Anna Coogan: News

Good morning and happy summer! It's been a crazy summer-- I always anticipate rest and relaxation and that's just never the way it turns out. Got the hardcopies of "The Wasted Ocean" a few weeks ago and have got them out to sponsors, and just beginning the UK/Europe press mailout. I'm also teaching 7 days a week at our local Rock and Roll museum the EMP-- inspiring to teach guitar in the shadow of Jimi's smashed one!

In other news, I just got the first review of "Wasted" from Dutch 'zine "Johnny's Garden". If you read dutch, you can check it out here:

http://www.johnnysgarden.nl/
If not, below is the English translation:

Anna Coogan – The wasted Ocean

Well over 30 years ago, I read a book called “De hond in het lege huis” (The dog in the empty house) by the Dutch writer Anton Koolhaas. The story is about a man who loses his loved one from drowning in the sea.
“The sea gives and the sea takes” are those corny and often redundant qualified words you hear in suchlike tragedies. Koolhaas’ narration is just one of the many stories that are closely intertwined with the ocean. Real sea stories are often told in literature, but certainly as many have been sung as well in sea shanties. Of all times, these were the songs that Anna Coogan listened to when she was young. A stay in Alaska, three years ago during summer, when singing these shanties at night around a campfire, fuelled Coogan’s dormant fondness for this particular type of music. Eventually this manifested in a project named “The Wasted Ocean”, Anna Coogan’s new album.

“The Wasted Ocean” is the successor of the generally praised CD “The Nocturnal Amongst Us”. With the latter work Anna involved us in her coping with a childhood trauma that left some deep scars. This resulted in a very personal album that had a therapeutic effect on the writer herself. On “The Wasted Ocean” she crawls in someone else’s skin and sings the praises of mostly pain, sadness, love, hope and despair of characters mainly sculpted by Anna herself; characters all closely connected to the ocean. In advance I expected she’d have chosen to sing reinterpretations of traditional songs and such, but nothing could be further from the truth. As much as eight out of ten songs on the new album are written by herself. Only the well over eight minutes long “The Crucifixion” by Phil Ochs (from one of her all-time favorites “Pleasures of the Harbor”) and the track “Blood on the Sails,” which is a beautiful song about hopes and fears at whaling, are not self-written.
“May the harpoon rust, may the cold steel be gone / May the seas all be clear where whale fishes run / May hook, knife, dart and line all be lost in the brine / May the blood on the sails all be fisherman’s tales...”
Delicate lyrics drenched in drama. Eyvind Kang makes this song tell the whale’s story with his intense violin playing in a probing and desperate way. It’s just these small articulations that lift the already pretty songs to a higher level.

In general, the eight personal songs clearly contain Coogan’s trademark. The very appealing opening track, “The sons will join their fathers”, welcomes us with two almost typical open guitar chords combined with Coogan’s well-known falsetto. Eric Hasting’s drums are also very recognizable. Daniele Fiaschi, the unparalleled guitar player who accompanied Anna on her last tour and touched my soul deeply with his play, also contributes to the album. In the song “Screamers,” among others, he makes us in a very subtle way understand why he and Anna are a match made in heaven. The dazzling “Come the wind, come the rain”, the story about a dying person, has a traditional set-up additionally because of nothing but the violin playing supporting Anna Coogan’s voice.

The final track “A little less each day” is of unprecedented beauty. Coogan supports herself here with only her acoustic guitar, describing an unanswered love by expressing the distance between two people (sometimes literally, but mostly figuratively speaking) astonishingly beautiful.
“And oceans make me jealous / All that water standing between us / And airplanes get us closer when we fly / Sometimes…”

She finalizes the song with the words:
“I miss you / I want you / I love you / A little less each day”

These words speak of resignation. The acceptance after that unanswered love that because of the disequilibration in the relationship probably must have had, as compared with the ocean, an equally tempestuous character. But the waves don’t hit the coast no more. They formed to a peaceful heave; a heave one can live with.
Resignation...as a young teenage boy, I recognized this same feeling reading the final chapter of Anton Koolhaas’ book. Despite the fact that the main character falls asleep crying that night after the drowning of his spouse, the last eight words express a same kind of resignation:
“De straat was stil – de zee was kalm…” (The street was silent - the sea was calm...).
Somewhere inside there’s still this young teenage boy, recognizing those words and the impact they had in all their simplicity. It’s the same encounter that now occurs when hearing the song “A little less each day”.

