Well here we are, sneaking up on the end of another year. All in all, I’d say that 2008 was good to us; that’s taking the state of the nation’s economy out of the equation, of course. What follows is a brief recap, plus a little preview of 2009.
In January…We loaded up the van and a small trailer (Thanks Chris!) and made our way to Florida for our first “southern tour”. We stopped in Franklin, NC, where Will has family, to visit and ended up giving a true Yankee concert in a real southern church. They forgave us for talking funny, hugged our necks and sent us on our way feeling happy that we stopped.
The van ran like a much younger vehicle (even through the mountains!), the trailer pulled like a feather, and we made good time getting to the sunshine state. For the record, January in Florida was a lot like early November in Michigan. It was cold. The sun didn’t shine very much. It rained a lot. But at least we were camping in a tent for those two weeks! We were grateful to stay with some good friends (in a house!) for a couple of nights, especially since one of those evenings there were tornadoes very close to our campground!
We met a lot of terrific people there, had lots of fun playing music, caught up with some “snowbirds” from Gaylord for lunch, and managed to book some gigs for next year. Will had a birthday while we were there, which we celebrated with some new friends in Sarasota. Next day, we headed home.
In February…We spent the first three days back at home digging through the snow that accumulated in the driveway while we were gone. Harry A. Goodkitty was happy to see us, even though his Aunt Heidi took great care of him while we were gone.
We spent a weekend in Curtis, MI where we played music for a couple of nights at Chamberlin’s; one of our favorite places. If memory serves me, we met a whole lot of fun people there, some of whom we’ve seen at gigs since then. On Valentine’s Day we hung out with Zig and Suisan at the White Crow Conservatory of Music in Saginaw. In case you’re unfamiliar with the place, check it out. It’s very special, just like Zig and Suisan.
A house concert rounded out the month. Thanks to our friend Andy… Shine on!
March was quieter, with just two shows. One was a big “gang concert” with at least a dozen other performers on Palm Sunday. Always a great time to kick around with friends in music!
The other took place at the lovely Trinity House Theatre in Livonia, MI on the corner of I-275 and Six Mile Road. We shared the night with the very talented and warm-hearted Ruth and Max Bloomquist. We made a video recording of that show, which is available as a DVD on the MUSIC page of our web site.
April was kind of chicky. Ann was part of an all-girls singer/songwriter night at the White Crow Conservatory, and we spent three days singing at a retreat for Quilters! Will was the only guy, which didn’t break his heart, but he might have captured a few… More about quilt songs at the end of this letter. In between, we sandwiched a house concert in Curtis, MI, for the very active Arts Council there.
In the very merry month of MAY we were privileged to share the stage with some dear friends, who also happen to be pretty famous folks; Mike Ridley www.mikeridley.com and Chris Wright (aka Johnathan Rand) www.americanchillers.com . It was a benefit concert to give a much needed boost to the Gaylord Area Council for the Arts. We swapped tunes and stories and raised a bit of money for GACA. Good fun. Good cause.
June found us on stage at the Noreast’r Festival in Mio, MI. Little town, great fest! Check it out next summer if you can. They draw some top names in the folk music world…all before the weather turns too hot! There weren’t even that many mosquitoes!
We also took a little trip to the U.P. to visit the town of Grand Marais. Sometimes a person just needs a little bit of magic. Grand Marais is it. We’ll go back in 2009 for another set of music at the annual Garden Tour, a peek into the Pickle Barrel house, and a sprinkling of whatever falls from the sky. Rain, fog, lightening, frost… or star dust.
Will enjoyed better weather for his work, but was away from home to do it. Ann started her gardening business. A week of directing Author Quest (a writing camp for young writers) fell into the mix for Ann, too.
