Monday, December 14, 2009

Vermont Music for Holiday Gifts

One of the things I love most about Vermont during the holidays is how easy it is to buy gifts for people out of state - everyone loves the Vermont brand so you really can't go wrong with Vermont product gifts. Last year I wrote about some Vermont product gift ideas and this year I will again - only this year I ask you to think about Vermont music gifts!

Support a Vermont artist and buy some CDs for folks you love - plus CDs are wonderful gifts that fit in that difficult "under $20 mark."

Gordon Stone - who cannot know of Gordon Stone now that his fab tunes are on satellite radio!? The newest CD - Night Shade - is an uncanny rhythm bound exploration of Gordon's pedal steel and banjo second skins folding in the shadows with the lurid sounds of a variety of other musicians to create the well entitled - Night Shade. A much different sound of Gordon Stone than while picking blueberries in the summer twilight and a very welcome sound to hear on the stereo while eating holiday leftovers and contemplating returning other gifts. www.gordonstone.com

Cody Michaels - Vermont's best solo piano artist who combines raw, earthen beauty with glorious piano chords and progressions. The newest CD, Winter Suite, is full of threshold moments like finding the gem of unfinished business with others. While listening to a live performance of Winter Suite with my eyes closed, I envisioned swirling around in a blaze of colors capped with white, filled with awe, and exhaling sharp breath and compassion for life. I even created the new design for my garden next summer. While the CD does skip the lovely musings between songs found at live performances, it is the best companion music I can think of for nature visions on a cold afternoon inside. www.codymichaels.com

Myra Flynn - Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon meet
Alicia Keys and Erykah Baduh - in Vermont. Pick up Vermont's vocal siren's debut CD - Crooked Measures and enjoy the soulful, mature, and creative sound Myra seduces audiences with. She performs extensively around Vermont and catching a live performance would be in your best interest and a CD in a friend or relative's hands would be in theirs.
www.myraflynn.com

If you're looking for a bit of a Vermont Vibe adventures to go along with your music shopping, visit Vermont's Classical Music Haven, Brandon Music in the former Warren Kimble Gallery in Brandon, VT for a cup of tea and an eclectic mix of classical music CDs from the Divine Art Recordings Group.


Peace, Love, & Light Throughout the Season...

Friday, December 4, 2009

2 BIG NEWS FLASHES!!!

I MUST be quick because The Mitch and I are supposed to be leaving to have a weekend of dinner with friends (I did post a while back that's what I really wanted to spend my time doing and now that The Mitch and I have manifested it, I am being bad and blogging!)

So.......in case you all didn't know, The Mitch and I are getting married! Of course we got engaged on September 3, 2008 - not this fall, but last - oh how time flies. So we are WELL on the way of planning our wedding - in fact, we are so planned the wedding might as well be this July. That's how I roll. But, instead, the wedding is in July 2011 so I can spend a year and a half telling you about all of the awesome components to our localvore wedding while the stressful planning parts have already been completed.

To start, the wedding is at The Sleepy Hollow Ski & Bike Center in Huntington - just a town and a half away from us located deep in a mountain hollow on a couple of well-trodden dirt roads. Check out their wedding gallery to get a glimpse.

Next piece of Big News is that my beloved band moe. - whom I sometimes can squeeze in commentary about even though they are not a Vermont band, are playing the most fantastic ski festival this March in Rutland, Vermont and Killington - Snoe.down. Stay tuned to the Vermont Vibes Blog for some groovy insider scoop to Rutland and Killington and if you've ever wanted to experience the rock star life I love so much - in a Vermont atmosphere of skiing and riding - this is your big chance!!! Check out all the details at www.moe.org/snoedown and by golly, buy tickets and book a room!