Apologies for the few weeks of self-imposed quiet. I’ve been having a lot of fun at home getting to know my new favorite person.
We’re all doing well, I’m taking it easy and recovering as well as can be, and while this new mama job is hard, I think I’m getting the hang of it. Hopefully I’ll have some audiobook news for y’all before the holidays are over, and more new songs/new album news shortly after. In the meantime, here’s who I was working on for ten months or so…
1. I RELEASED A NEW SONG on September 12! Have you heard it yet? “Roses in the Rocks” is out in the world at last!
Listen free and download it if you like at this link! I wrote “Roses in the Rocks” during Pride month of 2017, and I’m so glad to have it posted now, where it has a shot at making someone’s day a little bit easier. I’ve heard from fans on social media that it went straight onto their “Nasty Woman” playlists, and that it enriches their lives. This makes my heart very happy.
I have also been busy putting up new content on my YouTube channel! Head on over for concert clips from my shared show with Alec earlier this month, along with other goodies.
2. My next online concert will be a solo show, next Monday evening, September 24, at 8pm Central. That’ll be 9pm Eastern, 7pm Mountain, and 6pm Pacific. I have some interesting tip rewards and songs to share that will tie in with the full Harvest Moon, which should be on the rise during the broadcast. Please join me if you’re not too busy taking your moon bath – watch here on my Concert Window channel.
This particular online show may be my last opportunity to sing for an audience before I transform into someone who is raising a new baby, so it’s an important one for me. I’d love it if you’re able to tune in, especially since it will probably be December before I can safely give the next one.
Those of you who plan to watch the show, if you or someone you know is looking at a hard time ahead in recovering from Hurricane Florence out east, or from the recent gas explosions, or from other devastating goings on, please let me and everyone know in the chat window during the broadcast if there are fundraisers going for you or your loved ones, so that we can boost the signal and contribute as able. Our little tribe is a generous one, and I want that to always be true.
Other fun things and good news:
–Audiobook and musical projects in The Pixie House have had another slight completion delay due to recent heat and humidity, but I plan to jump back in with those after tomorrow when things cool down again. You are all welcome to sign up for monthly subscriber downloads if you’d like to hear sneak peeks of what I’m working on- click here to join.
–My pregnancy is still going beautifully, and I still am feeling good and strong. Ryan and I have been showered with love and support and baby gear so far, and thankfully, we still have a bit of time to prepare for kiddo’s arrival in a little over a month. I have a wonderful postpartum sanctuary coming together at home, and it’s looking like I will be able to indulge in a proper “golden window” of recovery time there. Do you know someone who’s expecting? I highly recommend Kimberly Ann Johnson’s book, The Fourth Trimester, to all pregnant people and those who love them. It’s been an indispensable resource for me to have this book around lately.
A few of you have asked me about my baby registry and have even sent gifts- thank you so, so much! If you’d like to be part of that sweet abundance, view my registry here, or feel free to send a cash gift here. We’ll put it all to good use pretty soon.
I had a lot of favorite moments during my shared online concert with Alec last Friday (September 7). We managed to capture the whole thing, so I conjured the bits I loved best onto my YouTube channel. Here they are!
My next online show will be under the light of the Harvest Moon, on the evening of September 24th. Watch it here!
I’ve really enjoyed putting out a decently steady crop of new songs for download this year. I released the freshest one this week! Check it out at the player below. You may download it free, or set your own price! Lyrics here.
Big thanks to everyone who’s shared or ‘liked’ this on social media since I posted it late Monday night. 🙂 It makes such a big difference, especially for the grassroots performers like me!
My Aug 28 solo online show AND my Sept 7 shared online show with Alec were both incredibly well received, and relatively smooth tech-wise, too! Come and see the next one on the Harvest Moon, September 24, if you can! Watch it live here! I’ll start at 8pm Central time, at which time the big moon herself should be on the rise. I love singing on full moon nights!
Here’s a highlight from the August 28 broadcast, of my song “Safe & Dry”, an homage to big, scary weather. I may step outside to sing this one in the general direction of the Carolina coast, in light of what’s headed their way.
And here’s Alec playing “Manticore’s Lullaby” with me from last Friday, September 7! I love that mando so much.
I have two online shows coming up, and one live concert appearance in Arkansas. I’m also happy to report that all of my travels-abroad and domestic-during July and August went beautifully, and so far all is still really going as it should with my pregnancy.
My first online show coming up is TOMORROW (Tuesday). Please forgive me for the relatively short notice. I took my time getting my act together, and then suddenly I didn’t want to wait any longer to give another solo online concert. Blame it on the full moon in Pisces if you like.
TUESDAY AUGUST 28, 8-10PM CENTRAL
Solo Online Concert
(pay what you want)
Watch here: http://www.concertwindow.com/sjtuckermusic
Online shows never run out of space, so pay the amount of your choice, snuggle a friend or a pet, and enjoy! I have downloads and physical goodies available as tip rewards, some of which are brand new!
Next month, almost entirely for selfish reasons, I’ll share another online show with my bandmate and buddy, Alexander James Adams!