July…July…JULY! Oh My. Thirteen shows in 31 days. Will was still working, and staying, two hours away from home. Ann was knee deep in garden work. We crossed paths with each other at the gigs, driving separately. Oh well, at least gas was $4 per gallon. Ugh!
August, with only seven gigs, felt like a vacation. Will wrapped up the out-of town job and moved back home. Ann had another week of Author Quest. A string of gigs in the U.P. seemed more like a get-away than work, even though we got better and better at schlepping gear.
A real highlight was playing in Lexington, MI at the annual Thumbfest. That was Labor Day weekend, one that truly felt like we had wrapped the summer and put a big red bow on it. On Saturday night while watching Detour Bluegrass on the main stage, Ann recognized the banjo player (Kevin Gaugier) from a trio she played in twenty-five years ago! Getting to chat with him and re-kindle an old friendship was a rich treat! Will, who had heard some “Kevin stories”, was glad to finally meet the man behind the banjo. It was good to see you, Kevin!
September allowed us to help launch some “first ever”s; the first ever Russ -Stick Acres Sled Dog weekend in Mancelona, MI where we got to meet and rub elbows with two-time Iditarod and Yukon Quest winner, Lance Mackey. If you watch the Discovery channel, you might have seen his Tuesday night Iditarod show. He was on Conan one night, too! Now we know who to call if we ever have a flat tire in Alaska…
The other “first ever” was at Diamond M Stables in Ortonville, MI, where our good friend and fellow-musician Bob Marshall has started a Concerts in the Barn series. Think …horses nickering through the walls of the stalls, starry sky seen through the open doors, the scent of hay (and horses nickering through the walls) and good folks gathered to hear acoustic music. Yep. That good. Look for the live DVD recording of that show on our MUSIC page and on Bob’s web site soon. www.bobmarshallmusic.com
October brought our fourteenth wedding anniversary, Ann’s 40-th-ish birthday (second digit greater than the first by more than a few) and a trio of fun gigs. We helped kick off the start of a new bookstore in Gaylord (Rainbow Books), helped celebrate a birthday, and visited our friends in Tawas City. Not bad. Not bad at all. We’ll count more years with good friends for as long as we can!
November found us back in Curtis, playing a few Christmas tunes at Chamberlin’s. Thanks Bud and Kelly for the great hospitality! www.chamberlinsinn.com We played a concert in Mancelona, and sang some songs for quilters in the new Delphine’s Quilt Shop in Gaylord, too.
We’ll wrap December with a pair of songs on the 21st at the Topinabee Community Church, again with Mike Ridley and some other musicians. That makes three gigs with him this year, since we also performed with him at the gorgeous, historical, Cheboygan Opera House on the 7th. Did you miss that concert? Too bad. Maybe next year. Lots of good music, and fun was had by all
So that brings us to the end of the year. To those of you who came out to hear us play, Thank you! You make our job so much fun! Thanks too, to those who keep us going by purchasing CD’s and DVD’s and throwing a dollar or two into the old guitar cases.
What’s new for 2009? Who knows what the New Year will bring? We have some fun dates already booked, beginning with a weekend in Curtis, at Chamberlin’s. (January 9 & 10). Check ‘em out on the TOUR page of our web site www.annandwillrowland.com
We’re headed to Florida again in April, back to Grand Marais in June, will be on hand for more events at Russ-Stick Acres and another Quilting retreat!
We do have a list of things we’d like to see happen… If you see something on the list that interests you, and you’d like to help make it happen, give us a shout!
In 2009 we want to…
*Record a Christmas Album (Weren’t you just asking about that?)
*Record/Begin touring with The Quilt Songs (Quilt guilds? Quilt shows? Quilt Shop Concerts?)
*Tour the East Coast (Connecticut? Vermont? Maine? Outer Banks of NC?)
*Visit Wyoming (You reading this, Mark?)
Quit our day jobs…. (Who says we can’t have a big dream?)
Finally, to all of you…
Have a Joyous Christmas. Be good to the ones who love you.
We’ll look forward to seeing you along the way in 2009.
Ann and Will

