Greetings fans and friends. My new album is in its beginning stages and I have the feeling as if I'm in the ocean watching a huge wave come towards me. I know all I need to do is dive in and swim, but still there's a dizzy sensation in my tummy. This is my fifth full-length release and I'm hoping to use all the lessons I've learned from past projects to make this one the most successful yet. With your help, I know it can happen. In a few weeks I'll begin a fund-raising campaign through Pledgemusic.com but until then, I need to gather as many fans as possible to convince Pledgemusic that I have a good chance of raising my goal. Every day I will offer a new song for download in exchange for things like sharing my facebook page, providing an email addreess, etc. I have so many new songs and stories to share with you.. Thanks for your help and enjoy the music!
Happy Springtime!! I've just finished completing my Yoga Teacher Training with some amazingly beautiful and talented people. This is one of many journeys I've taken this past year as I reclaim myself as something more than a schoolteacher, more than a thirty-something old spinster, more than another chic singer-songwriter waiting for a break... more than something I've ever been. The one thing my teacher said that stuck out the most was "The most important thing is to stay juicy..". When we spend day after day in the same routines, worrying about the same problems, seeing smelling feeling the same things we dry up. Add this to lack of excercise and healthy diets and we simply become machines, moving through the motions, forgetting to care about anything as we try not to go stark raving mad. Our happiness withers, our sense of aliveness fades and our ability to create becomes stuck. Climbing out of the desert can feel as difficult as escaping a high security prison.You may find yourself alone, you may escape with little more than the clothes on your back and you will be punished in more ways than one for challenging others to examine their own life choices more closely. Once you are out of the woods though, you will realize it was the most important journey you ever made. You will jointhe ranks of others who have shed their lizard skins for a glowing inner light that can finally eek its way through the body, making everything warm and beautiful and..JUICY!!
Needless to say, I am getting juicier every day and the path continues to unfold. I have two
workshops coming up where I'll expand more on escape routes from prison to Juicedom. THEN I have a sneaking suspicion a new album is going to begin production in April and hopefully released by the end of the summer. THEN..I keep having visions of a European tour in the fall....praying that juice is the color green and flows to me in great abundance soon. You can help by coming to my workshops and performances...and by searching for ways to find juice in your own life. I highly recommend yoga, road trips, organic home-made meals, watching the sun rise, doing headstands, hiking in the jungle and laying naked on the beach in a rain storm. Godspeed and Namaste!
March 31 4-6pm 3 OMS Yoga "Stoking Creative Fire with Yogic Principles and Practice"
March 31 10pm The Redlight in Bellingham with The Ames
May 3-6 YAMCamp in Austin with Melina Meza and Havilah Rand
And a new song...
Happy Holidays fans and friends!! As a gift to you in appreciation for your love and support I've made ALL FIVE of my albums pay what you can at havilah.bandcamp.com. That means you can have all of the music I've ever recorded for FREE....or you could help support my next creative projects with whatever you are able. In addition, I am also offering all five albums on a 4G Flashdrive along with a video for only $35. Click the paypal button to purchase..
Enough with the sales pitch...Writing to you from Austin, TX where I've been busy formulating my plans for 2012 (provided the universe doesn't implode and turn into a Hallmark version of the Mayan Calendar). Brother Peter and I depart for the great Pacific Northwest in a week or so where I play at The Blue Horse Gallery on December 30 8pm. This performance will be way stripped down which means solo and acoustic not naked. Then I fly back to Austin to work with Darden Smith learning how to facilitate his very unique and compelling Be An Artist Program. Going to schools and talking to kids about the importance of doing what they love all the time. Then writing and recording a song on the spot...can't imagine a more perfect job for me!! THEN I fly to Hawaii to accompany Melina Meza and other amazing yoga teachers on their retreat entitled "Winter Rhythms: Embodied Yoga and Dance Retreat" at the Kalani Oceanside Resort. Here I'll get a chance to present another performance/workshop on fueling creative fire with yogic principles and songwriting! If you get a wild hair and need a break from winter - JOIN US!!
