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Angels, Advent, and Analog…

I was waiting in line at Walgreen’s to check out with two items…a tall, slender man was in line in front of me…I could see a scar running vertically from the base of his skull to the base of his neck and suspected he might have had some type of disc surgery. As he finished his checkout, he turned to me and said, ‘Have a blessed day.’ I acknowledged his remark and watched him walk way with a noticeable limp. As I pulled out my frequent customer card, the clerk said, “You don’t need that.” I was confused and the clerk continued, “He paid for your items.” I quickly walked outside and caught up with the man. “What is your name?” I asked. “Reginald.” Immediately, tears began to well up in my eyes at this random act of kindness, and I offered him thanks and a blessing in return. Reginald had no idea how I needed to experience a random act of kindness at that moment. In that place. In this community. In our country. Rest assured, I’ll be on the lookout for an opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ in a checkout line soon.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (English Standard Version)

With Thanksgiving coming up next week and Advent following right behind, I will be preparing for the season of ‘waiting for the light,’ believing again that the light of Christ will overcome the dark night with His nativity.

As Advent approaches, I’ve felt the ‘pull’ to decrease my daily digital load and turn back to some analog touchstones…my daddy’s old Timex watch (“it keeps on ticking”) rather than my FitBit, a real deck of cards for playing Solitaire rather than a phone app, a well worn hardcover book rather than a never ending news feed online. I’ve been doing some ‘cleansing and purging’ of stuff in drawers and closets, and I think it’s time to do the same on my social media accounts. No hard feelings if you don’t see me show up on your feeds….just stepping back and refocusing.

In this season, I also find myself taking a deep dive into rich hymn lyrics and the poetry of Mary Oliver while I search for new words of my own. With that said, I’d like to share one of my favorite seasonal hymns, “This Is My Father’s World,” written in 1901 by Maltbie D. Babcock:

And a poem I like very much…

How I Go Into The Woods

Ordinarily I go to the woods alone,

With not a single friend,

For they are all smilers and talkers

And therefore unsuitable.

I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds

Or hugging the old black oak tree.

I have my ways of praying,

As you no doubt have yours.

Besides, when I am alone

I can become invisible.

I can sit on the top of a dune 

As motionless as an uprise of weeds,

Until the foxes run by unconcerned.

I can hear the almost unhearable sound of the roses singing.

If you have ever gone to the woods with me,

I must love you very much.

Mary Oliver

 

Be blessed, friends…Happy Thanksgiving from the Big Front Porch,

Tricia

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20 Years Ago…

 

It’s been twenty years since I released The Heart of Dixie album. I had hoped to do some type of fancy re-release with an updated webpage, digital single online, etc., but that just hasn’t happened…oh, well:)

But it’s important to me to mark this 20-year anniversary, as I believe the music on that album, and that song in particular, is the real ‘heart’ of my story, and its release also marks what was the beginning of a ‘new chapter’ for me in the transition from leaving Nashville to coming back to Mississippi.

This morning, I’ve been looking back through one of my journals from 2004, and I’m grateful all over again for the happenings of that year….both good and bad…easy and difficult…joyful and heart-wrenching. It was obvious that God made a way ‘out of no way’ that year.

The process, environment, and tools for recording music have changed drastically over the past twenty years, but even with today’s technology, the making of an album requires an enormous amount of focus, persistence, and resources in pursuit of an artist’s vision. First, the writing and collecting of songs; then the selection of musicians, engineer, and producer; an affordable studio space; the alignment of the stars; good, strong coffee, and so much more.

The album was recorded and released in 2004, three years before the introduction of the iPhone, meaning I don’t have any cell phone video or pictures of the sessions so this little written history on the Heart of Dixie recording project will have to do…

In March of 2004, recording sessions began at the Blue Mountain Retreat (which was actually the studio at Nashville State Community College where I was teaching songwriting in their music technology program), under the watchful eye and ear of the brilliant engineer, Wayne Neuendorf, who was also my director at NSCC. Wayne was a native of Alabama, a genius of an engineer, and an incredible musician in his own right. Some of his engineering credits include: The Last Waltz (The Band), In A New Age (Mickey Newbury), Where There’s Smoke (Cheech & Chong), The Warner Brothers Years (Steve Earle), and so many more. Wayne passed away several years ago, but I’m so thankful I had the chance to work with him on multiple projects, particularly The Heart of Dixie.

I was blessed to have some of the best musicians in Nashville play on the recording. I played some acoustic, but Paul Brannon carried the bulk of the guitar load along with my fired and fellow Mississippian, J. Fred Knobloch, on his song “Feels Like Mississippi.” I played piano, but Carson Whitsett (who went to elementary school with my sister in Jackson, Mississippi…small world…) made the Hammond B-3 organ sing. Don Kerce, who played on almost all of my Nashville demos and projects, handled the bass guitar, while another fellow Mississippian, Vince Barranco, played the drums. I always love how Vince ‘plays the song,’ rather than just playing his drums…tasty.  Buddy Greene added soulful harmonica to some tracks, and the ‘hillbilly poet,’ Davis Raines, added some BGVs.

The album was mastered by Jim DeMain and Mark Chevalier at Yes, Master, and the enhanced CD features (that was a BIG deal 20 years ago) were provided by Jerry Gowen Digital. I took the cover photo in 1978 on the from porch of Dixie’s home near Harriston, Mississippi. The photography for the album was done by Tony Phipps, and my hair and makeup was done by Calene Rader (she used to share some great stories about Dolly’s wigs during my regular haircuts).