 

 

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July 2008

Hello Folks and Folkies,

Here in the Tip of the Mitt on the ridge high above the Sturgeon River, summer is in full swing. Frequent rains and warm temperatures mingle together to make the woods lush and green. In the shade of the big hemlock, the forest floor is cool and rich; a good playground for the young raccoon family that lives in the hollow oak nearby. In the early mornings we enjoy cool air filled with birdsongs while waiting for the coffee to brew.
Perhaps the hardest part of living where we do is finding the discipline to go to work every day. Lucky Harry; he does what I’d like to do on days like this one. He watches the birds, naps in the sun, bathes a couple of times, eats when he wants to and chats with the neighborhood stray; keeping his hair in place the whole time. No housework to do or schedule to keep. Ah, to be a cat…

Will has finished the 1st of 3 months in Clare, MI on a big restoration project which demands some creative scheduling ; not just for our music, but for the everyday things that make up a life. It’s a bit like having a college student in the house; on the weekends he comes home to catch up his laundry and prepare for the next stage of the project, and then we go out every night to sing and play. Perhaps we’ll get some rest in the winter…

For Ann, the June session of Author Quest (the definitive writing camp for serious young writers) was a screaming success. Thirty-five young writers, ages not-quite-ten to nearly-thirteen gathered for four days of writing in an outdoor setting with no electronic gizmos allowed. It was exhilarating to watch them grow as writers, but just as exciting to see them adapt to the quiet of the natural setting. They took to it like a pen to paper…
The new gardening business, Dirty Knees, took off like a rocket, which is good. It helps with resisting the temptation to live like a cat. It also inspires me toward better organization.

Will and Ann together have just returned from a short trip to the Upper Peninsula. It’s such a treat every time we play our songs up there. This time it was the Grand Marais Garden Tour. Grand Marais is a charming little village situated on the shore of Lake Superior, just about mid-way between the Soo and Marquette. There’s one main road that runs into town, and it’s not one that you want to set out upon without a good bit of fuel in your tank. There’s nothing but the road, the sky, and mile after mile of wilderness. The “other” road in and out of town leads to Munising, and is under construction. It’s being paved, with “only fifteen miles of sand road” to go.
Once in Garnd Marais, you find hospitable people who know how to have fun, an art gallery, a very unique diner (great cookies!) and the Pickle Barrel House of William Donahey, author of The Teenie Weenies! We were surprised by the lovely gardens growing in this remote place, challenged by weather that changed every hour, and hope to return again many times. Thank you Grand Marais!

We have a full schedule for the Month of July…running right into August. If you’re looking for an opportunity to come out and hear some music, you really have no excuse to act like our cat. Chances are good that we’ll be in your neighborhood.

This week we’ll be in Mio on Thursday night, Lexington (Michigan, not Kentucky) on Saturday, and Midland on Sunday! Click on the TOUR link to view our schedule in its entirety.
If you don’t see a concert scheduled near you, and would like to, drop us a note and tell us where you think we ought to be. We’re booking fall and winter dates (and next summer!) now. Could there be a house concert in your future?

Keep in touch. We love to hear from you. Better yet is to see you along the way.
Until then,
Ann and Will

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June 2008

Summertime, summertime, sum, sum summertime. . .

High School seniors have made the final trek to school and are out looking for summer jobs. Middle school kids are dusting the cobwebs out of their bicycle spokes and making beach plans. Elementary school kids are having picnics and field days, and toting the contents of their desks home.

Ann and Will Rowland are gearing up for a season of music and miles. Our summer kicks off with the Noreast’r Music Festival, June 13 – 15 near Mio, MI. We’re pleased to be on main stage a couple of times and on the Parlor stage too. www.noreastr.net

We’ll make a few trips to the Upper Peninsula throughout the summer, too, so if you’re planning a vacation above the bridge, look us up!

