http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEDcaZsX2i8

This is from last Saturday at the Far West West in Point Reyes, CA. My bass player's daughter, who is clearly a natural musician, joined us to sing "Two Hands." There's nothing better to choke you up than seeing a five year old sing that she is not afraid to use her own hands to make a positive difference in this world. Go Izzie!

Here is some of the press I've received from this week:

1. Paul Liberatore writes for the Marin IJ Lifestyles section:

http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_9642041



2. An article in

The San Francisco Bay Times, by Sister Dana Van Iquity:

http://www.sfbaytimes.com/index.php?sec=article&article_id=8406


3. And a cool blog posted on the BUST magazine website: http://www.bust.com/index.php (search for the one from Tuesday, June 17)

If you want to see my first TV appearance ever (TV is a very foreign thing to me, but I hear a lot of people watch it pretty regularly) then tune into CBS, channel 5 (KPIX), San Francisco for the Saturday Eyewitness news. I'll be interviewed and will play a song at about 9:20. Wish me luck!
LG

Yesterday I showed up at San Francisco City Hall to support all of the same sex couples who can finally get married by simply witnessing as well as giving away a copy of my song "I Do." Instead of a huge line of people waiting, like it was in 2004, couples made appointments and came in about ten minutes apart all day long. I was amazed to see no protesters outside, only a crowd of extremely supportive people.
The couples got married in stations that had been created all over the balconies of the building, which reminded me of a place you would visit in Paris, huge columns, relief sculptures everywhere, a giant, ornately decorated dome overhead. Each newly married couple would descend the enormous stairway into the lobby to the sound of cheers from the people awaiting them below. I, the sappy one who cries at any wedding, even a stranger's, was glad I wore waterproof mascara that day.
My personal highlight was handing my CD with "I DO" on it to Gavin Newsom, the mayor himself, and thanking him for inspiring the song in 2004 when he let gay couples get married the first time. The bonus highlight was when his advisors and office mates around him said they had been listening to and loving the song already in the office... Pretty cool. One of them even said he wanted to use it as his wedding song when he marries his partner next month. I am so so so so lucky and so are all of the people with the new right to get married, a right that we straight people take for granted every day. What a day!

LG

When I was young, I used to go between my mom's house in Marin County, and my father's house in the Castro District in San Francisco. It was there that I was naturally exposed to the gay community, whether through friends of my dad's or through meeting the wonderful people who lived in that neighborhood. I have never understood the arguments keeping same sex couples from getting married. The whole idea that it "dilutes the idea of marriage" is absolutely ridiculous to me. What difference does it make to anyone else if a couple is married or not? I used to hear horror stories while doing hospice care about people on their deathbeds being denied the company of their partners just because they were not married. Sometimes it was the hospital's policy and sometimes it was the decision of the family who had their judgments about the partnership in the first place. I found it so sad, brutally sad really, that someone could not be near their true love in the last of their days.
I've always said that if I had to fight for one cause it would be this one, so I guess my way of "fighting" is through the gift of this song. I wrote it in light of Gavin Newsom's (SF Mayor) decision to open up the City Hall in 2004 to same sex couples. I literally imagined them coming in two by two to the little wedding room on that day and the days that followed. Today, I am going down to SF City Hall to give away the song to the gay community, but it is actually aimed at the people who have had a hard time accepting different manifestations of love. I hope "I Do" is not only known as a "gay wedding song" but as a song that promoted love and acceptance in a time that needed it it desperately.

LG


to download song for free: www.larkingayl.com/ido

...and a couple of people have made youtube slideshows of the song already (thanks!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmUWpTv6U28

June 17, 2008 Today is the day I have been waiting for for a long time on two levels. It is the day that my first full length album, "Two Hands" is released, and it is the day people in my home state of California, regardless of gender, can get married. I wrote "I Do," track 5 on the album, in hopes that the world can open up its minds and hearts regarding different types of marriage. And, it is a complete synchronicity that the album is released and the ban on same sex marriages is being lifted on the same day. I am so thrilled for both reasons, and in light of the celebrations around the state, I am giving away the song on my website: www.larkingayl.com/ido Please pass it along in support of my music and in support of love and marriage everywhere. For the complete album, visit itunes, walmart.com, amazon.com, etc...
Peace, LG

I got a couple of emails this week from long lost friends telling me they saw me showcased on itunes in the last week (they didn’t even know I had an album out...). Not knowing what they were talking about, I went on the site to check, and lo, it turns out I was featured in the "New Releases" section the week it was released, the "Best of Store" section last week, and the "Indie Spotlight" this week. Wow. What an honor to be recognized like that. I love itunes forever and ever, and the great people there who decided to support me an the music I create.

P.S. The full-length album is done, the music, the artwork, all of it! Now it is time to be patient and wait until May to release it to the world. It sounds and looks fabulous. I promise it will be worth the wait!



Here are the links to itunes...not sure if they will still work...


http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewRoom?fcId=129411333&id=1

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewMix?id=275285537

Today is the day my music is available to purchase online for the first time. This is very exciting, considering the EP, "Larkin Gayl Sings" has been out for a year, but only available at small, local retailers and at my shows. The EP is a limited edition, with only a few hard copies remaining, but the full length album is set to be released on May 13, 2008. We are putting the last touches on the artwork and design, and the music itself is finally finished. It sounds wonderful, and I have the folks at About Records to thank for the beautiful product!

This morning I was back on the KFOG morning show, bright and early to sing "Impossible" and to announce the fact that my EP will be available next Tuesday, the 26th. The entire morning show staff is so warm and welcoming, as if they had been looking forward to me being there, and I am sure to pay them in chocolate for their kindness each time I go into the station. Many thanks to KFOG for all of their support to me, and all of the other local artists they promote!

For some reason, I feel like I have to list things numerically in my blogs. Maybe it makes them feel a little less like self-indulgent public diary entries and more like meeting minutes or something...

As for the RADIO, a lot has been going on:

1. Last week I did a phone interview with Peter Finch at KFOG about a project I was involved in recently called "Skinny Songs" (see next blog to find out what exactly that is). It was fun to get the phone calls from friends and family, saying they heard me on the "fog files." What an honor. You can go to the Fog Files archives at www.kfog.com to hear it.

2. I will be back on the KFOG morning show on February 21 at 7:00am to sing a bit and talk about couple of shows that weekend in the Bay Area and the digital release of my EP, which is February 26th! It took a year to get the songs on itunes, but it is just as exciting...

3. Yesterday, I received an email from Santa Fe's wonderful radio station "Project 101.5" saying they will start playing "A Life of Everything" in the next week or so. I am so excited to be heard in this beautiful little town.

Thanks, as always, for listening, LG