Hello Beloved Fans, Friends, Family Near and Far,

As many of you know, It has been four years since my last studio album was created. Since that release, I've toured the US, Europe, been a finalist for a reality TV show (don't ask), had a song in a TV commercial, won a huge online competition, made an awesome live album & yoga DVD, experienced savory successes, heartbreaking losses and intense challenges. It takes a strong love, faith and lots of surrender to stay on the bucking bronco of the music biz and thanks to all of you, I have. . .

NEW ALBUM: Please Pre-Order Today & Take Part in the Art
I am thrilled to announce that this fall, I will be creating a NEW STUDIO ALBUM. It is my honor and privilege to work with internationally acclaimed, Louisiana-native artist and producer, Malcolm "Papa Mali" Welbourne on this project. It will be my most savory and swampy album yet, and it's gonna be so sweet to share it with you!

You can help me in a very real way by pre-ordering your copy right now. Although no showering of gifts could truly express my gratitude for your role in my career, I have put together a series of gift packages for you to choose from. Your early orders will help pay for studio time, musicians, photographers, designers, promoters, and manufacturing necessary to create and deliver this album to audiences across the world. I call these gift packages "Prana Packages." "Prana" is the sanskrit term for "vital energy force sustaining life and creation, permeating the whole of creation, life force, breath." By purchasing one of the "Prana Packages" you are literally breathing life energy into this new creation.

Every "Prana Package" Includes

* An autographed Album mailed to you hot off the presses.
* Digital copy of "Cabin Demos & Radio Rarities" - A collection of fresh new demos, interviews and radio performances. An instant token of my gratitude, available to you at time of purchase.

CLICK HERE to View "Prana Packages" and Pre-Order

I cannot begin to thank you enough for your support through this journey. I hope that the music continues to bring you joy, solace and inspiration. . . I hope you will pre-order the "Prana Package" that's right for you and be a part of this new album!

Much Love & Light,
Wendy Lorraine Colonna

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--
Relinquish your attachment to the known, step into the unknown, and you will step into the field of all possibilities. -Deepak Chopra
 

If you are interested in preserving the legacy of live music in Austin, please consider signing this petition and sharing it with other live music lovers. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/austinmusic/

WHY?

After a weekend on the road, I came home to learn that one of Austin's cherished venues, Shady Grove's live musical entertainment was shut down last night due to a violation of the sound ordinance.

Last night Sahara Smith was on stage and Jimmy LaFave was preparing to perform. We're not talking thrash metal (quality thrash rarely works at 75db). We're talking sweet melodies and tender voices.

This ordinance was created many years ago and is recently being enforced across Austin. We are hoping to work with the City of Austin to create a reasonable solution that keeps music alive and residents happy.

The DB level that is currently being enforced is 75 db. To get an idea of what 75 db sounds like, go out and stand next to a moderately busy street. That's about it. Five people in an excited conversation can exceed this DB easily. ONE motorcycle/chopper revving can be louder than 100 db.

Music venues on S. Congress & S. 1st have discontinued their live music due to this DB enforcement. The Red River area is under scrutiny and now Barton Springs Road. What I'm suspecting is a big factor in this enforcement is that these areas that were once primarily commercial are now being swarmed with condos and other residential development. People who are moving into these long-standing "live music" areas like downtown and SoCo are complaining. It then becomes a battle between taxpaying residents and musicians and venues. No Fun.

Currently, there is also a moratorium on issuing live music permits. We are not sure when this is to be lifted, but potential venues in non-residential areas are unable to have live music outdoors at their establishments as of yet.

The music community in the "Live Music Capitol of the World" who have invested their lives in this amazing legacy, are concerned, uneasy and unsure of what to do. Some musicians who were at Shady Grove last night have assembled a petition to present to City Council.

Thank you for supporting music, the medicine of the soul.

The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is but to tune the curious harp of man's body. - Francis Bacon

You are the music while the music lasts. ~T.S. Eliot

All deep things are song. It seems somehow the very central essence of us, song; as if all the rest were but wrappages and hulls! ~Thomas Carlyle

Music is the universal language of mankind. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Outre-Mer

Music's the medicine of the mind. ~John A. Logan

If the King loves music, it is well with the land. ~Mencius

Without music life would be a mistake. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

He who sings scares away his woes. ~Cervantes

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. ~Maya Angelou, Gather Together in My Name

Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead. ~Benjamin Disraeli

Belgium 2008

This is our Slide Show of Our trip to Belgium!
Grootjes!
We had such a wonderful time in Belgium. . . I will pick up where we left off. . .
During the flight, we slept. We left before dawn and at one moment during the flight I opened my eyes, looked out the window and saw the most beautiful sunrise - We were over the snow covered alps and the sun was rising through the mountains. The colors and reflections of cloud and sky were breathtaking. I thought of taking a photo, but instead went right back to sleep satisfied by the fact that I once again experienced a fleeting moment of pure divinity.
Conrad
Our darling friend Conrad met us at the train station. Conrad recently spent about 8 or 10 days with us in Austin and we took him and his daughter, Nel and her boyfriend Alfonso, who were en route to Central America, to Lafayette, LA. I met Conrad 5 years ago on a tour with Guy Forsyth, and he graciously offered to help us with the tour and hosted Chad and I during this trip. He has the BEST Music collection and turned us onto dozens of great albums while we were there.
The Journey and Recovery
We had a coffee and hit the train to Tielt then took Conrad's van to Ardooie, where he lives on the central Markt - the town square. These are usually located by the central church and there's a wide area where Saturday Markets go down. I loved the "Grote(big) Markt" when I lived in Holland. . . We were met by Conrad's middle daughter, Sanne at the house. I was totally exhausted and decided to take a nap. When I awoke, Conrad and Chad were out and about and Sanne and I talked for HOURS. Sweet times. We rested all the next day and watched "In Bruges" anticipating our trip to the fair city the next day. It was great to be in one place.
Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet
Saturday morning was Sinterklaus! In Holland and Northern Belgium, Flanders, St Nick comes early in Dec by boat from Spain on his white horse. He is accompanied by a character with whom we Americans are quite unfamiliar -- Zwarte Piet. Literally Black Pete. He's the zany, acrobatic counterpart to St Nick. He's black faced and wears pantaloons and throws cookies during the Parade that welcomes Sinterklaas to town. There are many different legends about him, but it was really really odd to be in a country where white people and colored people alike painted their faces black and danced around with St Nick. Surreal.
Saturday morning we awoke to a true Flemish Sinterklaas morning. We had chocolate Saints and Zwarte Piets, special bread and mandarin oranges and these funny little cookies with icing on them. Fun!
We left for Bruges around noon and spent hours touring the beautiful, amazingly preserved Medieval city. I've been twice over the years, but the city's beautiful and strange architecture never loses it's enchantment or charm. Once a thriving port city, Bruges is home to some very unique and strange architecture- many different styles, colors and shapes live on the same streets here. . . beautiful rainy day.

Saturday evening gig was in Tielt. The venue was lovely and the proprietor, also named Piet cooked us a totally gourmet meal! My dear friend, Martine, from Holland came to visit, so we caught up in between soundchecks and meals etc. Our crowd was mostly under 30 and the place was totally packed and they were completely attentive and engaging. What a great blessing! Conrad has some videos on his Youtube of the show. Check them out!

Sunday's Shows & Visit from Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet
Sunday we had 2 shows. A noon show at Conrad's pub around the corner from the church. The bar was packed with bier drinkers. We had coffee and played for about an hour.

We had lunch down the street and were greeted during our soup by a big surprise! Sinterklas and 2 Zwarte Piets showed up at the restaurant and paid us a visit. They danced and drummed and took photos with us! Chad was thrilled! (photos in the gallery above)

Sunday Night's show was awesome. We played in this hip bar in Ruselare. It was more of an adult crowd and Conrad's daughter Emma brought her friends. We had a blast and a delicious meal afterward.

Monday we prepared for the last gig and recovered from Sunday. Monday night we played at a great listening room called Fagot. It was awesome. The meal was incredible, the proprietor, Jean Piere and his wife were awesome and we made a new friend in Marie Christine, the merch pusher from heaven. Videos of this show are below. GOod Times, My friends. We were joined on stage by Belgium's Bluesman, Marino Noppe. Beautiful show, beautiful crowd!

Tuesday we packed our goodies and did laundry and then went on a tour of the WWI trenches near Conrad's. Fascinating. Conrad is quite a historian and shared with us the history of the war in this area of Belgium. Chad took some stunning photos. We even went into a once-church that they used on the front lines. . I got some pics from inside the walls there. Eerie. The sky was amazing as Conrad says that being so near to the sea, the reflection of the water on the clouds is stunning.

We then had biere's in Conrad's cousin's Brewery and were gifted with some amazing cheeses from a tasting that happened earlier. YUM! Unfortunately, our trip to the brewery was brief because we had to catch the train to the airport to go back to Milan. We left with some great photos of women breastfeeding and drinking beer and a tshirt and a glass from the brewery!

We caught the train and sadly left our dear friend Conrad. . . And then flew to Milan. We got there 2 hrs late so we had to get a cab to our hotel.

