Happy Holidays and Beyond!

It's Monday night December 15, 2008 and I am delayed at Newark airport on my way home to Maine from Los Angeles. The Refugees just spent eight great days rehearsing and writing new material for our show. We are extremely happy that we have five songs to add to our repertoire! Three are selections from our individual catalogues and two are brand new-written by the three of us. I'll tell you, it feels almost criminal to have this much fun and feel so good about what we do! Are we allowed? Apparently so!

OK so catching you up since last time—Wendy arrived safely (I'd like to say "soundly" but well, you have to know Wendy…) back from her sojourns to Australia and Israel. She barely got off the plane when Deb and I picked her up in Los Angeles (I flew out the day before) and whisked her off to Phoenix, by car, for the Far West Regional Folk Alliance Conference. We arrived at the Conference, sang a few songs and hung out with friends, expanding our reach (we hope). On the backside of the weekend, we played a small house concert with Kenny Edwards (who just seems to get better and better). All in all-- a good time. And we'd like to thank our friend Renee Bodie for her relentless and ongoing endorsements of the Refugees.

After a few badly needed weeks at home, the Refugees met in Lexington, Kentucky for an appearance on the venerable "Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour" with host Michael Jonathan at the Kentucky Theatre. Originally, it was a double bill with Todd Snider, but Todd got ill right before the taping, so it was "An Evening with The Refugees". Fortunately for us, this particular performance was not only being taped for syndicated radio, but also for the PBS TV series of Woodsongs. So, with due respect to Todd, we lucked out! Michael and the folks (all volunteers) at Woodsongs were just as nice and accommodating as they could be and we had a really great time! I believe the radio portion is going to air in February and the TV show some time in the spring. Check www.woodsongs.com for more info.

Home again for a couple of weeks—where we all took advantage of the time in various ways. Of course, Deb is inundated with the demands of her two young, active and growing sons the minute she walks back in through the door. Her ever-supportive husband, Ken, after all, can only do so much! (Boy, and I will repeat this often—what a cook!) Not to mention that Deb is a full-time professor. Wendy has a 19 year-old son, Abe (who is super smart and wildly talented musically) but is well, 19. He presents her with various circumstances to ponder and consider at all times. Along with mothering, Wendy is never not doing, writing, producing, editing, and/or thinking about music. Me, I come home to Jack, my dog and my "little red school" house in Maine. The first thing I do (after hugging on my dog and opening any interesting mail) is find the first opportunity to see my granddaughter Tobey. Luckily (at least so far), I live across the street so at the drop of a hat—I'm there! I try to spend a little time each day with her—though that's not always possible. Believe it or not I do work-whether it's catching up on Refugees biz, or working on some facet of my own music. ANYWAY! Time goes by fast for the three of us and suddenly we find ourselves somewhere together! This last time, I flew out to Los Angeles for a weeklong put aside to rehearse and write new material for the Refugees. Which we did! So exciting! We also performed two small concerts—one in Tehachapi, California, about 90 minutes north and east of LA. We didn't know what to expect—we knew Tehachapi was a small town-- once noted for its women's prison. When we arrived, it was exactly five o'clock in the afternoon on a Friday night and every place of business was already closed! Except—Mama Hillybean's—where we were to play. Mama Hillybean's is a warm, cute, inviting coffeehouse/restaurant/music venue. We were welcomed immediately with smiles, helping hands and hot cider. Recording our performance was Peter Cutler (who originally asked us to do a show here) for a future Folkscene radio show and we were honored to have Roz Larman come all the way from Los Angeles to see us. Roz is Folkscene originator -along with her beloved late husband Howard. The place filled up nicely and the audience was wonderfully appreciative and supportive. And personally, I want to point out that the food was terrific! We hope to return to Tehachapi this summer! Next night—last Saturday—we made a second stop to Kulak's Woodshed in North Hollywood for a live webcast and video shoot. We played two hours non-stop to a small but passionate in-house audience. We appreciate Paul Kulak's commitment to bringing musicians to his small venue and offering musicians a place to shoot a three-camera (all volunteer) video –and getting it to take home that night.

Now we have the Holidays to be with our families and catch up once again with our personal lives. We'll be meeting in January, this time in New York City for some shows in New York, Philly, NJ, Maine plus radio and TV stops across the northeast. (Wendy and Deborah better bring some very warm clothes!) And this just in: We will be appearing on West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Mountain Stage (with Larry Groce) on Sunday January 18. We co-bill with the great Leo Kottke and The Duhks--www.mountainstage.org Go to our website for details on all upcoming shows. January is going to be a very exciting month—our CD "UNBOUND" is being released to retail on January 20! We are very excited!

Finally, we wish you all a Holiday Season full of love and laughter!
And may 2009 be a year of peace and prosperity for us all!

Take good care and as always—thank you!

Love,
Cindy, Deborah and Wendy