Sooj

Traveling Songs: Still Traveling!

It’s been almost a month since I announced the release of the Traveling Songs collection. The response has been truly delightful, and I’ve gotten some super sweet feedback from fans, colleagues, and friends about the various songs included. I’ve even learned that I have fans living in Israel!

Poet Jess Halsey put up her thoughts on her blog, and they made my day. Below is my favorite part of her post. She nails it.

“An album is a guided presentation of a story. Even if the listener has no idea about the destination, the map has a line and the road follows the bard’s voice. We, the ones living outside the storyteller’s head, can wander down the path and explore the story. Traveling Songs lets you jump the border and dive into the uncharted, wild terrain of SJ’s imagination. Traveling Songs gives us the opportunity to throw the map away and listen to a pure, undiluted year’s worth of S. J.’s musical creations.”

Read the rest here, and check out Jess’s work while you’re there.

I’m back on the road this week, headed east. I had a fantastic, intimate concert in Sunset, UT on Tuesday evening, and this weekend I’ll be performing at MALCon in Denver. After that it’s home for a hot minute for the first time since July 4th! HOME! Check out the rest of the tour dates here.

#soojtravelingsongs is Go!

My name is S. J. Tucker, and I’ve been touring, performing, recording, and releasing original music full time for twelve years.

(so. many. albums)

I would like to introduce my very new touring rig. His name is Shadowfax.

Car shopping & research can be draining and scary, even when it hasn’t been over a decade since you last bought a car.

As you can see, mischief got managed, and within plenty of time to prepare for my summer touring activity. It’s still sinking in how cool this is.

My previous touring vehicle, Golde, who’s been extremely dependable and otherwise awesome, enters her new, low pressure position as home-based work truck at 388k miles.

Shadowfax became my new touring rig a few weeks ago. I’ve had two successful runs with him now- one to New York state and back with the band, and one out to the Northwest.

The only way to truly reduce my carbon footprint would be to stop touring entirely. But I’m not doing that, not yet, for all sorts of reasons, most of them good. So, my bandmates and I are on the road in safety & style this summer, with cargo space *and* comfort, thanks in no small part to the steady support of fans & friends the world over. ✨?✨?✨?✨

Shortly after Shadowfax came home with me, I asked my Instagram followers this question: If I were to announce a “traveling songs” fundraiser for Shadowfax, with new and unreleased music as incentives, would you all be interested and able to take part?

A whole bunch of you left supportive comments and said yes; thank you.

Here’s what’s happening.

I’m not using GoFundMe or Kickstarter or any other fundraising platform for this.

It’s just you, and me, and Paypal, but mostly just you and me.

I’m offering up the new songs I wrote between February 2015 and February 2016, as part of a song-a-week challenge. All of them are new and all but two are currently unreleased. There are 52 songs all together, all at least two minutes long, most of them quite a bit longer than two minutes. Everything from a steampunk murder ballad to a lullaby for my best friend’s cat. Every genre from fun and folky to full-blown electronica.

Normally, I wouldn’t release my rough recordings and studio demos, but this is a special situation.

See, I have all this new music- quite a bit more than I’ve ever had before after a single year of songwriting, and I know that you, music fans, like to help out when you can. Otherwise, Kickstarter and IndieGoGo and Patreon and all the rest wouldn’t be so popular.

So this whole situation gives me an opportunity to share new music with you a lot sooner than I normally would. And that’s pretty cool.

For $11, you’ll get eleven of my new, unreleased songs.

Click here to pay $11 at PayPal and get the 11 Elite download!

For $22, you’ll get twenty-two of my new, unreleased songs, hand-chosen by me.

Click here to pay $22 at PayPal and get the Top 22 download!

For $42, you’ll get the whole circus. 52 new original songs.

Click here to pay $42 at PayPal and get The Whole Circus download!

Tour Update: Albuquerque concert with Celia next week, and beyond!

Happy July, everyone!

