Museletter - October 2006

Well hello again! and welcome to another edition of the MuseLetter! We have some exciting news this month, we have added another Muse to our band! For some time now we have been keeping our ears open for just that right voice that would blend with ours flawlessly... at long-last we have found it in Rebecca Trombly (Becca)! She is a multi-instrumentalist like us, and is very enthusiastic about the band and the music. She sounds fantastic and we all blend like water to.. well.. more water! We'll let her express her thoughts to you here, we all are looking forward to seeing you in the road!! -The Muses

On my plane ride to meet the Muses for the first time ever, I wondered if I was crazy. As I listened to various songs of theirs through my headphones, I wrote in my journal: "I'm about 2 hours away from another adventure, I just got on my last flight from Colorado to Chicago, now from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio where I will meet Tanya Brody and Matthew Gurnsey...The Muses...for the first time. And it is with them that I will stay for the next 30 days. I'm trying to ignore the negative (but perhaps wiser) side of my conscience that keeps prodding me with her trident shouting "Ya know...this could be a nightmare...how do YOU know that these so-called 'Celtic musicians' aren't on the road to becoming America's next 'Most Wanted'?" My positive conscience with her angelic halo then chides in, "Because they were always so nice on the phone, and they look friendly on their website...and with 6 CD's out and critics acclaim..." and then my negative conscience waves her trident triumphantly and proclaims, "Yes! but YOU don't really KNOW THEM, now do you?..." When the bickering between the two extremes of my conscience becomes bad enough (twitching, epileptic fits, etc.), I simply turn up the volume on my CD player and focus on what can be known NOW: the

yrics and harmonies to the 9 songs they'd asked me to come prepared with. Now really, if they were actually only "posing" as successful celtic musicians with charming smiles and catchy music, why would they bother with such a request? At any rate, it's a bit too late to turn back now. I shall venture forth and face the music, hopefully literally." END OF JOURNAL ENTRY
Well, it is now day 17 of my time with the Muses and within my first hours of time with them (during which they took me out for sushi and a movie), I was certain that my negative conscience had removed herself out of pure shame for ever instilling such horrible possibilities into my head. And already after day 4, it seemed odd to me that there was ever a moment in my life when I didn't know them. To waiters and waitresses at restaurants we are perhaps an odd family - a married couple, and some girl who appears too old to be their daughter - regardless, we seem to be getting along quite fine so far. Matt and Tanya have a wonderful way of welcoming people into their lives. I never feel left out and I never feel left behind. Through their patience and enthusiasm, I can now join them on stage for 22 of their songs - less than 2 hours of their 4 hours of repertoire, but moving forward nonetheless:). On our very first day of rehearsal, we rehearsed for a total of 8 hours and I remember feeling almost elated. Never before in my life have I been in a situation with other people where we all collectively let the music drive us with no attention paid to our surroundings, including time. I could not be luckier. The doors to an office with a stable desk job closed on me earlier this year, and now, I find myself standing with two fine musicians where a day of hard work is tiring, like any, but spent nurturing and shaping what we all already know and love.
.

Even so, this life of touring and performing is much harder than I first imagined. Most react to the news of my new life "on the road" with "if only that could be me" type statements, and I admit that traveling cross-country with a touring band seemed far too exciting to be true, at first. But I've already grown to understand that it's much more challenging, in so many ways, that I simply could not have grasped before. We sing of sailors who are relieved to have their feet on solid ground, but our feet never are. We're lucky if we can call somewhere "home"
for a week,and something
inside of me can already
feel the effects of such instability.

In addition to that challenge, Tanya and Matt (and eventually myself) put in endless hours networking, promoting, phoning, researching, updating the website, and writing newsletters such as this one. It takes far more than just simply talent to be a professional performer. What Matt and Tanya have created is an intricate and fragile independent business, and I am so lucky to have been welcomed aboard this enterprise - Rebecca Trombly, the New Muse

To read more about Rebecca and to hear sound clips of what the three of us sound like, go to www.renaissancechic.com and look for the "new" links.

Listing of our upcoming Concerts!

