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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

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

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

The Rule of Benedict opens with the word…listen. 

One of the main tenets in Benedict’s Rule is that we are always offered the grace to begin again. After coming to the end of an (dare I use the worn out word?) unprecedented year like 2020 (not to mention the unthinkable events during the first week of 2021), I am ready to begin again…ready, when the time is right and the virus has been contained, to engage once again as a human being in the presence of other human beings. My pastor remarked in a recent sermon that, “God did not design us for distance learning.” True dat. We are designed for relationship,  and I miss being in ‘real’ community with others. Don’t get me wrong…I am incredibly grateful for and constantly amazed at the technology that allows us to ‘connect’ with each other, but I look forward to the days ahead when hugs are safe and back in style and travel is spontaneous and carefree. I also know that time has not quite come, and so I will continue to mark these days, holding onto hope and relishing the joy that is somehow stored in the deepest part of the heart, if I will but claim it by faith.

In the recent weeks of this continuing pandemic, I have found myself being drawn to familiar books, movies, albums, and articles that have particular meaning for me. I’m also getting ready to dive into the task of culling boxes and files in my closet, with a strong probability of being led down some nostalgic ‘rabbit trails.’ What is interesting is that I recognize this pattern as being related to a subconscious preparation for something creative in the works. Hmmm….

Somewhere in the last quarter of 2020, I found myself, once again, in a real love/hate scenario with social media. I greatly appreciate the opportunity these platforms afford to reconnect with old friends, promote worthwhile projects, interact online with musicians, and more, but I was also made aware of the addictive and divisive power of these platforms. So I put myself on a bit of a ‘social media diet,’ taking some time to try and sort out how to best use this method of communication as a means for good without going down a dark hole. Finding that balance is a struggle, to be sure, but it recently dawned on me that perhaps I could ‘ease up’ a bit and use social media as a platform to share some of the stories and incredible opportunities I’ve been blessed with along the way rather than trying so hard to provide ‘newsy’ posts for the sake of ‘engagement.’ I wonder if that’s the ‘creative thing’ possibly in the works? You never know…so, be on the lookout…and if I’ve missed the mark__don’t worry___I’ll begin again.

Until next time…wear your mask…wash your hands…say your prayers…get the vaccine…and …

 

 

 

 

 

+peace+

Tricia

 

During the pandemic, I’ve been spending some time digitizing old cassettes, CDs, and VHS tapes of ‘homegrown’ content and/or various performances, more to clear out some space than for posterity, but I realized today while working on some transfers, that this date marks a milestone. Let me explain…

The number ’40’ has symbolic meaning in Christianity, with various interpretations as to its significance. ’40’ is often seen to signify new life, new growth, transformation, a change from one great task to another great task, while other viewpoints tie it to the fulfillment of God’s promises, not all of them positive, and associated with the themes of testing, trials, and judgment.

Sounds like breaking in and surviving the music ‘biz’ to me…

FORTY years ago on August 15, 1980, this small town Mississippi girl left Jackson driving a U-Haul truck that was packed with passed down furniture, kitchen pots and pans, clothes, my stereo, boxes of books and records, a ‘cutting-edge’ TASCAM multi-track cassette machine, my guitars, a piano, my cat, and a suitcase full of hopes and dreams. I pointed the truck north and headed to Music City…Nashville, Tennessee. Didn’t know a soul there, had not yet nailed down a ‘day job,’ and had no clue how to begin to break into the ‘biz.’ There were no educational resources like today that teach you how the music industry works…my entry to the town was definitely a reflection of the old adage, “Ignorance is bliss.” But as I have told many students over 20 years of teaching, my moment of ‘truth’ was clarified one day when I realized in my heart that I was not as afraid to go to Nashville and fail as I was afraid NOT to go at all and try my wings….that realization is what got me into that U-Haul truck with the key in the ignition.

I had arranged to sub-let a second floor one bedroom/one bath apartment in a very old apartment building (no elevator) in an area that was still 30 years away from becoming ‘hip’ and gentrified (I remember a very active and bizarre religious cult living three houses down the street). My rent was $235 per month and I was going to have to hustle to make that payment, but the ‘hustle’ is what it was all about…a more appropriate word today might be ‘entrepreneurship,’ but for creative types, ‘hustle’ fits the bill just fine. By the way, the last time I checked, that little apartment, which is now part of a very hip and gentrified neighborhood, rents for about $1000 a month…still no elevator in the building.

We safely arrived at our destination (my mom, a friend, and me), but it was past 5 pm, the utility company was closed, and I couldn’t get the lights turned on that evening. So we improvised…ordered pizza, lit a few candles, and unpacked the stereo even though we had no power. My priorities were in order…for a musician, hooking up the stereo ALWAYS comes first (remember multi-component stereo systems?).

Within a few weeks, I landed a job as an assistant recreation director at the Tennessee State School for the Blind in Donelson, a suburb of Nashville…my hours were 2 pm to 10 pm which left me half of each day to learn how to navigate the area known as Music Row, which, at the time, was the unassuming looking neighborhood where the majority of music publishers and record labels were located…lucky for me, it was within walking distance of my apartment. And so I began…researching and learning the ‘hustle’ by day, working my steady job in the afternoon/evening, writing songs into the late night hours.