Not headed north? That’s ok. We’ll be in the Detroit area for a very full weekend in July.

The concert schedule seems to expand every day. See all the details on the “TOUR” page of our web site: www.annandwillrowland.com Check it often!

What else is going on in our lives? Let’s see…

Will, wearing his Log Home Specialist hat, is working on a restoration project in the Clare, MI area for the whole summer. He’ll be home on the weekends to catch up office work, update the web site, and grab a home-cooked meal while the laundry goes around. Meantime, you might pass him on the highway commuting to the concerts from his home-away-from-home. Keep him in your prayers…It’s a big job, a tricky juggling act, and a lot of driving ahead for him!

Ann has just launched her new business, Dirty Knees Garden Service. She’ll be sporting a gardener tan this year; brown arms, white hands. She’s also directing two sessions of a camp called Author Quest, (www.americanchillers.com then follow the links) for kids who love to write; continuing to write her weekly gardening column, and working on a handful of other manuscripts.

Harry is keeping his plans to himself. We asked him, and he had nothing to say. However, if his current activities are an indicator of what’s to come, he intends to eat, sleep, sit on the windowsill, try to sneak out when we open the door with our hands too full of things to stop him, play with his favorite purple string, and beg for kitty treats.

We love to hear from you, too. Drop us a note any time. And of course, if you want us to stop sending our news to you, just say so.

Now get outside and play in the sunshine, and support live music performance as often as you can!

We’ll see you along the way,
Ann and Will

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April 2008

Hello Friends,

Old Man Winter has, at last, lost the fight with Spring although he continues to bluster around a bit, hurling whatever is left in his bag of tricks. But there is no denying the return of the Red-Winged Blackbird. Spring is here. It is a new season.

Already, spring has been exciting for us. Here’s what’s new…
In March we did a live video recording of a concert in Livonia, MI at the Trinity House Theatre. If you happened to be there, you already know that we had a great time.
And… IT’S HERE!
The Live From Trinity House Theatre DVD is ready to go. Songs we performed that night included Willow, which many of you have been waiting for on CD; She Lies, which Ann wrote from a Lamb’s Retreat song assignment; and As Long as I’m Here another Ann and Will original which will be included on a compilation CD to benefit the Lymphoma-Leukemia Foundation. You’ll also hear some of your favorites, like Take it out Back, Homegrown Tomatoes and By the Mark. If you want a copy, drop us a line and we’ll take care of you. We’ll have them with us at concerts, too.
We spent some time recording a studio version of As Long As I’m Here. We laid all the tracks down in one day, then left the whole mess in the capable hands of our sound engineer, Scott. We wait anxiously to hear the finished mix, and expect that the mailman will deliver it to our box any day. Once we have the master copy, we can send it on to the folks who are compiling the tunes. We’ll keep you posted as that project continues to progress.
We cozied up for a three-day quilting retreat for the first weekend of April. No, we weren’t wielding needles and thread, but nearly one hundred women, gathered at Bay Shore Camp in the Thumb area of Michigan, were! Will was the only man, which he didn’t seem to mind… We played a pocketful of songs for the Quilter’s heart, and debuted a couple of original quilting songs: Stitch by Stitch, and The Great Quilt Heist, which is a true fiction story about a courageous textile rescue. Thanks, our friend Barbie, for a fantastic weekend. We are so blessed!
The later part of the month finds us with a concert in the Upper Peninsula, at the Curtis Park Center. Check our website, www.annandwillrowland.com for the details about that April 19th show.
On the 26th Ann will be (sans Will!) at The White Crow Conservatory in Saginaw, MI for a “girls night” songwriters showcase along with Barb Barton, Kelly Shively and Robin Lee Berry. Find more details at www.whitecrowconservatory.com
Looking ahead to May… You’ll want to catch this show on Sunday, May 4th.We’re performing at the Gospel Center of the E. Free church in Gaylord, MI in a fundraising concert to benefit the Gaylord Area Council for the Arts (GACA). Also appearing will be the very funny, award-winning Mike Ridley www.mikeridley.com , and our good friend, Christopher Knight. Your kids might know Christopher as Johnathan Rand www.americanchillers.com , whose American Chillers and Michigan Chillers books have kids all over the country reading! The event starts at 4 p.m. so that the kiddos can get home and go to bed. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Not bad for a bucket of music and storytelling! All the details are on our web site.
Aside from the music…
Will is back to working on another log home restoration project, with enough more lined up to last until the snow returns. He has also taken on the job of web master for our music site.
Ann is launching her gardening business, continues to write, and this summer will direct two sessions of Author Quest, a camp for young writers.
Harry the cat tries to dash outside every time the door opens. He’s looking forward to munching on the grass that grows between the stepping stones leading up to our wee house. He’s very quick.

