and have begun to understand and appreciate their personalities and grace. I’ll be releasing this single soon. Stay tuned!
All that grandma and Business news aside - I have some gigs coming up that I’m real excited about! This Friday, August 25, I’ll be playing at Austin’s 04 Center. It is a very comfortable and great sounding venue (with convenient parking!). I’ll be accompanied by Marvin Dykhuis and Chip Dolan. Marvin and Chip have been gigging and touring on their own and with their trio Grouchy Like Riley all summer, so this will be a fun reunion for us. Opening for us is singer-songwriter Nick Garza, who has been gaining much attention around San Antonio, Austin and the hill country lately. I’m happy he’ll be joining us on this show! (Plus, his mom and I are friends from high school where we used to sing together 😊!)
September 9, Marvin, Chip, and I will be playing in Paestum, Italy. The city is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the landing of Allied liberation forces in WWII. Austin’s Camp Mabry 36th Army Division, began the liberation of Italy landing in Paestum on September 9, 1943. The full details are in my February newsletter.
I’m excited to see our Paestum friends again since having played there in 2019. This will be quite a party with Austin veterans, students, and arts organizations participating in this event. Taking advantage of this trip to Europe, we’ll also be doing some tourist excursions to other parts of Italy and to Portugal!
Well, I gotta go now – I’ve got some practicing to do. With some help from my Italian friends, I’m working in a little Italiano into my music for the Paestum show! Stay cool and healthy!
Ciao! Tish