THE WEB: Lani's Blog

 As an active NPR junkie, I like to answer phones during the pledge drive - I just want to be close to where it all happens!

Mom and I make our annual pilgrammage down the highway to DeKalb for the Spring Pledge Drive where we get to answer phones when people call in to make their pledge and share space and conversation for a spell with some really interesting people. It's definately something I look forward to every spring - when the earth is turning the corner in the universe, the days are growing longer, the crocusses are poking their purple and gold through the leaves and the red winged blackbirds flit about "twitterpated", that's when I know Mom and I can plan our trip to the WNIJ studio for a visit.

Thank you to all of you who called in with your support! I really don't even want to imagine what a big void would be left in my day without WNIJ. I am a self-professed NPR junkie but it's really WNIJ I'm addicted to. In all my roadtrips around this grand country, I've never found a better NPR station than our own 89.5 FM WNIJ.  Thank you Diane and Bill Drake, Dan Klefstad, Tim Emmons, Guy Stephens and all the rest of the cast!

What a fabulous funday sunday! Last Sunday I took a drive out to the Severson Dells www.seversondells.com  Education Center for an afternoon of wonderful music. The house was full and showed their thanks to the artists with not one but two standing ovations. Beautiful. Peace through music. It's a good thing I'm not a photographer...I'm still in the "snapshot" mode of taking pictures - as long as I snap something, I can put my camera away and enjoy where I am. Maybe I'll get better with time and practice:-)

Again I say it's a good thing I'm not in charge of photos for anything. I'm hoping that these snapshots will capture a piece of the atmosphere at a Charlotte's Web show. You know, we bring the stage with us everywhere we go in the form of our signature quilt. It's a true piece of art created by master quilter, Elizabeth Williams, (with help from my sister Jennifer who scanned all the artwork from the first couple decades of Charlotte's Web posters on to fabric that Elizabeth then made into this magnificent quilt).

Elizabeth created this quilt as the first quilt to be offered in our Web raffle, a tradition which she so generously continued for 10 years, (until 2009 when we gave her the year off and raffled an iPod Classic).

The winner of this first quilt was thrilled and delighted to win such a magnificent work of art. Nonetheless, in the magnanomous, sharing tradition of Webbies everywhere, this winner decided that this quilt was a Web quilt and belonged to the Web. She donated it back to us and it has been the signature backdrop that becomes our stage where ever Charlotte's Web is presenting.  I still don't know the name of this wonderful woman but she attended the David Mallett concert and so I was reminded and thought you should know...

 Something about this troubadour reaches into the deepest parts of my soul and helps me to feel the connections and balance of the universe. My words fall far short when I attempt to describe why it is that whenever Danny Schmidt www.dannyschmidt.com is performing within driving distance, I simply must attend his concert. I suppose some of you could relate if I said Rod MacDonald or Michael Smith or Tom Dundee or Murray McLaughlin or Greg Brown or Steve Goodman or Bob Gibson or a similarly amazing songwriter would be performing nearby - you'd scramble to get there for sure:-) These artists have a way of seeing through and into and beyond and back and then singing about it in images that help me to feel it all:-)

This photo is from a show at Uncommon Ground on Clark Street in Chicago. The lighting and the room remind me of Danny's song, The Night's Just Beginning To Shine,  that sings:

"The riffraff and bar staff they've all gone to bed

And the clocks are all checking the time

And the candle light fades so the gutars can say

That the night's just beginning to shine

The days long demands, now they're all far away

And the work and the worry are gone

'Cause the nighttime belongs to our souls and our songs

And tomorrow is still far away

When your keys and tequila have been stoled

by your friends

And the salt's left to suck on the lime

It's the fire in your chest I'd say says it best

That the night's just beginning to shine

The days long demands, now they're all far away

And the work and the worry are gone

And the stars in the sky, they wink while they cry

'Cause tomorrow is still far away

You can close both your eyeballs and soak

up the scene

And just sketch it all flesh in your mind

'Cause it's the edge of the trance where the

ankle bells dance

And where the night's just beginning to shine

When incensed and indecent make out on the floor

And propriety snorts back her line

Well a kiss means as much as tonight we've

been touched

And tonight's just beginning to shine

And the day's long demands, now they're all far away

And the work and the worry are gone

And consequence hides her face from her eyes

'Cause tomorrow is still far away." - Words and music by Danny Schmidt www.dannyschmidt.com

Have you ever chosen a font to support the thoughts you’d like to express?
My first attempt at this here and now…I think this is the font I’m thinking in today…(my font choices are quite limited here...I was typing in Britannic Bold in word...here I guess I'll choose Tahoma:-)
This afternoon is a bright and sunny crisp, end of winter cool, beginning of spring warm, relaxed in nature Saturday afternoon. I haven't added an entry to this space for quite some time but I'm feeling ambitious today so if the spirit moves you, just keep scrolling down the page and see where I've been for the past bit of time.

