Those are the opening lyrics of our song sister Kate “Dogwood” McKnight’s newest collection of songs- nay, her first fully grown album of loveliness! You must, you must dive into this heart-chilling sea of pomegranate goodness. Click play. Go. Listen. Bask in ukulele and luscious bold soprano and piratitude and and and. And yes, I’m thrilled to have played just a little bit of drum on the first track, together with Betsy’s cello! We love you, Dogwood!
I got a mention in Huffington Post’s Mabon article last year, and I only just found out! 😀 “Especially evocative”, they said! 😀 I like it!
My songwriting prompt this week was the phrase “summertime sky”. This one’s gonna get people dancing at festivals, I have no doubt. Can’t wait!
Autumn burns before me,
around me and within.
Nothing less than magic
could draw the Winter in.
No less than these colors,
this wild and dancing wind,
could summon up an Equinox
to bid the change begin.
Blessed be the chaos,
the pattern and the dance!
Blessed be the falling leaves,
their colors all enhanced
by their dying! Blessed be the change
that sees the veil grow thin!
Autumn burns before me,
around me and within.
All Hail This Harvest Home!
May we never dance alone!
All Hail This Harvest Home!
Let the change begin!
All Hail This Harvest Home!
May we never feast alone!
All Hail This Harvest Home!
Let the dance begin!
I promise to put music to this at some point. When I realized where/when we are on the calendar this morning, I had to sit right down and write something for Mabon. May you feast today, and may you continue to feast as the colors grow more vivid, the pumpkins grow in number, and the Wheel of the Year turns on!
This November, something extraordinary is going down in Logan, Ohio.
My friend Shelly Riggs has written a play called PIRATE GIRL for her high school theatre students. The script is based upon my Wendy Trilogy songs. My little pirate heart is fluttering right now. Rehearsals start Monday. I’m going to try to be there for the performances!
Being on stage during my high school years was one of the biggest things that got me through to adulthood unscathed. That high school actress is still inside me, going strong. In fact, she’s jumping up and down over this.
If I can indeed make the trip to Ohio to see the show, you can bet your scurvy butt I’ll be in full pirate garb for every single performance. Care to join me?
Betsy, Ryan and I had a wonderful experience at the Faerieworlds festival last weekend. Ryan and I are about to start our journey home. I’ve got two concert appearances en route, the last pair of shows on my #SultrySummerTour. Please help me spread the word!
-SATURDAY at noon, I’ll be singing at Salt Lake City Pagan Pride Day 2016! It’s free! If you can, please bring a non-perishable item for the Food & Blanket Drive that Pagan Pride Day is sponsoring in the name of The Road Home: a private non-profit social service agency that assists individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake County and along the Wasatch Front.
–NEXT MONDAY EVENING, I have a concert at the lovely Tortuga gallery in Albuquerque, NM. Grab tickets here!
Tortuga’s a great place, tucked into a sweet little neighborhood, and I’m so glad they’re able to host me for another self-produced concert.
I’ve gotten a lot of love for my mermaid song, “The Ballad of Laurelei”, which was a collaboration with our friend, the late great Mark Lewis. The Faerieworlds community honored Mark’s life this weekend in myriad lovely ways, and we were proud to add to that resonance our performances of “Laurelei”. I want to thank our band mates (Sharon and Winter, I love you!) for helping this mermaid sing her story, and our fans (especially our mermaid fans!) for letting us share the world of that song with them and loving it so very clearly.
I’ve had one person write to me since the weekend, asking for more information about the song. It’s not yet recorded, but I have blogged about its lyrics and origins. Read that post here.
Happy September, everyone! I’ve got concerts in WA, OR, UT, NM and TX this month, starting tomorrow night:
September 2nd, 7:30-9:30pm
Sooj & Betsy House Concert
Port Townsend, WA
Come on over for an evening of whimsy and wit, cello and guitar, siren song and magic! S. J. and Betsy‘s skill, presence and desire for connection with their audience consistently shine from every stage they cross. Original songs are the focus, here, flavored with everything from classical pieces to rowdy jazz or Celtic tunes. In short, there’s something for everyone, and there’s a place for you in amongst the sweetly falling notes these powerful womyn create.
Doors open at 7:00pm and music begins at 7:30. Ages 8 and up, please. Special thanks to Ellen and crew for hosting!
