Dear Myspace,

Hi, remember me?

I haven't checked you in a while, Myspace.  Are you mad at me?  I've been hanging out with your rival, Facebook.  Sorry about that.  Well...actually I'm not really sorry at all.  I don't like the company you keep, Myspace...what with the ne'er-do-wells, porn stars, and MLM spammers.  It's like a frat party or something.  But I like your music player.  So I'm back.  I updated the Music Player with my album in its (almost) entirety.  I hope that makes you feel good for a little while.  In the meantime, I'll be over on Facebook.  Bye.

Best Regards,
Debra

So...there's this contest going on right now at Mormontimes.com. (An online news source for us Mo Mos.) I have entered my song Across Oceans. The winner gets $5000. That's a lot of cash...cash that could be the difference between creating a new album or not creating a new album. Would you consider voting for me? Here is the direct link:

http://music.mormontimes.com/contest.php?nocache=1


Now, they won't let you vote unless you have an account with the site, but it's free and it takes like 2 seconds to sign up.

• You just click the Need An Account? Sign up Here link at the top right side of the page.

• Create an account.

• And then vote.

If you're ok with that...please consider voting. (You can vote once a day when you've registered.) You don't have to be Mormon to vote and have an account. I don't care if you cancel your account after you vote. I know some of you have expressed interest in a new album and have wondered how I could speed the process along...this is it. The contest will choose 4 finalists for each month for the next three months. Mine will end Dec. 15th. At the end of the three months, those 12 semi-finalists will compete. The top three get cash prizes.

Thanks for your continual support.

Much Love,
Debra

Hi Cyber Friends,

I just posted Parisian Air, both on my listening profile and on my Snocap player.  You can download the song from Snocap for 99 cents!  You can also get a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy's for 99 cents so I like to think they're roughly equal.  If you're not in the mood for a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, then hopefully you're in the mood to buy this song. 

Much Love.

P.S.  I just barely posted them both, so if they're not up yet, give it a little while and it should pop up. 

If you're avid in the Utah blogging world, you may be aware of a tragedy that occurred a week or so ago. The author of a very popular blog, The Nie Nie Dialogues, aka Stephanie Clark Nielson, and her husband, Christian, were in a private plane crash. They are in critical condition in a burn unit in AZ. The recovery will cost millions of dollars. (Please go here to read details of the situation and to find out more about the Nielsons.) Their four young children are staying with family members while they recover, which may take months.

I've never met Stephanie or Christian. I only heard about the situation because I'm a regular lurker on Stephanie and her siblings' blogs. Though I don't know her, Stephanie's positivity and creativity have deeply affected the way I view marriage and motherhood. Her positive attitude has influenced the way I handle situations on a daily basis. Isn't that what we're trying to achieve as artists? Whether we're writers, painters, songwriters, musicians, photographers...shouldn't that be our highest goal? To better a life through something we've created. Stephanie has inspired that goal in me.

Bloggers all over the blogosphere are joining together and offering items for auction to benefit the Nielson's recovery fund. (Maroon 5 has even joined in!) So, I'm offering my own little auction. Here are the two items I am offering:

1--The Package:

• An autographed copy of my self-titled album
• An autographed copy of the little eight song acoustic demo I used to sell
• An autographed compilation disc of everything I've ever written that is not included on the first two discs. (Unless the winner wants some acoustic versions of songs from the first album.)
  
• An autographed 18x24 DF gig poster. (I have extras that I need to get rid of.) :)
  
• DF bookmarks

2-- The Concert (for Utah residents only)

Ok, here's how it works.

To bid on this item, go to my blog on my website at www.debrafotheringham.com and click on the Journal tab. Enter your amount in the comments below my entry.  Be sure to check the comments already made and bid higher than the current bid. Check back to continue bidding: I will not notify previous bidders. I anticipate that bidding will close on Thursday, September 4th at 10 p.m. (MST). I will post the winning bid on the blog and make every reasonable effort to contact the winning bidder via e-mail. The winner will then make a Pay Pal donation to the Nielson fund, email me their receipt, and I will ship the item to the winner or make arrangements for the concert.

100% of the proceeds will go directly to the Nielson family recovery fund. Shipping will be paid by me. Please bid in increments of dollars (no cents). Let's start the bidding for The Package at $40.  The Concert at $100.

Today my newest song, Parisian Air, is available for listen exclusively at this website:
Three Winks Studio website

A few months ago I played at a house concert in Draper. After the show I got an email from someone who'd seen the show and enjoyed the ONE song I'd played so much that she wanted to use some of my music on her website. It turns out that this person, Stacy Young, is one of the most talented photographers I've ever seen. Stacy is seriously amazing. The photo I have up now on my profile is a result of a photo shoot she and I did a little while ago.  I will post an album of more from that shoot shortly. Stacy's work blows my mind. Her colors are so vibrant. You can see more of her work and read a little bit about the song release on her blog
http://threewinksstudio.wordpress.com/

Go take a listen!

