everlasting arms

My sweet friend and fellow musician Mara Miller alongside Josh T. Pearson in Paris. I LOVE this video so big.

sxsw

SXSW was awesome. I went down solo this year because Kevin was busy being the responsible breadwinner and working up a storm back here at the homestead. I went down to play shows with Sarah Jaffe, four to be precise, and just hang out and see some great music. We had our first two shows on Thursday, so I headed down Thursday morning, and after a surprisingly smooth experience getting my wrist band, I started the glorious process of trying to find a parking space...

I FOUND ONE! I found a gem of a parking garage that was fairly central to everywhere I had to go that weekend, so I parked there every day. Glory & praise be to San Jacinto & 9th! $8/day keeps the stressful parking process away!

The first show on the list was an afternoon party put on by Little Radio at a venue called Red Eyed Fly. This band I'd never heard of called Shadow Shadow Shade played right before us and they definitely made a fan out of me. I love lots and lots of harmonies and boy did they give them to me. They were super fun and made me wish I was on stage singing with them. Aces!

While they were finishing up and we were getting ready to load our stuff on stage I looked over and saw a man sitting on the back porch of the venue reading an article that inspired me to creepily hover over him whilst trying not to create a shadow and take a picture:


Adorable! He was doing his research!

After the show we trekked over to St. David's Episcopal Church of Austin to get ready for our showcase that evening, which happened to be one block away from my much coveted parking spot! We played that evening after Sharon Van Etten, who I'd never heard of before, but whose voice made me want to cry - in the best way. Her voice was phenomenal and the church sanctuary acoustics seemed to perfectly compliment her style. Beautiful!

Brooklyn Vegan even featured our showcase in their Day 2 in Music & Review. Woohoo! Great pictures and I couldn't believe they chose us alongside peeps like Band of Horses and Broken Social Scene!.

After we played, I went with my friend Lisa to see Kashmir at Maggie May's. The are a Danish band that Kevin & our friend Dragan are both really into, and they were fan-freaking-tastic! Incredible music and great stage presence. It was a great way to end our first day.

Friday was my "day off" so to speak and the festival was my oyster. As good fortune would have it, my dear sweet friend Julie was in town from Brooklyn. She does "web stuff" for Doctors Without Borders up in NYC and got to come down for the interactive portion (read: Nerd Fest - her words not mine) and decided to stay for the music, so we got to hang out all of Friday. I loved seeing her and I miss having her around.


We hung out all day, went to see a fun outdoor show across I-35, then trekked back, got some street food, then headed back to see Cymbals Eat Guitars play at Emo's tent stage. They were fantastic and we stood right in front of the sound guy and had great sight lines.

**cue cold front that swept blusteringly through the city while we slept, only to mock our lack of socks and heavy coats the following morn

Saturday we had our first show at 1pm for the ReadyMade Magazine Party at the Palm Door, which is a beautiful venue. We played with Anais Mitchell, a wonderful folk singer/guitarist who sounds a little too much like Joanna Newsom, but who has hooked up with some major players (Ani Difranco, Bon Iver, The Low Anthem, and more) on her new folk opera album, Hadestown.

Then Sarah, my friend Paul and I walked the many many blocks with our instruments and new tote bags courtesy of ReadyMade to our final venue, where Sarah and I were left to do a duet set since our drummer Jeff had to skedaddle and our guitar player Robert had his own set to do. We played at J Blacks, a great venue (upon looking up the link I just realized that there is a J Blacks in Dallas as well), along with Denton's Seryn, Fort Worth's Telegraph Canyon, and Dallas's Doug Burr.

A great way to end a great weekend. Until next year!

news

There's no hiding the fact that I'm way behind in both uploading my daily pictures as well as blogging about them. Between increased responsibilities at work and buying a house (what what!!) personal down time has been a luxury these days. In the interim, I leave you with this-

43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49

No excuses. Just the photes (sic). Last week was a complete blur of activity, so I'm really grateful for this project to help me remember all of it.

43/365 - I went into the studio to record with Jacob Metcalf, and he was getting ready to track some final vocals and guitar when I arrived.


44/365 - I went back to the studio in Fairview, TX the next day to lay down some solid gold violin tracks with my friend and fellow violinist, Petra. The studio was actually a house that had been entirely converted into a recording studio business, and it was in the most beautiful area. When I was leaving at about 3:30pm, the driveway looked gorgeous underneath the trees and with the remaining snow.


45/365 - For Valentines Day Kevin and I went out and did some preliminary house hunting to rule out/in certain neighborhoods we'd found online, then finished the night off at our favorite restaurant in Lakewood - Scalini's. I love that we have a place that's "our place."


46/365 - The 15th was the 33rd anniversary of Kevin's birth, and as part of his gift I got him a gift card to Good Records. After we went out to dinner we decided to drop by and put it to good use. I love this record shop and I hope it stays around forever.


47/365 - A friend of mine got me a special soap from her place of employment (LAFCo in Highland Park Village) for my birthday last month and I've been using what's left of my other handsoap like crazy so that it will run out and I can use my new soap! I've got a case of the crazies!


48/365 - I love the art on our walls, and I love that much of it has been made by local artists, many of whom are our friends. This little gem was a piece I got from my sweet friend Shay the female portion of bee-things.


49/365 - Some evenings after a long day at work, there's nothing nicer than picking up some sushi from Central Market for dinner. No dishes, no mess, just sweet (or would that be salty?) deliciousness.


There. Whatever.

arts district snow day

In the spirit of photography and snowiness, I thought it would be great to post someone else's photos today. Someone whose ability to shoot far exceeds mine, though I'd guess he's not using a Sony Cybershot...

Our External Affairs VP at work just sent out some photos that were taken of the arts district on our recent snow day last week. The photographer is Jeremy McKane, local web designer/photographer.

You can see the stunning photos here. There are a lot of photos of our center - the Winspear Opera House & the Wyly Theatre, and there are also pictures of One Arts Plaza, Booker T. Washington High School and the Dallas Museum of Art. I could look at these pictures all day!

birthday suit

Today is the husbo's 33rd birthday and in honor of the occasion he decided to don his best birthday suit.


He's so handsome! I love my boo and I'm glad we get to grow.....mature together.

42/365 et al

This will be today's photo and various others that I shot today in a piece I will call "snow day."

42/365 - "car trek"


first tree


prep


morning tree


en route


cathedral


belo


olive & ross


new neighbor


dusk

SNOW DAY!