Watch: Deborah Crooks | Brand New Video for "Wishing Tree" - Pint of Soul

Announcing the release of the video for one of my newest songs,"Wishing Tree!" I wrote "Wishing Tree" after coming upon several such trees in the Bay Area (like this one in Port Costa, left). 

"A wish tree is an individual tree, usually distinguished by species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. By tradition, believers make votive offerings in order to gain from that nature spirit, saint or goddess fulfillment of a wish."

"Wishing Tree" is part autobiography and part wish for everyone to breakthrough oppression, be happy and free.
 Shot by Pint of Soul at Amado's in San Francisco in January, the song features Art Khu on piano, Kwame Copeland on dobro, and Kim Xuan Nguyen on bass. Let me know what you think, and please share!




 

Bay Station "Go Out and Make Some" Tour Recap

I wrapped up the Bay Station Duo Go Out and Make Some Spring Tour with Kwame Copeland a couple days ago. Wowza. Over the past three+ weeks, we drove more than 6000 miles to play 22 shows in 15 states (including two double-days, one radio station, and (at least) one former brothel). We crossed the Mississippi River multiple times, skirted the base of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, and landed in the Mojave Desert. We ate tacos in New Mexico, hush puppies in Louisiana and fresh fruit pie wherever we could get it. Along the way, we happily gained a sense of the local music scenes in Nashville and San Antonio, connected with fellow touring artists in Dallas and Atlanta, and resumed old friendships in Austin and Chapel Hill. It was great to share our music with new ears, and get that much more inspired. Travel to different corners of the US is simply eye-opening.

Indeed, we experienced a sampler plate of what half the country has to offer: it's good, bad and ugly, red and blue. We were treated with the South's trademark charm while being constantly reminded of its oppressive and violent history. We talked to committed and aggrieved voters in Arizona, played the "only blue county" in Kansas, and were subjected to the gamut of political billboards in Missouri and Texas.

Mostly, we felt very fortunate to have music as our compass through such varied terrain, as it led us toward many warm-hearted and generous souls. I now feel much like I did when I finished a ride on the Big Dipper during childhood summer excursions to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: "when can we go again?"

While I figure that out, we’ve a whole bunch of fun shows lined up around the San Francisco Bay Area during the next few weeks. Find my schedule and Bay Station's, at our sites:

www.deborahcrooks.com

www.baystationband.com

Songwriters in the Round at The Octopus Literary Salon March 16, 2016 with Annie Bacon, Maurice Tani, Matt Langlois and Deborah Crooks

The second of a new series featuring Bay Area and touring music artists. This month features:
Annie Bacon
www.anniebacon.me/
Matt Langlois
http://welcomemattsf.com/
Maurice Tani
www.mauricetani.com/
host Deborah Crooks
www.deborahcrooks.com

The Octopus is a literary salon,* re-interpreted in the 21st Century to engage and entertain readers, writers, musicians, artists of all ages in Uptown Oakland, California. The Octopus Literary Salon includes a most excellent café with delicious food, beer & wine, a small-scale specialty used and new bookstore (we sell used records too!), and a space for public readings and discussions as well as other literary spontaneity and, of course music performance.

Bay Station (nee KCDC) "Go Out And Make Some" Celebration in Alameda

I'm excited to report that Bay Station (nee KCDC) is getting ready to release Go Out And Make Some, a diverse mix of 11 new Americana songs about love, lust, sandy beaches, dusty roads, wandering holy men, wolf birds and more. Recorded at Lost Monkey Studio in Hayward, CA,  Kwame Copeland and myself co-produced Go Out and Make Some with Mike Stevens, who also served as mixing and recording engineer, and played drums. Andrew Gibson (bass) and Steve Waters (guitar, backing vocals), round out the band and will all be playing live at the upcoming Bay Area shows. The tunes were mastered by Ken Lee in Oakland, CA, and artist Alicia Buelow designed the CD. We're excited to share it with you!

Please join us as we celebrate the release with a live show at The Fireside in Alameda, CA, on February 20, 2016. ​​1453 Webster Street, Alameda, CA 94501. We go on at 9pm. Plus our blue-rocking friends, The Dirty, will be sharing the evening. No cover!

