December 2005 Journal...

It's December! I've actually been home for almost two weeks... that's if you don't count Philly and back a few times.

One of my last trips included Germany and Denmark. Some great press happening in Deutschland, and then a concert and a workshop in Copenhagen. I was sick as a dog for the concert, but some lovely Danish hunks in the corner said they preferred my voice in "Brenda Vaccaro" mode! I felt instantly better. I'll be back in Copenhagen on February 8th at Vega and in Aarhus at the Vauxhall on February 9th!

On to Philly...
I had a ball doing the WXPN Christmas World CafÃÂ show with David Dye. It was me, The McGarrigle Sisters (I've loved them for so long, and have now finally met them), The Old Crow Medicine Show (a new find!) and Raul Midon, an amazing soulful, jazzy singer, guitarist - another new find! It was almost too much fun. I thought I'd pee in my pants when David Dye started in on the Hallelujah chorus with me. Hopefully that won't make it to the final radio show. I was squealing at the top of my lungs. Not a pretty sound. It was also a great education. I never really learned Christmas songs growing up. I think my mom only played the Messiah, so I had to dig deep and find some fun ones.

Then I did another quick turnaround to Brussels. I was invited by the lovely George Lang from RTL radio in Paris to be on a special Christmas broadcast live from Brussels. Many fabulous artists were on the bill. Of course the beloved Alain Souchon and Laurent Voulzy charmed and seduced the adoring crowd at the tiny Club Delirium. Then I discovered some really great Flemish bands. Hooverphonic knocked me out, Ozark Henry was mesmerizing, Zita Swoon was really something special, and Chris Stills sang his ass off!! It was broadcast from midnight to three!! Then I left for the airport home at 7am, right to the dentist for a root canal. My idea of a really fun couple days!!

And now I have a bunch of new songs I'm really excited about. One in French! And the rest that seem to be channeling a few people at once. I'll leave that a surprise. Suffice it to say, that I'm moving forward with making a new record.

The Live DVD is finally inching further. We're almost finished with the audio mixes and digging further to finish the video. It's hard to get everything done when I'm running to the next airport every three days! But I actually think we'll be able to finish sometime in January. And it's really looking and sounding good.

Anyway, it's all been worthwhile...
We've made a record deal in France/Belgium/Holland now too, so for the first time we'll actually have records pretty much throughout Europe all at the same time. Phew.

So happy holidays, stay patient, warm, generous, and lovely. I learned how to knit and crochet so this will officially be the year of weird hats!

Oh yeah, and come on down to Philly for the big New Year's Eve extravaganza with me and the band. Champagne, dinner, new tunes, old tunes, holiday fun. Come on! Whatcha waiting for?

Extra dark chocolate for all, and for all a good night.

jonatha

p.s. I finally have three shows in Paris in February!!! Will let you know when and where soon. YAY!