But first, let me tell you why I feel like sharing with you...
I just received the description of the CGT guitar clinic from Paul Richards as I sit comfortably in the deep connection of the universe - (“Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom, which flows through your life. Then, without effort, you are impelled to truth and to perfect contentment.”--Ralph Waldo Emerson)  in reflection of last night’s concert featuring Danny Schmidt www.dannyschmidt.com . (Some great photos of the show: www.flickr.com/photos/32073689@N00/sets/72157623441491139/ ) Danny Schmidt is an artist in whose music I see the fibers that make up the fabric of life, I see the veins through which heart energy flows – I see the essential symbiosis of all…wow. I feel at one with, not separate from…
I first heard Danny Schmidt at the formal showcase at NERFA, (Northeast Region Folk Alliance conference), in November of 2006.
Next weekend Charlotte’s Web is presenting David Mallett and, (thanks to a grant from the Rockford Area Arts Council), a sign language interpreter will be signing the songs that David sings. (I also just learned that David’s son Will is joining him on this tour: what a bonus!)
This will be the culmination of an idea first planted in me at NERFA in November of 2006 where I was mesmerized by interpreters from Falcon Ridge Folk Festival who shared the formal showcase stage with every musician.
Last weekend featured Eclectica, an amazing band of artists I first experienced at Folk Alliance International conference in Memphis in February of 2009.
Before that, Ellis, NERFA 2007 and this summer, Treasa LeVasseur, FAI, Memphis 2009.
Thank you Folk Alliance and all you are!!!!!
Wow, I just stepped outside and was witness to a flock of whistling swans dancing north 1000+ feet up in the blue, conversing in their high-pitch raccoon purr like call. Remarkable.
Life sure is a beautiful place to be when I pause and take notice. For this, I thank the music: the artists and their muses.
Somehow, I’ve not found time to keep up with my blog. Today I feel like attempting a catch-up session. I will practice brevity…
First, I must make a fresh pot of coffee – organic, shade grown, fair trade Guatemalan from JustGoods, of course
Cheers! Lani.
Peace through music.
“The trick is to combine your waking rational abilities with the infinite possibilities of your dreams; because, if you can do that, you can do anything.” - Unknown

 

   My husband Josh: in the studio where the Live Concert DVDs and CDs of Charlotte's Web concerts and so much more happen - here's the man behind the camera and the editing and the graphics after the show as well as the man behind the camera, (and often the sound too), during the show as well as the man who puts up with my insanity every day and still loves me - wow - a sticker on his door warns: "You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles" - Miracle Max

Gardening helps ground him... 

Eclectica's Tracy Silverman, Roy "Futureman" Wooten, Phillip Lasseter and Steve Forrest share their talent and experience up close and personal with attendees at their Jazz Improv & Technique for all instruments clinic at Mendelssohn PAC in Rockford on Saturday February 27, 2010.

 Our son Connor - Bobcat promotion banquet... Outside the banquet...

 Thank you Carmen & Clint brewing up a mean latte at Katie's Cup! Where, on October 30, 2009 Charlotte's Web was delighted to present Jim Post's Annual Birthday Party featuring: JIm Post!   Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings at Bar 3 on September 11, 2009 Peace through music.  A standing ovation for Web favorite Randy Sabien at "Festive Fiddling" at Mendelssohn PAC on December 18, 2009.   Dorothy Paige-Turner & the Joel Ross Quartet warm a cold and snowy Saturday at the newly restored Emerson House on January 30, 2010.  Celtic harp master, Patrick Ball weaves tales of magic and leprechauns between hypnotizing melodies on his harp for students of the lower school at Keith Country Day School on December 4, 2009. That evening we enjoyed a most enjoyable concert at Katie's Cup, (but I forgot to take a picture).   

