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!

D-Squared will be playing in the Wine Tasting Room at
Granite Creek Vineyards in Chino Valley, Arizona
Saturday, January 22 from 1-4 PM. Admission is $10.
Driving directions here.

Hope to see you there!

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!

HOME

Three great bears come to me
Building shelter from the storm
White as snow and tall as trees
They have come to keep me warm

Then four white horses with manes ablaze
Carry my body along
To seven lovely women
Who’ll take my hands
And lead me
And lead me
Home

Standing on the road at night
I am not afraid
Four watchers beside me
With maps to show the way
And at the end of the road there lay
A track I must step o’er
With stars to reckon along the way
I’ll find my way
Find my way
Home

And I will be kissed upon the forehead
And I’ll have all I could ever possibly need
And I will lay down this tired, old body
And I follow
Yes, I will follow
Love home

(Deb’s note: Dad passed away March 3, 2010)

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.

if I could move real slow
I could hear the rocks talkin

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.

I confess, having grown up amidst citrus orchards in Phoenix, Arizona, that the scent of orange and grapefruit trees in bloom make me horny. It is the smell of love to me. I don’t recall ever actually having made love in an orchard but I did a lot of early, hopeful exploring there and that’s almost more potent.

I was tutored in love by amazing women. I realize that we were often learning the mysteries together but they taught me to see in the dark. I have no idea what they learned from me, you’d have to ask them.

Man offers the seed of creation, woman nurtures seedlings that produce fruit and this is the magic that turns the world. It’s also what most songs are about.

God spoke to Adam
And God spoke to Eve
God spoke to the Virgin Mary
He said, y’know girl you just gotta believe
God must’ve talked a lot back then
But he don’t say boo to me
I still lie waiting
But love speaks softly
When it calls you by your name
It’s so easy to miss the meaning
Or pretend it’s just a game
But if you refuse to listen
You’ve got only yourself to blame
Love still lies waiting
While Spring turns over in her sleep
Her dreams are fairy green
But it’s only a dream

I am lucky that my wife grew up in the same town, had some of the same experiences, and responds similarly to the olfactory cues of citrus blossoms. I am even luckier that, when the women of my past show up, my wife shows them love and respect for their contributions to the man I became. Of course, she also knows I have great taste in women.

Twice this March, women who have been exceedingly important in my life reappeared. One at the Desert Botanical Garden’s Chihuly exhibit, the most astounding union of art and nature I have ever personally witnessed. I thought the same thing the first time I ever saw her. The other one showed up at the Glendale Folk Festival where I sang this song, Spring, the best song I have ever written. The blossoms were just opening and the smell nearly knocked me down. So did she.

Down by the hard road
Where the wildflowers grow
I look at them in wonder
Even though I know
Someone planted them here
Not so long ago
They still lie waiting
Waiting for a footprint
Waiting for a sign
Waiting for a raindrop
Or a little ray of sweet sunshine
Or maybe a bee will fly by
At just the right time
They still lie waiting
Spring yawns and peaks out of her hole
Looking for her shadow
Did she see it?
I don’t know

I am the groundhog’s shadow who learned to sing and I owe debts I cannot repay. I am a lucky little rodent.

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.

You are lost on your way unto glory
Shorn like a lamb in the cold
Where no angels dare trumpet their story
For the depth of the night is untold

Oh the path lies in beauty before us
Feathered wings whisper softly in flight
We are guiding your way through the forest
We’re the shadow that cries to the night
Who, who, who, who, who
Who, who, who, who, who

Do not question the fate that has brought you
In this darkness there’s nowhere to hide
We are sent by the ones who hath wrought you
Entrusted with your final ride

Oh the path lies in beauty before us
Feathered wings whisper softly in flight
We are guiding your way through the forest
We’re the shadow that cries to the night
Who, who, who, who, who
Who, who, who, who, who

With talons of steel we will hold you
You’ve no need to fear the fall
Let the breadth of the nightwinds enfold you
It’s just your turn to answer the call

Oh the path lies in beauty before us
Feathered wings whisper softly in flight
We are guiding your way through the forest
We’re the shadow that cries to the night
Who, who, who, who, who
Who, who, who, who, who

You can play a sample of  El Dia de los Muertos/Owlsong:
[audio:eldiadelosmuertos_owlsong.mp3]
(And a video of this song is under “music video”.)

