We play from 8:15-10:00 PM, admission is free!  Further info here.

Enjoy the cool evening air stirring through the covered outdoor seating, a backdrop of forest and starlight.

D-Squared will play on Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 7:30 PM.  Admission is $12.  The Highlands Center is located at 1375 S. Walker Rd., Prescott, AZ.   928.776.9550.

Bring your favorite beverage and a finger food to share and a lawn chair. We’ll snack at 6:30. At 7:30 We will open with Jesse Anderson–the young man with the old soul, a banjo and a nice fedora. Bill Burke and Tony Norris will then play some Appalachian tunes and after a short break we’ll do our best full moon material.

To get to Tony’s house go 4 miles north of Flagstaff on US 89, Turn east (right) on Silver Saddle Road to Doney Park Lane, Turn north (left) go 3/8 mile to 9475 Doney Park Lane.

tony@tonynorris.com   928-526-6684, $10 suggested donation.  Please RSVP so we know how many are coming.

The festival is held at the the Coconino Center for the Arts & Pioneer Museum. The address for the Center is 2300 N. Fort Valley Rd. Parking is free. Admission it just $3 a day, $9 for families. All the possible info you could hope for will be found here.

See you there!

We are honored to be playing music at The Margaret T. Morris Center (878 Sunset Avenue in Prescott, AZ), Saturday, June 11, 2011, 1:30- 4:00.

The Memorial Service will be at 1:00 PM at the Unity Church in Prescott, followed by a memorial walk through the gardens at The Center, 1:30-4:00. The public is welcome.

Susan was a longtime friend and fan. She did wonderful work. She’ll be missed.

D-Squared, and 9 other musicians, have been nominated for the Outstanding Musical Artists category. The winners in all categories will be announced that night, along with the already chosen Lifetime Achievement Award going to our good friend, Jody Drake, who runs the Blue Rose Theater at Sharlot Hall. Congrats, Jody!

We hope you can find time in your busy schedule to join us for our seventh annual celebration of the season at Big Bug Station. We look forward to this show every year and are especially pleased to have our nephew SEAN POYNTER joining us on percussion again. We have several new songs to share and some exciting new talents.

As has become the tradition at our Winter’s Eve Concert, we will again host a HOLIDAY COOKIE CONTEST. So dust off your favorite family recipe or whip up something brand new, just bring along enough cookies to share and the audience will vote on their favorites. Categories include:Tastiest, Prettiest, Chocolatiest, Traditional, Original, Healthy.

And here is some good news! After a two year lull, Big Bug Station will be reopening as a coffeehouse and sandwich shop, featuring homemade bread and pastries. The new proprietors, Jack Arneson and Jackie Hagerty, are busily remodeling the space and will officially open the week after our concert. This is a welcome cultural addition to our little town and we look forward to having a place to hang out and play music again.

Big Bug Station is located in historic downtown Mayer, Arizona at the junction of Central and Main (overflow parking at the post office). Call 928.632.7530 for further information.

Hope to see you,
Don & Deb

Sunday, September 12, D-Squared plays the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Please check back soon for more details!

Music begins at 6 PM and we start around 6:30 PM with a 45-50 minute set. Might be a nice night to sit out and enjoy one of the best springs ever. As a matter of fact, bring along your own lawn chair along for comfort. NO COVER just drink some coffee and pitch pennies in the tip jar. For more info call 602-296-4798.

The park has many cool features with antique tractors, blacksmithing demos and site tours but the main thing is a 150 folk musicians appearing on numerous stages, in workshops, and generally all about the grounds. As a special treat this year, D-Squared will be joined by our nephew Sean Poynter on percussion – the kid can play.

The Sahuaro Ranch Park is located at 9802 N. 59th Avenue in Glendale (map). Admission to the event is FREE. Further information and a complete schedule of events is available at glendaleaz.com/ParksAndRecreation/SpecialEvents.cfm .

Come celebrate one of the best springs in years with us.

We have had a long and fruitful relationship with the Sharlot Hall Museum – first with Warren Miller and then with Jody Drake, the current Curator of Education – and have extolled the virtues of the Blue Rose Theater many times. Anyone who has attended a show there can attest to what an intimate and comfortable venue it is and we think you will find this series particularly worthy of your time and hard-earned money. We will keep you apprised of the schedule as it develops but in the meantime:

D-SQUARED kicks off the first of the “ARIZONA MUSIC ALL FOLKED UP” series at 7:30 PM on SATURDAY, JANUARY 30 in the BLUE ROSE THEATER located at the Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 West Gurley Street, Prescott, Arizona. ADMISSION is $14 General Public, $12 Members. Tickets may be purchased at the door or by calling 445-3122.

