It is a gorgeous day in Chico, CA and we don't have a show tonight, so having a mellow morning with new friends. Last night was a lovely house show in Chico set up by Erin Lizardo -- a great folk artist from these parts. We took turns playing songs with Erin, The Red Ribbon Brigade and a new band called Harlowe and the Great North Woods, who blew us away with their first song -- violin, viola, oboe and five guys singing in harmony... Hoping we have a chance to host all of these folks in Portland some time soon.

We drove to Chico yesterday from Freshwater, CA. It's a gorgeous, curvy drive through the mountains, and I slept through most of it, my head wobbling side to side with each turn. Staying up til 3 in the morning stuffing envelopes a couple nights before we left for tour has meant that both me and my fella are catching up on a lot of sleep in the car. We also forgot our CD player and our car radio only works intermittently, so it has been a very peaceful environment in our car... sometimes to the detriment of wakeful driving : 0 

My band COME GATHER ROUND US been to the Eureka/Arcata area a bunch of times to play, sometimes as part of Eureka ArtsAlive, and sometimes at house shows put on by our good friend Mark in a beautiful, sleepy former hippie commune in Freshwater. Playing at Mosgo's was the first gig I'd played in a venue in Arcata, and it was the first time in solo-artist guise. The local radio station KHUM gave me some hype, which is awesome.  Also Ray, the booker at Mosgo's, booked a local teenage phenom to open the show, and she brought loads of devoted friends. So it was a packed house, and I really enjoyed it. Great sound too.

Day before, we'd rushed into an in-store at CD world in Eugene right when we were supposed to start playing. There were a few folks there waiting -- the crowd swelled to 10 at a highpoint -- and the sound guy had never done sound before, so we got started with only a touch of blood curdling feedback to prepare peeps for the mellow folk we were bringing. It is often hard to get an atmosphere going under the harsh fluorescent lighting of the a music store, and this was no exception. The people were super nice, but we only sold 2 CDs, and apparently, we have to get in touch with them at some point in the future to receive the rich $14 recompense for our performance :  )  

I was lucky to have met a fella named John a month or two back (when playing the bike music festival) who lives at the Sheila Jackson Coop on campus in Eugene, so we had a nice place to stay with a huge communal kitchen. Supplemented some delicious roasted veggies brought from our garden (eggplant, green pepper) with brown rice and delicious morrocan lentils we found in the fridge - yum yum yum. Also some marionberry pie from Shari's.

Driving part of the way to San Luis Obispo a little later today, and we hope to find a grotty roadside motel to hole away in for the evening... hoping for a movie of the week...

Howdy!

Catherine, here : ) Hope you are all sucking the marrow out of the last days of summer... I have news that will facilitate marrow-sucking:

My new album is available! Exclusively on my newly updated web site! Check it out:

CatherineFeeny.com

Listen to it while you eat tomatoes or while away a lazy afternoon on the front porch... in the shower, the car... it's versatile. 

I am so excited to finally make it available to you.

Enjoy! and thanks for your support : )

Cheers,
Catherine

hey friends, 

for those of you who have become fans of my  other project COME GATHER ROUND US, the album is available from CDBaby.com. 

thanks for supporting independent music!

xx

catherine

hello, 

we are back from our west coast tour and trying to settle back into life at home... it is not easy, when you have met such lovely people and had so many magical experiences a-travelling in your blue deluxe volvo.

i find myself missing many new friends... we started in raymond, washington with the Probascos (awesome! many thanks for the hand decorated recording of the live show)   and headed south, meeting up with Mark in Freshwater, playing again for Mike at KMUD in Eureka... for those of you who do not know, this was the debut tour of COME GATHER ROUND US and we were fortunate enough to have Mike Danner, songwriter and accordian-player extrordinaire, along for the first weeks of the adventure. Fie, but I almost forgot the bike house in Ashland,OR -- we arrived somewhat unexpectedly at your front door, and were welcomed with fruit cobbler and listening ears. Thanks also to Jerit at kskq who had us in the studio in Ashland to play.

mike's friend artemis set us up in san francisco at Venusian Gardens west, where we played to warm group under neon jellyfish created by Eric Ehlenberger (http://www.ehlenberger.com/). thanks, artemis, for making monday night a pleasure : ) 

re-visited kelly and her grandmother in los altos, and kelly, i think i accidentally picked up your lipstick, which was exactly like mine, it's called black honey or something like that? sorry! i can send it back, hardly used.

thanks to our friend soda, we made new friends with willy tea  and bethany and the gang in knights ferry (and surrounding areas) -- willy has made his barn into an awesome, intimate venue, and rarely have i met a community more in love with music. check out willy tea's music, he is a helluva songwriter.

oh wait, he doesn't have his solo stuff up, so write him an message and ask him why not. or, check out his band the good luck thrift store outfit.