If you'd like to join the Bay Station mailing list, please visit our site and Facebook pages for news about our upcoming shows and tour. 

Bay Station | baystationband@gmail.com | www.baystationband.com

 

Songwriters in the Round at Oakland's The Octopus Literary Salon, January 20, 2016

A new series at this heart-of-Oakland center for the arts! Every other month, featuring Bay Area and touring artists playing their music in the round. January's lineup is great!:

Melissa Phillips (with James DePrato)
www.melissaphillipsmusic.com/
Michael McNevin
www.michaelmcnevin.com/
Paul Griffiths
www.paulgriffithsmusic.com
host Deborah Crooks
www.deborahcrooks.com

The Octopus is a literary salon,* re-interpreted in the 21st Century to engage and entertain readers, writers, musicians, artists of all ages in Uptown Oakland, California. The Octopus Literary Salon includes a most excellent café with delicious food, beer & wine, a small-scale specialty used and new bookstore (we sell used records too!), and a space for public readings and discussions as well as other literary spontaneity and, of course music performance.

Desert Postcard: A week in the Mojave

Moonlight Mesa under the sun.

A visit to Radio Free Joshua Tree

Another sunrise

Joshua Tree is beginning to feel like a home away from home. Sunrise, sunset, ravens, rabbits, writing, singing, playing and strolling the desert mesas and trails is good for the soul. I'm so grateful for this piece of land and sky. 
As most areas of beauty in these times, there's careful balance to be struck between conservation and recreation. You can find out more about the hard-won, and always in need of protection, California Desert Conservation Area via The Center for Biological Diversity.

Hawk Hill Gypsy

One of my favorite 'reset' buttons is getting up to Hawk Hill in Marin County every couple weeks as a volunteer for Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. A 360-degree view of the Bay Area will put nearly everything back in perspective (plus helping track the Golden Gate Raptor migration not only restores my wonder but allows me to utilize some of my college-accredited field & ornithological skills). After a very full, long, fun weekend of music at FAR-West, I was back on the Hawk Hill Monday. Yesterday, our hours of counting were capped off by the release of a Red-Tail Hawk dubbed 'Gypsy' who will be tracked via Telemetry for clues on just how hawk spend their time. Hawk migration season runs into early December. Get up on the hill if you can! And find out more about GGRO at http://www.parksconservancy.org/programs/ggro/

A photo posted by Deborah Crooks (@deborahrcrooks) on Oct 19, 2015 at 4:31pm PDT

Then today I heard a great broadcast on NPR, with Terry Gross talking to wildlife photographer Gerrit Vyn and essayist Scott Weidensaul about some of the remarkable abilities of birds. Vyn and Weidensaul contributed to a new book about North American birds. Flights Of Fancy: Exploring The Songs And Pathways Of 'The Living Bird' http://n.pr/1KkI1HW

The Living Bird: 100 Years of Listening to Nature, by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Gerrit Vyn, Barbara Kingsolver, Scott Weidensaul and Lyanda Lynn Haupt

 

Indie Rock, Twang & Twilight: October 24 at The Starry Plough Berkeley, w/ Laura Benitez & the Heartache

Two female-fronted acts take the stage on this autumn evening, sharing original songs of love, life, and the pursuit of damn good whiskey.
 

Laura Benitez and the Heartache use the three chord tools of country music to tell the simple, unvarnished truth about love, too much whiskey, and the call of the road. Their songs range from honky-tonk shuffles to rock 'n' roll numbers to sweet old time waltzes, and cover everything from unwed motherhood ("Me or the Baby") to mean drunks ("Don't Wake the Devil"), with a whole lot of heartbreak in between. Their twangy honesty shines through in straightforward arrangements, crystalline harmonies, and spare instrumentation. Beware their catchy hooks and sweet melodies - these stray puppy tunes will follow you home and become your most steadfast companions. www.laurabenitezandtheheartache.com