There’s no stronger wind a-blowing than the one that blows tonight
Up the canyon from the desert hey it don’t know wrong from right
It don’t give a damn about your convictions or what deity you endorse
If you run up your abstractions it’ll blow you plumb off course
You better row

From the snowmelt in the Rockies, from the San Juan and the Green
The Colorado herds her children like souls into the stream
You can take the wild ride if you choose flushed like so much sand
But keep your eyes peeled downstream this ain’t Disneyland
You better row
You better row

Now the river rocks and rumbles as it rolls down through the ages
And shatters any sense of scale when it turns back the pages
And the ruins of your history, civilizations in their prime
Are swept into an eddy, they were just a wink in time
You better row

So if time is what you’re after, if that’s what you think you lack
Take all the time you want here you might not be coming back
You can lift your eyes in wonder as you drift from shore to shore
But when the river snakes it’s savage tongue, you better grab an oar
You better row
You better row

Did you think that you could come here and fail to be impressed
With the terrifying beauty of the earth when she’s undressed
Did her passion leave you breathless, did you find the truth you seek
And when you hit the hole at Lava Falls was it difficult to speak
You better row

It’s an adolescent fantasy and we really ought to lose it
‘Cause acting like we’re in control we’re destined to abuse it
But the lyric that the rocks will echo long into the night
Is you may dare to dam the river but you cannot stem the tide
You better row
You better row

Now I know you know the parable of the sailors out at sea
There were four men in the gunnels, there was room for only three
And if my friend you don’t believe we’re all in the same boat
How long can you tread water, how long you gonna stay afloat
You better row
You better row
You better row
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily merrily merrily merrily
Life is but a dream
Life is but a dream
Life is but a dream

You can play a sample of this tune:
[audio:row.mp3]

Walking with my baby, walking down Telegraph Avenue
Walking with my sweet baby, walking down Telegraph Avenue
Hey if I didn’t tell you this morning baby
I really really really really really love you so I say
Hoo li li li Hoo li li li li
Hoo li li li Hoo li li li li
Hoo li li li Hoo lay Hoo lay Hoo lay Hoo

Walking with my good friend, walking with my good friend Doug
Walking with my good friend, walking with my good friend Doug
He walks like a duck and he talks like a duck but he ain’t no duck
He’s my good friend Doug and we say
Hoo li li li Hoo li li li li
Hoo li li li Hoo li li li li
Hoo li li li Hoo lay Hoo lay Hoo lay Hoo

Walking with my old dog, walking with my old dog Sam
Walking with my old dog, walking with my good old dog Sam
Well I call him Okey Dokey but you can just call him Sam
Sam I am that I am that I
Hoo li li li Hoo li li li li
Hoo li li li Hoo li li li li
Hoo li li li Hoo lay Hoo lay Hoo lay Hoo

Walking in the garden, walking with Jesus and Buddha too
Walking in the garden, walking with Jesus and Buddha too
We gotta slow down every now and then
Buddha got a rock in his shoe (and Jesus say boohoohoo)
But I say
Hoo li li li Hoo li li li li
Hoo li li li Hoo li li li li
Hoo li li li Hoo lay Hoo lay Hoo lay Hoo

(A video of this song can be seen under “music video”.)

We were talking about infinity and the trinity and the difference that
separates the three
The arcing wheel of existence of all that has been or ever will be
How we dance on the arc, we court and we spark in a blood rushing spin
And this spinning around makes a terrible sound but it’s only the wind
The wheel is round, the wheel is round, the wheel is round

Now if there was a beginning then there will have to be an end
But Uncle Albert taught us bravely to depend upon the bend of light
When cast in to space to return to the place from whence it has come
And if that is so tell me where do you suppose the light came from
The wheel is round, the wheel is round, the wheel is round

Jesus, Mohammad, Abraham we call on you
You left us with so much work to do
There’s work to do

Ezekiel saw the wheel way up in the middle of the air
And four winged beasts with burnished hooves churning and burning
up there
And they four had the face of a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a lamb
Speaking the language of thunderbolts so that Israel will understand
The wheel is round (Ezekiel saw it)
The wheel is round (tell Israel all about it)
The wheel is round (2pi r 2pi r 2pi r 2pi r 2pi r 2pi r squared)
The wheel is round (2pi r 2pi r 2pi r 2pi r 2pi r 2pi r squared)
Infinity is greater than zero, the wheel is round

I heard it first not from Leonard nor even Rex Harrison’s son, Noel, who had an AM hit with the song. The mention of Jesus or any religious figure would have been death to an AM song of that era. Sure Brian Wilson wrote “God Only Knows”, one of the best pop songs ever, but that was just a figure of speech. So when Harrison recorded it he only sang verses one and three which referred to Suzanne and just made it seem enigmatic. He is better remembered for his version of “Windmills of Your Mind” which appeared during Steve McQueen’s glider scene in the first “Thomas Crown Affair”.

No, I heard it played live in a lounge in Snowmass by a guy fresh out of the Chad Mitchell Trio, John Denver. He was booked as an apres ski act in the lounge for several weeks and that night he was playing to my parents and I, one other couple and the bartender. This is the pre-Rocky Mountain High Denver, primarily playing covers although I might have heard “Leaving On a Jet Plane” for the first time that night. But he introduced “Suzanne” and talked about the writer and then he sang that second verse. The top of my head blew off.