FLIGHT BLIGHT PART 2
So- many of you are wondering why we got home a day late and why half my messages were cursing Air France. . . Mostly because in the course of 4 days they changed our flight 6 times which ultimately caused us to spend 200 Euro more than we budgeted for the trip. That being said, I won't go into gory details because the most important thing is that we made it home safely with everything intact. well- except the suitcase. It is retiring after i finish unpacking it. It lost both handles, the wheels got messed up on stairs and the zippers won't zip. It's time to retire. It's been a great travel companion.

Many thanks for reading! We hope you enjoy the photos and have a happy happy holiday season!
Love,
Wendy and Chad

Videos from Belgium of:
"Hurricane"


"Hallelujah"

"Low Down" by Chad & Marino

Yes, my very first open, online discussion of accountability, history and our power as a people to participate in this "CHANGE" we've been hearing so much about. . .

Several people have openly criticized Obama supporters, saying they have unfairly "deified" him. I find it very typical and perplexing at the same time. In my entire adult life (I'm 31) I've felt as though I have been powerless in my participation as a citizen to bring forth a change for good in my own country. I watched my parents, activists and educators be criticized and crippled by the rich and powerful in my hometown. As a result I've worked to become an activist with music and yoga, enriching the lives of people as I travel with love, community/connection and occasionally wisdom. To me, at times, these are the only ways I have felt empowered to participate in this country's wellness and as a counter force to its destruction. The last eight years, I've felt as if ANY of our input would be thrown in the White House paper shredders still in the envelope.

I am simply enthralled to bear witness to the mantra that Barack Obama and Joe Biden have been repeating- calling ALL US citizens into a place of personal and political empowerment. Before, during and after the election, it has been unwavering, they have been urging the PEOPLE to participate in improving their own lives. Which is why I find the savior thing awfully strange.The part i find typical is that we've all observed through our narrow understanding of history that when people become desperate, they seek out a "Messiah" they can lean on to get through the rough times. Sadly, as we have learned through history's pages, when leaders who represent wisdom, truth and courage don't deliver the "quick fix" people react with some form of crucifixion. This is, if these inspirational leaders aren't assassinated fist by people whose nearsighted dynasty thrive on violence and destruction. I am hopeful that Obama will continue to remind people of their individual and collective ability to participate in the healing of their lives, our lives.

More than that, though, I pray for the citizens of the US, that we may look beyond this cycle of hope and violence and see that we truly do have the tools of empowerment and grace at our fingertips before we become impatient. We have a legacy, children, limited resources and a lot to become accountable for in order to become the individuals and the nation of which we dream.We must open our eyes and enlighten ourselves.

We have turned our gaze away from US instigated wars which have had no specified terms of victory or end in sight. We have ignored our excessive spending habits and have replaced community with entertainment. We have staggering and sad statistics that rank us top in the world with child obesity and type 2 diabetes because we have not set the standards of preventative health for our very young and impressionable. Everywhere, education is laughed at as a worthless "long track" to success and sense of earning has been replaced by a sense of entitlement. We have ignored our energy crisis and how many children "No Child Left Behind" is leaving behind. We can all see it, but something has happened in us as individuals that is tying our tongues and binding our hands. Simple and essential principles of nurturing have been popularly disregarded as "dumb, tree huggin' foolery."

Good news is that we are empowered- and that our new leaders are actually encouraging us to restore our sense of true value- not with gas guzzling over sized vehicles and and the latest in video game interfaces in surround sound- but with our minds, hands and hearts.

The even better news is that I don't believe that this means we have to agree, but I do believe that we have a duty to participate.

So- Dust off your ideals and dreams. Shake off the excess. Get up in the attic of your mind and dig out your hope and remember how good you were as a kid at devising strategies and schemes over the wildest of endeavors. You could build something out of nothing then and you have more resources before than you can fathom. . . Start the revolution from within. Honor the divine creative presence in your life and get busy co-creating your life and your country.

Italia Winter 08

Buono Sera!

I began this blog in Cuneo - Writing as we wrap our Italian trip. . . and begin Belgium. . . Enjoy!