With “The Wasted Ocean” Anna Coogan eventually too came in smooth waters. In ten songs, she sailed the seven seas and came home a prosperous trade. “Come ashore, love / Come Ashore” is what Anna sings.
In October she will, once again with guitarist Daniele Fiaschi, go ashore in The Netherlands. Artistically considered, she’s sailing the proverbially speaking wind at the moment. I, at least, will be waiting at the waterfront.
Until that time, I’ll immerse myself in ten sublime songs and their lyrics:
“And the heat-parched ground will become an oasis
The hungry will drink till they’re full
The storm clouds will rise up and fill up with rain
And torrents will run ‘cross the high desert plain...”

(Ed Muitjens)

Release:19 september 2011

It's finally spring! I can hardly contain myself, in fact I have drank way too much coffee in celebration. I'm sitting here at my beloved neighborhood German bakery KaffeKlatsch (something every neighborhood should have!) typing up liner notes for the record and getting ready to hear the preliminary mixes from Evan Brubaker. Edie Carey is going to lay down a few vocal tracks tomorrow, and then we are wrapping things up. I've worked with Baltimore artist Chava Evans to create a super cool cover, and we are getting down the rest of the design right now. I've sent out over 55 thank you cards to donors around the world-- from the UK and Germany and Belgium the Netherlands and Alaska and all over the lower 48. I cannot express how grateful I am to these people, who have made the impossible possible!! If all goes according to plan (which of course it never does, but you got to at least have a plan), we'll be mastering the first week of June and sending the whole bundle to production the second week of June. I'll be releasing the record in Europe in October 2011, and in the USA in winter of 2012.

There's a lot going on this summer: 3 weeks of teaching at the EMP (got kids? Want to send them to a cool camp? Check out the EMP's Artist Workshops!), lot's of prep for the CD release, my sister-in-laws wedding in Anchorage (24 hours of daylight! Yay!) and at the end of the summer, a BIG move. But more on all that later....

Happy spring and ton's of love--

Anna C.

Lovely review from one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Only available in hard copy, so I've scanned it in-- both columns can be seen in the "press section" of the website. Always takes me a few month after a tour to get this stuff posted....

Just a quick note of thanks-- I turned 30 years old yesterday, surrounded my sister, husband, friends and colleagues, and the biggest, coldest rain storm ever. I am so grateful for my life-- for my awesome and supportive parents and in-laws (who still think this is a good idea, 10 years in) , for my beloved friends and fans, for my freaky dog Juno, for my sweet, caring husband and killer (in a good way) sister who lives with us, for my lab job which has helped me in so many tough spots, financial and mental (sometimes you just gotta step outside of music for a while), for my killer team of musicians and management: Bob Patterson, Alwin Nagel, Theo Looijmans, Bill Wence, Dani Fiaschi, Eric Hastings, Evan Brubaker, JD Foster and many, many more. I'm so excited to start this new decade off with a new record, and so grateful for the help I've gotten so far.

If you'd like to be involved, I still need to raise about 1200 dollars to reach my goal-- so please consider donating. I've got 43 backers and can't wait to get this thing out into the world. I've got thank you notes at the ready, and am beginning writing my
"Thank You" songs!

Anyway, thanks so much for your continued support. I'm glad to have the twenties behind me-- full steam ahead!!

In the first three weeks of fundraising I've raised half of my 5,000 dollar goal. I am so grateful to everyone who has donated, and have a whole bunch of thank you songs to write! The second half is always harder, so if think you'd like to be involved, check out the donation options and gifts-- I'm all ready to write you a card! Okay, deep breath:

Thank you so much to: Uwe from Germany, Math and MJ from the Netherlands, Martin from Vancouver, Eduardo from Minnesota, Brian from Minnesota, Anne Marie from Chicago, Charles from St. Louis, Peter from The Netherlands, Andy and Joan from Scotland, Alicia from Salt Lake City, Marcel from the Netherlands, Guy from the UK, Paul from the UK, Andrew from Scotland, Jigme from Germany, Kristen from Indianapolis, Nick from Brooklyn, Mark from Austin, Ulrike and Ray from Seattle, Anne from Imperial, Michael from NY, Scott and Yolanda from Cambridge, and Hans from The Netherlands.