When I made the move to Nashville in 1980, there were no personal computers, no mobile phones, no internet, no cable TV…hard to even fathom that now, but that’s the way it was. Contact information for any music industry professional was GOLD, and I kept the sacred info I was collecting on 3×5 note cards before I bought an actual Rolodex (remember those?).

Ok….pause….I can tell that this post could get pretty long if I keep going with the ‘History of Tricia in Music City,’ so I’ll just put a pin in it here and maybe add some installments along the way. Either way, I wanted to mark this ‘Music City’ anniversary with all of you on the Big Front Porch and share how I have been blessed beyond all that I could possibly imagine…by the grace of God, friends made along the way, stages made available to me across the country and around the world, the rare gift of being able to do what I love for a living, and the opportunity to serve and be a part of a unique creative community that truly helped shape me as a singer, songwriter, and producer. What a trip that started on that hot summer day so long ago…I’ll bet some young dreamer is pulling into Music City today, and for the next 40 years, if all goes well, it will be their ‘promised land.’

Stay well…wear your mask…wash your hands…and enjoy some music everyday,

+Peace+

Tricia

Hello, friends…I hope that you had a restful Memorial Day and found some fun ways to continue to be safe and healthy without missing out on the social interaction that typically comes with the unofficial start of summer. I’m happy to report that I scored a pound of ground beef on my last Wal-Mart pick-up so I was able to enjoy a grilled burger on my back deck:)

All is well here on the Big Front Porch….garden planted, house projects in progress, working through a long overdue list of books to read, and new and creative adventures in the kitchen as a result of a renewed relationship with my oven. Would love to hear how you’ve been spending your ‘quarantine time.’

During these days of pandemic, it’s been inspiring to see how so many are doing what they can in the service of others, no matter how big or small the task…we all have gifts and talents to share…whether in a real ‘physical’ space or through the amazing connectivity of an online environment. Feels like we can all take HOPE in that.

And that being said, I wanted to share a couple of creative projects with you that have been completed over the last few months in the hopes that they will resonate with you as a gift and that you will pass them along to the folks in your ‘orbit.’

 

 

 

One is a project that originated over a year ago with a song called “Joy In A Teardrop,” written by myself and my good friend, Dr. John Mulder, as the outcome of a songwriting workshop for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). John and I ‘gathered’ ideas from conversations with hospice professionals and then crafted the song from their honest and vulnerable thoughts. The work was so well received that we were invited to the fall 2019 national conference to lead another workshop and develop a full-length album of similar songs based on small group input from hospice professionals. The project, The World Around The Bed, was recorded in January in Nashville, and John and I were scheduled to premiere the project at a conference in Washington, D.C. in late March, but the pandemic prevented that from happening. However, the album was released a couple of weeks ago and is beginning to receive some very positive reviews. All proceeds from the sale of the project will go to help provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospice workers. If you fall into the ‘I stream all my music’ category, you can stream it from Apple Music, Spotify, and almost any other platform. You can also purchase a download of the album from Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon Music, and many other platforms (more $ from downloading than streaming, by the way). And if you’re in the ‘I still buy CDs’ category (and live in the Cleveland, MS area), you can purchase a copy at Cotton Row Books in downtown Cleveland. It is such an honor to be a part of this project…

The second project is on behalf of the fabulous GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi here in Cleveland. As of today, our museum, as well as all others in the state, remained closed under order of the Governor, so the staff has been working hard to develop some projects and programs to offer virtually until the physical doors open again. To that end, we’ve put together a project called No Place Like Home: Songs From The Heart of Mississippi, which features a group of Mississippi’s wonderful, talented, and generous singer/songwriters. They each sent us a ‘home grown’ song performance and the museum has begun airing those each Friday at noon CST on the museum’s YouTube channel.Please subscribe to the channel and click the little ‘bell’ to receive notifications of each video coming up. Then please SHARE the videos with others and encourage them to subscribe to the channel. There will be some wonderful content posted to the YouTube channel as we go forward. THANK YOU for your support in this effort.

And speaking of YouTube, I’d appreciate it very much if you’d take a moment and subscribe to my own YouTube channel HERE. My first goal is to have 100 subscribers. I’ve been ‘dabbling’ in some hymns, songs, and home video ideas and will begin to post them to YouTube as they are completed (FYI, Facebook is still wonderful, but posting on that platform does not always reach the intended audience due to algorithms, computations, and tech stuff that’s WAY over my head…just trust me on this). Thank you kindly:)

If you’ve made it this far in the post, I wanted to share a link to an article that really ‘hit home’ with me earlier this week from a site called Becoming Minimalist. It’s about how to stay focused on the good. The title for this post was taken from that blog…I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did.

https://www.becomingminimalist.com/focused/

 

 

 

 

 

 

So stay safe and stay well, y’all…and as the world begins to ‘reopen,’ here’s to using the good sense that God gave us:)

+Peace+
Tricia