Hope to see you there!

Once again Mike Connors and his family are graciously opening our favorite venue for all to enjoy. We have some exciting new songs to share as well as some old favorites to snuggle up with for winter.

Back by popular demand this year is the Christmas Cookie Contest. So dig out your grandma’s favorite cookie recipe and bring a plate to share with everyone. There will be tasting and voting and some liquid refreshment to wash down those delicious cookies.

In light of the current economic situation, we are only asking a $10 donation per person. Time to hunker down with your friends and neighbors and be thankful for the true joy of the season – the chance to share good feelings with good folks in a good space.

Big Bug Station is located in historic downtown Mayer, Arizona at the corner of Central and Main, catty-corner from the post office (at the only stop sign on Central). Call 928.925.5172 for further information.

For those of you coming from out of town or wanting to extend your stay in the “Comfort Corridor”, we have two commercial lodging options nearby. The Creekside Preserve Lodge, one mile east of Mayer on Highway 69, offers individual cabins with hot tubs along Big Bug Creek in the $100 range (928.632.0777). The Charcoal Pit Motel right in town is a refurbished motor hotel in the $40 range (928.632.9696). Both are dog-friendly.

We hope you can find time in your busy holiday schedule to join us

One hundred folk acts on four stages in two days, workshops on all manner of folky things and lots of friends to hook up and play music with. There is also a contradance on Saturday night at the Sechrist school right next to the festival grounds.

D-Squared plays a 40-minute set at the Amphitheater stage at 4:50 PM on Sunday. We thought we’d start out on accordion (just warnin’ ya). Come watch it rain in the mountains, the amphitheater is indoors. Admission for the festival is $3/person & $9/family per day and parking is free. You can check out the full schedule and get further details at www.flagfolkfest.org.

When we were touring steadily we used to take vineyard gigs on the west coast to help round out our performing schedule and we got hooked on the whole California wine culture. Folks came to taste and buy wine but they also came to picnic and talk and stroll and bike and commune with nature, family and friends. Our music seemed to fit in perfectly, especially when we were playing outdoors like we will be at Granite Creek. So come join us for an afternoon of Arizona culture on an honest to goodness small family farm. There is no charge for admission although we would encourage you to purchase products to help support local agriculture. For further information contact (928) 636-2003 or email gcvineyards@cableone.net.

Directions are given as if you were coming from Phoenix, we trust you can adjust if you coming from elsewhere:

1. Take I-17 North to Cordes Junction Exit to Prescott on HWY 69
2. Continue North on HWY 69
3. Drive approximately 20 miles on Hwy 69 to the 4th stoplight from the Interstate. At this intersection of Hwy 69 and FAIN RD. Turn RIGHT (look for the green highway sign with on the right TO PRESCOTT AIRPORT and CHINO VALLEY and HWY 89)
4. FAIN Road becomes HWY 89A South. Stay on Hwy 89A South until you get to Hwy. 89
5. Take Hwy. 89 North (toward Prescott Airport/Ashfork) to Chino Valley. Chino Valley is about 10 miles from the turn.
6. Go to the third stoplight in Chino Valley (McDonald’s on your left and Chino Valley Community Church on your right). This will be ROAD 3 NORTH. Turn RIGHT.
7. Go to the end of the road. ROAD 3 NORTH will T with Road ONE EAST at a stop sign.
8. Turn Left onto ROAD 1 EAST. We are one half mile down the road on the RIGHT hand side.

The interview had less to do with Bela’s ability to play jazz, Bach, and previously unimagined improvisations on an instrument usually associated with people who are missing teeth than it did with the origin of the banjo itself. Having spent several years touring and playing to hundreds of thousands of school kids where we inquired at every show whether anyone could identify what continent the banjo originated on and never received the correct answer – I’ll grant that I have more than a layman’s interest.

The banjo comes from Africa, at least the precursors to it’s current form did and it came across the Atlantic with folks who were brought to this country as slaves. So Bela decided to go to Mali, Uganda, Tanzania and The Gambia to explore the origins of his chosen instrument and in the process he discovered a plethora of banjo-like instruments and some astonishing musicians and music.

