Dan & Faith

Hello!

We’re sitting here, still somewhat stuffed from our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, and admiring the snow outside. A week or so ago, we started seeing the ski trails on Mount Okemo as the weather got cold enough for snowmaking. Now our back yard is as white as those trails! We had a quiet Thanksgiving, just the two of us, as we watched all that snow fall. Dinner was full of our own produce (butternut squash, apples, potatoes) and more produce local to us (salad greens, Brussels sprouts, blueberries, root vegetables). Our harvest is done; the fridge is full of apples and pears, and the freezer is full of zucchini, kale, yellow squash, and celery. This is the time of year when the garden takes a deep breath and settles in for its winter nap.

While the garden naps, we’re out and about. We’re looking forward to trekking over to Concord, NH to talk with Kate McNally about our new album on NHPR’s The Folk Show on Sunday, December 8th. Kate has been hosting The Folk Show for almost 30 years! Her show runs 7-10pm Eastern. If you’re in New Hampshire, tune in on your local New Hampshire Public Radio station. Or you can listen online at NHPR.org. If you miss it, you can listen to the entire show online here for up to a week after the broadcast.

One of our annual traditions is a trip to Worcester, MA to play on DJ Nick Noble’s The Folk Revival holiday show at WICN FM. Nick invites local musicians from around the area to play live in the studio for this show with the understanding that each act must play at least one holiday song. This year, the show is Thursday, December 12th. We’ll play Dan’s song Solstice (which he wrote specifically for Nick’s holiday show in 2014), and then we’ll see what else we offer up! The music runs 7-10pm Eastern, and it’s always a ton of fun. Listen in the Worcester area on 90.5FM, or online at WICN.org (click where it says “Listen Live”).

Every few months, we like to play Open Mic America, a national online open mic that showcases 6 to 8 performers in any musical genre per show. They also celebrate local open mics across the country. Tune in Sunday, December 15th from 8-10pm Eastern on their YouTube channel. If you miss the show, the YouTube video will stay up for you to enjoy at a later time.

It has always amused us that our birthdays are two days apart. Dan’s is December 29th, Faith’s is December 31st. Over the years, we have gotten in the habit of celebrating on the day between. For the last several years, one of our favorite elements of our celebration is sharing it with you! Join us again this year as we celebrate our joint birthdays with an online concert on Monday, December 30th. We’ll play whatever strikes our fancy, and if you have any requests, we’ll try to fit those in, too. You can tune in either via YouTube or Facebook. We’ll start at 7:30pm Eastern and go for an hour or so. Stop in and join the festivities!

This coming Friday, December 6th, is Bandcamp Friday! All our in-print albums and singles are available via Bandcamp, including our newest album, Who We Are. Several months of the year, Bandcamp declares the first Friday of the month to be a Bandcamp Friday, where Bandcamp waives their revenue share for music purchases, and gives that money directly to the artists. You can stream or download from there in any format, or you can order the physical CD, your choice! With the holidays coming up, what better gift is there than the gift of music? And if you order on Bandcamp Friday, that allows plenty of time for you to receive the albums before the holidays. Though we’re happy to have you shop through Bandcamp at any time!

December can be tough for those of us who love daylight. It’s easy to understand how primitive humans could believe the sun was going out as we got to the winter solstice each year, and how they would consider the returning of the light to be a cause for celebration. Chase away darkness, join in our song. Hand in hand, our voices are strong! Chase away darkness, sing to the sky. Celebrate Solstice tonight! Help us celebrate the returning of the light with Dan’s song, Solstice.

Our albums Who We Are, Then and Now, Seeking, and Simple Grace are available from us at shows and on our website, through Bandcamp, or you can find them at iTunes and most other online music stores. Our music is also available streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.

As always, you can find additional schedule information on our website. For additional content, follow us on Patreon. For more frequent news updates and information, check out our Facebook fan page.

We wish you the very best during the holiday season!

Dan & Faith

Hello!

