FarWest, MEOW & Little Bird

Aside from governmental wranglings, I hope you're enjoying this time of year as much as I am: Indian Summer is in full effect here in the SF Bay Area, birds are migrating and I'm just about ready to release Little Bird, the new 11-song CD I worked on much of the past year with producer, arranger and maestro extraordinare Art Khu. The CD is getting replicated as I write this (!) and the official release date is November 5. Woo-hoo! I'm really happy with how it sounds and how it looks (Harper Design Group did the graphics -see the cover above) and I'm that much more pleased and excited to get it into your hands. You can pre-order it HERE or find it at one of the shows later in the month.  

In the meantime, I've been enjoying the approaching season by playing lots of music around the Bay Area, at private functions and at home while gearing up for some travel this month to two talent-packed conferences.
First up, is the Far-West Folk Alliance Conference in Irvine. I'll be at the conference Oct. 11-12, playing a bunch of PGS rooms and soaking up all the other voices  who will be singing, playing and otherwise sharing their musical selves. Give a shout if you'll be there.
Two weeks later, I'm heading to one of my favorite cities, Austin, Texas, to perform at MEOW Con Oct. 24-26. The brainchild of music pioneer Carla DeSantis Black, who also founded the late-great RockerGirl Magazine, MEOW stands for Musicians For Equal Opportunities For Women, and is dedicated to addressing "the needs and challenges of women in the music industry today and to esnure women have a voice at every level of their music career." Thanks Carla!
And thank YOU for your interest in and appreciation for original music. There's a lot of shows coming up and I hope to see you at one or more of them.  www.deborahcrooks.com

ASCAP, Souls & Sessions

Silverlake mural

Last week was a packed few days of yoga practice and the ASCAP EXPO in Southern California. Encinitas and LA were sunny and happy in all respects. ASCAP was, as in prior experiences, a great mix of networking, know-how and inspiration. I caught up with songwriter friends, received some nice feedback and even heard a fabulous talk by Carly Simon. I had not fully appreciated Simon's career until hearing this recap of all her hits and overview of her rich and varied career in music. Slim, composed and still in full voice, she spoke candidly about the auspicious beginnings of her career, the stammer that plagued her confidence and ultimately helped her find her singing voice and her writing process. She's a true artist!

Oakland Symphony premier of Art Khu's Symphony of Souls

I flew home with just enough time to get to the Paramount Theater to witness the premier performance of Ark Khu's Symphony of Souls by the Oakland East Bay Symphony. It's no secret in the Bay Area and in jazz circles that Art is an amazing musician. I've been extremely fortunate to know him as well as have some of his piano and guitar playing on several of my CDs. Seeing this premier just confirmed to the world how great he really is. There were two premiers during the program, "Notes from the Philippines," one by Khu and another by Victor Noriega, and both were met with standing ovations as well as enthusiasm from conductor and musical director Michael Morgan. Along with a Cello Concerto by Dvorak and an overture taken from Mendelssohn, it truly was a great night of music for East Bay symphony goers.

Being surrounded by other songwriters and composers for three days is motivating to say the least. I was glad to have a session scheduled Saturday after all this musical richness. Half of a very beautiful sunny day Saturday was spent in the studio recording basic tracks for a couple of new songs. The next project has begun!

Bass, drums & coffee

LA & NYC Postcard 1

I've been running around too much to write a decent post. Which is no excuse but there you have it. So some bits from the LA-NYC experience thus far:
Shout-outs to ASCAP for putting on a friendly helpful convention, as well as Rynda for putting me up, Pasckie for booking me at Viento y Agua & Tribal Cafe (two extremely groovy, friendly gigs), & Raw Revolution for feeding me and the audience. It was added bonus to see a lot of my SF peeps in LA. Billy & Cara had new Cds, Rick&Aireen are nearly there....yahoo. New York has been a bit no- brakes til today. I pretty much landed, got the lowdown from Karen on her apartment, slept a couple hours and got up for the beginning of a week of R. Sharath's yoga tour, & to meet a trio of cool cats in the guise of a Brooklyn guitarist, East Village drummer and Sag Harbor bass player in Brooklyn. Ready, set go, to Googie's where I had opportunity to both play, and then listen to the two very swell artists who preceded and followed me. Michaela Ann & Adam Klein, check 'em out. More workshop (which I'm definitely feeling) & more work, I played tourist Wednesday: post-practice coffee from one of my favorite baristas at Abraco, then the Natural History Museum & Central Park, for butterflies, dinosaur bones and Strawberry Fields...dinner with yoga friends made in India...no, it's not a complete vacation. But it's close and it's definitely New York.