Memphis Bound... | February 10, 2010
Right now I am preparing for Folk Alliance next week in Memphis. The Trolley Stop Bar in the Marriott Hotel-Memphis will serve as a WoodSongs Theater during Folk Alliance on Thursday, Feb 18. Several PBS-TV/Theatre broadcasts of WoodSongs will be shown on the big screen. Thanks to Louis and crew for helping make this possible. Also, in rotation on the hotel TV system are: The Making of WoodSongs documentary, Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau, and WS with Michael Martin Murphy & Tom Rush.
Stop by the WoodSongs booth at the trade show on Thursday, Friday and Saturday
and visit with me.
Lo
It's a New Year | December 31, 2009
The months leading to the end of the year were very busy. In October, Timothy B. Schmidt of the Eagles came to Chicago, two days before the release of his new solo project Expando. This quiet bass player for The Eagles is a multi-instrumentalist and exceptional songwriter. The show was a mix of folk, acoustic, and rock music, and TBS also served up some Eagles tunes and early works from his Poco days.
It was the start of Halloween weekend when The Wizard came to town. The great Bob Dylan at the Aragon. How magical it was seeing a legend on the stage of a historic Chicago venue and the place where my parents used to dance back in the 40s.
The following week I was on the road to Lexington, Kentucky for The WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour. Country singer Billy Dean was a guest on the show. Billy did some shows with Michael Johnathon and David Gates years ago. And it was during that tour that David Gates (from the 70s band Bread) introduced me to Michael Johnathon when they did a Chicago show for an audience of 15,000. I was writing for BEAT USA Magazine at the time. Years passed and I lost contact with David and his wife JoRita. Talking to Billy he brought me up to date that David is still composing music and living on the west coast.
November 9th Don Henley was in Chicago at the Rosemont Theater bringing with him a full band, including back-up singers. Wearing a suit and tie this was a much more formal performance than his May concert in Florida at the Hollywood Casino. I much preferred the casual-laid back performance of the Florida show.
Bluegrass Music came to Chicago when Chris Jones and The Night Drivers came to Evanston, IL as part of the Bluegrass Legends Concert Series. If you caught the Carrie Underwood Holiday TV Special she did a performance with a band who has the new name of Sons of Sylvia. Years ago when I was doing media at Country Thunder, they were just starting out as The Clark Brothers. I was the only media person that day who signed up to talk with them. Going forward they went on to win The Next Great American Band contest, so keep an eye out for this talented group.
Well, this brings us to the close of 2009. And time for that one song that really tugs at my heart, Old Lang Syne.
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!
Lo
A Look Back at the Summer | September 14, 2009
Summer... in a quick blink, the months speed by. It has been way too long since I’ve done the blog. I’ve been caught up learning the new technology of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. I invite you to visit me on those sites.
A few highlights of the past months… Abby and Bryan from the Rainjunkies came to Chicago in early August, we went to Navy Pier and took a ride on the pirate ship…Arrrr !!! It was a fun show at Natasha’s in Lexington with Rob McNurlin and The Rainjunkies. Great seeing WoodSongs friends there. Late August was the Brown County Bluegrass Festival in Georgetown, OH. Songwriter Bill Castle was there. We wrote a song together a couple years back called “Walking with Faith,” hopefully with more to come. Labor Day weekend was the JD Crowe Festival in Wilmore, Kentucky. This one of my favorite festivals. It was fun riding on the back of the golf cart through the festival grounds with Glen (WoodSongs Crew Member). Always great seeing Kevin and Lori with Bluegrass Music Profiles Magazine. I was backstage with the Dean Osborne Band (AKA Higher Vision) eating JD Crowe Birthday Cake. At one point I was backstage and I looked to the left of me and there was Bobby Osborne and to the right of me was JD Crowe… two bluegrass music legends, and it just doesn’t get any better than that. The Walden play will be recognized with the John Muir Gold Award at the upcoming Yosemite Film Festival!
Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. . ~ Henry David Thoreau
Enjoy each season!
Lo
Cars, Wine, and Song | July 23, 2009
I love to drive… I do my best music listening and creative thinking when I am in the car. I drive approximately 30,000 miles a year, so when I look to buy a new car, I know what I need. Buying a new car has yet to be a pleasant experience. But once I get those new wheels under my butt, I am very happy. As of this blog… I am very happy… I have new wheels!! I will not go to the extent here of promoting any car manufacturer, even though during the past two weeks I almost visited them all. Nor will I tell you the story of the crying salesman (which can only happen to me); just ask me about it when we meet on the road.
I am currently mapping out my music festival and music conference schedule for the months to come. This past weekend I was in Lexington, Kentucky and went to the Talon Winery Music and Art Festival. I romped through the vineyard, followed by wine tasting. The Rainjunkies were on the music schedule there. They recently played the very huge Rupp Arena in Lexington and they are working on a new CD.
Cheers!
Lo
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welcome message
Welcome to the new website for Loretta Sawyer Promotions and to my blog “The Lo Down.” Here I will share with you my adventures as I travel down the road of music and life.
Visit often for my updates, check out the great bands listed here, and watch for my pictures.
Lo