June 15, 2011 

Brooklyn, NY

Word up from the heart of sunny downtown Brooklyn! Me, myself and my metro card have been roaming the streets of NYC all week on a bit of a working vacation. I left lovely uber-rural Rappahannock county Virginia and rolled right into the concrete innards of the big city... A bit of a polar shift. But balance in one's life is important. My memories of my time in the country are so sweet. The silhouettes of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the periwinkle dusk... The sparkling of the fireflies, the twinkling of stars... Not to mention I got to drive a truck though a field down a mountain. And then back up! I also went kayaking, rump bumping, and had a Virginia mud bath. After which my friend proceeded to catch me a fish and then cook it for dinner. All in a day's work.

Here, a day's work is a different thing altogether. I put on my Sweetlandish heels and take on the town. Went on rainy adventures to Central Park, had a fantastic gig at Banjo Jim's, made strange new friends and caught up with some old ones, hid in dark alleys, waited on a thousand trains... And of course, made a few excellent purchases. As well, it must be noted that the gentlemen on the streets of downtown Brooklyn are quite friendly indeed. Canadians on street corners are far too polite to tell you how much they like your outfit, or how attractive you look on any particular day. Judging from the amount of times I heard the phrase "Lookin' good, white lady!"  I think it might have to be the name of my new album.

I also got to see some great music while in town.  Particular mentions to The Silver Daggers from Tallahassee, FL who played a set right after me on Friday night. They were amazing and so lovely that I had to go see them again the next day! And hier soir, I celebrated my last evening in NYC with pals Blackie and the Rodeo Kings for their CD release show at The Living Room. They were brilliant as always and it was one hell of a time.

And now it's time to pack the van and hit the road. Next stop, Newport, RI! I have an appointment to keep with a certain sailor...

Anchors aweigh,

x

K

 Central Park in the rain...

More photos from my recent adventures here!

June 1, 2011

Rappahannock County, VA

It's true. I'm down in the holler again. With the cow cries and the fireflies, the Virginia pine and Virginia wine. Well, actually it was Virginia sparkling wine. And it was delicious and served to me by dear friend, teacher and mentor Paul Reisler when I arrived on his doorstep. I'm staying at Paul's glorious sprawling manor for a week of rest, writing, and hopefully artistic productivity! This house is a magical sanctuary of art and inspiration. I'm quite sure I can make anything happen here.

So how about that weather? It's H-E-double-hockey-stick hot in the South and has been for a good week. Even though I wake up in the morning too hot to sleep and by mid-day my brain has melted into a shadowy puddle of its former self, I am just so happy to not be cold! I'll take it. And the heat wave is an excellent excuse to drink beer before cocktail o'clock, and hose yourself down in public. And jump in the river! As if I needed an excuse...

Since last we met my adventures have been many. Left Asheville full of peaches and grits and arrived  in Savannah that evening. Have been listening to Nancy Drew audio books in the car which has been hilarious and seriously entertaining. The Sherlock Sweetland in me still likes to get her detective on on a regular basis. Not to mention it's excellent research for the young adult mystery series I am going to write soon ... So stay tuned!

Savannah was beautiful and enchanting and my gig was amazing.  Thanks so much to Bill de Young from Connect Savannah for writing such a wonderful article in the local entertainment paper. And not to mention, putting me on the cover! That was a surprise. It was a bit surreal to walk around a town where I'd never played before and see my face on every street corner. I secretly liked it.

The morning after my show I took myself on a romantic picnic to the famous Bonaventure Cemetery, site of my "famous" Girl with the Spanish Moss Hair photo from many years back. Me and my tempeh salad sandwich curled up by a nice comfy grave and had a good think. And I wrote some magic postcards while I was at it. (Check your mailbox, you might get lucky!) After that it was a quick drive to the ocean so I could at least stick my feet in ... Then, a whirlwind trip up to Chesapeake Bay for family visitation and some oh-so deliciously deep-fried seafood. Yum!

And now it's now, and I'm about to tuck myself into bed with Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces and ponder the mythical metaphors of my life. And then hopefully have sweet dreams...

Nighty-night,

x
K

P.S. Just posted new photos from my Southerly Adventures in Sweetland!  Have a peek here.

 Old Savannah in the mysterious light of night.

More tour photos here!

February 2, 2009
Rappahannock Co., VA

Happy Groundhog Day from down in the holler! It's been far too long since I've visited my favourite county in America and I'm soaking in the sweet glory. My happiness at being in Virginia is diminished only by the sad cause for my trip. I came down for the memorial service of friend, teacher and brilliant writer/actor Julie Portman who left us far too soon. Her service was held in the breathtaking Theatre House in Castelton, VA. It was magical, beautiful and packed to the rafters with over six hundred people who will be ever-changed by the gifts Julie gave them. She will never be forgotten and we will miss her so.