I am so grateful. Some of these people are musicians themselves, all are music fans, and all patrons of the arts that have given me an incredible gift: being able to make music. THANKS!!!

I'll be making a quick trip up to Anchorage, AK next weekend to open for Carrie Newcomer at the Snowgoose Theater. Thanks to the miracle of Frequent Flyer miles, it's possible to do this sort of thing. I'm excited to spend a quick weekend in one of my favorite places!

In fundraising news, I've raised 1500 dollars in the first week towards the new project. I am so overwhelmed with your generosity, thank you so much! I'm still hoping to raise 3,500 more in the next 3 weeks to help offset production costs. I've sent a lot of thank you notes! I hope to send more! Thank you so much to everyone who as donated, can't wait to put your name in the liner notes and send out your gifts!

My dear friends, fans, and music family:

I am excited to announce that I am making a new record!

I am currently in the midst of recording at Forgiveness Studio in Tacoma, WA, with producer Evan Brubaker. I spent the month of February intensively writing, sometimes up to 7 hours a day, and have a bunch of new ideas and material. It’s the first time I’ve ever made a record quite like this—releasing songs before I’ve toured them—but we are allowing the songs to dictate the process, and getting to know them as we record. Every day has been this incredible burst of creative energy and ideas, and I am confident this record will capture that feeling.

I am doing my best to keep the process affordable, but it is tough. To help fund the project, I will be working as many jobs as possible, drawing down my savings, and asking you for help. Anything is so greatly appreciated.

I have developed some funding levels as a donation guideline. I have tried to keep them reasonable—for only 250 USD, you can “adopt a song” and make a dedication in the liner notes. For only 100 USD, I will write you a personal “thank you” song and send it to you! I'll be posting more gifts in the next few weeks. And, as always, every donation will get a handwritten thank you note, and every single donation will be put to very good use.

The record will be released this fall, and available for sale on my October Europe/UK tour. Any pre-orders and donations will receive their records and gifts in advance of the official release date, and their thank you notes only a few days after you donate!

There are variety of options to donate. You can click the button or link below, or simply use " anna@annacoogan.com " through paypal. If you do not want to use paypal, I can take credit cards over the phone, or check. Please email me if you'd like to use one of those options.

Thanks so much for all your help. Tons of love from windy, rainy Seattle.

Anna C.

Donation Levels and Gifts!

10-20 USD:
A digital copy of the new record, and a hand written thank you note.

20-100 USD:
A signed copy of the record, sent to you before the release date
A handwritten thank you note
Your name in the liner notes under "patron of the arts"

100 USD-249 USD:
A personal thank you note
A signed copy of the record
I will write YOU a personal THANK YOU song, record it, and send it to you!
Your name in the liner notes under "super patron of the arts"

250-500 USD:
Adopt a song! This goes to the first 10 donations in this category. I’ll send you the lyrics as well as detailed descriptions of what each song is about, you decide which song you’d like to adopt. Your name will then appear under the title of the song, and you can make a simple dedication.
A personal thank you song, recorded and send to you!
2 signed copies of the record
Your name in the liner notes under "adoptive parents" and a thank you in YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE

500-1000 USD:

A beautiful book about the making of the record, complete with photos, descriptions of the songs, journal entries, and all kinds of cool stuff.
A song adoption of your choice
A personal thank you song
A collection of outtakes
4 signed copies of “The Wasted Ocean”
Your name in the liner notes under "Executive Producer", with a thank you in YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE

1000+ dollars:
All of the above, plus a personal house concert for you and your friends. Will be dependent on tour schedule, but it will be really, really fun.
Your name in the liner notes under "Super Executive producer" and a dedication of your choice.