Special thanks on the album went to: The Lovely Hearts Club Band, my Ya-Yas, Sista, Doris, Rebecca Bain, Nat and Brian, Sacred Heart Monastery, the Creative Coffee Group, Trace, Greg & Jack, and all who walked with me in the desert (Hosea 2:14-15). For Marie and Jannie, the truest and dearest hearts of Dixie.

Rough mixes were ready in May, and the album was released in September of 2004. Remember, this was BEFORE streaming became the ‘thing,’ so I saved up my funds and ordered 1,000 CDs for my initial pressing. I got up to 5,000 copies in orders before the demand for physical CDs began to decline. I only have a few hard copies left for my files, but the album is still available on all the online platforms (Apple, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora, etc.).

I posted the text below on my website not long after the project was released:

The Heart of Dixie project slowly came together after a deep searching and self-inventory of sorts as I felt the call back to my home state of Mississippi after two and half decades of living and working in Tennessee. The songs in this collection give voice to the places and people and Southern culture that shaped me from the time I was a child.

I wrote the title song, “The Heart of Dixie,” after the death of the woman who helped care for me when I was little. When I added it to my set list and started singing it publicly, the song began to garner strong audience reactions in places like the Bluebird Cafe and was then featured in publications like the Oxford American.

Like so many white families in the South of the 60s, my working class family from a small Mississippi town enlisted the help of a local African-American woman to help with domestic work and young children. The relationships that grew between members of these families and the ‘help’ was a complicated one, forged in a segregated society and yet connected somehow beneath the surface of skin color or the perceived levels of social class. Dixie was such a person to me. Like the song says, she began working for my grandmother when she was a teenager and then continued to work for my mother when I was a child. My mother grieved her death deeply and was the solitary white congregant asked to speak at her funeral. To me, Dixie felt every bit a part of my family as my blood kin, but the social mores of the times drew different boundaries around us which are still difficult to explain. I felt unconditional love from her….never judgment or bitterness for our different stations in life…”The Heart of Dixie” is my gift to her and is, hopefully, a reflection of the unconditional love of the countless uncelebrated saints of that time and place and culture.

SONG NOTES

“Page Out Of History” (Kenny Meeks) – History is important so as not to repeat the bad parts.

“Ode To Billie Joe” (Bobbie Gentry) – One of the greatest story songs every written.

“New South” (Kate Campbell) – A whimsical look at the South’s ‘progress.’

“All The Way Home” (Kate Campbell/Tricia Walker) – Can we ever really ‘go home’ again?

“Honey Chile” (Tricia Walker) – The name honors one my hometown’s unique characters.

“Funeral Food” (Kate Campbell) – A funny take of Southern culture during times of bereavement.

“Henry” (Kevin Moore/John Lewis Parker) – To honor a man who worked for my Papa Dear (grandfather).

“Feels Like Mississippi” (J. Fred Knobloch) – Well, just because…it does ‘feel like Mississippi.’

“Crazy In Alabama” (Kate Campbell/Kenya Slaughter Walker) – I remember how this time felt.

“Dixie” (Daniel Decatur Emmett) – A beautiful melody…longing for home…complicated.

“Look Away” (Walt Aldridge/Kate Campbell) – I grew up near the ruins of Windsor.

“The Heart of Dixie” (Tricia Walker) – Unconditional love shown over and over in the place/time of my youth.

My friend, Natalie (also the mother of my godson), produced a video of the title song as part of a plan to ‘pitch’ the stage show I developed around the songs. Of course, this was 20 years ago, when video was still ‘standard definition’ and not the crisp, clean ‘high definition’ of today, but I’m very proud of it…it still holds up well.

Thanks for coming along with me for a look back at the release of The Heart of Dixie twenty years ago….here’s a quote that was included in the CD jacket…one of my faves:

The greatest confluence of all is that which makes up the human memory – the individual human memory. Here time, also, is subject other confluence. The memory is a living thing – it too is in transit. But during its moment, all that is remembered joins, and lives – the old and the young, the past and the present, the living and the dead. __________Eudora Welty

P. S. Found a few other things of note in my 2004 journal:

  • The Women in the Round performed a selection of songs under the title, “All The Way Home,” live with the Nashville Ballet
  • Hosted a student/faculty film crew from Utah Valley State College that was doing a documentary (as yet unreleased) about me called, Burden of Memory
  • Met Harper Lee (she signed my copy of To Kill A Mockingbird)
  • Met Robert Redford (sang for his Christmas program at Sundance)
  • Performed an ‘in the round’ with Amy Grant, Kathy Mattea, and Michael Johnson as part of the Bluebird Cafe’s Alive Hospice benefit series
  • Produced the Riverbluff Acoustic Music Festival
  • Found a note wondering if I might come back to Mississippi and start a music tech program at Co-Lin

I am blessed…grateful…and praying for an increased capacity for joy in the days to come:) 

Peace,

Tricia

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The Summer Day…

It’s HOT.

Really HOT.

“Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” – Psalm 19:6

Hello, friends:) I hope this post finds you well as we melt into the latter days of summer (at least on the calendar). 