we visited alex and the gang at cal poly tech in san luis obispo, and though they dropped the ball a little bit planning the show, they promised it would be different next time : ) i hope so. at least they fed us vegetables. 

let's see, from there we went to los angeles... where jeff put on a KILLER show for us. thank you! living room shows big cities can be tough, but jeff, being the nice and down to earth person that he is, made sure there were plenty of folks like him to listen to our music. that's where we met missy, who set up this amazing fan page for CGRU:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2416703432&ref=ts

then we went did a 22 hour drive to austin for sxsw. and then we drove 22 hours back. there was stuff in between the two drives but that is for another, possibly less genial, blog : ) 

ok now i am getting super hungry, so i have to quite writing this blog and go eat. but i still have to tell you about san diego, phoenix, albuquerque, colorado springs, denver, mountain home and boise idaho, and la grande oregon... will be back asap

xx

c 

  

hi friends,

playing with my new band COME GATHER ROUND US at the hotel cafe tonight in Los Angeles! if you are in the area, please come on down!

9pm
hotel cafe
1623 1/2 cahuenga blvd.
$8

thanks!
xx
c

hey monkeys,

lots of people on the robyn hitchcock tour asked about my new album, and why it's not out yet, and when it will be out, etc. etc... i wanted to explain a bit about what's going on, what has gone on and what will be going on...

the record has been mainly done for quite a while now. i was super anxious to get it out quickly when we finished it... it is so exciting for people to hear the new work that you are doing, the new discoveries you've made, the ideas and sounds you're exploring. i have been pretty fortunate so far, but this is a symptom of what is wrong with the music business -- i know folks who have been signed to major labels for 2 years and not had an album released. constipation does not promote creativity.

though they had nothing to do with the making of the record, i was signed to EMI when i finished the record, so they had the option to put it out. i delivered 12 or so tracks, none of which they'd paid for, and they liked what they heard but wanted more tracks. then they were acquired and the people that i worked with began to be laid off. my manager and i pushed the folks in charge to let us know if they'd be putting out the record, and they said, "No."

at that point i had a finished record that had been made on goodwill -- none of the players or studio time had been paid for. and i was in a quandary. we'd spent a reasonable amount of money for a major label, and at one time even an indie, but by this point the economy was struggling, and so was the record business. i was reluctant to sign to another major, and it seemed unlikely that an independent label would be able to pay for the record.

so i've fielded offers, and talked to lots of people. i've had a few songs in TV shows recently, which is a big help. i was in negotiations with a company which in the end wanted to be able to mix the singles off of my record in any way they saw fit (without need for my approval). i won't agree to that, on the simplest level, because it hurts to hear your music and not like the way it sounds. i don't want success at any cost, sales at any cost -- i want to put good, quality music out into the world that makes it a more livable place. i want to be proud of the way in which i am represented. and let's face it, that is not always an easy thing in any business.

so i am still talking to people and figuring out the best way to move forward. you certainly will hear the record that i have made with the help of many talented friends, and it will be heard the way in which it was intended to be heard. keep checking in with me -- it won't be too much longer now. honest : )

thanks friends

xx
c

hey folks,

my band COME GATHER ROUND US is looking to play a house show in the Santa Barbara area on friday march 13. we think it is a lucky day. contact me if you're interested.

thanks,
c

Hey hey, writing from mikE d's iPhone. Still getting the hang of it... Don't know how to post a show from the road, but wanted to let folks know my band COME GATHER ROUND US is playing at willy tea's tea farm in escalon, ca on tuesday, march 10. If you look up willy tea, he can give u details. Cheers and more soon x x c

hey hey hey,

just back from the uk, hanging out at jfk airport in nyc -- last minute tickets means long layovers : ( but long layovers means time to blog : )

what a great tour -- robyn is hilarious and wonderful, his band was fantastic, and the audiences were LOV-erly. and aside from the bury shenanigans, we found our way around pretty well : ) have a video of me and robyn singing one of his songs together (i am audible, but not visible) will put it up when i have a min.

about to get out on the virgin tour of my band COME GATHER ROUND US -- we are doing living rooms on the west coast of the US. check out our tunes, www.myspace.com/comegatherroundus.

we are looking to play a show in the Medford/Ashland areas... know anyone? we will be travelling as a 3-piece, we will come to your home and play a magical intimate show for you and your family and friends. contact me if you are interested or if you have any suggestions.

thanks peeps!

more soon,
xx c

Hi all - this is an apology to everyone who is going to see Catherine in Bury this evening - unfortunately Catherine has had to cancel her appearance at the Met in Bury with Robyn Hitchcock because, well, we wont lie - she set off for Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, not Bury near Manchester, and is too far away to make the show in time.

Catherine is really, really sorry for this, and hopes that you will still enjoy the show - Catherine will make it up to you!

Regards,

Ben