California songwriter Deborah Crooks' lyric driven and soul-wise music draws on folk, rock, and Americana and is often compared to Lucinda Williams and The Cowboy Junkies. Her music ventures into everything from funk and reggae to rock and blues, reflecting her expansive and eclectic tastes, a sound which has evolved over her years studying writing and poetics at The Naropa Institute, voice with Chloe Goodchild and Mysore V. Amba Prasad (India), and cowriting and collaborating with her Bay Area peers. She’s released three CDs and several EPs of critically noted original music, including 2015’s Something Special, which reflects both her California Roots and global peregrinations. “Quite simply smart and engaging music." — RockWired Magazine www.deborahcrooks.com

FAR-West Venues' Choice Concert October 15, 2015 at the Oakland Marriott City Center

On Thursday evening, October 15, FAR-West will kick off its 12th annual conference with the Venues’ Choice concert. Five venues from around the region, dedicated to presenting acoustic music year-round, will each present an artist(s) of their choice. The diversity of styles represented are indicative of the broad range of expression that makes the West such a rich cultural melting pot. FAR-West's opening night concert is always one of the highlights of the conferences and 2015 is shaping up to be another great night.
Public tickets ($15) can be purchased at the FAR-West Brown Paper Tickets site.
VENUES' CHOICE CONCERT Thurs, Oct 15, 2015 at 7pm Oakland Marriott City Center 7:00 PM  

Natural Necessity: Radical Conservation

 “The loss of a keystone species is like a drill accidentally striking a power line. It causes lights to go out all over.” — E.O. Wilson 

The natural world has always been my go-to, for solace, for perspective, for a sheer hit of beauty. And I'm fortunate to live in an area surrounded by slices of natural land and open space. I got out for a brief hour of beach and open space time yesterday and was delighted to see a host of avian wildlife (snowy plover, migrating hawks, harbor seals) and felt, for a moment, that there's plenty of hope for this beleaguered planet after all, even as I know how precarious as it is. So I more than heartily applaud evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson's proposal to permanently set aside half the earth for the 10 million plus species of wildlife with whom we share the planet. It's a bold challenge (and some say arrogant) but really, given the high rate of extinctions happening as I write this, mainly due to human caused climate change, deforestation, pollution and generally rampant environmental abuse, why not try?
Here are some conservation success stories and other conservation networks taking inspiring actions to make a difference:

The Conservation Alliance

Costa Rica Eco-Cultural Success

Turtle Runways and Pronghorn Highways

Western Wildway

KCDC Band Live in Alameda September 26

This Saturday, KCDC breaks out the electric guitars to perform our cowritten tunes at High Street Station Cafe in Alameda. Come on down and hear songs from the Your Own Reaction CD plus new KCDC originals. Kwame and I had a great time 'boat-shedding' many of these songs live on Espresso this past weekend, and we're looking forward to plugging in and playing with our band on terra firma! We’ll be joined by Steve Waters (guitars), Andrew Gibson (bass) & Mike Stevens (drums). Plus our fellow Alamedan Paul Manousos will kick things off with a set of his dynamic music.

 High Street Station is located at 1303 High St (@Encinal) in Alameda, CA. Call High Street to reserve a table 510-995-8049. Tickets are available in advance for $10 through Brown Paper Tickets.

 

'Something Special' EP Release August 29 at Awaken Cafe

EP Release Party: Saturday, August 29th, 2015 in Oakland, with Deborah Crooks, Yours Truly, Michele, and Loretta Lynch 

Awaken Cafe

"Something Special" EP Release - 8pm

1429 Broadway (@ 15th Street)

Oakland, CA 94612

Price: $7 adv/$10 dos

I'm so looking forward to playing with the band in celebration of my Something Special  EP. Please join me, Saturday, August 29,  as I showcase songs from the EP on a bill with two of my favorite bands Loretta Lynch and Yours Truly, Michele.

Loretta Lynch: 8pm With dreamy three-part harmonies, raucous, surf-tinged guitar and more than a bit of tongue in cheek, the East Bay Area’s own alt-country outfit Loretta Lynch’s stirring songs reach the shady grove in all of us. A little tear in your beer, a little knife in the back – think "O Brother Where Art Thou" meets the Andrews Sisters’ disreputable cousins at a warehouse hoedown. It’s Americana Noir.