Hi! Just a little update from the new project:

I've been hanging out this last weekend down in Tacoma, Washington at Forgiveness Studios, working with engineer/producer Evan Brubacker. After 4 long days, we've got most guitar parts down, as well as some vocal takes. Things are starting to take shape in my mind-- what started out as a record of folk songs from my childhood is quickly taking on it's own life and becoming something completely different. When I starting working on songs 3 weeks ago, I had 2 or 3 songs ready to go. I now have 14 songs, all in various stages of done. Some of them I love as they are. Some of them need some wrestling before they are ready to go. It's pretty exciting, and a little stressful. Our goal is to have the record mastered and ready to print at the end of April.

Between now and then, I'll be doing some fundraising, trying to write a few more tunes, and hiring local musicians to bring their unique sound to the songs. I'll also be shipping some tracks over to Rome, so that Dani Fiaschi can get his hands (and guitar parts) on them.

In the meantime, I'm off to drive my little Boston Whaler all over Lake Washington, despite pouring rain and high wind warnings. Pretty ironic given that many of my songs are about ship wrecks.....

Here's some fun footage from our January 25th show at "In The Woods" in Lage Vuursche, NL. It was a wonderful show!




I'm getting very close to posting information about my new record. I'll be going into the studio next week to get started. More soon!

I'm back in the States and ready for...Valentines day? Yes! I'll be celebrating with a killer group of songwriters at the Century Ballroom in Seattle. We're part of the "Bushwick Book Club" and we write songs inspired by books: this month it is "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby. What a great choice of book, Rob's combination of apathy, disdain, and lovesickness make it hard NOT to write songs about it. Go ahead, have a hip, alternative Feb 14.

Tix available here:

http://www.thestranger.com/thebushwickbookclub

I am extremely pleased to announce that I will now be represented by the Bob Patterson Agency (BPA Live) in the UK and Ireland. Bob represents such great artists as Kris Delmhorst, Tom Russell, The Wailin' Jennys, and Crooked Still, among others. You can check out more information about BPA live at:

http://www.bpa-live.com/roster1.html

Look for October 2011 touring dates in UK, Ireland, and mainland Europe.

Airports are always very melancholy places for me. Sad to leave, happy to come home, sad to say goodbye, happy to get the F*** out of whichever airport I am in...not a fan of being probed (last time I got the "private room" treatment....say no more). Not a big fan of the flying part, either, although I do enjoy free (cheap, Delta) wine) and bad movies in combination. Today, I leave at 11 AM. I arrive at 12 PM. Meaning, in a perfect world, it's a one hour flight from Amsterdam to Seattle. If only.

I've got about 10 minutes left of my free internet, and after little sleep I have a tendency to ramble. So, forgive.

In one of the worst winters in recent memory, we got extremely lucky this trip. Patches of sun, a few moments of relative warmth, a few crisp, cold days (and many cloudy ones) were gentle on us and our little Twingo car. What luck. So, THANK YOU weather gods. We played so many amazing gigs-- all very different-- but with consistent wonderful audiences--(with the exception of one extremely drunk Frenchman-- YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE--) so THANK YOU audience. THANK YOU bookers, venues, hosts, in particular Theo, Yvonne, Paul, Thomas Henk, Andy and Joan, Glasgow Life/Celtic Connections, Jerome, Alwin, Petra, Thomas, Gisella, Hanna, Frankie and the Dubious Brothers, Marburg Turm, McMueller....(If I've missed you I promise I'll redeem myself) .THANK YOU to Bob Patterson for taking a chance with me and adding me to his incredible roster. Thank You husband for letting me go for so long....THANK YOU TOMTOM-- without you we are nothing, and lost-- and of course, Daniele- GRAZIE A TE. For your patience, incredible talent, language skillls, and general hilarity.

THANK YOU.

Here we are in the final days of the Winter 2011 Anna-Dani-vs-Holland-Germany-Belgium tour. I always approach the end of a (good) tour with a mixed heart-- sad to be leaving the people, places, and non-stop action, happy to be returning to my quiet, calm home, husband, dog, and family (related and otherwise). And this particular tour has been NON stop action. We've played in the quiet and quaint Belgium countryside, in a packed theater on the edge of a national park, in a VERY rowdy bar in Haarlem where the audience took it upon themselves to sing along whenever possible-- great fun! We've played a house concert in a big, beautiful house in the shadow of a 600 year old church, with a melange of children's puppets sharing the stage. We've played a tower at the very top of the tallest mountain in Marburg, Germany, with a radio tour so close to us that Dani's amp picked up the radio station and was rendered useless. Tube amps + radio tours do not mix.