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 7PM CENTRAL
Sooj & Alec’s Shared Online Show
(pay what you want)
Watch here: http://www.concertwindow.com/sjtuckermusic
“The Pixie Queen and the Faerie Tale Minstrel join forces once again, one night only, for an online concert! MISCHIEF IS ASSURED!”
We’ll kick things off at 7pm Central (8pm Eastern, 6pm Mountain, 5pm Pacific). Check out Alec’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AlexanderJamesAdams/
Throughout this year of touring less and actively taking intelligent care of myself as my body changes and I get closer to babytime, everyone’s support of my online shows has been such a boon and such a boost. Thank you all for continuing to show enthusiasm for what I do, even as the tech becomes more a part of it!
The next day, I’ll be singing beside my own local healing waters, in the town that hosted my very first concerts ever, when I was seventeen years old. Thanks to Hot Springs PPD for making it happen. Let me know if you plan on being there – like all Pagan Pride events, it’s free to attend. My concert begins at 2pm, the lovely Mama Gina performs immediately after I do, and I’ve listed the full event schedule here.
Pagan Pride events have always been dear to my heart, since the very start of my career. This is the only one I have on my schedule for 2018, as well as my last in-person show before babytime. Happy Full Barley Moon to all of you this week, and I hope to see you soon in the Spa City or on your screens!
In the studio news:
My travels during July and August necessitated a pause in working on my next album release, but I’m home now and able to jump back in. So far, recording and finishing projects fits right in line with all of my nesting impulses, so stay tuned for more news about upcoming releases!
The first thing I may be able to announce soon is the completion of an audiobook for Denise Parkinson’s Daughter of the White River, which is an historical account of the short life of my fellow Arkansan, Helen Spence. Helen’s spirited story has captivated me for over a year now, and I’m so grateful to work with Denise to bring the audiobook to life! Denise’s next hope is to fund and film a documentary about Helen’s life and the pre-Depression houseboat communities of the lower White River, now long gone, but very much part of the hyperlocal stories I’m just learning about where I myself was born. I may be contributing a bit of music to the eventual film. I’ll keep you all in the know as things develop.
Here’s a brand new pitch reel for the documentary, featuring local places and local talent.
Home safely from all my gorgeous travels now, wishing you all well!
It’s a gentle night in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I’m sitting at the kitchen table in the home of my friends Danny & Rebecca Mullikin. If you’re at all familiar with the music of Tuatha Dea- and if you recall our shared project, The Green Album, you certainly are- then you know their names and voices well. We’re embarking on a different kind of shared odyssey this month, making a big drive together up to Canada, where we’ll all appear at PaganFest this weekend, after which Tuatha Dea will all continue on to Kaleidoscope Gathering.
This week has been our first chance to sit and visit like normal people, without also running around to do sound checks and such, barely getting to see each other smile up close, and it feels like such a gift. Our lives are jam packed with joy and hardship in our tiny music scene, and we love almost every part of every day, even when we’re exhausted and overtasked, running at breakneck speed to get the show going on time. Therefore, the so-called slow days are few and far between, and it makes them valuable, at least to me. And that’s not to say that we haven’t all also been multitasking like crazy while we’re together. Being pregnant, I’m the only one who’s really done any sitting still at all. But there’s something about getting to cook dinner with your buddies, when we live and work the way we do, that’s super special. Tomorrow, the whirlwind catches us again.
My whirlwind’s been very gentle this year, out of necessity, so despite the brutal aspects of our long drive and border crossing preparations and logistics, I feel pretty well recharged and prepared for this. To start it off with friends is especially fantastic, and I feel like the luckiest kid on earth.
I’ll try to post more here and share stories as the journey unfolds. Let me know if you’re planning to attend PaganFest this week, or if I’ll see you in Pittsburgh for Confluence next week. Meanwhile, here’s a pic of one of my favorite moments from today, when Danny invited me to run over with him to Music Outlet in Sevierville. 🙂
Thanks to Kris & Jeri Lynn for requesting this one. Dedicated to them and to anyone else who needs to hear it right now.
Thanks to all who were able to be there for my seventeenth Concert Window broadcast last night! Here’s the highlighted song, “For Pinocchio”, which I picked out for their YouTube channel.
I’ll add at least one additional song vid from last night to my own channel ASAP – “Kindness Matters” turned out particularly well, despite the heat and the noisy (electric) fans. Sound quality may turn out slightly better from the background video that I saved on my own gear.
I apologize to anyone who had difficulty getting the Concert Window site or video feed to behave for them last night. Even though it’s beyond my control, I acknowledge that the site is quite often very squirrelly for a lot of my viewers. It’s even more frustrating because everything on my end was working nearly perfectly for once! Blargh! Tech frustrations aside, last night was possibly my most successful broadcast to date, and I really needed that boost. So thank you all again.
I’m hoping to schedule the next solo online show for mid-August, and then a second one with a special guest and good friend in early September! If you’ve got a date preference for either one, please write and let me know (sjtuckermusic at gmail).