As I type this evening, the snow is falling rapidly and gently all around us. We are in rural Italy in a village tucked in the mountains an hour west of the Mediterranean Sea. This is only our second gig, but our fourth day of travel. . . so I will begin with the journey from the beginning. . .
The Beginning
Chad and I drove to Houston, hitched a ride to the airport and hit the skies on Wed afternoon CST. . . We discovered in Houston that our lovely friend (and badass musician), John Pointer was on the same flight and we hopped the pond . .
Flight Blight
Well, Air France did not take into account that our arrival time and departure times from Paris were 35 min apart. . . and required passport checking and re-entering a security area (different terminals? BRILLIANT) so we missed our plane to Milan. AAAAANNNND. . . subsequently did not get there in time to get to our first gig in Parma. SO SORRY PARMA!
The Road to Albenga
We made arrangements from Paris, thanks to the help of the amazing Ginger Leigh - who is not only a great performer and singer, but a fluent Italian speaker as well. She made calls to Parma with apologies. We made it to Milan and rented a car. Our very first international rental EEK!!!!!! It is a big car for Italy, but for 3 musicians traveling lightly it is still quite a cramp. We traveled to Albenga, where we were going to play the following night. We got to the city, found the festival (thanks to John's Italian) and napped backstage until we could get to a hotel. Man! Were we tired. I guess we were up about 38 hours before we got to a bed. WHEW!
Amazing Italian lunch followed by International Songwriters in the Round
The following morning we awoke and met our host, Davide, and the cast of performers from the festival the previous evening for lunch. We had a beautiful Mediterranean lunch complete with all kinds of treasures from the Sea, red wine, sparkling water and afterward a songswap around the table over espresso! We got to share songs from Jack Harris from Wales,Gustav Haggren from Sweden, and Andrea Parodi from Italy.

Our Festival show in Albenga was a BLAST! John & Ginger Joined us on stage for a few songs! Eventually we will have some video. The venue was a large theater in the OLD city center - 300 seats and big heavy curtains the works. classy and fun!
Cuneo, Carlos & Condorito, AKA Enchilladas in Italy???
The next day, we were off to the Alps to play a show in rural Cuneo, sorta near France. Chad and I had our first adventure driving in Italy without a translator! Luckily we only had to ask directions once and we were less than 100 meters away from the venue. Condorito was AWESOME! Carlos, the proprietor was awesome! We arrived at the beginning of a snowstorm which lasted through our whole gig. The building was awesome. The bottom, underground floor was the home of Carlos' parents. The 2nd story was his mother's spa (we used the sauna and steam shower the next morning ya!!) and the 3rd story was the venue- A beautiful space for dining and entertainment. They cook thematic meals for the audience that correspond geographically with the artists' origins. We got "Enchillada Night" Ha! Carlos said, for a NZ songwriter who wrote a vegetarian cookbook, they made vegetarian, for us Tex-Mex and for Sweedish performers, they make Italian. . . I guess Sweedish cooking is not that great- maybe that's the answer to the mystery of the Sweedish Chef on The Muppetts??? I DIGRESS. . . The gig was fun. The venue was charming and the snow was just awesome. The sauna was a welcome reprise.
Viaregio, 10 million dollar yachts, parties & RAIN! on the sea .
We then left for a trip back to the sea. . This time on the OTHER side of the Mediterranean in a village called Viareggio. . . Apparently this week Italy is seeing record breaking weather in the North (where we are). Beautiful Venice is flooding, The mountains are getting more snow in one dump than in 10 years. . . The rain is sideways and filling up every available crevice. . . so, we arrived in Viareggio for our impromptu gig. We met Ginger and Jane on the fancy pants yacht on which they were staying and dodged the rain to get to the venue. Viareggio had dozens of really amazing fancy yachts and apparently there's a whole yacht crew culture of the captains and engineers and household managers of the big boats. So, there was a birthday party that began at 2pm who were waiting for us at the pub when we showed up for our gig. Lots of seamen from all over the world partying at the highest frequency. We played an impromptu show at the pub and then again later at the yacht, Elena. . . till about 4am. Yawn. .
Bolzano!
The next morning we were a bit slow to get going, but we had to drive 5 hours north to Bolzano. A GORGEOUS city nestled in the Alps near Austria and Switzerland. The culture there is half Italian, half German meaning that you can get a great gnocci or penne pasta dish or a kickass schnitzel or goulash. The drive was a bit perilous as the Italians drive at all speeds no matter what the weather. We made it in time to hurry to sound check at Carombolage, a beautiful black box theater in the center of this exquisite city. The show was totally AWESOME! Ginger was amazing and our show was pretty sweet! The ciy looked like a christmas village- the ones you assemble in your living room complete with mountains oversized lamps, vegetable, meat and cheese stands under the snow, a gorgeous tile roofed cathedral surrounded by cute people ambling about. . . truly picturesque. We had the best meals at this great restaurant, Nadaba. YA!!!!
After lunch we retired to the beautiful Sheraton (thanks to Phil) for a day of rest and work.
Last Stop, Milano
The next morning, we departed for Milan. Driving through the Alps southward was like driving through the sky. The clouds hugged and draped the mountainsides and all of the earth was covered in vineyards covered again with a blanket of snow as far as the eye could see. Around every corner when we thought we were in the tallest mountains, we would gaze one way or another and see another bigger, more majestic one peeking between and behind the ones in the foreground. breathtaking!
We landed in Milano and took a nap in Phil, Ginger & Jane's room and were then off to the Nidaba Theater. A cute little pub tucked in a bustling neighborhood. Ginger and I had played here on our last show last tour. We were greeted warmly by the proprietor Max and finished our last bottle of Barbara wine from Asti. It was a gift from the folks in Bolzano. YUMMY! Then the show was on! We had a great time, but man was my body and voice tired. . . and Chad and I were sitting on the front end of an all nighter that would find us in Belgium the next morning. . . We began driving to the airport to drop our rental, get gas (we had to find a station and put bills in the pumps till it was filled up. . . strange!) find out how to get to the other terminal. . . and get our guitar properly checked and accounted for (every bag over 1/person costs $23 to check on these flights) and get checked in at 4:30am. EEK!
Needless to say, we arrived in Belgium totally exhausted.