First things first: I have a concert at Tortuga Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico next Wednesday. Yesterday, I found out that the amazing Celia would be passing through, and so I invited her to join me! Can you join us both? I hope so!

GET TICKETS HERE!
(They’re a bit cheaper if you grab them in advance- $10 or more online, $15 at the door.)

JULY 6, 7PM
TORTUGA GALLERY
901 EDITH BLVD SE
ALBUQUERQUE, NM
87102

Doors open at 6:30pm, and music starts at 7:00. There will be a short intermission between sets. Special thanks to Kat, Jill, and Pax for helping this concert come to life.

After our Albuquerque visit, Ryan and I have a few free days on the road before we need to land in Oregon. Where are your favorite places to go adventuring in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, or Utah? Send me a message and let me know! I’m sure to post photos on Instagram of where we end up going – follow me there if you like!

My next concert is in Oregon, at the lovely Summerstar festival with my dear collaborator Betsy Tinney, cellist. The festival runs the course of the July 14-16 weekend and is a witchy-friendly event. You have until July 6th to register if you haven’t yet done so. Get all the info at the festival’s website.

“Summerstar is about growth, understanding and acceptance. It’s about moving beyond the boundaries imposed by yourself, others and our own inability to cope outside of our experiences. We embrace sincerity and genuine curiosity about what makes us, changes us and drives us as people. We encourage stepping up to the unknown and moving forward with the strength of our collective Wills to guide us. Finally, we hope that you will move and grow in accordance with your own Will. Our site location is revealed to paid registrants only. This encourages only those who are sincere and interested in sharing a magickal experience to attend.”

After Summerstar concludes, I get to spend just a short time in Washington state, something I’ve been able to do each summer for more than a decade now. The Pacific Northwest is one of those places that truly recharges me, body and soul, and I’m so grateful to all of my fans and friends who keep asking me to come back.

Sacred Spiral Sanctuary is hosting Betsy and me for another duo show on July 23rd, down in Ethel, WA. It’s a beautiful place!

Get tickets right here – this show benefits Cascadia Cares.
July 23, 2016 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Sooj & Betsy at Sacred Spiral Sanctuary
1853 US-12
Ethel, WA
98542

“Join us as we welcome singer-songwriter extraordinaire S. J. Tucker and her powerful, hypnotic, soul-stirring songs, together with cellist Betsy Tinney, whose work has been called reminiscent of dark chocolate and fine red wine. Feast your ears! Tickets are $25, and this concert will benefit Cascadia Cares, a non-profit organization that empowers people with food and resources. Join us for a potluck at 5pm; concert starts at 7pm. We will be outdoors, so please bring blankets or chairs for your comfort.”

Betsy and I will perform together on the Kitsap County side, Sunday afternoon, July 31st! Our Silverdale shows have traditionally been rewarding and wonderful, filled with great memories for band and audience alike. We hope you can make it! We’ve made this one an earlier show so as not to be too hard on our friends and fans who have to go to work the next day.

GET TICKETS RIGHT HERE! $10, $15, or $20, buyer’s choice!
Sunday, July 31st, 5-7pm
Sooj & Betsy perform at the Silverdale Grange Hall
12641 Clear Creek Road NW
Silverdale, WA
98383
“Sooj and Betsy offer a dynamic duo show, Kitsap side, at the cozy Silverdale Grange Hall, on a Sunday afternoon! Come one, come all! Doors open at 4:30pm. Music begins at 5pm. There will be a brief intermission between sets. Special thanks to William for helping to host this show!”

NEXT MONTH AND OTHER SWEET NEWS

-Betsy will be hosting her annual Music Under the Trees concert in Redmond on August 6th. More details about that soon!
-I’ll be appearing at Myths And Legends Convention in Denver on August 12-14, along with the Doubleclicks! Jim Butcher is the author Guest of Honor, and it’s sure to be a blast. More info here!

-I get to go to Venus Music Festival in Illinois for the first time at the end of August, and I couldn’t be more excited! This event is hosted by one of my song sisters, Summer Osborne, and her awesome wife Lori. More info here!

