"Go as far as the eye can see, and when you get there, look farther."

Dag Hammarskjold

No.. no.. no.  I didn’t do like the kiddies do.  I wasn’t whisked away to enjoy fun and frolic time… making summer time memories.

Further, there is nothing to report to the teacher… just y’all– my friends who follow me and visit this blog from time to time.

I am simply taking some time to reflect on the breadth and depth of my musical journey over the summer months.   Tuesday, September 22nd marks the first day of autumn.

In a word, Summer’s been grand !

The ground work for what would turn into one heck of a ride actually began in the Spring.. in March.. when Wayne Free of the Embers contacted me.  Wayne wanted to know if I would entertain the idea of singing with the band during their summer concert series.

When I finally shut my mouth and stopped grinning, I was able to compose an intelligent reply to Wayne’s email.  With that, we were off!

I performed 2 "official" publicized gigs with the band.  There were some unofficial performances, as well. Bonus for me.  Wooooooo!!

What was especially good about the experience the Embers– well it nudged me off my safe and refined lady of jazz pedestal a bit.

I mean you can’t sing Aretha’s Chain of Fools without finding a funky, soulful vein in your body. It requires you to move and grove and get down.  I shake my head at myself, because I had to go do a different place in my heart + head.  I never felt great doing the song, but it was a great exercise in being versatile.

If you go to the Embers website, you can hear some of the songs we performed together.

Theembersband.net

The other musical highlight for me this summer, was celebrating a milestone with one of the Triangle’s favorite Greek Restaurants:  XIOS in Apex.  At one point, I promised patrons that I would do a belly dance before the night was over. There was a mad dash to the door. Just kidding…

What I loved about the night at XIOS was the warmth of the diners at the restaurant. I saw friends and I made some new friends.  Everyone was in a festive mood from start to finish. I created a playlist only of songs that I love, love, love. I had a blast singing, and everyone seemed to enjoy the show.

It had been some time since I did the old one woman band routine, and while it lacks the freedom, flexibility and improvisation that flows with live musicans… well, I do like the full measure of control that I have over how every song is going to go.

It works for me.

And now as summer makes it way to fall, I am left with this question:  Now what are you going to do?

Presently, I don’t have an answer. That doesn’t sit well with me.

Come back soon, and see what a woman on a mission with a message can do.