WHY I’M NOT SCARED (Here me out!) I wasn’t gonna write this! In fact, I talked myself out of it at least five separate times. I said to myself, “There’s just too much stuff out there. Who will read it or HEAR it in the way you intend?” That was before my friend and colleague […]
Dear Music Family, I’m sitting in my living room, socially distancing in isolation tonight as I’m watching the Democratic National Convention on TV. Despite all of the conflicting, depressing and heart wrenching news stories that stream from media sources every day, I still find myself filled with a new level of energy and joy as […]
Greetings Good People. I’ve been “off the road” now for 3 plus months and the view from here is almost as uncertain as when this crazy COVID-19 journey started. I mean, I’m well, healthy, and have most of the particulars sorted out… (how to shop, how to avoid the virus, how to clean the house, and how to get online concerts […]
Greetings Good People! In this time of challenge and change, with lots of time to think about a world that is now on the edge and wandering toward an uncertain future. I see, as others have stated, a great opportunity to think carefully and expansively about the choices that are before us and my place […]
Dear Music Family, I hope you are all well and paying attention to keeping yourself safe in this ongoing COVID-19 crisis. My heart is very sad in this moment as cancellations, mis-information, and fears continue to mount. We all find ourselves in a state of uncertainty as we try to adjust to the need for […]
Dear Music Family, I send my best wishes to you all as we make our way in 2020. It’s so hard to believe that we are already three weeks into this new decade. I find myself caught between the energy of the new year and the need to take some time to review what I’m […]
Dear Music Family, Really? Has it really been 9 years? I still remember the conversation that brought me to the Living Legacy Pilgrimage bus (LLP) that first time in 2010. My friend Rev. Hope Johnson and her sister Janice Marie Johnson had just returned from having an incredible experience on a civil rights journey through […]
Dear Music Family, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my last few newsletters have all followed a theme. The stories and pictures that I’ve shared with you have been framing the various aspects of the work that I do as musician, storyteller, and cultural ambassador. I started by telling you about the beginnings of […]
May/June News 2019 “Are these stories true?” The question came from a fourth grader who was seated at a desk at the back of the classroom. It was inspired by an age-appropriate but honest description of life in slavery. It’s a question that I’ve heard many many times, and as always, I smiled, and then […]
Dear Music Family, In an interview last week, a reporter asked me a question that I am often called to answer. “How do you describe who you are? Do people know you as a folk musician? As singer-songwriter? An educator? Or what?” It’s a question that I’ve been forced to answer many times over these […]