We’ve been out on the road for a month now, and we’ve definitely gotten into the rhythm of the road. Our home life and our road life both have a rhythm to them. Some things are the same, of course — preparing for the day, meals, etc. But the road brings us some different things to deal with. Where are we walking or hiking today, and what impact will the weather have on that? Where are we staying tonight? Why did the van lose power overnight, and where can we get that fixed? Yep, challenges happen on the road sometimes, too! But we’ve learned to be flexible, and are willing to change plans to compensate. So the planned trip home through Ontario turned into a slightly longer trip home (after a successful repair!) through Shenandoah National Park, and it’s still a gorgeous drive even this late in the foliage season. We’ve missed the first snow flurries at home, but that’s fine by us! I’m sure Mother Nature will have more for us once we’re home.

We’re starting off our musical month practically in our own back yard, with a radio interview hosted by Evan Parks on WOOL-FM (Black Sheep Radio!) in Bellows Falls, VT on Friday, November 8th at 5pm Eastern time. Evan’s show, “It’s Flocking Friday”, covers area happenings and music both worldwide and local. Come join the Flock for Black Sheep Radio’s gateway to the weekend! You can listen in the Bellows Falls area on 91.5FM, or online at blacksheepradio.org (click on “Listen Now”).

The following Thursday, November 14th, we’re back on the radio with our good friend DJ Nick Noble at WICN-FM in Worcester, MA, but this time we’re bringing a guest! Deb Seymour, a Seattle area singer-songwriter, is in visiting us for a few days in November, so we’re introducing her to Nick. Deb’s songs, ranging from the delightfully quirky tales of hitch-hiking chickens and tango-dancing Martians to the unexpectedly intriguing subject of colonoscopies, paint a vivid and memorable tapestry. With each performance, Deb seamlessly combines clever wordplay with masterful guitar artistry, creating moments that are as heartwarming as they are humorous. Sounds like there will be a couple of additional local guests on the show that evening as well. Should be fun! Nick’s show, The Folk Revival, runs 7-10pm Eastern time. Tune in on 90.5FM in the Worcester area, or listen live at WICN.org.

We’ve heard about the Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center in Middletown, CT for years, and are thrilled to be playing there on Friday, November 15th! The Buttonwood Tree is an art gallery, bookstore, and live music venue whose mission is to uplift, inspire, educate, and enrich lives through artistic and cultural programming, while supporting the creative endeavors of emerging and established artists. The show starts at 7:30pm. Seats are $15 apiece, and can be purchased online in advance or at the door.

Pastor Liz Magill has asked us back to play music for the church service she leads at the UCC Church On The Common in Rindge, NH. We have played there before, and found the congregation to be warm and welcoming. The service is Sunday, November 17th at 10am. All are welcome!

Swapping songs with other musicians is a treat for us, and doing it with a friend is even better! Deb Seymour, our Seattle friend who we’re taking to WICN-FM earlier in the month, will be swapping songs with us at Ciao Popolo in Bellows Falls, VT on Monday, November 18th from 5:30-8pm. We’re looking forward to hearing a bunch of Deb’s songs and getting to hang out with her for the evening. Come enjoy a good Italian dinner at Ciao Popolo and see where the musical muse takes us!

For any fellow musicians who will be attending the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conference in Portland, ME from Thursday, November 21st through Sunday, November 24th, let’s meet up!

We’re excited to have our new album, Who We Are, now available out on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services, in addition to Bandcamp. It’s also out for radio airplay starting this month. If your local radio station has a folk music show, keep an ear out for us! And speaking of the new album, it would make a great holiday gift for your music-loving family and friends.

As Thanksgiving is coming up soon, we would like to share Dan’s note of thanks to a couple who offered him a peaceful, loving space back in his early college years. Thanks For The Memories, Toshi and Pete Seeger!

Our albums Who We Are, Then and Now, Seeking, and Simple Grace are available from us at shows and on our website, through Bandcamp, or you can find them at iTunes and most other online music stores. Our music is also available streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.

As always, you can find additional schedule information on our website. For additional content, follow us on Patreon. For more frequent news updates and information, check out our Facebook fan page.

November is the season for giving thanks, and we are thankful for you!

Dan & Faith