In the lobby at the 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Eve Concert featuring Miles Nielsen and Ernie Hendrickson at the Sullivan Center on November 25, 2009.    Sullivan Center lobby Miles & Rick Nielsen  Our boys - Duncan & Connor above the box office at the Sullivan Center :-)

“If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible.” – Soren Kierkegaard

 The Web played "Live from the Archives" on the monitors at Katie's Cup and talked about the kick-off of our 38th season of presenting the best in original independent music in Rockford - watching/listening to live concert recordings from past Charlotte's Web seasons, (provided by www.snapshotmusic.com), while anticipating some great shows ahead!

 Charlotte's Web was thrilled to be able to again present the multi talented Peruvian artist and architect Gustavo Leon Flores whose family also joined him in song on stage at JustGoods Listening Room on August 8, 2009.     

   

On a trip to Sheboygan, I followed a rainbow. I was heading north to Paradigm Coffee for an Emily Hurd concert.  I was venue shopping again…I drove up to Sheboygan, WI last summer, July of 2009, to listen to Emily Hurd www.emilyhurd.com (I absolutely love her music), at a place called Paradigm Coffee & Music www.paradigmcoffeeandmusic.blogspot.com phone: 920 457-5277. The owner is Kate Krause. She is a delightful lady and the venue is a delightful place too. It is very comfortable with couches making up the seating. It is a coffee house with a stage, (and lights and PA), with visitors staying to play a board game and talk and listen to some music. They didn’t seem to pay a serious amount of attention to the musician but they were respectful. It felt like I was in my living room and some friends had stopped by and Emily was practicing in the corner: a real down-home feel. I enjoyed it a ton and Emily loves the place. I suppose full it could hold from 30 to 75 people depending on if they moved the couches. Anyway, for what it’s worth…I keep investigating and enjoying the music! Peace through music.

 

On Sunday July 19^th, I hopped in my car and headed east on route 173, destination: Woodstock, IL. It was a beautiful day for a folk festival. I don’t think there is much I enjoy more than listening to live music. A close second is relaxing in a park, gazing at the clouds. Put the two together and voila - Woodstock Folk Festival www.woodstockfolkfestival.org ! The day was the kind of day that can only be found in the Midwest in July: blue sky so blue you want to eat a slice of it like pie; fluffy white clouds that invite your imagination to see animals and magic; a light breeze that keeps mosquitoes at bay and a temperature that suggests you should bring a jacket but in the end, your shirtsleeves suffice.

When I arrived, I got out of my car and heard the hypnotizing vocal stylings of Natalia Zukerman beckoning from the bandstand in the center of the Woodstock Square. “Singer-songwriter Natalia Zukerman www.nataliazukerman.com  offers rich layers of top-notch guitar playing, contemporary beats and dark, sweet, provocative vocals.” I first heard Natalia in Memphis at the International Folk Alliance this past February and was delighted to enjoy her music again.

Next up was a musical history lesson with Still On The Hill www.stillonthehill.com as this duo from the Ozarks of Arkansas performed and informed on a variety of intriguing instruments, each with a great story of its maker and how the duo had encountered them. They had the crowd smiling at the simplicity and warmth of the people behind the music. Music is a part of life for so many and offers so much to so many with so little. Each song had a story and each story had a picture.

From there I wandered over to Stage Left Cafe, just off the Square where the Open Mic stage was located. I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat just in time to catch the “featured guest”: a band called Compass www.compassacoustic.com . Comprised of five men “in search of direction”, Compass played a high energy acoustic blend of folk music with fantastic 4-part harmonies that made me think of Tanglefoot. The addition of the Irish bouzouki, whistles and assorted percussion instruments to the mix made for a fresh sound and my foot remained tapping throughout their performance.

Back over to the Square I went in time to catch the presenting of the Eighth Annual Woodstock Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award to Michael Smith www.michaelsmithmusic.com . Michael has been a favorite of Web audiences, (and has written many of my “life’s theme songs”), since the early seventies and I was thrilled to applaud and whistle at this well deserved recognition. Then he went in to a song about Tom Dundee. Wow, my heart was smiling.

What a day! Yep, smiles all over as I headed back to my car to the masterful strings of Trillium www.trilliumtheband.com  from the center of the Woodstock Square: sorry to go but glad to have come.