-Rather big announcement: Just confirmed that I will be performing at DragonCon this year for the first time in ages! Will I see you there?

–Coming Soon: I have a new touring vehicle! We had our first successful run with said vehicle on our mini Tricky Pixie tour up to New York Faerie Fest last month- that trip was so wonderful, and I’m so grateful to our concert hosts and attendees in Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, and New York state! I posted about the new ride on Instagram before we started that trip, and I asked a big question. If I were to offer some new music as a super simple little fundraiser to offset some of the new car costs, would you all go for that? The response was delightfully positive! Watch for more info about this from me very soon, most likely on my blog.

-Last but never least: Do you have your download or your physical copy of The Green Album yet? Did you know that we’ve already helped Rainforest Trust to secure over 1800 acres of rainforest since the CD release concert last month? Come and be part of something truly good.

Thank you all so much for reading this post this weekend! I know that holiday plans take a lot out of us sometimes. Know that I value your attention and your participation in the music and the magic that I get to make.

June Tour-Memphis, St. Louis, Indy, Newark OH, Columbus & New York Faerie Fest!

Hi, fans and friends! I just got back from the first ever Caldera Pagan Music Festival, which hosted three solid days of concerts AND the release of our compilation CD The Green Album, and it was the experience of a lifetime. My gratitude and all of my high fives go out to the organizers, the community, and all of my friends and colleagues on stage and backstage. Keep your ears open for the future of that event, because CalderaFest will be back! Just wow.

I found out early this week that I get to play a set in Memphis this Saturday, at a #SemicolonProject event hosted by Underground Art in Cooper-Young! This is my only Tennessee gig until this fall. It’s free, it runs from noon to 6pm, and I’ll be playing around 4:30. Hope you can make it, Memphis peeps!

SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 12-6PM: ILLUMINATED SEMICOLON EVENT TO BENEFIT MEMPHIS CRISIS CENTER!

Underground Art

2287 Young Ave
Memphis, TN 38104
More info here!

***

The next set of shows is particularly of interest to Tricky Pixie fans!

We’re going on the road together later this month to tour up to New York Faerie Fest together!
These are all of the appearances that we’ve got for 2016, and they’re happening this month! We hope to see you there.

SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 7-10PM: TRICKY PIXIE & MAMA GINA’S SASSY SUMMER SOLSTICE SHOW!
WHERE: The Bell House
4 Eldorado Ct
St. Louis, MO 63119
USA

GET TICKETS HERE!

Mama Gina’s soulful blues voice will steal your heart, and Tricky Pixie’s wicked wit and whimsy will bring it back to you! Don’t miss a chance to let these powerful folks wrap you up in song and rock your soul!

This event is sponsored and hosted by Harmony’s Flame School.
All ticket proceeds go to the artists, who adore you for your support even now!
Doors open at 6:30pm and music goes from from 7-10pm.

Bring a dish, stay and celebrate! Come one, come all!

UPDATE: At the time of this writing, Mama Gina is in the hospital in St. Louis, preparing for emergency foot surgery that’s forced her to cancel her area shows at The Focal Pointe and StL Pagan Picnic this weekend. That makes your support and attendance at the June 18 concert, which is going forward as planned, doubly important and doubly appreciated. Please join us if you can and help Mama Gina feel the love! If you cannot be there, please help us spread the word.
Join in the excitement and share the Facebook event page.
***

Our next stop is a shared show in Indianapolis with the Heather Dale Band! RIGHT?!? We are all so stoked! Best Monday night ever!

MONDAY, JUNE 20, 7-9PM: TRICKY PIXIE & THE HEATHER DALE BAND!
Spiritual Gardens
5559 Madison Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46227
Hang onto something, Indy! A whole tribe of badass bards are coming to see you, all at once!

Whimsical scamps Tricky Pixie and the effervescent Heather Dale Band all travel the continent, doing their best to leave magic and inspiration in their wake, but they do not often meet up at the same concert! Well, it’s happening! We hope you’ll join us at this shared Summer Solstice show!

