Folklife has asked me to be ‘Community Coordinator’ for singer/songwriters at this year’s festival, a task which—after all requisite cat-herding jokes—I have enthusiastically embraced.  What makes songwriter music different from anything else one might encounter at the festival (and one can certainly encounter most everything else here!) is that it is original music, so rather than host a performance of select individuals for my community’s ‘show,’ my crack-coalition has created events in the form of open, unamplified Emerald City Song Circles where anyone is welcome to share an original song (just as anyone is welcome to just come and listen!). Our hope is that this becomes a recurring way to celebrate local songwriting, and I think we’re well on our way. (I also had a normal set...and ended up on a TV promo from the local FOX affiliate...)

Kinda nice to run the full outfit out there on a stage with some elbow-room.  And a few choice prop-room finds really tied the set together...

Backing Nancy K. Dillon (good friend) and the UK’s Ian Lang (fast becoming good friend) tonight—sideman gigs don’t usually make it onto here (don’t know what I’d say in a dozen annual Reilly & Maloney entries...), but this one was so fun and new that it made the self-indulgent cut.

Excited that Crossroads is trying a songwriters in-the-round format with one of its weekend dates, and can’t think of a better group with which to (half-)circle than Messrs. Larry Murante (New CD!), Orville Johnson, & Brad Warren—though, if the format sticks and Crossroads wants to do this again (I hope it does!...judging from several comments, folk dig it), we’ll have to get a female or two involved!

Victory Music has long been a custodian of and presence in the local acoustic music community, and for the first time in quite a while it has released a new compilation of works from Northwest songwriters and artists: A Northwest Acoustic Celebration (Vols. 1 & 2).  My tune “Carry On” appears on Vol. 1, so I’m joining many of the stellar other artists for a release concert tonight.  Nice hall, nice crowd, and always fun to drag Erin along—the Vol. 2 concert’ll be April 17!

It just works here.  You wouldn’t think it would, but it does.  And I love it!  Good place to road-test some new tunes and keep the organization’s efforts humming.

Joining Joe Jencks at the last minute for a pleasant gathering to kick off 2009 with potluck and song!