Note: address and parking info will be sent to you with your ticket purchase. We’ve got just 40 seats available, so don’t wait until the last minute!
Then we’re off to Faerieworlds in Oregon for concerts, workshops, and magic. Our main stage concert is late Friday afternoon, we’ll be teaching an improv/jam workshop on Saturday afternoon, and we’ll perform on one of the smaller stages on Sunday afternoon – don’t miss our friends’ performances, either! Sharon Knight and Nymbol’s Secret Garden are back this year!
Horning’s Hideout
21277 Northwest Brunswick Canyon Road
North Plains, OR 97133
On the road home, I’ll be stopping to give concerts at Salt Lake City Pagan Pride Day, and in Albuquerque, NM, at the lovely Tortuga Gallery!
Saturday September 12
10am-6pm
Sooj Performs at Salt Lake City Pagan Pride Day 2015
Murray City Park
5175 Parkside Drive
Murray, UT 84107
FREE EVENT!
It’s that time of year again, when Pagan Pride Day events across the country occur in parks and community spaces, seeking to educate and build positive community awesomeness! The event is free, but please bring a non-perishable item for the Food & Blanket Drive that Pagan Pride Day is sponsoring in the name of The Road Home: a private non-profit social service agency that assists individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake County and along the Wasatch Front.
Sooj will perform solo from 12:15pm to 1:15pm. Special thanks to Crone’s Hollow, Tammy, and Debra for helping this big of magick to come true at the last minute!
Monday Sep 14
7-9pm
Sooj Solo Show at Tortuga
901 Edith Boulevard Southeast
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Sooj loves visiting Albuquerque and couldn’t resist a show in town on her way east! Tortuga Gallery always has a great vibe, more so when good music and good people come together within its walls. Come and celebrate with Sooj in the shadow of the Sandia Mountains as Stolen Season tours homeward again!
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.
I’ve got one weekend at home to reconnect with my cats and my family, and to start outfitting my recording studio for winter time. After that, I’ll meet up with Alec and Betsy for another little mini Tricky Pixie tour! We’re headlining two conventions this fall, plus giving our first concert in Cape Girardeau, MO!
September 25, 2015 – September 27, 2015
Tricky Pixie performs at FenCon 2015!
The Westin Hotel DFW Airport
4545 West John W Carpenter Freeway
Irving, TX 75063
Registration info – memberships still available at the door!
Tricky Pixie are thrilled to come to DFW and FenCon together for their first band visit! Other Guests of Honor include author S. M. Stirling, Tadao Tomomatsu, artist Mitch Bentley, Dr. Penny Boston, Jaye Wells, and Rick Loomis. Watch for our band concert on Friday evening, plus panels and solo concerts throughout the weekend.
Thursday, October 1st
7-9pm
Tricky Pixie Live at Dockside, The Upper Deck
4 North Spanish Street
Cape Girardeau, MO 63701
Tricky Pixie’s on the road! Come and catch us in Cape, between Fencon and Archon, for a show that’s all our own! Special thanks to Jen for helping us set this up!
October 2, 2015 – October 4, 2015
Tricky Pixie performs at Archon 2015!
Gateway Convention Center & DoubleTree Hotel
1000 Eastport Plaza Drive
Collinsville, IL 62234
Tricky Pixie are thrilled to visit the greater St. Louis area together for the first time since 2010 as guests of Archon, along with author Jacqueline Carey, artist Brent Chumley, RJ Haddy, and Jordin T. Kare!
After Archon, Betsy and Ryan and I will drop Alec off at home and continue on to perform at Greater New Orleans Pagan Pride Day on October 10, meeting back up again for what’s bound to be a magical Tricky Pixie show at Summerland Grove’s Festival of Souls near Memphis! Festival of Souls is my home festival, and I’m so grateful to be bringing the band this year! For these October concerts and all the rest of what’s coming after this month, check out my tour schedule page.
WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
Did you know that you can now support BOTH Alec AND Betsy on Patreon, should you choose? We helped Alec set his Patreon videos up on Sunday. They’re pretty cute!
Check out Betsy’s Patreon Page
I do not currently run a Patreon, but I have a more stripped down subscription service! Want me to send you a new, exclusive, unreleased song once a month for about $10? Sign up here if you like!
It’s all run through Paypal, so it’s very easy to deal with if you’re set up there. Get started and get new music!