He has documented his musical journey in a film, Throw Down Your Heart, and the soundtrack CD includes some astonishingly beautiful indigenous music recorded in the field with 21st century sound equipment. Bela accompanies many of these pieces and the result is not unlike Paul Simon’s Graceland, David Byrne’s Rei Momo, or Ry Cooder’s Buena Vista Social Club although the results seem even more organic.

The CD is currently available and the film is being screened around the country. He is also organizing a US tour for some of these amazing musicians. If you are a banjo fan, I don’t see how you can live without this record. If you are a world music fan, a folk music fan, if your musical taste extends beyond the pap of American Idol, it is you will love this music. It is haunting and rhythmic and rooted to the earth.

Check it out at www.throwdownyourheart.com and discover a world smaller and even more vibrant than you imagined.

Sahuaro Ranch Park Historic Area is an old Valley fruit ranch and vegetable farm featuring 13 original buildings, a rose garden, barnyard and historic orchards adorning the 17 acre park. This weekend it will play host to over 150 folk musicians performing, jamming, and conducting workshops at 9 different venues on the site, including D-Squared playing at 10:30 AM on Sunday in the Fruit Packing Shed.

In addition to performances of everything from folk to bluegrass, gospel to contemporary singer/songwriter, from celtic and blues to cowboy poetry and storytelling – there are workshops on ukulele, banjo, musical saw, spoons, concertina, dulcimer, guitar, songwriting, harmony singing, percussion, childrens’ music, Woody Guthrie, Stephen Foster, and American belly dancing. Ample opportunities exist for unscheduled performers to play at open sessions as well as jam and network with other players, so bring your instruments.

The Phoenix Folk Festival was held for many years at Encanto Park and organized by our friend Lon Austin. Phoenix lost interest when Lon retired from Parks & Recreation, so he has moved the festival to The Sahuaro Ranch Park which looks like an even better venue. This unique festival also includes family entertainment, historic site tours, blacksmith demonstrations, a children’s stage and activity area and much more. Food and snacks will be available for purchase. Admission is FREE!

So we invite you to join us for one of the best weekends to be outdoors in the Valley. I can smell the orange blossoms. Chuck Pyle, Sue Harris, Phil Shanks, Bill Burke, Fred Coon, Joe Bethancourt, Annie Moscow and many other old and new folk friends will be there too.

You can look this event up at GlendaleAZ.com (click on “Parks & Recreation” in QuickLinks, then “Glendale Folk & Heritage Festival”) for more details, including performance and workshop schedules (although you won’t find us on the schedule, we were last minute additions). You can also call 632.930.4200.

The “Defining Folk Music” matinee and evening performances will differ from the usual ‘song and stage patter’ format. We will pick songs from our catalog that we think exemplify important aspects of folk music as well as play a few old songs that directly influenced us. Introductions will be pertinent to the song’s creation and there will be a question and answer session during the concert. Don will be closely monitored by Deb in his attempts to define or explain anything in order to keep the shows on time.

The matinee and evening performances are at 2 PM and 7:30 PM on Saturday, February 28 in the Blue Rose Theater at the Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 West Gurley Street, Prescott. Tickets for the shows are $14 General Public, $12 Members, $8 Group Rate (10 or more). The workshop will be from 10 AM to 12 PM on Saturday, February 28 in the Blue Rose Theater and tickets are $25. Tickets for the workshop plus one performance (matinee or evening) are $30. Call 928.445.3122 for information and tickets.

We believe this series represents an ambitious attempt on the part of the Sharlot Hall Museum to define and expand the role of folk music in the community and we hope that you can make one or more of these events. The series happens the last Saturday of every month from January to August. Tony Norris kicked off the series in January and the future line up includes Katie Lee, Gail Steiger, Sue Harris, and the Kiwanis Jug Band. Check out the season on sharlot.org.

On the radio front, those of you within listening range of KJZA 89.5 & 90.1 FM might want to tune in to the Folk Sessions Live! from 7-9 PM on Saturday nights, specifically on February 21 and March 21 as Don will be hosting the show and spinning some of his favorite discs. The show repeats at midnight.

Our showcase is at 9:45 on Saturday night in the Palo Verde III room. And like all the other bleary eyed, sleep deprived folkies, drunk with joy and caught in that voluminous web of networking, we’ll be doing our share of guerrilla showcases as well.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Unique Time Zone that is the Folk Alliance, I shall explain. Most of the guerrilla showcases are late at night……….anytime after 10:00 PM. And there’s a small bunch in the afternoon as well. The night time showcases have been known to go on until the extremely wee hours of the morning. That said, if a showcase is listed as Friday, 2:00, it really and truly means (according to Mean Greenwich Time) that it is 2:00 AM on a very early Saturday. Got it? I’ll just say “night” or “afternoon” to eliminate any confusion.