Will read not long ago that no one will remember you for what you said or what you did as much as for how you made them feel. We remember every one of you for making us feel loved.
We love you back, and hope to see you soon along the way.

Ann and Will

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March 7, 2008

Spring is nearly here, even though the knee-deep snow in our yard is a reminder that it comes slowly here north of the 45th parallel. But what can you do?
Here’s an idea. Put on your coat and go to a concert! It will warm you up on the inside, even if you’re freezing on the outside.

Will and Ann will be performing on March 15th, 2008 in Livonia, Michigan at a wonderful little concert venue called Trinity House Theatre. We had the pleasure of playing there last spring (do I smell a tradition brewing?) and fell in love with the place. The building was a little country church which was renovated somewhat into a concert hall and theatre stage. The atmosphere is intimate and cozy; every seat is a good seat. You have to appreciate that superhighway running right by too, because it makes it easy to find. Get off of I-275 at Six Mile Road and head west…just. You’ll find Trinity House on the Northwest ‘corner’ of that interchange.

Adding to our pleasure and to yours too, is the honor we have of sharing the evening with our friends Max and Ruth Bloomquist. Ruth is a great songwriter, who has taken top honors at festivals such as Merlefest. She and her sweet man, Max, travel all over singing and playing for audiences who can’t get enough of their rich sound. I know we’ll all be playing a few tunes together that night!

But wait! There’s more! If you come to the concert you’ll be part of the audience for the live DVD recording that we’re filming that night! It’s our first go-round with video, and we’re terrified… in a good way. I guess excited is a better word, but not as accurate!

We’ll also debut the song we wrote for a compilation benefit CD. If you’ve read our newsletters before, you know that this project has been in the works for a couple of years. These things do take time, but this will be worth the wait. Other artists on the disc will include John McCutcheon, Mary Travers, Siusan ORourke, Anne Hills, Kate Wolf, and many others. Each artist is donating a track to the CD which will raise funds for the Lymphoma/Leukemia Society. We’re astounded to be listed beside these people; honored, and thrilled! If you’re interested in helping us along with getting to the studio to record our song, “As Long As I’m Here”, let us know!

The next day, we’re back up north for the Annual Palm Sunday Community Concert in Comins, Michigan. Our friend Gloria Lynne puts this together every year as a way of bringing people together during the Easter season. The concert features a dozen different groups from all over the mid-west region to sing gospel songs and turn our thoughts toward Resurrection Day! That concert starts at 5 pm at the Comins Community Center, just off M-33. You might need to pull out a map of Michigan and look over Mio way… It’s a free concert, but a love offering will be accepted.

We’d sure be happy to see you at either concert…or both! We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again… our job wouldn’t be any fun at all if no one was there to listen. Thanks for supporting live, acoustic music.