Finally, on February 7th I journey to the south of Thailand to complete my Yoga Teacher Training. Excited beyond words for this section of my self-directed education on how to help people re-discover their powers of creation, innovation, self-awareness and alchemy. As always, I am grateful for your support and encouragement. Below is a clip of my summer performance at Breitenbush Hot Springs. Enjoy! Have an amazing holiday..be grateful for what you have and for all the love you have in your life cuz that's how it grows. See you soon!
Hello friends, family, fans..First of all I just found out I am a finalist in another contest. The prize is 75 hours of recording time at The Recording Conservatory of Austin so please click HERE and vote for me. On to the blog...Eating breakfast on the front porch of India's Coffee Shop in Terlingua, TX. Heading back to Austin today after an amazing two week tour that spanned Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and West Texas. Some noteable moments include recording a video with Casey Friedmann in his amazing studio space in Oklahoma City as part of his Acoustic Oklahoma project. He has over 400 videos posted already of singer songwriters from all overthe world. Check it out HERE.
In Denver I was able to connect with my friends and of "Leading Ladies" film makers Erika Randall and Daniel Beahm who just welcomed baby Ezra Randall Beahm into their lives. He is a beautiful and sweet bundle of love and enormous amounts of talent no doubt. I literally hovered over the audience at The Walnut Room Pizzeria, the stage was actually a platform built over the bar about 50 feet in the air. SCARY but I managed to make a few new fans while simultaneously overcoming my new found fear of heights.
A two day personal writing retreat in Taos, NM was next. In between hours of stoking a roaring fire andwriting as the snow fell I perused the over 80 art galleries and museums that make Taos one of the most inspiring places I've ever been too and Iook forward to returning in the spring. The adventures continued in Pinos Altos where I played The Buckhorn Saloon and Opera House. The owner Thomas gave me the grand tour of
this incredible artifact of American history, ghost stories included! I even got to stay in a beautiful cabin he had just remodeled. I spent the morning watching the sunrise and trying to get the Keurig coffeemaker to work! When it finally did I had about five then hopped in the car and sped to Las Cruces.
After New Mexico I made my way to Marfa where I stayed in one of the oh so cool custom designed airstreams at El Cosmico owned by the restaurant/hotel superstar Liz Lambert. I opened for country band Horse Opera at Padre's and ate some delicious gumbo. Then I drank the beer the owner of the High Desert Brewery in Las Cruces had given me and tried to learn some Townes Van Zandt songs. I failed miserably and laid in bed reading Keith Richard's biography till dawn.
My tour ended in Terlinga, TX. I played the beautiful Starlight Theater and was once again treated like the princess I was born to be. I drank many delicious magaritas and slept in the El Patron suite. I guess it was my lucky weekend because I also managed to get in to Jimmy Lafave's Songwriter Roundup at the Lajitas Resort just in time to see Malcolm Holcombe smoke everyone in the room with his provacative stage presence and incredibly raw, cut to the marrow of the bone style of songwriting. Aterwards, one of the locals tried to kiss me in the cave at La Kiva..and I let him. I was in a cave for Gods Sake! On the last night of my tour..in Terlingua!