Here it goes:

Friday, Oct 24, 10:30-11:15 night, “Collaboration Station” (that’s the name of the showcase room) Song circle with others.
Friday, Oct 24, 12:30-1:00 night, “Elevation Matters”, Half hour set.
Friday, Oct 24, 1:20 night, “Susanne Millsaps Memorial Coffeehouse”, one song per artist, ya gotta get there quickly!
Friday, Oct 24, 2:00-2:30 night, “Whodat Batkat?” Late night madness, who knows what we’ll sing????

Saturday, Oct 25, 3:00-3:30 afternoon, “The Harmony Hideaway”, Half hour set.
Saturday, Oct 25, 9:45-10:15 night Official Premiere Showcase, “Palo Verde III Room”, Our big moment!
Saturday, Oct 25, 12:30-1:00 night, “Elevation Matters”, Half hour set.
Saturday, Oct 25, 1:30-2:00 night, The Celtic Room”, Where our roots show and the harp shines.

Please stop by our booth in the Exhibit Hall and say hi! We’ll have chocolate……………..

We were >THIS< close to getting Big Sky re-released for the conference! But it will be just a few weeks afterwards. At least it will be out for Christmas!

We have lots of music swirling around our heads at the moment.

Saturday, June 14, 5 PM…….The Kid’s Cove, Tsunami on the Square Festival in Prescott, AZ
(Cortez St. side of the Courthouse Square) FREE! www.tsunamionthesquare.com

Friday, June 20, 7:00 PM, Folk Sessions’ 5th Anniversary Show. Granite Peak Unitarian Universalist Church, 882 Sunset Ave., Prescott, AZ. Performances by D-Squared, Vyktoria Pratt Keating, Dennis Garvey & Remedy, with Linda Bilque, Alexa MacDonald, Tom Agostino, and Layne Longfellow. All this for only $5! www.folksessions.com

Saturday, June 21, 7:00 PM, Don hosts the Folk Sessions Live! radio show on 89.5FM and 90.1 FM. This signal can be heard from Kingman and Flagstaff, Verde Valley to Prescott. Taped replay is Midnight- 2:00. Don’s been spinning some great tunes, telling tales and waxing philosophical on occasion. (Even I listen to his show………and I have to listen to him all the time! ~Deb)

Saturday, June 28, 7:00 PM, Don hosts the Folk Sessions Live! radio show. (see above)

Sunday, June 29, 1:55-2:40 PM, Main Stage at FFOTM’s Flagstaff Folk Festival, Coconino Center for the Arts,
2300 N. Fort Valley Road. Come for the whole festival, Saturday and Sunday! http://www.ffotm.net/folkfest

And the thing we’ve been working the hardest on is the all original folk opera “Joe Mayer and the Town That Built Him”, written by Jody Drake (of the Blue Rose Theater at the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott), music by D-Squared.
The actors are kids with great talent and we feel honored to be a part of this adventure! This is a story about Joe Mayer, the founder of our fair town! More details later……………

(Added July 19,2008) Oops! Due to a casting issue, the production will be postponed until sometime in November. But check back often for any updates………..

See ya ’round town,
Don & Deb

Fred Coon learned the banjo growing up in the mountains of West Virginia. His father played a two finger style that Fred adapted as well as a frailing style prevalent in the local ‘hollers.’ He picked up techniques from Wade Ward, Franklin George, Aunt Jenny Wilson, Mike Seeger and others while making extensive field recordings of banjo players. He has played with many of the greats in folk music including Doc Watson and David Holt and currently resides in Phoenix.

Bill Burke has been a fixture in the Flagstaff music scene for decades as a guitar, banjo, and mandolin player. He has appeared on stage with Jay Ungar, John Cohen, and the New Lost City Ramblers and toured for many years with Rick and Lorraine Lee. Burke makes his living as a woodworker and luthier and plays his own beautifully crafted instruments on stage. His fine furniture is on permanent display at both the Henry Moore Trust and the American Craft Museum.

While D-Squared is best known as a harp and guitar act, they have long incorporated the tenor banjo into their intriguing sound as well. Charles credits his banjo style to “trying to sound like an old-timey player with one string missing.” They have promised a set of original banjo hits and a few you haven’t heard.

