I woke up this morning in a grey haze. The weather in Germany over the last 3 days has grown decidedly winter-like. It is that funny transition between winter and summer. The temperature is schedule to rise again in two days, but for now, the sky is offering up all kinds of strange objects. Snow this morning, rain a little later, and just an hour ago this thing, not-quite-sleet, not-quite-hail, definitely not snow, started falling rapidly from the sky. Windows in the office started opening across the street. People sticking heads and and hands out. All of us noticing each other in the windows across the streams of white plummeting to the ground. The "storm" lasted about 15 minutes. These not-quite-ice, not-quite-snow, objects melting the moment they hit the ground. And now the sun is struggling through the clouds. Fighting for a voice and a name in a world where it's natural state is to shine.
The tour with Orion Walsh was wonderful. As it always is. Watching him grow as an artist and a person has been a profound experience. Especially as we began the world as accidental adversaries. Fifteen years ago, from across the room, we each decided that we didn't like the other person. Eight years later we had become friends and I found myself asking him if he'd recently had a lobotomy because his countenance had so totally changed. He smiled, explained what had happened (a total change of life-style and heart, basically), and we have been friends ever since. Years later he is one of my best friends. My door will always be open to him and I am so grateful to him for inviting me to Germany with him two and a half years ago so that I could start performing in what had been described to me so many times as, "my market."
People had been explaining to me ever since my voice changed (about 6 years ago) that Europe would probably be the most receptive to my style of music and sound and that I should start focusing my touring over in that area. They were not wrong. I LOVE touring in Europe. I get to spread my artistic wings in a way that I am not afforded in the states. And this frees me up so much that when I am in America I get to focus on really exciting collaborative opportunities.
Some of my best friends in the world are also out here. I have a couple of friends that I have been allowed to stay with in Offenbach whenever I visit. These women are so wonderful. Their home has come to feel like a home away from home. I arrive to a litany of gluten-free snacks that they have purchased in leu of my arrival, and we just drink wine and laugh for days. When my mom visited on the last tour I brought her out here just to meet them and it felt like I was extending my family. I love these women. I could never even begin to pay them back for their generosity. I am truly grateful for this relationship.
In a few days I'll be in Cologne. I'll be walking through one of my favorite cities in Europe and getting ready for a series of performances in the area. Myself and a contra bass play that I met on the last tour will be performing together for these shows and I'll be making some new friends. I am excited about these shows as well! Here is a list of dates. If you would like more information you can visit the Tour section of my website at katjonesmusic.com. :-)
Then I'll be joining Sally Grayson (another close friend) of Black Swift on and off for a few days between art gallery and garden shows. There are about 15 shows left on the tour, maybe a couple more.
I am about to celebrate my 20 year anniversary as a performing artist and so I've been feeling very nostalgic. Looking back at my career, looking forward to what is to come. (A finch in the tree opposite the window ids jumping from branch to branch and trying to get my attention.) As the year chugs forward I'll be releasing quite a bit of music. I'm presently working on getting "Muevete" and "I Can Feel It, You Can Feel It" released on 7 inch vinyl. Andrew Collins (of The Prophets) and I have been working on mixing some live performances to be released this year. I am working with one of my favorite artists to release a meditation on peace during the apocalypse and we've been going back and forth on two brand new songs. I'll be performing these with Joshua Dent (cello player and collaborator) later this year at a special performance art event. I've also been accepted onto an Entrepreneurial Artists program in Nashville called, Periscope. It's strange to be planning my career two years in advance, but that is definitely happening, which is scary. And I have changed so much as a person that it's hard to keep up to be perfectly honest.
If you live in Nashville there's a cool collaboration that we at abrasiveMedia started working on with the Nashville Opera at the beginning of the year. They have some great things happening for their 2017 / 2018 calendar and will be announcing some of those at the next Art Crawl at abrasiveMedia on May 6th!!! I won't be able to be there but I have been stoked on this for months. It's going to be really special. If you can make it out we would love to see you there!!!
It's probably time I join the land of the living and get some errands done before I have to leave for Cologne this week. I've been writing a tour diary as well!!! Some of this will be available on my website and some will be available at abrasivemedia.org as I'm doing a blogging collaboration with them right now. More later! I hope to see you all soon!
Kat