We've driven most of a thousand miles-- no small feat in a country this small-- and god only knows how many speeding tickets will be charged to my credit card. Fear it. We've developed an extremely odd mixture of english-italian-roman, so that pretty much no one has any clue what we are saying at any time, usually including ourselves. I spend thirty minutes trying to explain the concept of the word "hook" (as it relates to music) to Dani, and he's spent a fair amount of time calling me things I don't want to understand under his breath, usually during soundcheck. (Never tell a guitar player to play quieter. It never goes well. If I've learned this once, I've learned this 1000 times.)

We have eaten our weight in Waffles, Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, and, as ever, Mayo. So much mayo. Also, french fries, more waffles, coffee, more coffee, coffee from rest stops, cafes, machines, and private homes. With the late nights and constant driving, coffee is King. In fact, I could use a cup right now.

We are in Haarlem today, the original one, and eventually going to make our way into Amsterdam for our first real day of pure tourism. Then one more show tomorrow, in Nijmegen-- and then an early flight back to Seattle. (After hours of security checks at Schipol).

We've been surrounded by so much love on this tour-- so many thank you cards to send-- and I will start the day I get back. I promise.

XOXO

A

Slept until noon today-- for an early bird/insomniac like me, this is akin to a miracle. Groggily made my way downstairs for thick Dutch coffee and dark bread and The Blues (our hosts music of choice). We had an incredible show last night in Herleen, and today is our last day off until we leave one (sad) week from today. Taking the morning to catch up on some business (there is always business to catch up on), learn some new songs, and do some sightseeing here in Southern Holland.

This tour is going by so fast it's hard to even begin to comprehend-- it's a blur of Bad Pop Music (on the radio, hopefully not at the shows) Slaloming Italian Drivers, pigeon English/Dutch/Italian/German language, beer and whiskey, cold nights, different and hard to understand showers/toilets/door locks, windmills old and new, and incredibly kind people who open their houses, hearts, and wine bottles to us every day and night.

We can't wait to come back here in the Fall-- wait for us!!



In other news, here is a beautiful review of my Celtic Connections show:

http://flyinshoes.ning.com/profiles/blogs/anna-coogan-celtic-connections

It was such an incredible evening. Wow. I almost cried as I listened to Alison Brown Quartet in sound check--such good , powerful music, and after 10 years of work, this is a f*cking dream.

Amen.

Hello from a beautiful riverside hotel in the north of Holland. Balconies that overlook dark, stormy water, bathtubs, steak dinners, and good whiskey have made this an absolutely lovely evening after a nice afternoon show. This has been an incredible week, we've lived (and aged) a few lifetimes-- and seen so much beautiful countryside! We played in an incredible tower overlooking the city of Marburg, Germany and in a beautiful beer garden lit with Christmas lights in a tiny town up north.

Our two public shows in Germany were sold out! What an incredible feeling to show up in a town you've never been and play to a full house. Danke danke!! We also got to see some good castles, eat incredible ganz gemutliche German breakfasts, stay in extremely comfortable beds, drink homemade beer in an Irish-American Beer hall, drink homeade wine in a secret room below a castle, (notice a theme here?), and stuff ourself with cheese, sausage, Donner Kebabs, and more homeade booze. An extreme thanks to our incredible hosts and audience.! We can't wait to see you again!!

We had an extremely late night last night getting from Marburg to Lovenich to North Holland, so I'm off to watch "Seinfeld" with Dutch subtitles and attempt to digest this steak dinner I ate.

Hi!

Here we are in the worlds most budget hotel, somewhere in an industrial zone on the outskirts of beautiful Breda. The bathroom here is one big shower. IE, a plastic bubble. I fear that if I sit down to fast, the toilet will break off. But, it is safe, and dry, and the beds are fairly comfortable and there is free internet-- which is hard to come by in these parts! We are three shows into our tour of Holland, Germany, and Belgium-- and having a great time.