Now I'm safely back in Austin and writing even more new songs. On Monday I take off for Nashville to play at the famous Bluebird Cafe as part of my prize for winning the Austin Songwriter Group Bluebird Cafe contest. In December I play at Romeo's in Austin a few times (the 10th and 14th) before heading up to Bellingham for the holidays and a show at the Bluehorse Gallery on the 23rd. As for 2012.. more yoga and creativity retreats with Melina Meza, the Be An Artist Program with Darden Smith, touring, recording..sky's the limit! Actually I haven't a clue. Stay tuned though:)
Howdy! So Y.A.M. Camp was a huge success, SWRFA was a blast. Tonight Billy Masters and I tore it up at Romeo's in Austin where I'll be spending the next month writing and preparing for a trip to Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and West Texas in November. I've posted a video of a brand new song that Billy and I tried out tonight. It was inspired by and is dedicated to four close friends of mine who have all lost a brother to suicide at some point during these past two years. It's strange times folks, time to be open minded, compassionate, forgiving and grateful. In this moment, we can embrace peace while still expressing our convictions. The protests on Wall Street are inspiring, finally we are participating, standing up for what we want and what we believe in. I feel myself doing the same thing in my own life. Refusing to spend time doing anything except what I know wholeheartedly serves my true self and the world around me...the loss of so many brothers hurts my heart. I am reminded to offer a kind word or smile more often. You never know when someone has reached their threshold for confusion and pain. Anyways, enough late night rambling. Thanks for your support. I'm living in paradise these days, spending every minute of every day on the things that mean most to me. I wish the same for you.
Hello from Wimberley, Texas where I am in the juicy thick of Yoga Art Music Camp with Melina Meza. We have lovely guests, delicious food and today even Susan Gibson was here to check out all the fun healthy, creative activities we got going on. On Thursday I head back to Austin for Southwest Regional Folk Alliance, my schedule of showcases is below. Also got a few Austin shows coming up in October that I hope all you Austinites will make it out to. I can hear thunder, it could be the bellies of our guests so I'm gonna run..hope to see you soon!!
Friday Sept 30 Midnight North Texas Venues Room 915
Friday Sept 30 1:10am Puffbunny House Concerts Room 804
Saturday Oct 1 10:30pm Jubilant Bridge Get Over It Room 721
Saturday Oct 1 12:30pm Lost Pines Good Bookin Room Room 816
October Shows
Wednesday October 5th Romeo's with Billy Masters 8:30pm - 10pm
Monday October 17th Whip In with Billy Masters 8-10pm
The summer is flying by!! Later today I take off for Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon where I will get me some yoga, healthy living and hot water. I get to perform for all the healthy yogis on Wednesday August 3rd, then back to the mainland. On August 13th my Mom is hosting a house concert with myself, Susan Gibson (incredible Austin songwriter who penned the Dixie Chicks Hit "Wide Open Spaces") and the great Jana Pochop in Oregon City, OR. We'll be setting up a good old Texas barbecue, playing some great music, then camping out and watching the original "True Grit" on the big outdoor screen!! Contact me at havilahrand@gmail.com for the address! On August 18th I fly out to Boston, MA to visit my extended family and a bunch of old friends on the east coast. Of course I've scheduled some shows along the way and hope to see you.
August 24 Googies Lounge at the Living Room 8 pm
August 25 Good Bye Blue Monday NYC 8pm
August 26 Smokin With Chris Southington, CT 8pm
The emerald green and fresh air of Washington State is seeping in, new music and journeys are brewing! Here is the schedule for this week's mini tour with fantastic back-up musicians Phil Sottile and Dave Vaughns..
Thursday June 23 The Blue Horse Gallery in Bellingham Washington 8-10
Friday June 24 Tastebuds in Wenatchee, WA 6:30 and 8:30pm
Saturday June 25 Sapolil Winery in Walla Walla, WA 8-11pm
Monday June 27 Alberta Street Pub in Portland, OR 9pm
Tuesday June 28 Egans Ballard Jam House 7pm
In other exciting news, Leading Ladies has been picked up for international distribution and will be available on Netflix beginning September 13. You can help out a lot but adding them to your queue now!!
Finally, I will be co-facilitating a Yoga and Music Retreat (YAM Camp) retreat with Yoga Goddess Melina Meza September 25-30 in Wimberley, TX. This is the first of many opportunities for me to share my experience and expertise in the worlds of creativity, music and yoga. Click on the link for more details and to sign up:)
More from the road soon..