My last news included an update on my knee rehab, and I’m pleased to say that all is going well a little over four months into the process. Having access to a pool this summer has made workouts enjoyable, and I hope to be back on my bicycle once the weather cools a bit. Thanks for your good thoughts and prayers of support.

School is starting this week for local elementary and high schools, and Delta State University will begin its fall semester in two weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing school busses roll down my street and hearing the cheers of the crowd and the high school band playing on Friday nights…small town pleasures.

For Delta State, changes are in the works that will shape the next chapter for the ‘ole school that we love best.’ Change is often hard and uncomfortable, but necessary for good health and growth. I found a Latin phrase that seemed to me to capture the essence of the work being done now: Succisa Virescit____”pruned, it grows green.” Sending good vibes to President Daniel Ennis and his team as they guide DSU in the days and months ahead.

I don’t ‘fan girl’ over too many folks, but I do over Mississippi legend-hero-all around great human Archie Manning, who was the guest speaker at a recent fundraiser for DSU Athletics. What an amazing and positive impact Archie and his family have had on not only Mississippi, but in places all over the country. A simple country boy from Drew, Mississippi, who learned the value of giving back…HERO.

 

Our second annual Mississippi Songwriters Festival – Delta Edition was a big success…Clay Mills, Tom Kimmel, and Kate Campbell were our guest songwriters and our local ‘tribe’ of regional songwriters, performing their original works, were a joy to listen to.

I was honored to represent my church, St. Luke United Methodist, at this year’s Mississippi Annual Conference at Millsaps College in Jackson. I learned a lot about the strength of the Methodist ‘connection,’ and even with the bitter residue of disaffiliation still settling, I left the conference feeling hopeful that our denomination, though smaller in number, is ready to continue our mission.

Do you know one of the things that makes Cleveland, Mississippi, such a wonderful town? Our mayor, Billy Nowell! He was voted in as president of the Mississippi Municipal League this year, and I was honored to sing the National Anthem at the MML conference this year. He and his team do SO much for our fair city…thank you, Mr. Mayor!

 

Always a fun time when Women in the Round come back to the Delta for a program at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi! Also, I just returned from the Mississippi Songwriters Festival – Pines Edition in Meridian, where I had the pleasure of performing in the ‘grand finale’ round with Eden Brent, Alanna Mosley, and Emily White at the Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience museum. If you haven’t visited the MAEX, I hope you’ll add that to your ‘to do’ list…fantastic museum celebrating the BEST of Mississippi in all the arts and entertainment fields….astounding how much Mississippians have contributed to the world:)

Deep Roots continues to roll, presenting live local music five nights a week in Cleveland. Hopefully, a Deep Roots compilation project will be in the works this quarter, showcasing original works from our local musicians. 

And I’m (hopefully) getting near the end of gathering and digitizing assets from 40 years of ‘stuff’ so that I can begin producing a ‘music memoir’ of sorts for your viewing pleasure…stay tuned…

When I put together the next newsletter, I hope the temperature will have dropped enough so that I’ll be wearing my favorite sweatshirt…and long pants…and shoes. It’s been a barefoot kind of summer, which leads me to leave you with this Mary Oliver poem:

 

 

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean —

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

+Mary Oliver

Peace,

Tricia

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Blessed and Highly Favored…

4.23.23

I was quite surprised to see that my last blog post to you good folks was back in December right before Christmas! How did that happen? Well, that clock keeps ticking, and there’s not a thing we can do to slow it down….lots going on, so I’ll try and hit the highlights and condense the rest.

The Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season was lovely as was Lent and now Eastertide with the hope of new life in full swing and showing out all across the Delta. I celebrated another ‘trip around the sun’ around a shared table in the company of good friends, and was hoping to march again this year with the O’Tux Society in the Hal’s St. Paddy’s Day parade in Jackson, but had to take a raincheck…more on that in a moment.

So far, 2024 seems to be the year to ‘fix’ things…having been reminded in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians that ‘our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit,’ I took a look at this temple and determined that some repairs needed to take place. So early in the year, thanks to the incredible advancements in medical knowledge and technology, I had cataracts removed from both my eyes. [I never knew the gas light on my stove was so BLUE!] And to follow that up, three weeks ago, I had full knee replacement surgery on my left knee. My surgical team was top notch, and although I think I had prepped myself pretty well for the pain and discomfort based on others’ information, I ain’t gonna lie….it HURT. Physical therapy is ongoing and I’m making good progress each day. I am SO grateful to my ‘tribe’ across Mississippi that surrounded me with tender care, delicious food, transportation, encouragement, and sacrificial friendship. I’ll put on my dancing shoes soon…

 

Did a fun podcast episode, produced out of Nashville,  with Susan Sizemore called Fifty Forward, for ‘mature’ folks working to ‘squeeze the day’…here’s my episode.

 

 

 

 

In February, Delta State University celebrated the inauguration of Dr. Daniel J. Ennis, our ninth president. For the festivities, I was pleased to put together an informal evening of entertainment called A Delta Celebration, comprised of DSU graduates and former students. Our new president surprised everyone with an impromptu harmonica performance with Keith “Prince of the Delta Blues” Johnson…priceless:) But to my even greater surprise, at the end of the evening, a local patron and longtime supporter of DMI stood and pledged to fund an endowed scholarship in my name.  I’ve been on stage enough years in my life to usually have an answer for most situations, but that one left me speechless. Stunned. Grateful. Here’s a link to the story…thank you, Mike and Nan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then this happened.