We’ll see you along the way,
Ann and Will

 

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February 1, 2008

Welcome to the first post on our brand-new web site! We'd had our previous one for a couple of years, and even though we liked it and our web designer did a FANTASTIC job, we found that we wanted the flexibility of more frequent, even daily, updates. So, Will jumped in and learned how to do it himself. We haven't decided on a program for sound clips yet (still playing with different ones) but expect to have something up and running within a week or two, so keep checking back. And let us know what you think! Of course, if you can't wait, you can order CD's on line using PayPal!

We have just returned from our first tour in the South. We left on January 11 with a snowstorm right on our heels. A visit with Will’s mom was long overdue so we stopped in Ypsilanti, MI the first night to spend some time with her. She sent us on our way with food and prayers. God bless her!

Next stop, Franklin, NC to sleep and catch up with relatives on Will’s dad’s side of the family. It had been way too long since we saw those folks, and what a fine time it was. Cousin Renee’s husband Gerald is now a pastor, who invited us to do a concert at his church while we were there. It was a surprise for everybody, including us, but we were pleased to do that. As it was, we are related by marriage to at least half of the people in that little church in the Smokey Mountains. They referred to us as “Yankee Missionaries”, which made me wish that we had a slide show of pictures showing some other Northern folk…perhaps up to their waists in snow. Maybe next time.

We arrived in Zephyrhills, Florida on Monday, January 14 and set up our tent in the dark. I'll spare the details for another time, but let's just say that January is NOT the time to tent camp in Florida. It was quite cool (ok, it was cold) at night, and also in the day. Of course it's all relative, but I had visions of beach weather, and it was not. Our first concert was that Thursday, so we spent some time finding our way around the area and making friends with our campground neighbors. One, who looked like (and even introduced himself as) Santa Claus invited us over for fresh-caught Alaskan salmon and halibut dinner. He had just returned from a trip and was frying up a big pile of fish for a group of other campers from Punta Gorda. How could we refuse that after ten hours of driving and setting up our little nylon house? That night the mercury dropped to 37 degrees and our air mattress went flat, but we slept anyway, and were awakened by the call of Pileated Woodpeckers that were no more than twenty feet from our tent. That day, obtaining a new air mattress and a little space heater was high on the priority list!

I’ll spare you the play-by-play of the whole trip, but will say that the heater was sure a good buy, our tent holds up quite well in the rain, even when it comes four inches at a time; if you enjoy old-time music jams, Zephyrhills, Florida is the place to be; barred owls make great music to fall asleep to; and in two weeks we met more nice people than you’d care to shake a stick at. We refrained from stick shaking. We played in Zephyrhills a half-dozen times, Brooksville once, Sarasota twice, for a church in Lutz, and caught up with Will’s old buddy, Ernie, in Tarpon Springs. The two of them were in rock bands together back in the day, so there was much laughing and catching up to do. Ernie and his wife Cindy showed us around by the sponge docks, treated us to a Greek food feast, and took us out to Honeymoon Island to catch the sunset. It was cold and cloudy, so the sunset thing didn’t fly, but the bird watching was great. Terns, pelicans, a pair of Osprey (one caught a fish right in front of us!),a bald eagle, and various shore birds made the trip worthwhile. Thanks, Ernie and Cindy!

We arrived home on the last day of January to find three feet of compacted, rock-hard snow in our driveway. We were several hours of shoveling and snow-blowing just to pull the van and trailer in, then there was much unpacking to do. Harry the cat missed us sorely, even though Aunt Heidi visited regularly to pet him, give him treats, tidy his box and bring in the mail. Thanks, my friend! Even so, Harry is just now trusting us to return when we leave. He does insist on sleeping with us, though. I think he's just ensuring that we don't try to sneak out in the night.

As always, we love to hear from you; better yet to see you along the way.
Be well and stay warm,
Ann & Will

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Winter 2006
How swiftly the seasons come and go! Summer is a blurred memory of loading the van, driving, unloading the van, setting up equipment, playing music, and then reversing the process. We met some great people along the way and had a lot of fun. It warmed our hearts to see so many of you coming out to the shows. Thanks.