If you like banjos, this is a concert you won’t want to miss. The suggested donation is $10 with refreshments provided. Big Bug Station is located in the Old Mayer Mercantile Building at the stop sign on Central, catty-corner from the Mayer post office. Call (928) 632-4177 for information or visit bigbugstation.com.

It’s one of our favorite venues to play and we look forward to seeing your shining faces there……….

Friday, January 4, 6-9 PM, 2See Studio in the Garfield Galleria, Suite 201, 316 West McDowell Road in Phoenix (TODAY!)

This is part of the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Phoenix. We will be providing ambient music at our friend and collaborator Cheryl Colan‘s new downtown art gallery. The show is entitled Shadows and Reflections and features works by a number of interesting photographers including some of Deb Gessner’s new work. Gallery opens at 6 PM, Admission is free.

Friday, January 18, 8 PM at the Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road (Highway 180) in Flagstaff

This is the kick-off event for the Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music (FFOTM) series, co-sponsored by Flagstaff Cultural Partners. Opening the show will be The Springfield Band featuring our old friends Tony Norris, Bill Burke and Fred Coon. They have added fiddler, Elena Gonzales, and singer, Megan Buchanan, to their already impressive talent roster. This is a band with deep traditional ties and we’re excited to hear the new line-up. We have a few new tunes in our bag as well as some old favorites. We hope you can join us for what promises to be a wonderful evening of music. Tickets for this concert are $15 in advance, $18 at the door and can be purchased online or by calling (928) 779-2300. (directions)

Saturday, January 26, 2 PM and 7:30 PM (two shows), Blue Rose Theater at the Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 West Gurley Street in Prescott

Make it Snow is the theme of this season-opening show for the Blue Rose Theater and we have the material to make it happen. Our long association with Jody Drake and the Sharlot Hall Museum has been a blessing to us in many ways and we have always loved that room. It is where we played together for the very first time in public more years ago than we want to think about. Tickets are $10 for museum members, $12 for general public. Please call (928) 445-3122 for tickets and information. You can look them up online at sharlot.org.

We’re not sure why but winter concerts always seem to have a little extra energy, for audience and performer alike. So join us and take a little sip.

Don & Deb

Kind of nice to know they’re trying to do something to stop the rape and pillage of the desert…………

See article here.

To do our part we have committed to producing shows there on a much more regular basis – to feature D-Squared as well as other fine regional and national acts. For those of you who have attended past shows you know how lovely this room sounds and feels. Old wooden bar and floor, rounded glass windows, and high pressed tin ceilings – the place just oozes history. We are excited about this opportunity and ask for your continued support of what passes for culture here in the heart of Arizona.

So to kick off this venture, the new Big Bug Station at the Old Mayer Mercantile will present D-Squared and special guest Michael McGarrah at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, September 22, 2007. Suggested donation $15. The new Big Bug Station is located at Central and Main Streets in old downtown Mayer, AZ. (map link in case you need it).

Michael McGarrah is an exceptional songwriter who moved down from Seattle a few years ago. His songs are masterfully skewed vignettes that always reveal a deeper truth. We were honored to play on his brilliant new CD, Love Boat to Reno, this is a record you will want to own. Check it out at www.michaelmcgarrah.com.

As we will be leaving for an extended road trip after this show, we will be showcasing parts of our latest road set. Unfortunately we will miss the Sharlot Hall Folk Festival this year so this will be your opportunity to hear what we would have played there. Deb has a couple of brand new ones that are very cool.

So mark your calendar and join Mike, Susan and the girls at the Old Mayer Mercantile for an evening of tasty songs and tasty treats. We hope to see you there.

Thanks, Don & Deb

Related show

• Artist: D-Squared
• Date: Saturday, September 22, 2007
• Time: 7:30pm
• City: D-Squared in Mayer, AZ
• Venue: Big Bug Station
• Address: 12780 Main Street, Mayer, AZ 86333
• Country: United States
• Admission: $15 (suggested donation)
• Age restrictions: All Ages
• Notes: Double bill with Michael McGarrah. www.michaelmcgarrah.com.
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To view the video, please go to http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideospage.html , our video is currently ranked at #17. And, of course, every time you view it there, our popularity ranking goes up. So feel free to send the link to anyone you think might be interested.

To explore Neil Young’s website please go to www.neilyoung.com . Lots to see and listen to.

Peace,

Don & Deb

This is exciting for us! Our friend and webmistress, Cheryl Colan, went on a camping trip with us to the desert and video taped our newest song, “Little Iraq”. The song was inspired by a camping experience several weeks prior to the filming, when we embarked on an impromptu Birthday Camp in the desert just north of Phoenix.