Yours Truly, Michele: 9pm Michele Kappel-Stone began singing onstage as a teenager, when she donned a head-to-toe white leotard and crooned “Sex in Wetsuits” as part of the multi-media avant theater company Impossible Industrial Action. The Baltimore native’s latest venture, Yours Truly, Michele, may best capture the heady mix of influences and experiences she can bring to any party simply by showing up.  With a sound infused with 60s pop and soul and infected by Americana Roots-Rock, YTM can evoke Debbie Harry, Erin McKeown, and Patsy Cline.

Deborah Crook: 10pm Deborah recorded Something Special earlier this year at Lost Monkey Studio in Hayward with Mike Stevens on drums, Kwame Copeland on guitars and Andrew Gibson on bass. The songs on the EP cover such topics as seeking transcendence in the myth of Bigfoot; recovering from a breakup in a 50s era LA Travelodge, and keeping the faith while being lost. Come take a listen!

Hear “India Street: on Soundcloud:

Read.Eat.Listen: Water & Weather

Some mornings are worth everything. Such was the case today, when after dropping Kwame at the airport, I stopped for a walk by "the birds" on the way home. That's what we've come to call the Elsie B Roemer Sanctuary on the west side of the east side of the island. The sun wasn't quite up, and everything was blue and pink, the only other folks on the trail were far and few between. The Sanctuary, however, was going off, a riot of Pelicans souring, Canada Geese honking, terns twittering and oyster catchers hueeping past. Alameda is a good place to be if you're not-so-secretly a bird geek.

I make a determination every week or so to get out to "the birds"  daily, but as I don't live in easy walking distance anymore, I often forget. The world is a wonder if you pause a moment to take it in. I'm reminding myself this as much as anyone else, who often forgets that all that I love is close by. Times like this morning are usually when I make the determination anew.

In the wake of the latest spate of climate change news  — thank you Obama for the Clean Power Plan — I've been reading up on sea level rise in California again. Many people have been trying to alert the masses to this eventuality for a few years now, and now word is really out. It's hard to imagine what this will mean for the place I call home. On a flood map, our little patch of island, is still that, an island, but the shore will be much closer. Then it will be easier to get out to "the birds"... if the birds are still having any of it...

Read: "Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life" by William Finnegan. I've only surfed (or tried to) a couple of times— alas, even growing up in Santa Cruz County I never lost my fear of the cold, changeable ocean. That said, I love the ocean, its coast and have always loved surf culture...and I LOVE this book, and have barely been able to put it down this week. I get the feeling Finnegan, a longtime writer for The New Yorker who has had a life-long push-pull affair with surfing, could rewrite a phone book so it was engaging, but this really is a notable memoir. Anyone whose spent time on the California coast or in Hawaii will appreciate the insider's view Finnegan depicts so well, from the people, to the waters to the tortures and rewards of loving something deeply. 

Eat: Japanese Sweet Potato. A humble vegetable that gives. I can and do eat them straight up. This is a recipe that splits the difference: Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Listen: We saw Ray Wylie Hubbard at The Freight last week, my first time seeing this Texas musician. Been there, seen it all, looked-under-every-rock, not-afraid-to-say-anything gritty goodness.

Saturday: KCDC at The Bazaar Cafe

Saturday, August 8th, 2015 

Bazaar Cafe 

KCDC Acoustic w/Alex Walsh 7pm-9pm 

5927 California St San Francisco, CA 94114

Once upon a time, many years ago ago, I made a weekly visit to The Bazaar Cafe in the Richmond, where songwriters gathered (and still gather) to play their latest songs at the Open Mic. It was a nerve-wracking experience, playing in front of the other songwriters, kind of like an unofficial adult school of songwriting. Plus the Bazaar is unplugged, and acoustic. No PA, no microphone, no nada. I often broke out into cold sweats before and after, but somehow, over time,  I got better at holding it together to play my songs in front of people, and a I met some long-term friends. 

A very large percentage of Bay Area songwriters have come through its unassuming doors to play and listen over the years. It has a living room feel and at this point, it would be very interesting to hear what its walls would say if they could talk. 