This has been a very exciting weekend for me. On Friday I was informed that I was selected as one of the Top Ten finalists at Telluride's Rocky Mtn. Folks Festival. They have a songwriter showcase each year. Ten songwriters perform and a winner is chosen. The winner gets to play the main stage the next year. If you haven't heard of this Fest, it's one of the biggest in the country...or probably the world for that matter. A few artists I respect very much are headlining this year: KT Tunstall, Patty Griffin, and Nanci Griffith...as well as last year's winner Sarah Sample (she used to be a local). Check out www.bluegrass.com for more info on the Fest. Anywho, I'm extremely excited.

Also, a friend of mine, Sandra Tayler, has just published a fantastic children's book I think you should take a look at. It's called Hold on to Your Horses. It's a story about a little girl whose creative ideas run wild and constantly get her into trouble. Her mother comes up with an imaginative way to help her reign her ideas in. I know a lot of high energy, highly creative kids who can definitely relate. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and Sandra and Angela Call (the illustrator) have given you two options for owning this book. You can download a free PDF of the book in the website (linked above) OR you can buy a copy of the book there as well. To truly do these fantastic drawings justice, I think you'll want to own it.

One of the things I love about what I do is how many people from the artistic community I get to meet and create friendships with. I think we should all share in our creativity.

I loves me some sweet Joo-lye in the mornin'. Tomorrow (the 3rd) I will be playing at Provo's Freedom Festival. This will be my...let me calculate...seventh or eighth straight year playing the Festival. I think it was one of the first shows I ever played back when I was young, bright eyed, and bushy tailed. (Oh, and I had mermaid braids and I wore one of my mom's flower shirts from the 60's. Good times.) The Fest IS summer for me. I don't know how I'd survive without the smell of toasted almonds and funnel cake. And the heat...oh the heat.

Independence Day is on Friday, in case you didn't know. (Pssst. It's the same as the 4th of July. I know, weird, huh?) I have many veterans in my life to thank for the freedom to smell toasted almonds and funnel cake...and wear bad wardrobe choices on stage. My mom's dad was a pilot in WWII and was shot down over Germany when she was six months old. My mom's stepdad (who I always knew as Grandpa) also served. I have a brother-in-law in the Air National Guard, cousins in the Navy, and many other friends and acquaintances who are serving or have served this country. This country is a phenomenon and you make it possible. Thank you. Sincerely. Thank you.

So...twice this weekend I had percussion gigs with Mindy Gledhill and Stephanie Smith respectively. (For those of you unaware, in addition to my singer/songwriter thing...sometimes I also work as a percussionist for hire for other singer/songwriters.) And twice this weekend, I thought that since I was just doing percussion, I wouldn't need to bring very many CDs to the gigs. (I always bring a few, just in case.) And twice...I didn't have enough CDs for people who wanted them. You'd think I would have learned my lesson the first night. Nope. So, I apologize to those of you who were disappointed. I am an idiot.

I've been sick this week and it's made it difficult to sing...which has again made me aware of just how much I actually sing during any given day. A lot. Seriously people, I never shut up. I had ask my boyfriend to remind me to stop singing so my voice/throat could heal. He had to remind me like every two seconds.

Also, I've got a show coming up at Velour in Provo. See the News page for details. I love summer.

...was awesome.  I'm not a big fan of California in general, but if someone offered to sell me a big bottle of Cali weather I would say, "Yes, please."  The show at the House of Blues with Stephanie Smith was quite awesome.  The house was packed.  The lights were low.  The booze ran freely like a bacchanalian revel.  I quietly sipped my vintage bottle of Arrowhead water c. 2008.  Steph turned to me, her own bottle of water in hand, and said, "I feel like we're the mathletes at the cool kids party."  The show itself was fantastic.

We spent one luxurious morning on a secluded beach in a cove in Laguna.  The stretch of sand was maybe 100 yards across.  Besides the six in our traveling party, there were maybe ten other people.  It was mah-velous.  I was sitting there slow-roasting my feet (something I discovered later) when someone spotted a pod of wild dolphins just off the shore, dipping and diving in the surf.  Magical.

I finished my new song and I will play it at my next show.  I'm already working on another.

I just did an email interview with M Ryan Taylor, a proud American Forker who moderates the website that's all about A.F.  www.youramericanfork.com
He asks some great questions and I go into a little more detail than I usually do.  If you'd like to read, the direct link is here.

P.S.  I also have like twelve pages of friend requests which I haven't gotten to yet.  If you're waiting, thanks for your patience.  It's not that I don't love you and want to be your BFF, I promise.