It started out innocently enough – hiking among the saguaros, throwing the frisbee for Yippy and a gourmet campfire meal. But from dusk to noon the next day we witnessed an assault on the desert unlike anything we had ever experienced. Drunken fishermen drove throughout the night around Lake Pleasant in their diesel trucks (one right through our camp); the moon kicked up a small arms barrage that lasted until 3AM; and the next morning, after the sheriff had tried to ticket us for an unrestrained dog, a horde of off-road vehicle enthusiasts descended upon the river bottom we were camped in. When we were finally driven out, we passed hundreds of people with all manner of armaments from pistols to shotguns to AK47s, standing upon mounds of spent shell casings firing into the desert – a most impressive display.

At one point we climbed a small mountain only to command a 180 degree view several miles deep of churning dust accompanied by a soundtrack that bore a striking resemblance to Apocalypse Now. It was then that we dubbed the place Little Iraq. And it pissed Don off enough to go home and write this song.

To vote for “Little Iraq” on YouTube go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWJbQ0KJTus

This concert is being held in the immaculate new studio at the Phoenix home of Cyd and Greg West. Greg is a highly respected trompe l’oeil artist, he makes fruit fly, and Cyd is a longtime friend and artist in her own right, she sang with us on our first CD as Cindy Barber. Perhaps she can be persuaded to sing one or two with us. This will be a particularly fun show with some old friends in a cool space with art in it. Music and art, imagine them going together. Suggested donation is $15. You can email or call to reserve your seats and they will provide you with the address and directions: cydwest[at]cox[dot]net or (602) 526-1110.

Folk Sessions, 7:00 PM Friday February 16 in Prescott

Held at the Granite Peak Unitarian Universalist Hall (882 Sunset Drive, off Whipple behind True Value), Folk Sessions is a regular coffeehouse series hosted by Alexa MacDonald and Tom Agostino in Prescott. For the past several years they have been bringing in some very good regional and national touring acts as well as hosting a folk radio show on KJZA 89.5FM every Saturday night. This will be an all-local night as we split the bill with Jonathon Best, a wildly talented and very fun keyboard player. This could be an interesting pairing. Tickets are $10 at the door.

The Magic Path

You wander on luminaria-lined paths through a veritable museum of Sonoran desert flora discovering intimate little venues subtly lit by twinkly lights and staffed by more than a dozen talented local music acts to entertain the throng. Mariachi Loco greets you outside the front gate and a solo harpist graces the entrance plaza. Then the paths dictate that you begin to make choices: take the first left to the Amphitheater and you find folk music (that’s us), continue forward and there’s a barbershop group singing holiday standards and then another plaza featuring wine tasting, fine food and a hot Nuevo Spanish band called Del Sol. If you make a right back there instead of a left you encounter a bonfire and Meadowlark, a flute and guitar duo. Proceed on to a handbell choir and a Latin band called Cascabel. Now there are more choices: up the hill on the Nature trail for a view of the city and garden below with singer and guitarist, James Linton, or down the People and Plants of the Sonoran Desert trail to hear Native American flute (Wolfs Robe or Jesse Kalu), fiddler Ron Privett, and the beautiful classical guitar and violin duo, Lyra. (Those familiar with our “Big Sky Full O’ Dumb Stars” CD will know Allen Ames’ work – he played the stunning violin and violira solos on “Ice Crystals” and “Luna.”) My advice as you travel through this wonderland is the same as Yogi Berra’s: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!”. I have heard or know all of the acts and there’s not a clinker in the bunch. Take your time and hear them all. Explore the intimate nooks and crannies of the garden – eat something, drink something, and enjoy the fact that even with 2000 other hominids the garden is large enough to provide the sort of solitude that turns the desert night luminous.

If you have a date, this is one of the world’s great make-out spots. It is tres romantique. If you’re with your mom, maybe not so much. But remember that your mom knows a little something about romance too or you wouldn’t be here.

Photo by Randy Arneson

Old Friends

Now perhaps I would not have thought of the angle of romance had we not been visited last night by three girls (and they will always be girls to me) that I went to high school with: Judy, Linda and Kristin. Judy and I dated back then, Linda and I didn’t, and I’ve known Kristin since she was Christy in grade school. In fact, the most vicious fight of my life was in the playground at Ingleside Elementary with Billy Albright over who got to dance with her. It took two teachers to pull us off each other. We were in 3rd Grade.