Thank you all, as always, for being part of the fun that is my little career. It’s been a lovely summer, and I’m looking forward to this month’s travels and shows. Thanks for reading, thanks for listening, and thanks for believing!
Betsy and I have one more show together in Washington state for 2015. Come and join us at our Port Townsend house concert this Wednesday! Get tickets here!
This summer has been an unprecedented season for Tricky Pixie concerts. It may be the first time ever that we’ve been able to do more than just a couple of shows at a stretch before our schedules require us to part ways. I’m so grateful to my band mates for this time and this magic, and also to all of our fans, friends, colleagues, and crew! As Alec says, “the best magic takes the best of friends.”
Alec flies away home today. We’ll miss him terribly, but we’ll reunite with him in Dallas-Fort Worth at the end of September for our appearance as Guests of Honor at FenCon! After that, we’ll drive north for our first-ever band performance in Cape Girardeau, MO, en route to our other Guest of Honor appearance at Archon near St. Louis! We’ll round out our touring year in mid-October with a concert at the fest of my heart, Summerland Grove’s Festival of Souls near Memphis— the festival that’s helped spark all sorts of songs of mine, including “Come to the Labyrinth“.
My “write one new song a week from a random prompt” challenge and group is still going strong. We’re thirty weeks in. Hard to believe I’ve been writing one new song a week as part of this thing, since February!
This past week’s challenge was to write something on the subject of age, and to do so with humor.
I’m pretty pleased by this new little anthem. The tune is a little bit Vaudeville. I’ll definitely record this one over the winter.
So you gotta work just a little bit harder
than you used to do
in order to get the bounce back in your stride
after a long, hard weekend
of helping people smile
and singing out your heart for love and pride?
It doesn’t make you any less
compelling than you were.
In fact, the grey you earn can trump the
rainbow you prefer!
So hoist the colors, baby,
and if they start to fade,
look upon the changes as the
gift you give to the whole parade!
CHORUS
I wanna age like the finest wine
like all of my friends who’ve grown so fine,
so fine it hurts to look at you!
All the cool kids are older than me.
it’s always been that way, you see.
when I catch up, I’ll be a cool kid, too.
Perfection is the enemy of
making good mistakes,
of learning all you can while you’re still here.
The story’s gonna write itself
in the lines upon my face,
so I’ll be a storyteller, don’t you fear.
Better for the Good Folk*
than for you or I,
to walk the world forever–never
age, never change, never die.
So let’s hoist the colors like the
pirates that we are,
and never get too old or proud
to wish upon a star!
CHORUS
I wanna age like the finest wine
like all of my friends who’ve grown so fine,
so fine it hurts to look at you!
All the cool kids are older than me.
it’s always been that way, you see.
When I catch up, I’ll be a cool kid, too.
When I catch up, I’ll be a cool kid too!
*variant on a traditional name for the Sidhe or the Fae, who are said by some to be immortal, or at least unchanging. See also: the Good Neighbors
I have some really excellent friends.
Heather Dale is right at the top of that list. 🙂
I got to make some silly noises at her behest, for hew newest record, IMAGINEER! Click and listen for free. It’s a kids album, for the coolest, nerdiest kids alive. That means us. 🙂
I dare you to check this out and not end up with “Don’t Put It In Your Nose” stuck in your head.
“It’s here! It’s here! Do you accidentally stick things up your nose? We have a song for that. Do you secretly wish you could live on Mars? Got you covered. Fond memories of Kermit the Frog singing on the Muppet Show? Me too. Basically this is a way for me to share my enthusiasm for science, history, and other deliciously geeky subjects with you… and hopefully tempt you into singing along at the top of your voice. In short: please come take a listen! Play the clips for your kids! Tell all your friends!” www.HeatherDale.com
My friend and collaborator, artist Elizabeth Leggett, won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist last week- richly deserved. 🙂
Elizabeth is fast, she’s brilliant, she communicates clearly, and her work is stunning. She’s quite the success and the inspiration. I would never have expected her to thank ME in her Hugo acceptance speech, but she did! I’m pretty proud to be one of the people who’s benefited, personally and professionally, from her skill and brilliance.
Those of you who’ve seen any of the album art for Stolen Season will recognize Elizabeth’s style.
She’s been featured in a recent article, wherein she includes some sensible, in-line-with-integrity tips for artists who want to get their name out. Check it out here.