Thank you to all of you that have been listening to and buying your copies of my CD, Speakeasy and asking me when the next CD is coming. My goodness, this one is almost two years old already. What with working on the Gennett Mansion for the past two years to restore and preserve that piece of music history, there hasn't been much time for touring. Well that and a brand new knee this past year. However, I am looking forward to a much more active year and getting out there to perform which I love to do. This Friday, I am doing a show here in Richmond at the Leland and really looking forward to that. But Spring is on the way and it is time to get down and jam! If you haven't had a chance to check out some of the great musician friends I have here on my friends page on myspace - please do, there are some mega talented people I get to call friends. Until next time - Keep the faith.

Thank Goodness the new year is here. I want to take a moment to give a personal thanks to all the great friends who were there for me through 2008. There are no words that can adequately express how much you mean to me. When the going got tough your faith and belief in what we are trying to do here in Richmond with the Historic Gennett Home and being a part of this community meant so very much to me.

To say that things are crazy scary for a whole lot of folks out there is to be accused of gross understatement. All I can say is all the song writers ought to have reams of material. Yet, I remain humbled that we are here and that people out there enjoy the music and hearing the performances, mostly of which are at fundraisers for worthy causes that I am honored to participate in. My goals this year are to continue the "battle of the Gennett" much like George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life" fought the fight of Bedford Falls and to perform much more.

This wonderful historic home we are trying to preserve (and which still needs tuck pointing and new windows) is such a treasure to music lovers every where because it is a viable connection to the family who built it and the President of the Starr Piano Company who created Gennett Records. If you don't know about Gennett Records then I encourage you to visit the foundation site at Starr-Gennett.org Much can be said and remains to be said about the importance of independent labels and the Gennetts of the 1920's in particular.

Many blessings to all of you friends and fans alike. Let's rock it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC9ftIE8XRQ

Hello, lovely people. What an amazing crazy time we are witnessing at this moment. The past few weeks have been pretty challenging for everyone concerned and all I can say is continue to have faith, rock on and be kind to one another. Winter is a cruel mistress here in Richmond, much more so than in Baltimore but, thankfully, I get a break from it as I fly from place to place which is good.

A BIG THANK YOU to those new fans who have told the Dragonfly Crew how much they love the CD. I really appreciate each and everyone of you, so much so, that in the spirit of the season, I'm giving a donation of $2 per CD or MP3 to one of 3 non-profits and YOU get to decide.

If you haven't checked them out then go to my website: www.donnageddes.com and look at the links page and wa-la!

Well, gang, I've got Chili to make in the morning to feed a bunch of fine people who are partying here at the Gennett tomorrow night as my guests. I hope to have the web site up to snuff on the Gennett very soon and in the mean time - thanks to all the great feedback from those of you who dig what we are doing here -you know who you are. Chow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2U63fXBlFo

With less than three weeks to go - please take a few moments to listen to Colin Powell's remarks on Meet The Press. Thank you.

Just got back from a great evening spent in the Historic Depot District where they had about 335 Model T's come to the downtown. My buddies - Deep End - were entertaining the crowds in the parking lot of 4th Floor Blues Club and doing themselves justice as usual. Saw many new friends here in Richmond and I have to say I was really excited just to be hanging out - the weather was perfect.

Reading The Mighty and The Almighty by Madeline Albright.

If you collect 78's and in the era of 1918-1927, then you might recognize the name Gennett, Champion or Electrobeam, and if your really good at collecting than you'll even know the color of the labels and who recorded on them. If wax isn't your forte, then allow me to tell you a story....
Once there was a very successful piano manufacturer who lived in Richmond whose name was Henry Gennett. Henry and his father-in-law, John Lumsden, bought a major share in the Starr Piano Factory in 1893. After Lumsden's death in 1897, Mr. Gennett became the president. Henry was an astute business man and looked for opportunity whenever it approached. He employed over 600 craftsman, many of them fine German woodworkers, to make beautiful cabinets for the pianos, and then in the 1910's, the SPF started to make phonographs.
The Starr Piano Factory had piano stores all around the US including Chicago around State Street. Henry decided that his company would produce their own records rather than sell product for the big record companies like Victor and Columbia. You had to sign your own talent and anyone who was established was already with the "big three." So, Gennett got his own. About the same time, jazz had come up river from New Orleans to Chicago and so had Joe Oliver and Louis Armstrong. Yep, the first recording of Mr. Armstrong was in a humid and stuffy shed at one end of the piano factory down in the gorge by the river right here in Richmond, Indiana. And that is just the beginning of it all. You can read more about the amazing legacy of Gennett Records on the Starr-Gennett Foundation website.
So, what does this all have to do with me?
About the same time that I got the chance to start working on my CD, Speakeasy, my husband, Bob, and I happen to visit Richmond for a long weekend. We became enchanted with the place for various reasons and decided we might like to "retire" here as it was close to our children and my family in Kentucky.
We started researching and one day Bob found out that the "mansion" that had belonged to Henry Gennett was up for sale by its out of town owner. We made arrangements to see it, mostly out of curiosity, and the moment we walked in that east side door, we were smitten. The house was in deplorable condition except for, by some miracle, all of the woodwork was somehow unscathed. Those same German furniture makers who had built those fine pianos and phonographs, had hand carved the oak, sycamore and mahogany panels, trims and staircase.
So, here I was with the two biggest dreams of my life coming true at the same time after all, and, well I wasn't going to let go of either one of them.
Thankfully, my husband loves me very much. Although, repairing and restoring the "mansion" has become the central focus of our lives, it hasn't been an easy row to hoe.
And frankly, the CD has taken a back seat to the demands of saving this piece of history and the one really visible part of the Gennett legacy. Over the months that we worked on the house, we decided that the only reasonable thing to do with it, was to bring it back into the community so lots of people could enjoy it. So, if you need to have a party -- I know the place. A yellow brick Colonial Revival with a semi-circular four column portico in the front.
So now you know how we went from Baltimore to Indiana.
And now, that the kitchen is almost done, maybe I can get back to singing again
Cheers.

Well, kinda of a weird category for me to be talking about but from the Portico windows of the Gennett Mansion I have been seeing Model T's driving around all day long - lack of sleep you say - nah, Richmond is hosting the tparty and it's pretty cool. They say over 900 Model T's, some as far away as New Zealand, are in town to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Henry Ford's Tin Lizzie. So, if you are within a day's drive of here, I'd make plans to come on in. Monday night I will be performing Three Cool Cats dressed in Vintage Clothing at the Kulhman Center. Ought to be a good time. Cheers!

Thank you to all you great people out there who bought my CD in 2007. You are really appreciated. I look forward to groovin' with my guys, The Good Man Trio, real soon.