Last night we did a radio spot on StadtRadio Breda, with the wonderful Arjen Decker, and before that we played in Den Bosch and Ottersum. Ottersum was great-- a beautiful old monestary in the countryside. We shared the show with Boston band Joy Kills Sorrow and My Bubba and Mi (from Scandanavia)-- a great way to start off. On Tuesday we hit "De Rode Pimpernel"-- and after some fairly serious sound problems that ended up shorting out the lights in the entire bar, we got underway. Great fun to play a rocking set, and great crowd that had driven from miles around to come see us. Blows my mind every time. Dank je, guys!

Daniele and I are speaking a very odd mix of Italian and English and for the most part, we are understanding each other. Each day is a lesson in the respective languages, which is amazingly fun for a language junkie like myself. Yesterday we got confused as hell by eating Tapas and trying to read a menu in Dutch and Spanish. A long argument ensued over what a Tortilla is-- I swore up and down it was an omelette, but Daniele swore it was a flat corn pancake. I won this one. It was an omelette.

Anyway, we are heading to Germany today for three shows this weekend. I can't wait to write all about Celtic Connections-- it was hands down the best show of my life-- but we gotta pack up because if we are in our room one second past noon, we get charged another day. And I don't think I can take another day in the wharehouse zone of Breda.

See you soon!

Quick tour update from the one terminal that's free in the hotel. Lord, I wish internet were free at hotels. I've been in Scotland for 4 days now, I LOVE this country. I really do feel like the luckiest gal in the world getting to come here and work. I stayed on the Isle of Bute for a few days, at Munroes Bed and Breakfast, one of the most glorious places I have ever stayed. One day, I wandered into town and ran into 5 people I knew from my last visit. Word travels fast in the small towns. Yesterday, I took a very roundabout route to Glasgow, as there were landslides over the train tracks. After many winding hours, I arrived at the swanky Glasgow hotel that I am staying at, ate dinner with some friends, had drinks with same friends, and settled in to watch BBC 3 until falling asleep. Today, went in search of a post office and a haircut, found both. It's been beautiful and warm but it looks as though the rain has finally come. I've got three shows tonight-- one official show at the Tron Theater and two after hours events. That's quite a lot for one evening, so I'm off to rest up for one more hour, before soundcheck. Then tomorrow it's off to the airport again to head to Holland for "leg 3" of the tour. Yay!

After 3 weeks of hangin' on the hill, I am in the final stages of packing and tour prep before I head to New Hampshire, Boston, and then fly away to Glasgow. Packing for a tour does not seem to get easier, even though I have done it many times this year. Packing for an overseas tour is even harder. Do I have the right adaptors? One for UK, one for Europe? Do I have my cheap British phone, my phone charger, the right shampoo? Yes, I know they sell shampoo over there. They sell lots of things over there. It's just part of the process.

The biggest brain teaser so far has been what to do with my new flat iron-- risk having it explode with the wrong voltage, or risk having bad hair? Tough, tough call. I'm gonna go with bad hair, since that appears to be my look these days, anyway. It's important to have a look.I know they sell hair straighteners over there, but there is only so many foreign products we can store in the closest during the off months.

So, after a visit to the local bookstore for travel books, the CVS for travel products, the Gap for unmentionables, (a tour tradition) the library for internet, and Lou's of Hanover for an excellent cup of coffee, I'm off the squeeze it all into a suitcase and drive, snow withstanding, to the Seacoast. Big adventures on the horizon--hopefully most of them good--but I'll be posting as often as I can. Happy 2011 and see you soon!

Wow. If there is ever such thing as too much Christmas, I have lived it. We've been in festive Vermont now for 2 weeks, snowed in for the last week, no internet (the cause of much lamentation throughout the house), little cell service, and many, many pounds of cookies. Calories in far outweigh calories out, although walking in 15 inches of snow does help the balance a little. There have been dogs, kids, trees, tears, and presents galore. Brooks and I have finally left "the compound" (the hill where I live in Vermont) in search of decent internet, we had to drive to the next state over to get some. Such is life on the farm.

