January, 2007

Always Home

Friday, January 11th, I held a CD release concert to celebrate the release of my CD "Always Home". The CD was 3 1/2 years in the making and I'm thrilled how it came out. This concert was the first one after starting my life as a full time musician. It was great to have the concert in my home town, Ashland, OR.

February, 2007

Me and Kaho

When Kaho called me up one day and asked me if I wanted to do an event together, I had no idea what was in store for me. The vision has gone far beyond that one event and continues to unfold. We had our first event together on February 9th in Ashland, Oregon. We have been overseas and toured Japan, California, and Arizona so far. With much, much more to come. We have a spiritual bond that has enriched each others lives deeply. She is a beautiful, beautiful heart who is living her life in service to spreading love and peace on the planet.

March, 2007

Magical Mount Shasta

Kaho and I had our 2nd event at Mt. Shasta, CA on March 9th. Mt. Shasta is a sacred mountain and having an event there was really special. Several of us stayed the night, and after having breakfast together, spent the day hiking in this gorgeous land.

I played a concert two weeks later at the Mt. Shasta Center for Positive Living. I loved meeting Jan, the event coordinator there. It's really great to meet so many people with different beliefs and approaches to living a loving life, and finding the same heart in them all.

Mount Fuji, Japan

Mt. Fuji, Japan
Kaho drawing "thankyou mt. Fuji" mandala during my concert.

April, 2007

On the Road and Overseas

April was a big month for us. Kelly and I packed our van with food, clothes, and musical gear, and hit the road.

Our first stop was Los Angeles. We stayed with our friend Shari and her two dogs, Bailey and Molly. Thank you Shari! We normally don't watch much TV, but we got hooked on watching Dancing with the Stars with Shari and the dogs.

Kaho and I had an event at the Bodhi Tree bookstore in West Hollywood. It turned out to be a preview of our Japan trip, as many folks of Japanese decent attended.

Kaho, Kelly, Kaho's mom Ikuyo, and I boarded a plane for Japan on April 17th. This was my and Kelly's first trip to Japan. We did three wonderful events: one in Mt. Fuji; one in Osaka; and one in Tokyo. The events were very well received and the people we met were incredible! I was very moved by the graciousness and generous spirit of the Japanese people we met. It was such a gift to experience their beautiful culture. It also was very special for us to spend so much time with Ikuyo. She is such an open hearted person and without her, this trip never would of happened.

We kept really busy traveling and doing events. But somehow I managed to find a little time to write a new song inspired by Mother Mary which I debuted in Sedona.

Playing with Kaho's mandalas surrounding me.

May, 2007

Back in the USA

After two amazing weeks in Japan, we flew back to Los Angeles on May 1st. The next day Kelly and I drove to Phoenix, Arizona and rested at my brother Vince's house. Most of the time we were there, Vince and his wife, Maureen, were in Italy on vacation, but we had the company of Maureen's 3 cat's and her large talking bird, Toby, who wasn't shy about expressing himself. Vince inspired me to play the guitar when I was growing up and we did get to jam a little during the visit, along with his son Joe who is also a skilled guitar player.

June, 2007

The Pacific Northwest

June has been full with traveling and seeing new places. Our travels have taken us from Portland up to Canada.

We are filled with gratitude for all of the beautiful places we have seen, great people we have met, and friends who have opened up their homes to us.

July, 2007

Colorado

I took a break for playing concerts in July to focus on finding a place to live. After leaving our home in Ashland, OR, and being on the road for 3 months, I have found a new home town in Boulder, Colorado. I plan to schedule concerts in the Boulder/Denver area as soon as we settle in.

August, 2007

Movin' In

We spent most of August exploring our new town while waiting to move into our new house. We stayed with friends until finally moving into our new home at the end of the month. Thank you Susan, Dave, Art and Lari for opening your homes to us!! (And thank you Koen, Amber, and Bryce for being such good downstairs neighborhors. Koen, who is 2 years old, would call up the stairs in our direction "Hello, Hello!!!" every morning. He sounded so cute, you had to smile!)

We were so thrilled to have our first Boulder visitor, Kelly's sister, Katie. She happened to be working in Denver for a few days, so she was able to stop off in Boulder for an afternoon. What a delight!

I did get to play one concert in August, in Portland. It was the first event Kaho and I did together since June. It was a sweet reunion, as we were joined by our dear friends Dia, Susan, Judy, and Ikyuyo. We enjoyed a great dinner together on the Willamette River in downtown Portland the night before the event.

September, 2007

New Beginnings

I played my first concert in Boulder on September 8th. It was such a joy to sing and connect with so many beautiful people...I deeply appreciate the gift of it.

I also spent some time working on my next CD. I am very grateful for having a quiet and supportive space to record. I expect the new CD will be finished sometime in the Spring of 2008.