My friend, Dawn Rodgers (sister to DSU baseball legend Bryan Rodgers), and I were songwriting partners during our early years in Nashville. She and I wrote a worship song back in 1982 called “Baruch Hashem Adonai,” based on a sermon topic by Don Finto who was, at the time, pastor at Belmont Church. Belmont Church included a community of musicians, many of whom were key musicians of the contemporary Christian music movement (CCM). Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Dogwood, Brown Bannister, and more. I got a text from Dawn the Monday of Holy Week saying that Michael W. Smith was going to perform our song on that Easter Sunday morning from Jerusalem on a program hosted by Franklin Graham…I kid you not. A song we wrote 42 years ago found a platform for a new audience of listeners (And I confess that this is one of my top five songs that I’ve had anything to do with). I think this link is still active…I hope you enjoy it.  If you’re interested, do a search on YouTube under “Baruch Hashem Adonai”…I had no idea it’s been recorded so many times.

And then this happened.

At our fabulous GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi right here in Cleveland, the director had invited me to sing a couple of songs at their Membership and Volunteer Recognition event last week. Wasn’t sure how I’d be feeling only two weeks out from surgery, but I promised I’d try. Little did I know they were being sneaky in making sure I was there so that they could present me with their Legacy award this year. Again, very blessed in so many, many ways.

I’ll close with this, good friends…a Facebook post about the Delta from a local mom after a recent near tragedy at one of our elementary schools and how the community responded…included by permission:

“Took a 2-year break from social media, but after this past week, I’m coming in hot with a long post. Love you people.

The Delta is not easy. It’s why so many only pass through, or why some who were raised here can’t wait to get out. For some it’s hard because we don’t have a Target within 2 hours, and for some they want a better school system or school options, for others jobs are limited, and for those of us who have decided this is our home for better or worse, those goodbyes are so painful and each one makes you wonder if the grass really is greener out there, or causes you worry about the future of this place…and then you spend time somewhere else and come home and realize you were meant for here. And you realize it’s community with memory and responsibility, to be contrasted with the ease of opportunity. It is a place where the hard draws you together and gives you shared affection that is at the heart of its strength. A person grows in such a place and is comforted there. Briana Davey sent me Wendell Barry’s book Hannah Coulter this past summer. It’s a beautiful book about a woman at the end of her life looking back over her memories growing up in a small Kentucky town and was essentially a love letter to that place. It made me miss my grandmother fiercely, and it reminded me of our place, a shrinking rural area with all the hardships that come with that life. These lines touched me:

“Most people now are looking for a better place, which means that a lot of them will end up in a worse one. I think this is what Nathan learned from his time in the army and the war. He saw a lot of places, and he came home. I think he gave up the idea that there is a better place somewhere else. There is no “better place” than this, not in this world. And it is by the place we’ve got, and our love for it and our keeping of it, that this world is joined to Heaven. . . Something better! Everybody’s talking about something better. The important thing is to feel good and be proud of what you got, don’t matter if it ain’t nothing but a log pen.”

Last week Anjanette called to say there was an explosion and fire at Hayes Cooper but as far as she knew the kids were alright and I just started praying. Jane Cannon was in the hallway and saw the fire and smoke and couldn’t find Patton at first and melted when I got back to the school. Patton’s classroom was one of the classrooms involved in the explosion but thankfully he was in the cafeteria for breakfast. After seeing video of the explosion, it is a miracle no children were hurt, and that the teachers in that classroom are still with us today. I have heard about the bravery of teachers and daddies dropping off their kids running into the fire to pull them out and begin trauma care, and bravery of the students who helped one another and comforted each other, and none of it is a surprise to me. Hayes Cooper Center has been a refuge and blessing for my family since Holt took his first nervous steps into that place 14 years ago for 4K when Mrs. Rogers took him and comforted him and loved him. Mrs. Judy Raines cared for him as she has all my kids even though they weren’t in her classroom. He is graduating in a few weeks, and he still talks about the OG’s of Mrs. Bray, Mrs. Sparks, and Mrs. Lamastus and still stops to hug their neck when he sees them, even though he’s the one stooping over to them now. I was so sad when I realized Jane Cannon would probably not finish her last year in the building that is Hayes Cooper, but yesterday when I hugged Mrs. Williams and she told me that they were going to finish strong and love our babies well, I was reminded that Hayes Cooper isn’t a building but all the people and a spirit that transcends classrooms and walls.

Then, this morning as I was dropping off a couple of anxious kids at Delta State and there was a line of football players, cheerleaders, and the President and First Lady of DSU waiting to greet them and I wept. Delta State is special, Hayes Cooper is special, all the local schools, public and private, who have donated and cheered us on are special, and this place we call home is special.

The Delta is not always an easy place to make a life, but it is good and we love her, imperfections and all, and today was such a sweet reminder of the importance and blessing of this place that is our home. And, to borrow from Wendell Berry, “it is by the place we’ve got, and our love for it and our keeping of it, that this world is joined to Heaven. . . .”

