FAR-West Fun; Coming up on KZSU & @ The Cottonwood Truckee

Well, FAR-West in Oakland turned into a song-soaked, musical fun ride. I had a great time playing PGS rooms hosted by Bohemian Highway, Maurice Tani & Jim Bruno, Kyle Alden and Amy Andrews Music, as well as the pre and post-conference events at High St. Station and Awaken Cafe, and the gig with Kate Burkart at High Street on Saturday between everything. I heard SO MANY GREAT songs and met a slew of great folks. I feel both replete and reinvigorated for more!
On that note, I went straight from FAR-West to a rehearsal with KCDC. We'll be playing LIVE this Wednesday, Oct. 23 on KZSU Stanford 90.1 FM. Tune in!
Thursday, I'm hitting the road with Kwame to play in Truckee, CA. Got friends in this fun, mountain town? Send them our way as we'll be holding down The Cottonwood from 7-10pm. The award-winning restaurant "has it all; a rich and vibrant heritage, a lively music scene, a full bar, and an adventurous menu created by the Executive Chef of 17 years, David Smith."
Deborah Crooks in Truckee @ Cottonwood - Thursday, October 23rd, 2014 7pm Off Brockway Rd.(Old hwy 267) Truckee, CA 96160 (530) 587-5711

Thursday, October 23rd, 2014

Cottonwood

Deborah Crooks in Truckee - 7pm

Off Brockway Rd.(Old hwy 267
Truckee, CA 96160
(530) 587-5711

- See more at: http://www.deborahcrooks.com/shows/#sthash.UyYOb5vn.dpuf

Thursday, October 23rd, 2014

Cottonwood

Deborah Crooks in Truckee - 7pm

Off Brockway Rd.(Old hwy 267
Truckee, CA 96160
(530) 587-5711

- See more at: http://www.deborahcrooks.com/shows/#sthash.UyYOb5vn.dpuf

MEOWCon- the Film: Mini-doc covering Women in Music Conference in Austin

Last month, we traveled to Austin to showcase at MEOWCon, an action-packed conference for women in music. Amid the showcases and panels and networking, Kwame and I were interviewed for this mini-documentary of the MEOW experience. Check it out! You'll also catch Suzi Quatro, Patti Quatro, Kathy Valentine, Jennifer Batten, Mia D'Bruzzi, Paula Boggs, Sara Skinner, Rain Perry, Kim Bingham, Leanne Summers, Hether Wagner Reed, The Better Halves, Theresa Jenkins, Allie Shaw, Chelsea Schwartz, Diana Finlay Hendricks, Julie Christensen, Susan Arbuckle, Amber Saxon, Nancy Quatro Glass, Sue Young, Neeta Ragoowansi,  Tony Scalzo, Rick Carney, Carla DeSantis Black, Margaret Moser, Jody Denberg, Derek Woodgate, Jane Boxall, Rachael Sage and more. MEOW Con is seeking sponsors for the 2014 edition. Visit www.meowcon.com or www.meowonline.org for more info.

Austin Never Sleeps: MEOWCon Recap

Playing Cedar St. photo by Katie Garibaldi

We had another great time in Austin, playing at MEOWCon13 and getting completely inspired by all the other artists (hello Leni Stern African Trio*, Bluebonnets & Suzi Quatro), while catching up with new and old friends (Katie Garibaldi, Sue Quigley, Willow &The Embers) with gigs at The Driskill and Cedar St Courtyard to bookend the conference experience. Along with the live shows, there were several films that screened during MEOWCon. We met Seattle filmmaker Kay D. Ray on the shuttle to the hotel and were very happy we made a point of seeing her 'director's cut' of Lady Be Good: Instrumental Women In Jazz. Containing extraordinary footage of, and interviews with, pioneering women musicians from the 1920s to the 1970s, it's a deep, inspiring, troubling and enlightening film all at the same time. In other words, make sure you see it. You can find out more and support it's release at Kay's site.
Very big bow of appreciation to Carla DeSantis Black, who rounded up an extraordinary mix of women in music that was the inaugural MEOWCon. Here's to many more!