We still play there once or twice a year, and this weekend, we're up, offering an all-acoustic set of KCDC songs from our "Your Own Reaction" CD and new material for our next one. Alex Walsh joins us for a set and to play guitar and we'll have Andrew Gibson on bass.  Plus...there's pie!

Read.Eat.Listen: Big Pictures

Another benefit to road-trips/tours is the capsule that the car becomes, be it for listening to music closely, having long conversations or reading. Last week's run up and down the 5, to Washington State and back for shows and family visits contained all of that. The passenger gets to be reader, sometimes to oneself, sometimes aloud, and much of my time on this trip was consumed with news and long-form essays on big picture issues. On the way North, it was climate change, on the way down I scared the bejesus out of us, reading aloud from the New Yorker article about the Cascadia Fault, while driving through the very landscape which would be irrevocably altered by a mega-earthquake. By the last day, we were in outer space, marvelling over the NASA reports about Pluto. I'm not sure why I'm seeking solace in geologic and space time, time where I'm small, a speck of animated dust just holding on like a bee in a hive, working for the honey. Part of it might be the sheer wow-factor: all this big science reminds me of how wondrous the facts, including our little lives, are. And part of it, I think, is that as much as I find the thought of huge earthquakes and tsunamis terrifying, I'm always glad to know the earth knows how to take care of itself even as we humans so often fail it.

Read: "The Earthquake That Will Devastate Seattle" by Kathryn Schulz, in The New Yorker. 
"When the End of Human Civilization Is Your Day Job"by John H Richardson, Esquire
A view of the worlds around us With the fly-by of Pluto, we now can visualize all of the planets in our solar system. Here's a two-minute tour of the sun and the nine planets. Posted by Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Eat: Healthy eats at Harlow PDX

Portland was the food winner on this trip, and how nice we were staying walking distance from gluten-free veggie Harlow. Just read their menu and get the idea.

Listen: Kwame's brother Kwab Copeland is another fine musician writing and playing "raw, rustic verse set to rollicking badland bomp" (Chris Estey) out of Seattle. He, aka The Demon Rind, just released a winner in "Love Is Perfect":

This Friday! Songs From The Fog Parlor Show at The Lost Church

Friday, June 19th, 2015 at The Lost Church 

Songs From The Fog Parlor Show

65 Capp St San Francisco, CA 

Price: $10 in adv/$15 door

Artists included on the recently released Songs from the Fog CD Compilation continue the party at this private parlor show at The Lost Church. Featuring Jim Bruno, KC Turner, Maurice Tani, Mick Schaffer, Paul Griffiths, Deborah Crooks & Carol Denny.

Most of this talented crew of SF area songwriters, aka the Songs from the Fog CD artists, 

are reconvening this Friday 6/19 @theLostChurch for another fab show. Be there!

One day, one bloom

I've been contemplating this cactus flower for more than a week now. I'm not 100% what kind of cactus it belongs to, though I saw it up close, a large, narrow, spiny variety, sitting on the porch of our Joshua Tree vacation rental last week. The flower was a bud when we arrived, and over three days we saw it ripen, and by the morning of the New Moon, it had burst into flower (I found out that moths and bats pollinate night blooming cactus as insects and birds take care of the day bloomers). I took a picture of course — it was too beautiful — and I would quickly learn, acutely impermanent: Cactus flowers only last one day.
Be evening it had closed up onto itself, spent. 
 All that focus and energy for one glorious performance. HmmmMmmm.