Sayward Fortner – April 16, 2024

If you hung in there for this whole post, bravo! I’ll try not to wait so long until the next one…blessings, Tricia

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Love Is Christmas…

 

12/21/23

I’m writing this Christmastime post on the longest night of the year…December 21…the winter solstice…just a few days before Christmas. Thankfully, tomorrow begins the return of longer days and the coming of the Light of the World is in sight…just in time.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.___Isaiah 9:2

A friend and I performed a concert of Christmas last evening at St. Luke United Methodist Church here in Cleveland, Mississippi (my home church), and one of the selections I sang was a wonderful song by singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles called “Love Is Christmas.” Even though we’re still in the ‘waiting’ time of Advent, this seasons seems to bring the hustle and bustle of more events and activities each year. When I came across this song, the lyrics really spoke to me….I hope you find meaning in them, too…

I don’t care if the house is packed
Or the strings of light are broken
I don’t care if the gifts are wrapped
Or there’s nothing here to open
Love is not a toy, and no paper will conceal it
Love is simply joy that I’m home

I don’t care if the carpet’s stained 
We’ve got food upon our table
I don’t care if it’s gonna rain
Our little room is warm and stable
Love is who we are, and no season can contain it
Love would never fall for that
We sing 

Let love lead us, love is Christmas

Why so scared that you’ll mess it up? 
When perfection keeps you haunted
All we need is your best my love
That’s all anyone ever wanted
Love is how we do, let no judgment overrule it
Love I look to you, and I sing

Let love lead us, love is Christmas
Let love lead us, love is Christmas

Songwriter: Sara Bareilles

© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

I’m grateful to report that I’ve entered a new decade this year! I’m also grateful that I continue to have opportunities to write, play and sing music. To me, the awareness of the miracle that is MUSIC grows deeper with time, and I continue to believe that music is the universal language and has great power to comfort, to heal, to inspire, to worship, and more…

 

Here’s hoping 2024 brings you hope, good health, and happiness even in the nights that seem long and dark. Be on the lookout for a new project from the Big Front Porch…maybe not what you might think, but it will involve some storytelling if it comes together:)

So to you, good friends, a Merry Christmas, peace and good will to all people…here’s a link to Mary Chapin’s song, “Longest Night of the Year”… Pax, Tricia

Longest Night of the Year

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Miles To Go Before I Sleep…

10.16.23

Hello, friends of the Big Front Porch! It’s been awhile, so I thought it was a good time to catch up on some news and adventures (see the post date? I got sidetracked for about a week with the ol’ Delta crud….all better now).

Even though I grew up in Mississippi, I don’t ever remember a summer that was so hot for so long….brutal. And even though the temperature has finally started to cool down, we still need some rain…the ‘Father of Waters’ is mighty low.

A couple of summers ago, as we were all crawling out of the ‘Covid Cave,’ I tried a couple of SUV camping trips and had a blast! But this year, with the summer temps being so high, I delayed my car camping trip until a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a recap (feel free to skim or skip if you don’t have time…I got a little wordy):

I was once again delighted to join my friend and musical buddy, Dr. John Mulder, to perform at this year’s National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) conference, held this year in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. John and I had the privilege of producing a studio album (in early 2020 right before the Covid shutdown) of songs  that came out of the hospice community called The World Around the Bed, so we sometimes have the opportunity to perform at related conferences. If you’d like to listen to the project, click here. There are also some wonderful videos on YouTube associated with the project.

Two summers ago, I headed north to a gig in Michigan. Last summer, I headed southeast to a gig in Florida. So this year, since I was already headed west, I took some time to enjoy the downtown Little Rock riverfront area and the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum before continuing towards Texas to visit a couple of cousins I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. 

I made my way through the blue highways of Arkansas, stopping for lunch in Hope before landing at my first camping stop near Mt. Vernon, TX. It was a relatively new RV site, and shall we say, not exactly ‘finished,’ but the manager was kind and offered me a spot near the bathhouse. However, it was not on level ground, so in order to avoid blood rushing to my head all night, I flipped my normal sleeping position 180 degrees and tucked in to start reading an actual BOOK (wifi not always great at RV sites and campgrounds) that was recommended by an old friend and that had been sitting on my bedside table for over a year. Little did I know how much I would enjoy it…it’s based on a true story and it has a specific connection to my old farmhouse in Tennessee. As the chapters advanced, I felt connected to the protagonist and her adventure and sensed that I was finding a bit of myself reflected in the story. I finished the book during the noon hour of the last day of my trip, sitting under a shade tree in a park in downtown El Dorado, AR. Good thing I had a clean bandana to wipe back the tears. I reached out to the author a few days later to make the personal connection to the place mentioned above, and she graciously sent a reply. Small world, indeed. Here’s one  link to The Ride of Her Life…a unique story about courage and kindness and belief in the goodness in others:’ 

 

A Texas thunderstorm woke me the next morning, precipitating a change in my normal breakfast camping routine. Good thing a big truck stop was only a mile or so away. Grabbed some hot coffee, washed the mud off my sandals and continued west into Sulphur Springs, TX where I found the local joint with the most pickup trucks parked outside…guaranteeing the best breakfast in town. The goal was to make it to the Dallas suburb of Southlake to join the aforementioned cousins for lunch. It’s been a few years since I’ve driven in Dallas traffic…nope, no sir, not for me anymore. I’m fine with a Delta traffic jam [driving painstakingly slow behind large farm tractors and implements. Needless to say, I was a bit underdressed for the restaurant where we gathered, but no one seemed to mind. We swapped places more than once at the table, so we could spend the two hours we had together catching up on two decades of news about children, grandchildren, work, health issues (Sidebar: if any of you out there have a real need for speed, check out the https://www.motorsportranch.com/ and my cousin Jack might take you for a ride you won’t forget!).