It has been a hell of year-- releasing "The Nocturnal" and touring it all over the world--and I am excited to squeeze on more tour in before taking some time off the road to make the next record. In just one week (holy cow) I will be leaving for Rollinsford, NH, Boston, MA, Scotland, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. I'm nervous about the snow-- I just saw an ariel view of the Scotland under a blanket of white--and the driving-- but I am thrilled to finally be getting going. I become a big bundle of nerves thinking of all the possibilities, it's much easier just to go and DO it. I am thrilled to be joined by Dani Fiaschi for this tour.

Only one more day of 2010-- I'm gonna make it a good one by drinking copious amounts of fancy (read: 12 dollar) Champagne (read: sparkling wine, not actual Champagne) and playing one more killer game of Scrabble with my husband and sister, who I won't see for a month after Saturday. I actually won my first game of Scrabble in my entire life yesterday. After much argument, we ruled it a smart-phone free game, and certain people took a hit in the score department. I'm just saying.

So, before this internet runs out on me, I want to thank you so much for your support this year--everyone who hosted a house concert, came to a show, bought a CD (or a few), cooked us a meal, or sent me a supportive email. Special thanks to everyone who "paid what you could" in this crappy economy. Thanks to my awesome release crew: Rob Ellen, JoRae DiMenno, Bill Wence, JD Foster, Eric Hastings, Brooks Miner, Christine Linde, and all the DJ's and press that gave the record a spin. It really takes a support system to survive this biz, you all are great.

Thanks to all the other musicians who have shared shows, hot touring tips, and inspiration, off the top of my head and in no particular order: Edie Carey, Katie Todd, Rebecca Pronsky, Carolann Solebello, Ethan Anderson, Jan Bell, Jenee Halstead, Havilah, Joy Mills, Rachel Harrington, Raina Rose, George and Geoff Hazelrigg, Jean Mann, Nancy Dillion, Lauryn and DJ, Nick Loss-Eaton, John Elliot, Ian Parks, AJ Roach, Nels Anders, Stuart Miller, Lindsay Fuller, Austin Nevins, all my students at the EMP, Carrie Akre, and so many others....this is starting to sound like an Oscar speech gone bad. Anyway, thanks for the cups of tea, coffee, booze, breakfast plates, and sanity.

AnyMcWay. Thank you. Best wishes for 2011, and I hope to see you on the road.

Too much love,

Anna C.

Sometime a few months ago, after the Seattle rains had started with little sign of ever letting up, I lost my way. Having been totally and completely dedicated to the release of my most recent record, I hadn't come up for air in most of two years of writing, recording, booking, and touring. I am coming to the end of the official release, the end of 9 months of heavy touring and promoting, and I was a little unsure of where to turn next. Lost in a maze of social networking, facebooks, myspaces, reverbnations, sonicbids--how many of these sites are we expected to maintain???-- my eyes were starting to glaze over and my mind was starting to wander away from my chosen career towards greener pastures.

So, one rainy afternoon, I picked up my "Rise Up Singing" booking and opened to my favorite page, page 232, "Traveling" section. There are 5 songs on this page, I know 4 of them. I sung through them. "Early Morning Rain", "Erie Canal", "Five Hundred Miles", and "Four Strong Winds". Each one of those songs has such a strong memory attached to it-- driving from Albany to Buffalo as a kid singing Erie Canal at the top of my lungs--lying on the cement kitchen floor listening to Ian and Sylvia on the old scratchy record player--and playing them was a complete joy.

No one watching. No one listening. No one critiquing. Every day now, I've been delving further into this back catalogue of music I grew up listening to. Lot's of Sea Shanties. Lot's of lonely, traveling souls. (So many lonely folk singers out there!) Every Beatles song ever written. Even some Raffi. ( I have decided against singing my all time favorite Childhood album, "Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas Special). I brought some of these songs out on my recent US tour, and was amazed at the response. So many people know these songs. These are not just my back catalogue, but the whole countries.

I've gotten a lot of encouragement to record these songs, and so in 2011 when I get back from Europe, I will get back in the studio to lay them down. I've never recorded a cover song, so I've got a lot of learning to do, but I am thrilled to get a chance to preserve my own little chunk of Americana. I'll post more about the recording process as I get into it, as it is still mostly a twinkle in my eye.

Thanks as always for listening, and happy end-of-November!

xoxo

Anna C.