And thanks to Austin itself, which doesn't seem to get much rest. Between MEOWCon, the Austin Film Fest, the Austin Ironman and The Texas Book Fair (as well as a bunch of stuff we didn't know about) going on at the same time, the city was constantly buzzing. Ole! 

MEOW Showcase, photo by Jo Wymer

MEOW Con 2013

*We were especially blown away by Leni Stern, a masterful and transcendent guitarist whose trio brought the conference to an entirely new level. Bay Area residents take note: She's bringing her act to Oakland, November 2 @ Restaurant Duende & Bodega

MEOW Con in Austin, TX Oct. 24-26

It's almost time for MEOWCon!  I'm excited to head to Austin on Thursday to take part in @MEOWCon13, a action and music-packed conference for Women in Music! Thanks MEOW (Musicians for Equal Opportunities for Women) and found Carla DeSantis Black for putting it all together. I play Saturday night at 7pm and am in great company: there are nearly 100 performances by female artists in all styles of music, including hip hop, punk, country, pop, singer-songwriter and everything in between. 

Check out the full schedule here http://meowcon.com/sched/showcases/ …

Other highlights include:

*  The Woman of Valor Dinner on Thursday night - Oct 24th - honoring Suzi and Margaret Moser of the Austin Chronicle and the Austin Music Awards. These are two of the most formidable women in the music business and there will be lots of wonderful anecdotes, great food and even a performance by the queen of rock herself!

* Keynote speeches by Suzi (Friday) and the amazing Kathy Valentine (profiled today in the Austin American Statesman) who spent 30 years as a Go-Go = the most successful all-female band of all time!

* Panel discussions on topics like: Where are the Festival Headliners? Sexism, Blogs and Online Journalism, Guitar Heroes, Licensing to Film and TV, Britney to Miley: Why Do Good Girls Go Bad?, I Am Metal (And So Can You), Women, Music and Mental Health, Relatively Speaking: When your Family is in the Band and many, many more.

* One on One interviews with Jennifer Batten, Frightwig, Linda Chorney, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison.

* Workshops on the art of screaming, busking, taking care of your $, the legacy of Marian McPartland.

* Book readings by Evelyn McDonnell (Queens of Noise); Laina Dawes (What Are You Doing Here?)

and so much more!

Don't miss this LAST CHANCE to be a part of this historic event.

Full schedule available at www.meowcon.com
 Brought to you by Musicians for Equal Opportunities for Women (MEOW)
Tickets on sale now at www.meowcon.eventbrite.com 

Far-West Folk Alliance in Irvine Oct. 10-13

 We're heading to FAR-West 10th Anniversary Conference!! on Friday to play, schmooze and help celebrate he 10th anniversary of FAR-West.


The weekend will open with a Venues’ Choice Concert (on Thursday), and include Official Showcases, Best Of The West luncheon, Private Guerrilla Showcases, Panels and Workshops, New Voices Showcases, Susanne Millsaps Memorial Coffeehouse (which I'm helping MC on Saturday afternoon). It's a real celebration of original music and always inspiring. 


The 10th Annual FAR-West conference, October 10-13, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine CA.  http://www.far-west.org/

My schedule at Far-West:

FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2013

11:00pm            Bohemian Highway PGS                RM 337

12:30am            Sane Lunatic Productions  PGS     RM 335

SATURDAY OCTOBER 12, 2013
12:00am            John Roy Zat & Friends PGS          RM326

3:20pm              Susanne Millsaps Coffeehouse      Salon C (Ballroom)

Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West) is the West-coast region of Folk Alliance International.   FAR-West is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the State of California in 2003. The organization is run entirely by volunteers; there are no paid staff members.

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