I spent the night with my cousin Lisa, her husband and their four-legged menagerie at their place on top of some rolling hills outside of Maypearl, Texas. She has the kind and gentle heart of her grandmother, my mother’s older sister, whom she loved and cared for. Time well spent, cuz, even if it was short…

The next leg of the trip had me headed on the backroads east, through the Texas towns of Corsicana, Ennis, Tyler, and Kilgore before crossing into Louisiana to find my spot for the night. I had reserved a spot through the Corps of Engineers website for campgrounds, Recreation.gov, but couldn’t get a real sense of the place online. It was a late afternoon drive around Shreveport to the road that led to the campground. Although my map showed me to be correct, I began to get a little concerned for the miles I was traveling on a two-lane road and then along a raised levee, but at last, a small, clean, well-kept campground came into sight inside the levee of Bodcau Creek. I pulled up to my assigned site and asked a gentleman seated outside of his nice RV for some info. Turns out he, a native Cajun and his wife, from Michigan, downsized everything a few years ago, bought their RV, and now travel. We swapped some stories, talked about music, and I gave them a copy of my Gospel CD, Farther Along. After cooking some hot soup for supper, I tucked in to continue The Ride of Her Life, this time with my head pointed in the regular position. A heavy fog had settled by morning when I woke, and as I crawled out of my cocoon, my campsite neighbor asked, “You’re not leaving yet, are you?” “Nope…just answering nature’s call first at the bathhouse.” “You made me cry last night.” Seems the wifi was strong enough for his wife to do a little research on my website and he had listened to “The Heart of Dixie.” The power of a song…that made me smile. After the fog burned off, I packed up and headed out on the home stretch, taking two lanes in north Louisiana and southern Arkansas into my last stop in El Dorado. On the way back, there was still cotton standing in the fields of the Arkansas Delta, but the combines and pickers were steady busy and it won’t be long before all the fields in Arkansas and Mississippi are put to bed. 

When I pulled into my driveway, I had travelled almost 1,200 miles…a number that is just a little under the word count of this story:) Write on!

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God Shed His Grace On Thee…

Happy 4th of July holiday from the Big Front Porch!

Since last we visited, it seems like we sort of eased on through spring and now find ourselves navigating these summer days with some really oppressive heat…hope you’re finding ways to stay cool.

In April, I was pleased to represent Cleveland as its Music Ambassador at the long awaited Music Tourism Convention, held here in town after two postponed dates due to COVID. Deep Roots musicians entertained at some of the events and Mississippi’s favorite new country group, Chapel Hart, closed out the convention at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi. Lots of folks from the USA and abroad got to experience the magical, mystical Mississippi Delta…good times:)

Right after the convention, the Women in the Round returned to the Delta for another show at GRAMMY Museum Mississippi. Pam Tillis and Ashley Cleveland made a return visit, and this time…after several tries…the wonderfulsongwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman was able to join us. It’s still one of my favorite gigs, and I am grateful that we got to do it one. more. time.

 

After catching my breath, the Big Front Porch, in partnership with the good folks at the Mississippi Songwriters Alliance, hosted the Mississippi Songwriters Festival – Delta Region, the first ‘satellite’ festival of the parent festival on the Coast. The 25+ local songwriters that participated had a chance to share their original songs with each other and the public over two nights.

 

 

 

 

Three professional songwriters, Bridgette Tatum, Clay Mills, and Sean Gasaway, came down from Nashville to play their ‘hits’ and present a couple of music business workshops. Most of you have heard my ‘sermon’ before that, in regards to the music business, “It All Begins With A Song,” so it was great to have an event that focused on the gifts and talents of the unsung folks who lay their hearts bare and put pen to paper trying to say those things we want to say but don’t know how…it’s a gift, to be sure. Hug a songwriter next time you see one. The Deep Roots music initiative continues its mission to strengthen community through music by providing live local roots music in area venues five nights a week, thanks to the support of the City of Cleveland and the talented musicians and audio techs that bring that music to the public each and every week. Just last week, I was honored to join the Mayor and other representatives from the City of Cleveland at the annual Mississippi Municipal League convention to accept a Municipal Excellence Award in the Spirit category for towns over 10,000 in population! Yay us!

 

Seems like I’m leaning into the slower tempo of summer more easily this year…not sure why…perhaps it’s the ‘significant birthday’ earlier this year…or perhaps it’s due to a more focused intention of being in the moment, whether enjoying the taste of a perfectly assembled tomato sandwich followed by a slice of sweet watermelon, or the joy found in a minimalist seasonal wardrobe of shorts, T-shirts, and flip-flops, or witnessing little miracles and blessings of God every day…right where I am. I am grateful.

I’ll wrap up this summertime post with little history from Wikipedia about one of my favorite patriotic songs…”America the Beautiful.”Stay cool, y’all…until next time, Tricia

 

The lyrics for “America the Beautiful” were written by Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, and the music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never met.

In 1893, at the age of 33, Bates had taken a train trip to Colorado Springs. Several of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem, including the wheat fields of the heartland of Kansas, through which her train was riding; and the majestic view of the Great Plains from high atop Pikes Peak. 