Well, I'm finally back in Seattle after a month on the road. It is a bit of an adjustment after 95 degrees and sunny California
(I brought my bathing suit for just such a possibility), but I am very glad to be home in the more seasonal 45 degrees. It was a great tour, and I have some hilarious stories that I will recount here after a few years of therapy. Suffice it to say, it involved male anatomy where I was NOT expecting it. More on THAT later.

Big thanks to all my hosts on this tour, and of course to everyone who came to see a show. It's amazing how many kind and generous people there are out there, and they seem to show up when you need them most.

I've got a few more shows for this year: I'm wrapping up my Seattle year on Dec 4 at the High Dive with Seattle legends Massy Ferguson at their big holiday bash. Then it's back to Brooklyn for a spot at Pete's Candy Store on Dec 17. The new year starts off with a co-bill at Club Passim with Carolann Solebello on Jan 9. Then it's off to Celtic Connections in Glasgow to open for Alison Brown Quartet, and finally I meet up with Daniele Fiaschi in Amsterdam to start off our 3 week Europe tour. After that, some rest and beginning to work on the next record.

Now, I'm going to buy Christmas lights at Target.

Love,

Anna C.

Hi!

I'm sitting here in sunny San Francisco-- seriously, this is the most beautiful day I have EVER seen. I got in this morning after a very peaceful flight from Milwaukee-- I didn't know they made peaceful flights any more, but apparently they do. Got my little rent a car and made it to the city no problem, now relaxing before heading down south to San Luis Opisbo for the first of my California shows. 5 more shows, and I am headed home!

I am staying in the kind of neighborhood where they sell 700 dollar shoes, so most of time thus far has been spent looking for parking and contemplating what it would be like to be filthy rich. (Answer: pretty fun, at least as far as shoes are concerned). I also spent some time in a dog park and missed Juno, my beloved an extremely sleek corgi.

The shows in the midwest were awesome-- I have a lot of thank you notes to send-- and playing with Katie Todd is as fun as it is inspiring. I've managed, with a few exceptions, to catch each region of the country in it's fall splendor, and have taken off before it get's cold. So all in all, good timing. I'm really looking forward to this last leg of the tour, so many cool and different shows. Details on my calender page.

I'm excited to finish up this last tour of 2010-- what an incredible year this has been-- and start giving some serious thought for 2011. Thanks to all you for keeping up, coming out to shows, and all your support.

xoxo

Anna

I just got great news that I will be playing at this years Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow in January 2011. I am so excited to go back to Scotland and be part of this amazing festival. I'll post more details soon as I know them!

xoxo,

Anna

Often when I fly, there is trouble. Epic storms, record breaking rain, snow, ice, what have you. Today is no exception, my flight to Chicago is cancelled and they've stuck me on a later flight-- no big deal, since it actually gives me some much needed time to catch up, check emails, submit grant applications, and all the not-sexy stuff that makes up the life of an indie artist. So here I am, hanging out in Boston, with one obese and one way-too-skinny cat.

I'm at the halfway point on the fall tour-- 1.5 more weeks to go, and a lot of miles to make. I'll be flying to the midwest and driving with Katie Todd to Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee, then flying to San Francisco and driving all up and down the California Coast. I'm crossing my fingers for warm, sunny weather. After all that is done, it's back up to Seattle.

I'm pretty tired right now, as I got up early for my now cancelled flight-- and a little weary of the road. How do people get by being away from their loved ones for so long?? And this is only a 3 week tour!! But on the flip side, the shows are almost always a blast. There's always some sort of surprise at the end of a long day of driving, and even a mediocre show has amazing moments. I guess it's about stringing those moments together and keeping your chin up through the inevitable lonliness, exhaustion, and back pain.

I've got some great shows pending for 2011 in Europe-- I should have my tickets bought and tour finalized in the next few weeks. If you're in Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, or Belgium, I'd love to meet you!! I've also put in a few grants for help making a record of songs from my childhood-- more on that as it progresses. The studio is my favorite part of all of this, so I can't wait to get back in there.

XOXO

Anna C.

Just found this footage from our Fairfield, Iowa house concert. Love Brooks and Dani's playing. Can't wait to see Dani again in Europe this winter!

Mockingbird, Live in Fairfield, Iowa:

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Thanks to Glenn Chumley for taping and posting this!