We Have New Shirts! YAY!!

I  have new shirts that will be available at the shows and by mail order. They're super cute- and have a really positive mantra on them "Be Light. Be Love. Be Peace. Shine." Check 'em out on my website, www.wendycolonna.com or on the myspace page!

 Much Gratitude.

 Wendy Lorraine Colonna
www.wendycolonna.com

 

A dear friend in India, Das, put together a photo montage to one of the demos we made in New Jersey this spring.
I was moved by his photo montage. . . And wanted to share with you.

I am very excited about making a new album. . . We are in the pre planning stages, working on mapping it out, choosing songs & financing etc. . . :D



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCxFjFXDDU8

Howdy!

It's been quite a busy summer. We want to thank everyone who has been out to support us.  A few things have been going on behind-the-scenes.  Here are the new developments.

New Website
I am so happy to announce that I have a New Website!  I want to acknowledge the work of all the folks involved in it.  I'm so happy to have worked with such a great group of folks! Ginger Leigh designed the site and it features photos by Brooklyn based photographer, Emily Rawlings.  My lovely assistant Jessica Wrubel worked on some of the design elements and Jennifer Ayers designed the peacock feather circle logo . . . yummy!

New Booking Agent! Welcome Brandon DeMaris!
Another exciting piece of news is that we have hired a new booking agent.  Brandon DeMaris with DeMaris Entertainment has joined the team officially this summer! He will be booking the tours and dates and yoga events! I'm so excited that he's found time in his busy schedule to fit us onto his roster!

Yoga DVD, Workshops & Page on the Website!
Our Yoga To Go DVD is now available on Amazon.com and on the Austin Kula Yoga website. I hope that everyone who has purchased the DVD is having their private and travel yoga needs met. There's even a Wendy-Yoga Page on the new website with testimonials from students and info on the DVD.  We had an awesome workshop in Lake Charles last month. I want to thank everyone who attended. I hope to integrate more yoga classes into touring, so if anyone would like to schedule a workshop or group class, please let us know!

Tour with Ginger Leigh, OK, AR, TN, LA
Ginger Leigh and I are at it again! We're leaving on a 3 week tour of the above states on Friday! We hope to see those of you who are in the regions at these shows.  We're excited to hit the road again together. If you missed our last tour, we have a very funny video-blog of the events that transpired. . . Good Times Good Times.

 

 

In Love & Light,
Wendy Colonna

www.wendycolonna.com - New Website!
www.myspace.com/wendycolonna
http://www.reverbnation.com/wendycolonna

Apparently, I have been completely clueless that fans have been recording and posting videos of our shows online! Chad stumbled upon a nest of fan videos on Youtube that are GREAT!
Some are live, some are "behind the scenes" at radio stations -- some are creative video interpretations of the songs. . .

Just thought I might share a few with you that you may not have seen on your own!

Here's an In- Studio Radio version of The Beatles "I'm So Tired" performed at KLBJ in Austin with Strings Attached.


This one is a video of "Easy" acoustic -- from Lane at the Bugle Boy in LaGrange, TX, We'll be back there in June!

This version of "May Day" was recorded by Cat at Luna Fine Music Club in San Antonio. It features Chad on guitar and Dave Madden ..s. Yum Yum!


Here's a beautiful and tragic video created by fans and set to our live version of "Noah" by Neal Kassanoff.


And here's a fun one made my friend Sandy Wells in Houston -- Her portfolio set to "Coffee Today"




Thanks to all of you!!!