Just as Bates had been inspired to write her poem, Ward, too, was inspired. The tune came to him in 1882 while he was on a ferryboat trip from Coney Island back to his home in New York City after a leisurely summer day and he immediately wrote it down. He composed the tune for the old hymn “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem”, retitling the work “Materna”. Ward’s music combined with Bates’s poem was first published together in 1910 and titled “America the Beautiful.” _____________Wikipedia

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

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A ‘significant’ birthday;)

 

 

 

Hello, friends!

It’s been a minute since my last blog post…last November, I believe…before the ‘Deep Freeze of 2022’ closed out the year, before the glorious Christmas season, before the start of this new year…2023. 

“They say it’s your birthday!” (Cue Beatles music here…)

This year will mark a ‘significant’ St. Patrick’s Day birthday for me (at least on
the chronological calendar…really, they are ALL significant), and I continue to enjoy this season of taking a look back and reflecting, with joy and gratitude, on the countless blessings I have received throughout my life. To that end, I’m starting on a project this year to share the story of my musical journey, using words, images, audio, and video in a multi-media format (probably YouTube) collected from the past 40 years or so…should be interesting…stay tuned for that.

But to mark this upcoming birthday, I wanted to find a way to continue some work that means a lot to me and offer you friends and fans of the Big Front Porch an opportunity to share in that work.

Some of the most impactful programs I’ve ever been a part of have used songwriting as a means of honest and powerful self-expression, from kids to cancer survivors to social workers to veterans.

It’s no secret that I’m very proud of what was developed and accomplished at the Delta Music Institute at Delta State University during my tenure…state-of-the-art recording studios, a robust entertainment industry curriculum, a diverse faculty and staff, and engaged students. 

In addition to that academic work, DMI was blessed with a decade of grant funding to engage youth in a program that used songwriting as a means to
develop positive self-identity, address community and cultural issues, and provide a popular medium for participants to find and share their ‘voice.’ The program, started in 2013, was called Healing With A Groove, and I saw first hand the impact it made on young people as well as the DSU students who mentored young writers. The grant ended after I retired from DSU, but one of the final goals of the grant was to develop a ‘tool kit’ that would be available for use by groups and organizations interested in carrying on the work.

So to mark this ‘significant’ birthday, I created a Big Front Porch Giving Fund, administered by the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, to receive donations towards the continuation of the Healing With A Groove work in our local community, using the ‘tool kit’  developed by the grant. 

If you’d like a little ‘backstory’ on the program, here’s a link from the grant’s primary funder: https://www.wkkf.org/what-we-do/featured-work/healing-with-a-groove-uses-music-to-promote-racial-healing-in-the-mississippi-delta

Focusing on local participation this time around, the program will be smaller in scale, and therefore, not too costly. Funds would be used primarily to reproduce the program’s resources for participants and for production and recording services after songs are completed.

Here’s a CFNM link to donate online along with a nice graphic with a QR code that will also take you to the CFNM donation page online. The name of the fund is Big Front Porch.

cfnm.org/donate

 

 

 

 

Friends and fans, YOU are the best birthday gift to me…I am blessed.

With a grateful heart, Tricia

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Paying It Forward…

11/18/22

Seed
and shoot,
Leaves and roots,
Flower and fruits,
and Seeds

This poem came from this morning’s audio devotional from an online community I’ve been listening to called The Seedbed, led by J.D. Walt. I’ve really been enjoying it…check it out.  That one phrase, to me, encapsulates that ‘full circle’ promise of surrender and hope. It’s one of the beautiful things I love about the Delta…the tangible manifestation of that primary lesson in the yearly planting and cultivating and harvesting of the crops. The Mystery of the Farm. And we’re all farmers…planting seeds…right?

Many of you know that I grew up outside the small town of Fayette, Mississippi (pop. 1600 ish). My daddy worked in politics and state government and would be involved with conventions and events that often had a ‘celebrity’ on the program…usually a star from the world of stage, screen, or television. When my musical dreams were starting to form in my teens, I sometimes had the chance to meet some of these ‘stars,’ and I remember the excitement of many of those moments. Most of them were kind and thoughtful and didn’t seem to mind taking a moment to speak to a young fan…and that wasn’t lost on me. Having spent the majority of my professional career in the music ‘biz,’ I came to learn that interacting with one’s fans may be the singular most important part of the job of an artist or performer. One of my favorite quotes, attributed to the great poet Maya Angelou, is: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

So many teachers, townsfolk, pastors, friends, and of course, Mama and Daddy, made me ‘feel’ like I could do anything…they ‘planted seeds’ in me that gave me the needed encouragement to be brave in taking creative risks as I grew up and became an adult. Even now, as I am stepping into the role of ‘elder,’ the good folks and dear hearts of this community continue to encourage the creative, educational, and community building work in which I’m involved, and I am grateful.

One of things I enjoy most in this work is ‘planting seeds’ and ‘connecting dots.’

Last spring, after seeing a short iPhone video (sent by a friend) of a young man from a very small town in southwest Mississippi who could play like Jerry Lee Lewis, I think I saw a little of myself back in my small town, trying to figure out what chords I had to learn to play “House of the Rising Sun.” This self taught young man clearly had talent, so connections were made, and he attended the Delta Music Institute Summer Camp a few months ago and stole the show at the camp showcase. So when GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi announced that this year’s Crossroads of American Music award would go to Jerry Lee Lewis, ‘seeds were planted’ to see if this young man might have an opportunity to perform at the gala event. Sadly, Jerry Lee passed away before this young fan could meet him in person, but the young man, wearing a borrowed suit, was invited to say a few words at Jerry Lee’s Celebration of Life in Ferriday, Louisiana, and Jerry Lee’s widow made 17 year old Thomas Sanders feel special. 

