The Kitchen Musician ~ December 2009
Hello Friends!
December is here. Long nights, colder weather — time to share a song from warmer days. Welcome to my kitchen!
Please join Mally and me at Emerson Umbrella, Dec. 7, 2009. (See below)
Upcoming Shows
Dec 7, Monday about 8:30 pm my daughter Mally Smith and I will share an hour at the Emerson Umbrella, 40 Stow Street, Concord, MA. Doors open at 7:30. $5 cover and “pass the hat” offering.
Click to view details and all upcoming shows.
Recent News
Last week I had the privilege to sing a song on the New England Cable News coffeehouse segment of their Friday morning show. This was a great experience. It certainly gave me a renewed appreciation for professionals who can perform in a live one-take situation amid a flurry of supporting activity. You can view it here (with advertisements).
Featured Charity: Tunefoolery
“Tunefoolery Concert Ensembles from Boston, Massachusetts is a unique and courageous group of over 50 musicians with psychiatric disabilities who play and perform music as a way towards healing and recovery.” - Tunefoolery.org
One year ago this week I released my ‘family friendly’ CD Peace on Peabody Hill to benefit Tunefoolery. Sales exceeded $1200, which was sufficient to send several Tunefoolery musicians to summer music week in Western Massachusetts. This is a photo from last summer. For some, it was the highlight of their entire year. Thank you.
Since then Tunefoolery has found a new space in the South End of Boston, and they are working hard to overcome serious funding cuts from a cash-strapped state government. Please join me in supporting Tunefoolery. Consider a tax deductible contribution or view their wish list if you think you may be able to donate something useful.
If you have a charity to suggest for an upcoming issue of The Kitchen Musician please send me an e-mail.
This Month’s Music:
New Hampshire Wind
© 2009 Tom Smith and Mally Smith.
Click to play audio only.
This was recorded in a hollow-sounding closet where I work, beneath yellow incandescent lights. I am not really that yellow in real life. I am on a never ending quest for quiet places in a life that is otherwise full of joyful noises. (grin)
My daughter Mally and I frequently comment upon each other’s music. It is wonderful to have a constructive and honest exchange with a trusted expert like Mally. While we offer each other feedback, we rarely co-write. So when I lazily strummed these chords in our living room, I was surprised to see Mally reach for her notebook. Perhaps it was our mutual love for rural New Hampshire and our shared experience spending summers on Peabody Hill near Mount Monadnock that came together in this song. It recalls slower and warmer places than our normally busy December workdays.
Every year at this time, I feel a little like I am headed into a dark tunnel. Nights are long. Colors fade to colder earth tones. In my quiet times I let my mind drift to early mornings ” ‘neath a roof made of tin”, listening to the concert outside our little cabin. Surely this song is a romantic view of rural New Hampshire from summer folk who rush back to Boston when (as my friend Kate Chadbourne has written) “wind and rain [has] ripped the last of the yellow and red flags from our trees”. It is surely a different song than one that would be written by the hearty New Hampshire folk. Most of them have to work as hard as that granite mountain.
On one visit to the summit of Mount Monanock, I turned in place while taking several photos and then stitched them into an interactive view. If you have Flash version 8 or greater installed on your computer, you can see the image below. Click and drag your mouse on the image to see the 360 degree panorama. If you look real hard, you can see Peabody Hill in the distance.
Click and drag mouse to adjust viewpoint
Shift = zoom in, Ctrl = zoom out.
Wishing you all warm memories to take you though the upcoming winter!
- Tom
(I invite you to leave a comment. Just scroll down to the end of this page.)
- News , Newsletter , Music
December 4th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
New Hampshire Wind
© 2009 Tom Smith & Mally Smith
Over the mountain, the valley below
The deep granite sunrise, is waking up slow
Come feathered musicians! Let the concert begin!
With notes that take wing on, the New Hampshire wind.
Joined by the bull frogs, and their well tempered scale
A squirrel conductor, keeps time with his tail
Here on the front porch, ‘neath a roof made of tin
I’m singing along with, the New Hampshire wind
—-
My axe and the wood pile, try to call me away
But the blessings of hard work, must wait while I play
This day strikes my heart strings, like an old mandolin
That’s strumming a tune with, the New Hampshire wind
I head to the mountain, it’s a short lazy climb
I find myself walking, in three quarter time
I see from the summit, where I have been
And where I am going, with the New Hampshire wind.
—-
Goodnight to the mountain, and the valley below
The deep purple sunset, the moon coming up slow
Hear the voices of coyotes, my kith and my kin
All share the same song with, the New Hampshire wind
A harmony sung with, the New Hampshire wind
December 4th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
A lovely song - it was nice to hear it again, Tom. Thanks.
December 4th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Aaaa. This New Hampshire boy loves your new song although my NH mountain is Keasarge, not Monadnock. Your words take me back all the same as the two share the same song and that NH wind. Thanks Mally and Tom!
December 5th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Dear Tom and Mally,
It’s a wonderful song. I love it! Particularly nice to listen to it on this gray day.
I look forward to your feature on Monday!
warm regards,
Ellen
December 5th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I really enjoy the words, especially the squirrel conductor keeping time with his tail.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Another beautiful song - I’m sitting here playing along on my piano - just having a grand old time. You need to make another trip out here “ala Woody Guthrie” to get some inspiration for some western songs! Roll on, Columbia, roll on! Maybe an Alaska cruise is in your future? Say hello to the family for me!
Mickey
January 1st, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Great words Tom .
I’m so glad you will be back at the Amazing Things Open Comedy Mique in Framingham on Wednesday Jan 6. Your stuff, like that of some of our of our traditional storytellers add a great mix and diversity to our comedy show. The warm inner laughter you invoke often strikes deeper than chuckles and guffaws.
Cheers
Dave