Spring 2011

Hi Folks,

Yes - it is Spring! Jacynth and I returned from snowy Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago and we can tell you this is Spring! It feels lovely and warm at 11 - 16 degrees after a month of freezing and below freezing temperatures. To be fair - we were snug and cozy inside on most of the snow days and travelling to gigs on the others so we have nothing to complain about. In fact we welcomed the snow when we first arrived as we had a wonderful rehearsal week with friends in Rhinelander, north Wisconsin, and had opportunity to see deer, squirrels and birds close to the house for food and Jacynth got to go snow shoeing across the Wisconsin river. (see pic). We also learned the art of stump fiddling and Daryl with his stump fiddle proved a very popular addition to our concert in Eagle River!

Our Wisconsin tour, organised by friend and storyteller Colleen Sutherland, was one of the best we've had. We sang for retreats, library concerts, house concerts and worship services - every one different and each one well attended. Colleen had her birthday on St Patrick's day and we took her to a party at St Brendan's Inn, Green Bay where I played bodhran with the band and Jacynth danced a hornpipe around the tables! We even featured on the television news that night - well,we caught a glimpse of yours truly for a nano second! Earlier in the week we met Northern Irish musician Ian Gould in the same venue and Jacynth was invited to sing her St Brendan's song in St Brendan's Inn!

The bonus of these tours is connecting with friends again and meeting new ones for next time round. This time we met friends we were not expecting to see and had some special times on our days off. Friend and musician Gloria Hays organised our final house concerts in Beaver Dam and Madison and we spent our last afternoon jamming with some amazing African musicians after our last house concert.

We left Wisconsin just as the red winged blackbirds were arriving. Next time we hope to return in the summer (2012). Meanwhile we're waiting for the next Caim door to open ... there are possibilities of California and Florida, maybe even Canada again....

At home in Scotland I'm planning a solo set with guitarist Shaun Craig - actually that should be duo shouldn't it? We performed a floor spot in Ciaran Dorris' gig at Quarter acoustic music club the night before Caim left for Wisconsin and hope to be back there for our booking in the winter. Meanwhile Ciaran and I continue to tour all over Scotland for Music in Hospitals. As soon as I had recovered from jet lag we had a great tour as far north as we could get - up to Wick and Thurso in wild and beautiful Caithness. Ciaran would have swam to Orkney if he could!

Finally a quick mention again of my late husband Al's CD "Full Vision". All of you who ordered copies should have them by now. If anyone else is interested in buying a copy they are available through this website http://www.cluniemusic.com/ or direct from me at cluniemusic@hotmail.com .

God bless & Happy Spring!

Heather