Admission is $10 advance, $20 at the door.

Paypal for tickets (family & friends setting, please!) to hostess Michelle at thespiritualgarden3x3@yahoo.com

Doors at 6:30, music at 7.

Thanks to Michelle for having us!
***Over to Newark, Ohio next, which is just outside of Columbus, for a concert under the stars!

TUESDAY, JUNE 21ST, 7-9PM: TRICKY PIXIE LIVE OUTDOORS AT KILLEN KEEP/VIOLET FLAME GIFTS!

118 W Locust St
Newark, OH 43055

GET TICKETS!
Killen Keep and Violet Flame Gifts welcome all Tricky Pixie fans and weeknight revelers to this very special outdoor concert, the band’s first time ever performing in Newark!Some seating will be available, but please bring your most comfortable camp chairs if you have them.

Advance tickets are $10, $15, or $20, buyer’s choice. Day-of-show admission is $20. All ticket sales benefit the band and Violet Flame Gifts.

Violet Flame Gifts and Killen Keep are housed in a beautiful Victorian house on Locust Street. Our concert will be behind the house, augmented by sunset and starlight. Parking is available on the street and in two large parking lots – one is directly across from the house and another is directly behind.
***

Onward and Northward to New York Faerie Fest, the jewel in our crown this month! We’re so happy to be returning, and meeting up once again with dear friends Sharon Knight & Winter and the delicious Wendy Rule!

FRIDAY JUNE 24-SUNDAY JUNE 26: TRICKY PIXIE AT NEW YORK FAERIE FEST!
2195 NY-79
Harpursville, NY 13787

GET TICKETS!

Elfin & Sylvan Folk, Wood Sprites & Faerie Folk, and All you Humans who still Believe in Magic…
Join Us in the Rolling Hills and Hollows of Rural New York for Central New York’s Faerie Festival!
A time of Escape from ordinary Reality… into Magical Play!

***

Betsy, Alec and I are sorry that we can’t get everywhere around the country together to sing for you this year, but we’re happy to tell you that we’ve all been working on various recording projects. Those projects include, yes, the next Tricky Pixie CD! We have laid down preliminary tracks on both new and old favorites.

It’s going to be a while before the work is done. We will let you know when we’re getting close!

In the meantime, check out Alec’s Patreon, Betsy’s Patreon, and Sooj’s newly released song on the pagan music compilation The Green Album, now available for download! 25% of every single download or physical CD sale of this collection goes to the Rainforest Trust; great tunes for a great cause! Alec and Betsy are featured on Sooj’s track, and the other artists come from all over the globe: Damh the Bard, Wendy Rule, Ginger Doss, Spiral Dance, Spiral Rhythm, Tuatha Dea, Bekah Kelso, and more!
Check it out and spread the word!
***

The band and I part ways again after New York Faerie Fest, but I’ve got two sweet concerts at The Magical Druid in Columbus, Ohio on my way home- the evening show is sold out, but there are still quite a few seats left for the afternoon concert!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 7PM (sold out) AND 3:30PM: SOOJ SOLO SHOW AT THE MAGICAL DRUID!

The Magical Druid Spiritual Resource Center
3165 N High St
Columbus, OH 43202
Get tickets for the afternoon show here!

Sooj stops in for some music and magic at The Magical Druid on her way south! She’ll share both old favorites and new gems, so bring your ears and your energy.

We’re capping the tickets at 25 for that afternoon, so grab yours in advance if you can – ticket link coming soon! Advance tickets are $10, $15, or $20- purchaser’s choice. If any seats are left, day-of-show tickets will be $20.

The Magical Druid is at 3165 N High St., Columbus, OH 43202 (the northeast corner of High St. and Pacemont).

UPDATE: the evening show is sold out, so Sooj is giving an additional AFTERNOON set, beginning at 3:30!
***

That takes us all the way to July! I’ve got concerts scheduled in New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington so far, with more in the works, and August will take me from Washington to Denver and all the way to Illinois! Get all the info right here on my tour calendar page.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and to see what I’m up to.
Wishing you the sweetest of summers and hoping to see you soon!

