Wow, so much is going on with music these days. Kicked off summer with a trip down to Florida where I had a truly enjoyable gig at the Dandelion Communitea Cafe AND was able to do some jammin' with one of my bestest musical buds, Roy Powers, and his band, The Last Exit Blues Band, over in Auburndale. You folks in Floriday need to be going to American Joe's to enjoy the great music there on Saturday nights. Wednesdays are jam nights, also fabulous.

My next gig is at The Terraces in Big Canoe, GA. Check out the link on my Events page. The band is ready to rock the house with a great mix of covers and my originals. We'll be doing more covers than originals this gig but no worries! If you're wanting a nice evening of original music and FUN, come join me and my gal pals at The Moonshadow Music Hall for "Southern Songbirds: Where the Song Begins" on August 19th in Carrollton, GA. I'll have more details about this show listed on my Events page as soon as all the details are confirmed. I'm looking forward to an onstage reunion with good friend singer/songwriter Shelia Quattlebaum. 

I've been invited back to a truly fun festival, Pigs N Peaches BBQ and Blues Festival, in Kennesaw, GA. I had SO MUCH FUN at this gig last year. The folks with Pigs N Peaches are really excited about some changes they have made to the music program, the biggest of which is putting all the performers on the main stage. My friend Roger "Hurricane" Wilson has promised to sit in with me on some numbers so y'all make sure to come on by to grab some of the most excellent bbq prepared by pitmasters from all over the USA. I'll be hitting the stage around noon.

I'll fill you in more on upcoming gigs as the time goes by. Drop me a line and tell me "how y'all are"!

Until then, Happy Trails!

Friend Wes Rehberg created this "video sketch" of the January 8 songwriters round that took place in Chattanooga at Charles & Myrtle's Coffeehouse. It was an exciting evening for me. To share the stage with two hit songwriters who are also wonderful, wonderful performers was an honor and a privilege. This sketch is almost twelve minutes long but I think you'll enjoy the ride if you take the time get on board :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNHz1qya5po

Happy trails,

Martha Ann

I was lucky to pick up a copy of Roger Hurricane Wilson's Piedmont Blues dvd and book this past weekend at his Charles & Myrtle's Coffeehouse concert. He plays with a very cool and unique hybrid form of picking, using both a flat pick and his fingers, but I'll be sticking with my typical fingers-only style. This week, my challenge is to learn "Railroad Bill" . I don't think this will be an easy task at all, but I'm stoked and ready to give it my best.

I can see already that keeping to my schedule of learning something new on guitar every week is going to be especially difficult during insanely busy December. My strategy is to make the guitar a priority so I won't fall behind with the goal I've set for myself. Wish me luck!

I really enjoyed learning that little rockabilly walkdown. I found a jam track that was adequate for practice and decided having an available jamtrack is probably a good place to begin before I decide what to learn next. Getting the lick, riff, chords, whatever - down pat is fine but, to my way of thinking, I can't really say I've learned it until I can play it easily with other music.

This week, I'm digging into the blues by learning some new chords and a turnaround. Should be fun.

I'm discovering that learning these new things to do with my guitar is opening up my songwriting, making me think of melodies and even lyrics that I haven't explored in the past. Nice to know that creativity doesn't decline in the middle ages.

Until next week, have a Happy Thanksgiving and happy trails :)

I've been on a quest to improve my knowledge of guitar and uke. It's going well but I think I need a kick in the seat or some sort of carrot out there to make me push it to the next level. My friend Charles Allison did a very cool project where he wrote a song a week for a year!!! and did amazingly well with that project. As I've been pondering how to get myself motivated, Charles came to mind, primarily because his work has always impressed me. His song-a-day project knocked that respect up to a whole new level. Now I'm thinking I'm not adding any more time to my life's clock so why not make this learning more on the guitar stuff interesting. Why not commit to learning a new lick, riff, turnaround, whatever, once a week. At best, I'll have a little library of 52 things I didn't know before and hopefully a brain that has eliminated some flab and amped up for me a bit. At worst, well, frankly I don't see a downside. Today is as good a day to start as any other day so this week I'll be working on a little rockabilly walkdown. I probably won't take the time to record my newfound guitar knowledge but I'll check in here just to keep myself on track.

If you're doing something in your life that helps you feel connected, and not lost in the middle ages, I'd love to hear about it.

I'll be posting again next Tuesday. Until then, happy trails!

If you are a lover of folk music, please consider supporting www.efolkmusic.org by purchasing their new sampler cd (Christmas gifts, perhaps?). I was very fortunate to have two songs included from their incredible roster of talent, and my friend Jan Hauenstein has some songs on there as well. Thanks!

Also, thanks to you folks who continue to purchase my cds and download my songs. You warm my heart and encourage me to keep writing and performing!

Happy trails :)

I hope you will take a minute to visit this site, check out the info and "like" the page. Our combat veterans need all of the assistance they can get to readjust to life back in the world, away from combat. 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Give-an-Hour/25681873498?ref=ts

Also, you can find information here:

www.giveanhour.org

A huge thank you to Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen for spearheading this effort, and thanks to all of the mental health professionals who are giving of themselves to our veterans.

Peace and Grace,

Martha Ann

ps/ If you haven't downloaded "When Your Soldier Comes Back Home" FREE in my Music Store, please get a copy and share it with anyone you know who might benefit from hearing it.

Hello, My Friends!

We finally received some rain here in NW Georgia which has every living thing around here happier than it was a few days ago. As for me, you may be wondering where and when I'll be playing. I'm spending most of my free time these days working on new material, so I'm not actively seeking gigs for the rest of 2010.  However, I'm lining up some very good gigs for 2011. I'll post more about those as details become available.

If you would like to host a house concert with me as your featured artist in 2011, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I am trying to stay within a one or two hour drive of my home, but will consider an event outside of those time constraints. If you're interested, drop me a line and we'll see what we can work out!

If you're not familiar with house concerts, Fran does a great job of laying it all out for you. Here's a link to his website:

http://www.concertsinyourhome.com/

Looking forward to seeing you in the not too distant future. In the meantime, I wish you peace, love, harmony and, of course, happy trails until we meet again.

Martha Ann

Hi Friends!

The show today at Center Post Community Center is an INDOOR show so the music shall be fine, rain or shine. I hope you can make it if you are in the area because we are being treated to some stellar talent today, IMHO.

I'm looking forward to it because this is the kick-off to summer event for me!

Hope to see you today. If not, I hope to hear from you soon.

Happy trails,

Mab 

For those of you attending the Preview Gathering at Frolic at the Farm on April 23rd, expect a nice surprise