House Concert Happiness

I'm looking forward to calling the Sacramento Contra Dance this weeked, but thought I'd say that both our house concerts in Berkeley and Davis were well-attended and we had a great time. We hope to do a couple more of them, with one in Davis in the fall, and one in Auburn in 2014, so stay tuned to see how those shape up. In the meantime, here's a wee video of the Davis concert--just some quick excerpts to show you what we sound like together:

Two Concerts with Dave Nachmanoff!

Late last year, I had the honor of recording backup vocals on a new album for Dick Holdstock and Allan MacLeod. The English/Scottish duo is known mostly for their sea music and chanties, but this album, Seasoned Songs, is a collection of their favorite songs from home. It was fun to work as a studio musician, but it also introduced me to Dave Nachmanoff, who added some instrumental & vocal tracks to their CD, but also was the recording engineer for the project. 

The current big fun is that Dave recently asked if I'd be interested in doing a couple of house concerts together, so we've started working to put on two acoustic shows, one in Berkeley on May 3rd at 8:00pm, and the second in Davis on May 4th at 7:30pm. You'll be treated to original songs of Dave's, as well as some of my original music and some traditional Scots tunes, too. I'm really looking forward to the shows, and want to urge you to get your seats reserved ASAP. The suggested donation for each show is $20, refreshments will be served and we'll both have our CD boutiques open for business! RSVP for the Berkeley show or RSVP for the Davis show; the locations will be revealed when you reserve your seats.  And please help spread the word about our house concerts.

OKAY--WHAT THE HECK IS A HOUSE CONCERT? Right--good question! House concerts are utterly cool. Musicians are hosted by normal folks like you & me to perform in their living rooms. That's all there is to it! The beauty of a house concert is that you can be up close and personal with the musicians. You'll be able to see Dave's fingers working the guitar strings, and see my gold crowns when I sing high notes, and you'll also be able to ask questions during the break because we won't disappear backstage. Intimate and casual makes it special to both audience and performer. One way you can follow house concert venues is on MeetUp. 

By the way, my recent house concert with Steve Baughman at Berkeley's The Joint--which was not a home, but a chiropractic office--was really sweet--you'll want to follow The Joint on Facebook to see what other concerts they have coming up. It's an interesting place, and fun for performing.

Upcoming House Concert! FREE ADMISSION!

Thursday, April 18 at an unusual-sounding venue: Steve Baughman and I will be performing at The Joint in Berkeley. Located at 2628 Telegraph Avenue (at Carleton), by day The Joint is a chiropractic office, but by night, well (wink, wink)--it transforms into a concert venue!  Loads of free parking in that leg of Telegraph, and you can grab cheap eats nearby.

Steve and I will wow you with our mix of stellar finger-style Celtic guitar, mostly Scottish songs about love, and some collaborative Old Time music. Join us at 7:00 until 9:00. FREE ADMISSION, CDs for sale, snacks and drinks provided! RSVP by email berkeley@thejoint.com.

Missed my big concert? Take a look!

For those of you who couldn't see my show, I've kept my promise and I've posted two videos from the show on YouTube (linked here on my site). The first one is clips of five songs from the show, to give you a good sense of how it all turned out--kind of a demo video, if you will. The second is the complete title cut of I'll Just Lie About It. I'm pleased with how they turned out and want to thank Derek Bianchi for the editing, as well as Jeff LaPenna for the videography. And what a band! They were such fun to work with, they made me feel like a princess and watching the video makes it possible to relive it again!  So here are the links: Celia Ramsay Live at the Freight & Salvage and I'll Just Lie About It. I hope you enjoy them and please share them with friends. And let me know what you think!

Should I post lyrics?

I've been debating with myself. Should I, or shouldn't I post lyrics on my website. Is it only just so much more stuff to have to read, or is it neat stuff to read, something that you crave?

For Songs of My Father's People, I did post the lyrics, but the songs were all traditional and I didn't have to worry about infringing anyone's rights. The second CD, I wrote most of the lyrics, and I wanted to wait till I'd registered them with the Library of Congress before I posted them. I could do it anytime now, but it'll be a bit of work, and I wonder if anyone would read them at all.

I don't mind posting them if even a few people want to be able to read them, or even sing them. But what do you think?