Gratitude, Privilege, and What It Really Takes to Do What You Love

I read an article yesterday whose main idea was that the trend of privilege of quitting one’s job to chase a dream is bullshit.

There were parts of it I agreed very much with- for instance, to paraphrase, my drive and initiative and skills are no more valuable or true than those of migrant workers, double-shift-working single parents, or of any one of the billions with a job they don’t enjoy.

I wish it were not so that millions must live far away from home and family, working a backbreaking horrible job (or six) in order to just keep themselves and their loved ones from starving. This situation has never been my reality, and I can only see it from a very distant perspective. It also requires a different, much longer conversation, having to do with workers’ rights, cultural sensitivity, poverty, racism, equal pay, and a thousand other things.

I wish it were not so that life and/or work is absolute crap for so many, absolute joy for so few.

Standing where I stand, and speaking from direct personal experience, I would like to propose that what’s bullshit is the level of romanticism around the concept of chucking it all to do what you love. Here’s why.

Figuring out what you even want to do with your life is damn near impossible in the first place. It’s okay if that takes a while. It should always be okay, and it is also okay if it changes at some point. Your mileage will almost certainly vary. I had it very easy where figuring out what I wanted to do was concerned, and I recognize this. Those of you who are not having an easy time with that at all, I see you, and I wish you triumph.

If and when you do scale that fence, and you decide that you want to leap and fly, you absolutely must be prepared to work your butt off to build a new AND sustainable career- both to replace the career or job you want to leave, and to keep yourself and any loved ones alive, or else you may lose your integrity in leaning on any available well of privilege, or leaning on your spouse or family, when things don’t go so well.

I’m not saying you’ll lose your integrity if you don’t do exactly as I did, nor if you go home to your mama’s to rest. I do that a lot, but she and I have always been close.

What I am saying, for my own part, is that I have an ocean of support, and also plenty of privilege, and it’s still a colossal amount of work to do my thing, which is managing and maintaining an independent artistic career.

I’m also saying that you don’t have to ever even consider making your passion into your job or your life’s work. It’s hard, and the attempt might just make you not want to do it anymore at all. I’m saying look carefully at every angle before you make the change. Dream as big as you like, but also think, and plan.

Do what you love, but know what you’re getting into. Be kind, be aware, make friends, do your best, and say thank you. Say thank you a lot.

#QueensofAvalon Behind The Scenes

…at my place, no less! Heather and I are having a ton of fun putting these videos together for our crowdfunded Arthurian legend musical, Queens of Avalon. Here’s the newest one.

Women of Substance Radio!

“Little Bird” is going in the rotation as of today! Help me boost the signal if you want by grabbing this image and sharing it around. You can subscribe on iTunes, you can listen on TuneIn, and you can hear all the podcast episodes on the WOSRadio website here!

“Dream of Mississippi” gets a turn on the May 30 episode- I’ll share and boost that info when the time comes.

I’m off to the Beltania festival this weekend in Colorado. Come and find me if you’ll be there, too!

My Concerts and things at MarCon this weekend

Lookout, Columbus! And incidentally, if you won’t be able to attend MarCon this weekend, I’m coming back through NEXT MONTH – June 21st and June 29th! I have a pretty graphic for those shows, courtesy of illustrator Herb Leonhard:

MY MARCON STUFF IS AS FOLLOWS:

Friday, 7pm, Union E: Panel – You Got Your Song In My Book! You Got Your Book In My Song!

Friday, 8:30pm, Fayette: Panel – Everything Is Magic

Saturday, 2:30pm, Batelle South: S. J. TUCKER CONCERT!

Saturday, 10:00pm, Union E: Shapeshifter Bardic Circle (bring me your songs about selkies/faeries/werekin!)

Sunday, 11:30am, Union E: Songwriting Workshop (I plan to talk about my recent experiences with songwriting prompts, and whatever else we decide we want to discuss.)

