Welcome Back

Why welcome back folks. I do believe it's been some time. Since we met up last we were catching up on the East Coast Tour > Goin South to Texas. Which basically equaled the month of january. So February was a month to be HOME.

What looked like to be a month of rest and catching up was anything but...
There was a week in February where I couldn't say No. Which meant the week before that was filled with a bunch of press and promotion which I truly love.
We'll start our story in the beginning of the week itself, which actually starts on a saturday.

Saturday I was asked to MC a Music Recital at the Mall of America by a women who told me she was a friend of my old piano teacher. It was  for MMTA "Minnesota Music Teachers Association" www.mnmusicteachers.com/musiclink in conjunction with the Music Link Foundation. www.musiclinkfoundation.org. It was a lot of fun to see the little ones play piano and some of them even sang. It reminded me of when I was younger. It was fun to watch the people walking by at the mall. Fun to watch as they got closer the the music almost every single person's faced SMILED.
Music has such an effect on us as people. So cool to continually witness.

Sunday Night I got to meet back up with my friends from the SMILE NETWORK www.smilenetwork.org and Jason Davis from "on the road with Jason Davis"
It was an evening of music and giving and sharing. The night started with Elizabeth Kupchella, singing and looping her voice while her acoustic guitar played underneath. www.reverbnation.com/eliabethkupchellamusic
Then I went up and sang and told some stories. Which was followed by them airing Jason Davis' On the Road. The special which told the story of our trip down to Mexico with the SMILE NETWORK.
All the proceeds of the evening were donated to SMILE for future surgeries. Thanks to all who came out!
Here's the link to Jason's episode " SMILES FROM MINNESOTA"
www.kstp.com/article/stories/S3319429.shtml

Monday was a benefit for the Southdale YMCA.  My friend Paul Peterson gave a call and said you wanna play a fundraiser at the Dakota? He then told me who the band was going to be.....
Paul Peterson on vocals and bass, Patty Peterson on vocals, Eric Leeds on sax, Cory Wong on guitar, Jay Corkran on drums, Kevin Gastonguay on keys. He then says Larry Braggs the lead singer from Tower of Power will be there as well. I said Yes and yes and yes...

It was a very fruitful evening, thanks to all who came out and thanks to All for being so generous.

Tuesday was one of the only days we could squeeze in at the studio. So D Nau and I got to work..
Very excited to share with you ALL the completed version of MAKE HOPE...HEY NOW!

Wednesday was back on the train, we met up with our friends from TCL at the Happy Gnome in St.Paul. A little behind the music for ya'll the Happy Gnome is where we used to play every Wednesday Night before the VOICE.

So Emily and I went live at 3:24 to announce Nicholas David and the Feelin Band will be playin a free show at the Happy Gnome that night. We only asked if folks would bring a food donation or a coat for the salvation army. I know it's been cold all around. But it's been extra cold in Minnesota. So the folks that don't have homes or shelter have been extra cold.

Before we knew it, it was show time. Super fun to be back. The hours flew by and we threw down some grooves. What a blast!

special thanks to kristi flad for the pic. Before we knew it the show was done. I went and said hello to the folks, started to pack up and then went over to the merch table and this is what I saw...

I remember thinking why did we bring so many boxes of t-shirts for tonight's show? My mom then tells me all those boxes are filled with coats the good people of Minnesota brought a bunch of coats! 5 Boxes plus a couple extra coats a bag of food and $ 10 cash. All that GOOD in a span of roughly 7 hours! Thank you thank you folks for practicing what you preach, it is truly inspiring. So happily and very excited I took the goods to the salvation army and they very happily accepted the donation and very happily posed for a picture..

There was a couple days worth of using music as a vehicle to make change in our own community.

Thank you to all you  helped, who contributed, who shared their time, who shared their gifts.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. 

We'll see you on the road.

Peace and Many Many Thanks