The girls were there for the second set – an hour and a half of sitting on cold masonry benches, no small feat. Their presence made it even more fun for us. The nature of this event and the weather dictate that audiences are constantly on the move so we often only get them for a song or two and then they go on. Add to that the fact that we can’t see them very well and it makes it difficult to spin the thread of a show. But they got to see us at our best, telling stupid stories and playing with good energy.

When our carriage turned back into a pumpkin at 9:30, the girls stuck around and we had a chance to catch up. It doesn’t disconcert me at all that I always play better when there are girls I like in the audience. That’s why I got out from behind the drum kit years ago and took up guitar, I wanted to get in front of the band so the girls would notice. We caught up for so long that they turned the lights out and we had to pack up in the dark. But a friendly ranger came by and saved us with the headlights on her golf cart.

Christmas Spirit

Everyone we have had dealings with at the garden has been invariably gracious and helpful. This is a large undertaking and the employees and volunteers do a fabulous job for 19 nights. From Katie & Courtney who booked us; to the staff at the shop selling CDs; to the luminaria lighters, snuffers and guides; to the guys who come around to light our little heaters; to the night watchman: they embody precisely the spirit of the season. Each night I am struck but what a cool event this is and how lucky we are to be a part of it. We have our friend, singer and storyteller Tony Norris of Flagstaff, to thank for that. DBG pays fair too, we like for you to know that because it takes a little juice to make culture.

Having our first steady gig in years fills me with Christmas spirit and we will miss it when it’s over. I hope your holiday season contains some magic; if it does, spread it around because we need it. And to restate Yogi a la Carlos Casteneda: when you come to a fork in the road, choose the path with heart. I leave you with a little song I wrote around a campfire on New Year’s Eve, 2000:

We’re countin’ down the days and the hours before Christmas
We’re countin’ on the promise of the phases of the moon
We bless the faithful arrows and the ones that have missed us
Still the next thousand years comes a little too soon
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
We gather ’round the home fire with our friends and good relations
To talk about our hopes and the presents we received
The bubbles of our future are uncorked in jubilation
But the best present of all is this very New Year’s Eve
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Gods Bless Us, Every One.

Don

Performance details:

Friday, November 10, 2006
Elks Theater
113 East Gurley Street
Prescott, AZ
map

Related link: Visit-Prescott.com

Here’s some good news! If you purchase tickets in advance and tell them you are fans of D-Squared you will receive $5 off the $15 ticket! Tickets are available by calling the Sharlot Hall Museum at 928-445-3122 or visiting the Sharlot Hall Reception Desk at the Museum. At this point it looks like tickets will still be available at the door as well but probably sans discount.

Evening Performance Schedule:

• 7:30 opening with Bob Ward, emcee and storyteller
• 7:40 Ken and Lynn Mikell, singers of traditional AZ songs
• 8:00 Caji, Brazilian guitarist and singer
• 8:20 Dennis Garvey, guitarist/singer/songwriter
• 8:40 Tom Agostino & Alexa McDonald, guitarists/singers/songwriters
• 9:00 intermission
• 9:10 welcome back, Bob Ward, emcee
• 9:20 Rita Cantu, singer/songwriter, AZ wildplaces
• 9:40 Gail Steiger, cowboy singer/songwriter
• 10:00-10:45 D-Squared, harp & guitar singer/songwriters

This oughta be a fun (if long) night with some old friends. Hope to see you there!

Don & Deb
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]]> 7:00 pm Thursday, October 19, 2006 at the Glendale Public Library

5959 W. Brown St. Glendale, AZ FREE!

3:00 pm Sunday, Oct. 22, 2006 at Sharlot Hall Museum

415 W. Gurley St., Prescott, AZ FREE!

Accidentally Live

featuring Arizona harp & guitar duo

D-SQUARED

(Don Charles & Deb Gessner)

Available today for only $15 at CD Baby (link opens a new window) or by calling 1-800-BUYMYCD – they can accept your credit card or PayPal.

We are planning one CD Release Concert at the Glendale Library for Thursday, October 19, 2006. Details will follow in a subsequent message.

The Story

And how can this be, you ask? A couple of years ago we did a show connected with a sustainable lands exhibit by the Smithsonian at the Glendale Library. We loved the premise, thought we had a bunch of stuff that fit, and that room has always had a good feel to it – our Phoenix “Big Sky” CD release there remains one of our favorite shows. We had Kyle Harris from PlayR Recording to do live sound so we know it’s going to shimmer and we had a production team from the Glendale Cable Access Channel shooting the show in the hope of gleaning some video footage for promotional use.