I heard that up in Ontario little groundhog Wiarton Willie saw his shadow and we are doomed for 6 more weeks of winter ... It's hard to imagine on this glorious sunny day and yesterday we celebrated the fine weather with what I'm calling the Best Picnic Ever. Late afternoon we all hopped into the back of Chris' pick-up truck and drove up to the top of Red Oak Mountain. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life (perhaps it was the Champagne) and we were treated to the most magnificent sunset I've seen in ages. In many traditions Groundhog Day is actually a holiday. The Wiccans call it Imbolc and the Christians call it Candlemas, but either way it's a celebration of the returning of the light. Whatever Willie says, I can feel the spring coming. A frozen river darkness is melting deep inside of me and I simply cannot wait for the flood. x

The Best Picnic Ever ... more Virginia photos

April 16, 2006
Gid Brown Hollow, VA

 

In Virginia briefly to pay my final respects to my best friend Jenny's little 317 year old cabin in the holler. In February she married singer-songwriter Chuck Brodsky and now they're gonna find themselves a little dream home somewhere in North Carolina. Adieu Virginia, Bonjour Asheville. Sweet! I will miss it here, but I look forward to visiting them down in that gorgeous place. Had a superb Easter dinner tonight at the home of Paul Reisler and Julie Portman, two of my most beloved performatory and musical mentors. Food was delish. How I have grown to love Virginia -and the amazing people here- since i started visiting Rappahannock County 5 years ago. So so so so unfathomably beautiful. I will always come back here, forever.

Adieu, Adieu Virginia... (for now) more photos

February 20, 2006
Sperryville, VA

Greetings from the beautiful rolling hills and hollers of Rappahannock County, Virginia. Am staying in a little cabin at the Smokehouse Winery with a few of my most beloved friends. We all came down from Canada for my best friend's wedding which was, I must say, justa bout the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Have been living it up holler-core, building lots of fires and wandering up through the glorious Shenandoahs... happy happy. 
 
xo 

With drummer extraordinaire Paul Brennan

White Oak Canyon, Virginia

September 15, 2004
Gid Brown Hollow, VA

Greetings once again from the deeeep damp dank beautiful Virginia holler. I am finally coming out of my week of rest and recuperative comatosis from post summer festival/driving season exhaustion. I had the worlds best summer... too much delight to even mention. But I will say, I did well earn my resting. Have been keeping busy in the holler by reading very good books. Lots of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poems and biographies (I admit, I've got a dead white guy crush on him...) And a good healthy amount of Dante's Inferno, cause a little bit of Hell fires never hurt anyone. Also keeping up with the serious practicing of crazy Bach-ness and working on material for the new album... Yum. Now it's back to the go go go of business and all the things I gotta do before I hit the road again... Ahhhh the life. Will be here for a few more days, then down to Asheville, North Carolina to visit my pal Chuck Brodsky (Hurricane Ivan permitting) then back for Virginia festivals and off off off to NYC!!! Here I goooooooo....

February 9, 2004
Sperryville, VA

I must say, 'tis rather brrrr down here in the frozen Virginia holler! Have been visiting the Blue Ridge Mountains and steeping in the glory of rural Virginia yum. Played an amazing gig down here on Saturday night at the Smokehouse Winery. Got to sing all night in a gorgeous little stone cottagy thatched roof medievally inn-like room in the middle of the beautiful Virginia Nowheres... Deliciosa. Now I'm off down south for some time in sunny Georgia, and some hopeful warmer-than-here-ness... talk soon

love,
me

January 27, 2004
London, Ontario

Hello my lovelies. Here I am snuggled up to my computer as yet another ginormous winter storm comes down upon us. I must say, I am getting rather sick of being painfully freezing cold all the time! And not to mention the whole scraping layers of ice of your windshield thing whilst cursing like a sailor.... But alas, my time in the serious brrr-fest is about to come to a close as I pack up and hit the road in one week! Hoooray! First stop, the enchanting Virginia holler as I go have a visit with my friend Jenny in her 313 year old log cabin that use'ta belong to a bootlegger... Altho, last I heard the pipes were frozen, the chimney was in rip-roaring danger of bursting into flames any second and the power outlets were smoking... Hmmmm. I guess we'll see how that goes. From Virginia it's off to Georgia for some exciting times down south and then -oh my- I'm drivin' to California! There will most certainly be many updates from the road of the encroaching adventures so be sure to peek back here soon!