When we got back to Phoenix, I spent hours in record stores looking for Leonard Cohen. I couldn’t find his record but I found a singer who covered several of his songs and bought her record, “Wildflowers”. Judy Collins covered another writer, Joni Mitchell, and that led me to her first record, “Song to a Seagull”. When eventually I found “Songs of Leonard Cohen”, I felt like a total folk insider, possessed of a secret that no one else knew and I wore that sucker out. It had a dangerous painting of Joan of Arc awash in flames on the back.

As a budding acoustic guitarist I learned most of those songs but when I tried to play them for others, they were deemed too depressing and dark. I thought they were mysteriously meaningful and kind of funny (I lit a thin green candle to make you jealous of me/But the room just filled up with mosquitoes, they heard that my body was free). My girlfriend asked, what does that mean? If you don`t get it, it`s not that funny.

Over the years though I met others who did get it. My high school friend Doug got it and a banjo playing buddy I met at college was a fan. I recall our gleeful discovery of a used copy of “The Favorite Game” in a book store in Greenwich Village. That same friend just sent me the first draft of his first novel whose protagonist bears some resemblance, at least in spirit, to the Breavman character of Cohen’s novel.

I once had a girlfriend named Jane who was treated to endless spinnings of “Famous Blue Raincoat” (And Jane came by with a lock of your hair/She said that you gave it to her that night that you planned to go clear/Did you ever go clear?). Bob Ward, fellow brother in song, and I bonded the night we first met over our shared enthusiasm for Leonard’s use of language and wicked sense of humor.

In 1993, Deb and I played a set for John Denver’s 50th birthday party, in Santa Fe at Georgia O’Keefe’s old house under the same ficus tree where the Dalai Lama had sat and taught …. it was a moment. John and my cousin, Cheryl Charles, were dear friends and collaborators and that’s how we came to be there. John also claimed that he was going to record “Mama Start the Fire” but he didn’t live long enough. I did get a chance to tell him the story of how that one night and that one song had set me on an irreversible path and I think he appreciated hearing that.

And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And just when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

Now Leonard Cohen, the man his own self, comes to Phoenix, driven to perform in the states by having been bilked out of his modest fortune by his manager (I’m just about over the management class). April 5, Dodge Theater and I’m gonna be there with my baby, Bob Ward, and one of the dancing cigars from his band. Just trying to do our part to stimulate the economy by soakin’ in the culture and paying homage to a hero in the seaweed.

Cyd West occasionally presumes upon her husband, trompe l’oeil artist Greg West, to allow her musician friends the use of his backyard Phoenix studio as a venue and this was one such night in January 2007. The song is a ‘walkin’ song that celebrates those moments when every little thing is just right. Thanks to Cheryl Colan for capturing this piece, that’s her singing along.

The Thursday night Arizona Showcase at the Far-West Conference in Mesa, AZ, October 2008 featuring a new version of “Row” with the harp instead of the concertina. This was the end of an evening that showcased some of the best of Arizona artists. A big thank you to Kyle Harris of PlayR Recording who provided the sound that night in an impossible room.

Our 2007 tour to the midwest took us through Great Bend, Kansas where we performed at The Back Room, courtesy of Don Shorock. He graciously provided some footage of our performance. Here is “Big Sky Full O’ Dumb Stars” complete with the story of Altair and Vega.

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……….

We love it when Bill can join us on stage, which doesn’t happen enough as far as we’re concerned.

So, Bill’s 40th birthday was on March 14th. All his friends met him with (what seemed like) gallons of Silly String, while his wife, Tracy, trumpeted him through the door. A fun night.

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

If I was a bumblebee
Buzzin’ round the bowers
In pantaloons of pollen sweet
I’d wile away the hours
Dancin’ with the flowers

If I was a common moth
No fancy flutterby wings
I’d powder softly through the night
To fragrant offerings
And what the moon might bring

Each has a name here
Each has a place here
Each one under the sun
A part of forever
Apart and together
A part of everyone

And if I was a blade of grass
Growing straight and tall
The prairie beasts that thunder by
Would love me best of all
To feed the summer all

If I was a bit of clay
With shiny specks of sand
I’d bless the fires of the kiln
And bend beneath the hand
Of artists great and grand

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

When the sky
Is hot and dry
I can’t seem to find
My way back to you

In this world
No one keeps their word
And the promised bird
Flies away from you

There’s no sleep on this bed of nails
Bitter weeping and keening wails
Oohoo oohoo oohoo
Oohoo oohoo oohoo
Oohoo oohoo oohoo

Water’s deep
And minds are weak
And the raven beaks
Her way back to you

Bluey bright
Burn the stars at night
And the blindman’s light
Shines the way for you

Tattered prose in the silence rages
Forgotten rose ‘tween the empty pages
Oohoo oohoo oohoo
Oohoo oohoo oohoo
Oohoo oohoo oohoo

When the sky
Is clear and wide
The raven flies
Calling out to you

Oohoo oohoo oohoo
Oohoo oohoo oohoo
Oohoo oohoo oohoo

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