Thursday October 12th
7:00 pm in Kelly Hall
795 Livermore St.
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
937-769-1050
Tickets $12.00 for non community members
www.antioch-college.edu

Saturday October 14th
8:00 pm
The Focal Point
2720 Sutton Blvd
Maplewood, MO 63143
314-781-4200
Tickets $12.50
www.thefocalpoint.org

Saturday October 21st 3:00 pm
Home Grown House Concerts
Black Hawk, CO 80422
This is a private house concert. If you REALLY want to come, call us and we'll see what we can do. 303-443-8150

Thursday October 26th 8:00 pm
Chautauqua Community House
Chautauqua Park
900 Baseline Road
Boulder, CO 80302
303.440.7666
Tickets $12.00 for non members, $9.00 for members
www.chautauqua.com
Sponsored by Cage Free Records

Monday October 30th 7:00 pm
Cave Creek Coffee Company & Wine Bar
6033 East Cave Creek Road
Cave Creek, AZ 85327
480-488-0603
www.cavecreekcoffee.com/music.htm

Wednesday November 1st 2:00 pm
Northwest Regional Library
16089 N. Bullard Ave.
Surprise, AZ 85374
623.544.6371 ext. 212
mcld.maricopa.gov

Thursday November 2nd
Out to Lunch Concert Series
12:30 pm on the Shadow Walk
City of Mesa - Arts Center
1 East Main St.
Mesa, AZ 85201
(480) 644-6581
www.mesaartscenter.com

Thursday November 2nd 4:30 pm
Fountain Hills Branch Public Library
12901 N. La Montana Dr.
Fountain Hills, AZ 85268
480.837.9793
mcld.maricopa.gov

Friday November 3rd 6:30 dinner, 8:00 Ceili
Saturday November 4th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Tucson Celtic Festival
4502 N. First Avenue
Rillito Park Racetrack
Tucson, AZ 85718
Tickets $25.00 for Friday night
Saturday: $10.00 on line, 12:00 at gate
520-885-9171
With Michi Regier (Our favorite fiddler!)
www.tucsoncelticfestival.org

Wednesday November 8th 7:00 pm
Florence Public Library
1000 South Willow
Florence, AZ 85232
(520) 868-9471
www.co.pinal.az.us/Library/Florence

Saturday November 11th 8:00 pm
Fiddler's Dream Coffee House
As Guests of Michi Regier (Our favorite fiddler!)
1702 East Glendale Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85020
602-997-9795
www.fiddlersdream.org

Sunday November 12th 6:30 pm
Greenfire Music Collective
3445 N. Dodge Blvd.
(The Lodge on Dodge)
Tuscon, AZ 85716
Tickets: $10.00
(520) 408-0677
www.greenfireonline.org

Tuesday November 14th 7:00 pm
Newark Library
6300 Civic Terrace Ave.
Newark, CA 94560
(510) 795-2627
www.aclibrary.org/branches/nwk

Thursday November 16th 7:00 pm
Springstowne Public Library
1003 Oakwood Avenue
Vallejo, CA 94591
(707) 553-5546
www.solanolibrary.com/springstowne.cfm

November 17th - 19th
Far West Festival-Folk Alliance Region West
Sacramento Marriot Rancho Cordova
11211 Point East Drive
Rancho Cordova, California 95742
(949) 646-1964
www.far-west.org

November 25th 7:00 pm
Green Acres Lavender Farm
8865 San Gabriel Rd
Atascadero, CA 93422
(805) 466-0837
Tickets $15.00 (space is limited, please call!) www.greenacreslavenderfarm.com

November 26th 1:00 pm
Monterey Maritime Museum
5 Custom House Plaza
Monterey, CA 93940
831-372-2608
Tickets $10.00
www.montereyhistory.org/maritime_museum.htm

Thursday November 30th 8:00 pm
Coffee Gallery Backstage
2029 N Lake
Altadena, CA 91001
626-398-7917
Tickets $15.00 (space is limited, please call!)
www.coffeegallery.com

We're looking forward to seeing you at our upcoming shows!!!

- Tanya, Matt & Becca