What a year it has been! We began 2008 with the release of our second duo CD, a moment we surely thought would never come. What started as a fleeting and unassuming morning in the studio in celebration of Leela's birthday ended in a powerful musical collaboration and a now-celebrated recording project. And we are ending 2008 by rejoicing the momentous occasion that we have worked for and dreamed of for so long: the election of Barack Obama as President. We spent 2008 touring the country in support of our new CD and encouraging people to join together, to speak out, to reclaim hope. . . "We will join together one by one until a drop becomes a flood!" This is the story of 2008--a drop has truly become a flood, in our own lives and for our country.
Now we know just what you are thinking as you read this. . . "Boy, I wish I could have that quote from Leela and Ellie's song plastered across my chest on a stylish and attractive black and white t-shirt." Did we read your mind or what? Now, we may not be Santa Claus or even his little elves, but we can grant you this one wish. As we have hinted in newsletters past, we do, in fact, have a limited edition Leela and Ellie Grace t-shirt that, hitherto, has only been available at our live performances. To honor this year of change and, nearly as importantly, to help you with your holiday shopping, our t-shirt is now available for purchase on our website! We encourage you to go check out the shirts soon--there are a limited number and once they are gone, they are gone. While you are visiting our online store, take note of the special sale we are offering on our CDs for this holiday season (The Leela and Ellie Grace Economic Stimulus Package). To help make your gift giving more affordable this year, we have reduced the price of our CDs to only $14 apiece (the lowest price ever) from now until December 31st! We would be honored if you shared our music with your friends and family.
Now that you have your holiday shopping all taken care of, you have a little extra time on your hands to do some light reading. We were thrilled to be featured in an article in the October/November issue of Dirty Linen, a national folk and world music magazine. This article and the accompanying review of Where the Waters Run, are now available for you to read at this link on our website.
After a wonderful year of touring (our busiest to date), we are excited to stay closer to our respective homes for the winter and spread music and dance in our local communities. Leela will have some solo appearances in Portland and will be teaching banjo through Artichoke Music. Also keep an eye on the "Teaching" page on our website as she will also be offering dance and harmony singing classes. All the way across the country in Western North Carolina, Ellie is teaching a Cape Breton dance troupe (Twistycuffs) and preparing them for an upcoming major performance. She will also be appearing regionally with her all-female, old-time trio (Blue Eyed Girl), singing with a small world music choir, and offering percussive dance classes. We hope you will stay in touch with us as we nestle in for the winter. Keep an eye on our online calendar to find out where and when we are each performing and teaching. You can find us all over the world wide web. . . on our website, MySpace, Facebook, CDBaby, iTunes, YouTube, and anywhere else that Google finds our names and faces.
We wish you a peaceful and joyful winter season. After a year like 2008, we are excited to find out what 2009 has in store. . .
Peace,
Ellie and Leela Grace