It was a fun night. Much of the material for the show was brand new at the time with a few “matter of life & death” standards thrown in for good measure – all very land-connected stuff. It begins with Deb’s spacious harp & guitar instrumental, “The Thirsty Land”, then moves through “Rain”, “Sticky Thighs” and “Mama Start the Fire” to a haunting rendition of her concertina tune “In the Cool Green Shade”. At which point Don takes over with the very first performance of the “Kiwi Story” followed by the very first performance of “Kiwi Blues”. We were starting to have a lot of fun by then.

So we quiet it down with a mandola & harp instrumental called “El Dia de los Muertos”, a tune commemorating the passing of our dear friend and avid contradancer, Rissa Miller. We medley this with a song we co-wrote on one of our infamous Great Plains tours when we were pretty sure we were going to die, it’s called “Owlsong” and is our pick on the CD.

Deb follows with a gorgeous harp solo on the traditional French tune “Chateau Chervix” then does a particularly moving version of Don’s song, “High Ground”. Bette Mirgon, another recently departed friend, always requested this song causing Deb to go back and pick it up after Don quit singing it. The CD is dedicated to Rissa and Bette.

A mouthbox/banjo/harp/bodhran tune called “Stormhorses” is probably the most exciting piece on the CD, calling to mind visions of spring storms in the mountains. All that rain has to go downriver at some point so we end with “Row” and the audience helps out.

The CD runs 51 minutes, the sound is dead-on true and edited only to eliminate extraneous tuning patter.

The Rest of the Story

OK, the video doesn’t turn out because we had not paid enough attention to lighting before the show. Bummer. A couple of weeks later we’re at a birthday party for Deb where Kyle hands us a CD from the show declaring, “I think this is your next CD”. “I doubt it,” says Don, ever the optimist. “Listen to it,” Kyle insists. So we did. Kyle is often right. Happy Birthday, Deb!

Now even with a master in hand we did not have the funds available to produce the CD but we bootlegged ourselves and sent some copies out to friends and family. They responded most favorably and wondered why we didn’t have it out yet. Well … money, we said. So they sent some. Then when they asked why it still wasn’t out yet we said we have to learn how to do the graphics. And they waited patiently while we learned and that pretty much gets us to now.

The reason for telling you this is simply to point out how indebted we are to a whole slew of angels – some of whose names appear on the CD, some do not. Perhaps the person we need to thank most is the guy who humped the gear in that night to do the live sound and, unbeknownst to us, also brought his recording stuff and managed to get both of them right. Thanks, Kyle. That was quite a performance.

For years people have asked us for a live CD. Here it is … by accident. Accidentally LIVE. We are very proud of it. We hope you like it and we thank you for the interest, love and patience that you have shown us and our music. Without you, we’re just playing in the kitchen.

Thank you, Don & Deb, D-Squared

Sharing the stage with us will be our good friend & longtime percussionist, Bill Meldrum, plus singer & sister, Kelley Poynter and her two talented kids, Robyn & Sean — it’s a family thing. We’ll be doing songs & tunes for the long winter nights that lie ahead.

We’ll also be conducting our second Holiday Cookie Contest at this show for those of you willing to share a plate of your favorite holiday cookies with others. Prizes will be awarded based on audience response. There will be suitable holiday refreshments to wash down all those good cookies. The suggested donation is $10 per person (kids free!) but we don’t want that to limit your generosity nor keep you from coming if you don’t have 10 bucks.

Those of you who attended last year’s Winter’s Eve Concert may remember what a magical night it was — snow & music & good company. We hope you can join us again, bring a friend or two, and help us celebrate the holidays. For folks planning on attending the lighting of the square in Prescott, you have time to do both and Don has solemnly promised not to razz anyone arriving a little late.

The Old Mayer Mercantile is in the heart of historic downtown Mayer, Arizona, at the intersection of Central & Main with overflow parking at the post office just east of the venue.

Hundreds of hours of fieldwork provided the foundation for the CD, which is produced by the Western Folklife Center’s Hal Cannon and Taki Telonidis. Cannon says of the CD, which was five years in the making:

This recording is a rare look at how people who live here, year after year, have interpreted the Grand Canyon in story and song. We don’t know of another recording like this and hope that it will be the first of a series that explores the music and stories of America’s most treasured places.