Sunday, 2:30pm, Union E: Panel – Gigging; practical guide to making a living playing music (Tom Smith and Marc Gunn are also on this panel, so bring your sense of humor!)

Sooj & Bekah Concert Highlights!

Including some “Little Bird”, some “Crossroads”, and some….Iron Maiden?!? YES.

More of Bekah’s music: http://www.bekahkelso.com

Bekah’s ConcertWindow channel: http://www.concertwindow.com/bekahkelso

Our setlist last night:

SAILING SONG (Sooj – from the Wonders album)
HEAVEN CAN WAIT (Bekah – from BKTF’s album, No Stranger)
THE PIXIE CAN’T SLEEP (Sooj – from the Tangles album)
WELCOME HOME (Bekah AND Sooj, available to download)
SEETHING SUN (Bekah – from the Departures album)
LOVE LIES (Sooj – from the Mischief album)
COLORS OF THE WIND (Bekah – unreleased)
LITTLE BIRD (Sooj – from the Stolen Season album)
CROSSROADS/NUMBER OF THE BEAST (mwoohahahaaaa)
1157/HOURGLASS/LOOK TO THE WATER (Sooj/Bekah/Sooj – unreleased)
HIPPY PAGAN PEOPLE (Bekah – from the Departures album)

Thanks to everyone who was able to watch! We had 100+ sweet souls with us!

Online Show Tonight, April Shows & News

Happy April, everyone! My BIG news today is that I have an online concert to invite you to! It’s happening this very night! For now, I don’t get to do these that often, just because of how my schedule is set up and how

S….L….O….W

my connectivity options are at home. So we’re gonna make this SPECIAL. You don’t only get to hear and see ME share new songs and old favorites live and online, though. You ALSO get to hear my song-sister Bekah Kelso share her sweet Bohemian grooves! Bekah is hosting the concert at her home in San Antonio, but you can watch and listen to us no matter where you are! Want a piece of this? Here’s our concert link. We hope you can join us! We’ll kick off the tunes at 7pm central time (5pm Pacific, 6pm Mountain, 8pm Eastern). Don’t be shy about hopping on in the chat room while we’re playing- we’ll be watching for your words! If you’d like, you can also go join the conversation anytime on the Facebook event.

UPDATE: here’s a quick video of us getting ready for the broadcast tonight!

Next weekend, I’ll be attending the Daughters of the Moon women’s retreat near Memphis, TN. Let me know if you’re also going!

The jewel in the crown of my travels this month is actually pretty close to home for me- the Amazon Women’s Music Festival in Fayetteville, AR starts on Friday, April 22nd! The lineup is all women musicians, but the festival is open to all! I hope you can be there with us, as this is an event that gets better every single year- and I’ve been lucky enough to be part of it since the first!

Fayetteville, AR: Sooj Performs at Amazon Music Festival 2016
The Event Place
6279 West Wedington Drive
Fayetteville, AR 72704
Get Tickets Here!

Other nifty new stuff includes:

–an interview by my scholarly friend P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, which is now up on the Aedicula Antinoi blog! P. asked me about everything from my Stolen Season album to my favorite Southern folktales, and it’s a good long interview which I really enjoyed doing. Check out an excerpt here on my blog, and read the whole shebang here.

–Heather Dale’s Queens of Avalon project is about to be released! Check out the DVD trailers here, and sign up to get the latest news about the DVD release, and when we’ll be taking our Gwen-and-Gana show on the road! I don’t miss the blonde wigs for the filming of the show, but I’ll wear them again for YOU!

Thanks for reading!

Sooj

Fayetteville, AR: Sooj Performs at Amazon Music Festival 2016 The Event Place 6279 West Wedington Drive Fayetteville, AR 72704 Get Tickets Here!

Fayetteville, AR: Sooj Performs at Amazon Music Festival 2016
The Event Place
6279 West Wedington Drive
Fayetteville, AR 72704
Get Tickets Here!