Music in 2010 - Y'all come join in!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What an exciting time . . . a whole year ahead of us with not a single day used up yet.

This is the time that resolutions are made. I have never been one for resolutions, however. I figure that if I see a change that needs to be made, the best time to do it is now. Of course, there are certain things I schedule (but I'm always scheduling something). And there are some things I'd like to see completed before the end of the year.

In 2010, I'd like to see my CD of "Songs of Early Childhood" (songs of our ancestors from when they were children) completed. And it would be nice also to do the CD of my original songs (well, I will need to write at least two more songs to accomplish that).

On January 16 the Riverside Folk Song Society will celebrate 50 years of making music together! If you live in or near Riverside, or will be visiting the area on that weekend, consider yourself invited. To download the flyer, go to our webpage. Some of our original members will be on hand to share photos and memories of the past 50 years. The group has gone through a lot of changes over the years but the purpose and basic process has remained the same: to share our love of music and learn from each other. Email me if you are interested in joining us.

I am looking forward to an exciting year where I will be playing music for the NGS conference in Salt Lake in April/May and at the Family History Jamboree in Burbank in June, presenting songs for the Kids' Camp at each event. I am hoping that I may get to be known a bit more in the genealogical community as the folksinging genealogist!

Circlemending will also have booths at the Family History Expos in Mesa, AZ (January) and St. George, UT (February) (and probably at the ones in Sandy, UT in July and Alameda County, CA in October), and at the Family History seminar in Escondido, CA (March). We'll also be doing some performing and workshops at the Glendale (AZ) Folk and Heritage Fair in March and probably the folk festival in Flagstaff, AZ in June. We hope to remind folks at all these events that the act of singing together as families, in choirs, and in school used to be the way people entertained themselves. Among my musician friends, it's still how we spend evenings, days, or entire weekends. There is a sense of connection to one another when you share a song together.

So make that New Year's resolution to share some music with friends and/or loved ones. Come join us! There's always room for one more to sing, play, or just listen!

(To hear some of my philosophies of how music and ancestry connect, check out my Podcast with Susan E. King - scroll down to the Nov. 10 broadcast.)