Another example of one of the many kindnesses of this community was one of our favorite haberdashers in town, Danny Abraham, arranging for some proper stage clothes for the young performer so that Thomas was made to feel like a star! He was introduced to the stage last night as “Little Killer” Sanders and he tore it up! So many of you there made him feel special and celebrated, recognizing that gifts and talents can sometimes come from the most obscure places, and like seeds, they need to be tended to and nurtured. Here’s hoping that this young man will have more ‘farmers’ around him as he grows.

Sometimes a seed bears fruit and the planter is still around to witness it. What a gift that is. This week, a former student of mine who graduated from the DMI program at Delta State, called to share the news that she was part of a GRAMMY nominated album this year as an audio engineer! I am so excited for her, but it made my day that she took the time to call and say ‘thank you’ for the lessons she had learned from me as a teacher and mentor while at Delta State…and THAT made me feel like I can go a thousand more miles…thank you, Audri, and good luck! You’ll be paying it forward in a few years…

I hope you all are staying safe and warm and finding some quiet time amid the chaos as Advent approaches and again we wait in wondrous anticipation for the Hope of the world.

 

+peace+

Tricia

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Beauty and Kindness

One of my favorite spiritual writers, Joan Chittister, does not believe in writer’s block. She says, “You must jump into the middle of a line and trust that God will take you to the end of it.”

Good advice…that being said…I’m jumping in:)

I’m a little late with what was to be an Eastertide post, and the official start of summer is only a little over a month away, so I wanted to check in from the Big Front Porch with a few small stories about beauty and kindness…two things we can always use more of…

It has been a particularly beautiful spring around the Porch in the Delta…with the exception of the F1 tornado that skipped through town, dropping one of the old oak trees in the street two houses up from me. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

But in the days after the storm, spring really starting showing out! The chinaberry and sweet olive blooms (transported from home), the huge purple Dutch irises (originally from a housemate’s yard in Dallas 30+ years ago), wisteria (purple AND white), a banana shrub, and the sweet smell of Confederate jasmine drifting through an open window. All stunning examples of the beauty and artistry of God…

Along my driveway fence, I have one flaming orange rose bush (see above)…planted by another’s hands long ago…perhaps it was planted by our resident rose master, Ms. Jane Dunlap. ‘Miss Jane’ was recently awarded the Louise Godwin Award from the Keep Mississippi Beautiful organization. The Louise Godwin Award recognizes individuals who are exceptional when it comes to helping keep their communities cleaner, greener and more beautiful, and believe me, Cleveland is one of those especially beautiful communities thanks, in no small part, to our public rose gardens, lovingly nurtured by ‘Miss Jane’ for over 50 years.  I only hope that if I make to 90, I can still play a G/C/D chord on my guitar or a simple scale on the piano!

‘Miss Jane’ Dunlap

“There is a built-in danger in old age which, if we give in to it, makes aging one of the most difficult periods of life, rather than one of the most satisfying – which it should be. The danger of old age is that we may start acting old.” ______Joan Chittister 

A few weeks ago, an online post/picture of a scruffy, battle-scarred old orange tabby cat popped up on a local social network, asking if anyone knew the owner. Within hours, a half dozen folks from the neighborhood responded, identifying the old warrior by various names__Big Daddy, Rudy, Frank, Scar, Buddy. Seems he traveled a large territory on a regular basis, receiving food and attention at every stop. Recently, one neighbor noticed that he seemed weaker and perhaps ill. She was able to catch him, and through her generosity and kindness, had the ol’ fella neutered, wormed, and treated at a local vet. The online group monitored his progress and shared good wishes for recovery and a better life for Big Daddy/Scar/Rudy/Frank/Buddy__and it seemed he was doing well. But a week or so later, he took a turn for the worse and went away. Online, we all promised to keep watch for him, but we never saw him again. Our neighbor that had provided the most care for him found his body under her back steps, and gave him a proper burial in her backyard. We’ve all been sad about it, but grateful that his last few weeks of life were filled with more comfort and love than perhaps he had known earlier.

Buddy/Rudy/Scar/Frank/Big Daddy

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”_____Gandhi

Veterinary services for an old tomcat—homemade pimento cheese from a neighbor to say thanks for the music—A favorite hymn sung by request at the graveside of a stranger___Fresh cookies for grieving family members and friends of a beloved coworker___these are the things that make us into a community. Kindness.

Wars continue to rage on the other side of the world; gun violence is on the increase; social media pulls us towards ‘doomscrolling’ and the idea that ‘we are not enough’…

But take a look around at what we have____roses and music and old cats and good neighbors___it is enough.

“The service that the whole world needs from the elders is not the service of hours spent and time put in and documents finished and machines fixed. There are untold numbers of people who can do all of those things. No, the service of the elders is not a service of labor, it is a service of enlightenment, of wisdom, of discernment of spirits. Only the carriers of generations past can give us those things, because wisdom is what lasts after an experience ends.”
― Joan Chittister, The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully

Look up___beauty is everywhere.

Look out___kindness abounds.

Peace be with you:)

Tricia 

P. S. Get ready for live local music…starting in June!