xoxo
K

September 22, 2003
Gid Brown Hollow, VA

Greetings again, from the wet wilds of Virginia. I'm back in the hollow after a truly insane trip down to Nashville and all points in between!! Had a serious blast at the Nashville New Music Conference meeting crazy talented (and rather stylish) folks from all over. Then I headed up to the Bristol area for the Birthplace of Country Music and Carter Family museums. Got to take Maybelle the Van to see where Maybelle Carter (her namsake) was born and it all began... Got back just in time for Hurricane Isabel who ripped through Thursday night leaving us with no power or water for five days now (and no end in sight...) Guess thay can't figure out where the power lines got knocked down so they've been combing the mountains with helicopters all weekend. So I'm livin' it up in ye olden way in the little log cabin in the hills reading books by candlelight and haulin' buckets of water in from the swampy pond to flush the potty. Since the hurricane I've had three gigs in the area (all which thankfully had power for the PA) and I can drive into town to get hot coffee, so I've really got nothin' at all to complain about. Except maybe the little kitten Evilina who keeps catching mice and snakes and giant elephant beetles (and I mean GIANT) that I have to take away from her and then deal with. Ew! (Good thing I'm a brave one.) Will be here for another week of writing retreat and rehearsing and then heading back to Ontario for the fall. (gotta be somewhere with power and cable in time for the season premiere of Angel... Very Important.)

love'n kisses, K

Once upon a time in a little cabin in the holler... more photos!

September 24th, 2002
Sperryville, Virginia

It is always so very beautiful here I can hardly believe it. I have been getting lots of sleep and having an attempt-at vacation. I'm trying to relax but there is so much rushing around the brain and things to do and songs to write and packages to mail off to yonder land... I have been hiking up to the Hazel River and getting at least a wee bit of excellent exercise. My friend Jenny's neighbour Eric taught us how to blow glass with a big flamey furnace and big metal poles and we made with the blowing and stirring of molten liquid... very cool. I made a little mangled shot glass. photos coming soon!!!. In other news, I sent off a promotional package to the music editor of Buffy the other day... Leaving for Vermont tomorrow with the cows and the green rolly hills and the pretty red barns.

Too bad it's supposed to hurricane all day.

k

September 9th, 2002
London, Ontario

Hey y'all. I've been back in Ontario for about three weeks now (since my big ol drive home from BC) I've been keeping so incredibly busy with working and organizing and trying to promote this new album and sitting at the computer all crazy-eyed fully revamping my whole entire website from head to toe (all by my wee self... I'm so proud.) But now it's time to hop in my little van and drive drive drive to Virginia. Goin' to visit my dear friend Jenny in her converted motel Shenandoah land... Can't wait. We're gonna have fun and eat lots of veggie corn dogs and good for you health food diet root beer (yes it even DOES exist) I'm also going to do that thing musicians get to do every once in a while (when they have any time at all) called PRACTICING. SOooooo excited. And maybe even do some new writing. I gots lots brewing up... let me tell ya.

I'll give you a full report soon.

love, k

Self portrait at Manassas National Battlefield, VA.
More photos here!

 

September 24th, 2001
Sperryville, Virginia 

I'm in crazy beautiful Virginia with the walnuts and the wild grapes and the locust trees. I can go outside and walk five feet and stick my head in the beautiful river that runs down from the Blue Ridge mountains. But you gotta be careful cause there's poison ivy and ticks that like to fall on ya and every once in a while a crew of F-16 bombers will haul ass through the sky and scare the hell out of the turkey buzzards. It is an intense time to be in Virginia. Where I'm staying is about 70 miles southwest of Washington DC in the Appalachian mountain range. It is so very lovely with the rolling green hills and the trees all changing colour...and yesterday I got to go stick my foot in the Shenandoah river and practice guitar. Now that's a good time!!! I will be here for another week or so and then heading back to Ontario to start pre-production for my new recording. Yeehaw!

Goodbye Esmeralda!

August 21, 2001
London, Ontario 

After seven and a half years of grand adventures (and nearly 300,000 km...) I said goodbye to Esmeralda the van today. Thanks Ezzie. You were such a good horse. She really wanted to be driven off the side of the Grand Canyon but I figure they'd probably catch me for that and wouldn't be very nice about it to boot. My new van is a sleek (yet still slightly soccer mom) Plymouth Voyager. Her name is Maybelle and she's a very delicious shade of burgundy. And her engine is young and she's excited to take on some mountains soon... I'm getting ready to head up to Lake Simcoe and Eaglewood Folk Festival next weekend. I'm excited for a little Ontario cottage country before I head south again. Then, back to Virginia for a little more sleazeball motel writing quarantine in the beautiful Shenandoahs...

July 20th, 2001
Sperryville, Virginia

I am hiding away in the Blue Ridge Mountains, somewhere between the crystal fairyland caverns and the civil war battlefields. and as they say in Virginia "I reckon it be hotta than a fire storm in hell." And ain't it the truth! Me and my dear friend Jenny have been sitting on her porch watching the lightning bugs like Christmas lights as they dance across the mountain. Today was spent with much hiking, tequila and veggie corn dogs . YAY veggie corn dogs! I have been having such a crazy adventure. Today I hiked far into Shenandoah park's white oak canyon and found beautiful waterfalls and swimming holes... It is so glorious here I can hardly believe it and I am thinking of coming back sooner than later to live with Jenny again in her big lovely converted sleazeball motel apartment by the river...