Alameda Songwriters Roundup: May 29 at High Street Station

A special evening featuring six dynamic songwriters from the Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay areas presenting their songs in-the-round. Call (510) 995-8049to reserve a seat! We've been having a great time at these events and this month features a great group of artists representing all corners of California

Alameda Songwriter's Roundup at High Street Station Cafe, featuring:

Deborah Crooks
www.deborahcrooks.com

Josephine Johnson
http://www.reverbnation.com/josephinejohnson

Lisa Graciano
http://www.lisagraciano.com/

Michele Kappel-Stone
http://michelekappelstone.com/

Mindy Dillard
http://mindydillard.com/

Pi Jacobs
http://pijacobs.com/

May Second Saturdays at Jingletown Jazz Room

I'm looking forward to being a part of this "a showcase and meeting place for all things Oakland-made." Aka Ale Industries' Second Saturdays event featuring  local artists, local food trucks and food vendors, local bands and musicians (this week, moui as well as King Cajon & The Country Gentlemen", art vendor markets highlighting artists and local. Plus Ale Industries is all about its East Oakland-made, BioEnergy beers! Stop by, 3098 E. 10th St. Oakland, CA 94601 from 12-10pm. 
We'll be playing at 5pm.

10 Ways to Get Unstuck & Finish What You Started

Making stuff — songs,  stories, magazines...pies — has been my through line for most of my life. Creating is for me one of the coolest things about being alive. How amazing it is that humans can make things out of 'nothing?' How much one can find out about themselves through doing.  Now I chart my fluidity, or my stuckness, by how my projects are proceeding. Usually there's a match up to what I'm feeling.  I'm likely stuck if I'm feeling frustrated, cranky, oppressed somehow or over-tired (in a way that sees sleep as a way out rather than as a restorative). I'm usually stuck if I'm feeling fear of some kind,  or that my circumstance is compromised. Over the years I've been fortunate to find several practices that have worked for keeping me, or getting me, back on track when I'm stalling out. As I've been working on getting my arms around a big project that has eluded me for some years — years in which I've actually completed lots of projects (albeit other projects) — I've been turning to my favorite ways — that don't involve plane tickets or other large purchases — to get unstuck a lot!

10 Ways to Get Unstuck & Finish What You Started

1. Do some yoga. Even five minutes of breath and movement can change your perspective. If you've never done yoga, try a beginner class or commit to learning sun salutations. I have a regular yoga practice so this has become built in. Now, if I'm resistant to my yoga practice,  I do what I consider my 'minimum RDA:' 20 minutes of my regular practice, including sun salutations, a few standing and some seated poses.
2. Vocalize. Another built-in for me as I regularly chant and I sing.  When I was going through a low period, I found these were things that made me feel better. Sound vibration and music affect us physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. Make a sound=shift in consciousness.
3. Go for a walk outside, preferably up a hill. For most of my life (until recently), I've lived near some geographic feature I could ascend. Going for a walk + changing the view +breathing the air = gear change. But you don't need a hill. A walk around the block can do wonders. My new15 minute loop near my house gets my blood moving and... doesn't take me too far from what I'm working on.
4. Make/bake something easy. Often my stuckness is a result of being daunted by a project. Making something edible reminds me I can complete a project and also make something useful. When I was young, I liked to bake. Now I've been more into raw, vegan snack type things, that don't take all day and are truly nourishing.
5. Set a timer. Sometimes thinking/worrying about the thing I'm resisting — making that call, writing the next paragraph, paying the bills,  learning the new song that hasn't been getting in— than actually doing it. Setting a timer for a amount of time that's not overwhelming — 10 minutes to half hour — helps gets me started, which is key, and usually leads to completion.
6. Dance. Blast a favorite tune and go to town...even if town is in your living room. Dance is play and counters the over-seriousness business.
7. Mix up your usual routine so your usual sequencing is different.  Perhaps it won't offer up any resistance when approached at a new angle.
8. Take part in a challenge. I'm a big proponent of 'write a [novel, album] in-a-month' type challenges or Instagram # sharing challenges. They're manageable, they're contained and it helps to know you're not alone.
9. Reach out. Connect to another maker, or someone who is doing what you aspire to, or simply an old friend. Up the ante by writing a real old-fashion letter.  Write as a fan or to say thank you. Or write your friend to tell them the things you love about your life right now. Make it equal parts gratitude list and reconnection. Put your letter in an envelope with a real stamp. Walk it to the real mailbox.
10. Take time from social media. See what the vacuum left by Twitter and Facebook yields. 
11. Make a list. 10 projects you admire.  5 next steps to take. 15 things you've already completed. All the things you do well. Wow, look at that!