Dan & Faith

Hello!

One of the fun things about buying a new property is learning all the things that are living and growing there. We met our neighborhood flock of turkeys early on, and lately we’ve seen four of the mamas with their growing flock of young poults wandering around the hayfield eating bugs. We know we have red foxes, deer, porcupines, bluebirds and crows, and have seen an occasional hawk speed through. For flora, we have lilacs, hydrangea, roses, lilies (both day and regular), black raspberries, and several types of apple trees, plus innumerable other flowering plants that look pretty but defy our ability to remember their names. Some familiar, some new to us, all interesting. Sounds like our musical opportunities!

We’re back hosting the Serendipity Songwriter Session at Serendipity Cafe in Maynard, MA this Wednesday, August 9th. This month, our musical guests are Aaron Tornberg and John Ferullo. This month’s theme, as chosen by the July audience, is “Unexpected Love”. Join us for good food, good original music, tasty fresh-baked desserts, and help us choose the theme for September’s songwriters. Music runs 7:30-9:30pm. Many thanks to Beth DeSombre for hosting in July!

We’re starting to explore our musical neighborhood in New Hampshire. This Saturday, August 12th, we’re off to Marlow Family Fun Day in Marlow, NH. Dunk tank, bouncy castle, a parade, face painting and kids games, arts and crafts, even “chicken poop bingo”! Gotta love small town fairs. Family Fun Day runs 9am-7pm, we think we’ll be on somewhere around 1pm.

Saturday, August 26th, we return to the Pepperell Farmers Market in Pepperell, MA. One of the things we love about this market is that there is at least one farmer who drives a tractor and wagon full of produce over to the market. Now that’s Farm to Table! The produce is always good, and the people are always nice. The market runs 9am-1pm, we play 10am-12pm.

The next afternoon, Sunday August 27th, we’re off to the Old Manse in Concord, MA for the Sunday concert series. This year, we’re sharing the afternoon with John Ferullo, Betsi Mandrioli, “Wyoming” Bob Morse and Kathleen Larkin. There will definitely be collaboration, harmonizing, and just plain fun! Bring a couple of folding chairs and a picnic lunch, or land your kayak at the Old North Bridge just down the hill. Music runs 2-5pm.

We finish out the month at Main Streets Market & Cafe in Concord, MA as the feature at Ellen Schmidt’s open mike on Monday, August 28th. Seating is limited at the market, so if you’re intending to come and have not already reserved a space, let us know ASAP. The mini-set that evening will be Betsi Mandrioli and Kathleen Larkin.  The open mike runs 7:30-10pm; we’ll be on around 8pm.

Our CDs Seeking and Simple Grace are available from us at our shows, on our website, or you can find them at CD Baby, iTunes and most other online music stores. Seeking has been specially mastered for iTunes, which gives higher fidelity over standard iTunes recordings.

As always, you can find additional schedule information on our website, https://www.danandfaith.com. For more frequent news updates and information, check out our Facebook fan page and follow us on Twitter (@danandfaith).

You can find local music whether you’re near home or far away. Just keep your eyes and ears open!

Dan & Faith

Hello!

We finally have the new garden fully planted — just in time to go on the road! Hopefully our seeds and seedlings are a hardy bunch. We did get a fence around it, since we know we have deer. We’ve also seen turkeys, foxes, and a porcupine. But the best sighting was the flock of bluebirds! Bluebirds always make us happy. Luckily, so does music…

Need veggies for your Independence Day salads? Here’s your opportunity — the Collinsville Farmers Market in Collinsville, CT is this Sunday, July 2nd. And what better way to wander a farmers market on a warm summer Sunday than with a bit of music? We’ll be providing that music for you from 11am-1pm. Last time we played this market, the booth nearest to us had a rooster who was enthusiastically crowing along with our tunes. Come see if our rooster buddy is back!

If you’re looking for a good bookstore, a college town is a great place to look. The better bookstores have a cafe. The best bookstores have a cafe with music! Join us at the Farm Cafe in the Toadstool Bookstore in Keene, NH on Thursday, July 6th as we play from 4-6pm. Excellent food prepared fresh, tasty confections for dessert, lots of cool books, and a bit of music to pull it all together.

We’re not around for the Serendipity Songwriters Session at Serendipity Cafe in Maynard, MA this month, but on Wednesday, July 12th, host Beth DeSombre will be joined by guest songwriters Allison Giuliano and Ric Allendorf. The songwriting theme for this month, chosen by last month’s audience, is “Endless Wave”. Come enjoy dinner, fresh-baked desserts, and help them choose the theme for August’s songwriters! Music runs 7:30-9:30pm.

We’re looking forward to playing with our friend Stephen Lee Rich again this summer at the Brink Lounge in Madison, WI on Friday, July 14th. Stephen is quite the showman, and writes excellent songs that we love. Every time we’ve played with him, or with duo Andina & Rich when he’s joined by his duo partner Sandy Andina, it’s always been a hoot. We’ll be playing together 8-10pm.

The next night, Saturday, July 15th, we’re back to a favorite midwest venue, Uptown Bill’s in Iowa City, IA. Uptown Bill’s is a coffee house, performance venue, and a community meeting place. We fell in love with this place last summer, and we’re excited to be playing here again. Music starts at 7pm.

Any Winnebago RV owners out there? We got our Winnebago Travato in 2015 to use as a tour van, and this year we’re taking it out to the Winnebago Grand National Rally (GNR) in Forest City, IA. We’ll be playing at the upper level of River Oaks during GNR on Tuesday, July 18th, starting at 9:30pm (or whenever the activities in the Auditorium finish up, whichever is later). If you’re at GNR, stop in and listen!

After we leave the GNR, we’re headed up to the Beans and Books Coffeehouse in Shawano, WI, a new venue for us, on Sunday, July 23rd. The coffeehouse is a great place for friends to meet, eat and drink together — talk and laugh together. People of all ages come in to grab a coffee or tea and sit quietly reading a book, studying, or writing letters. Sounds like our kind of place! We’ll be playing 2-4pm.

Our CDs Seeking and Simple Grace are available from us at our shows, on our website, or you can find them at CD Baby, iTunes and most other online music stores. Seeking has been specially mastered for iTunes, which gives higher fidelity over standard iTunes recordings.

As always, you can find additional schedule information on our website, https://www.danandfaith.com. For more frequent news updates and information, check out our Facebook fan page and follow us on Twitter (@danandfaith).

Stop in to your local music store, your local coffeehouse, your local bookstore. These places keep community alive. Let’s help keep them going!

Dan & Faith