mean teacher, JB at Squam last fall.

The registration for SQUAM ART WORKSHOPS opens on Monday. I'm teaching songwriting again in the fall session. And I plan to be a knitting, painting, singing fool in the June session. If there's any way you can give the gift of being there to yourself.... do it.

And then, I leave next week for SCOTLAND!! I know I've done radio shows in Scotland before, but this will be my first ever concert there, and it's in Aberdeen.  I grew up at 5 Aberdeen Road. So it must be a sign. And I do have those Scottish roots. In fact, my brother is a damned piper. Kilt and all!!

Please let your pals and music lover acquaintances around know that we're coming. There are a bunch of band dates in there too that will NOT suck one bit. And it's not often I can figure out how to bring the band. So come on out.

Road road road!!!!

MIDEM was quite sombre this year. Not the unleashed party the music industry usually throws itself. As usual, it was lots of people pretending they have the answer and know what the future of music will be, and of course how to monetize it. But in many cases, that's only because they are planning on monetizing themselves, as usual, by using music as their come-on, their content, their gimme.

Nonetheless, the reassuring part, is that the people who are truly passionate about music, and are in the business solely because of that... are still here. I finally have a picture of my friend and champion Steven Stewart.

He was even able to get my little pic in some of the promotional stuff Nokia had around! Me and Rihanna-ella-ella-eh eh eh??

And Tom Glagow, who has been my biggest supporter over here since PLUMB.

Michael Kauffman, god bless,

and two new friends I met.

He, Aymeric (sp?) is a french singer/songwriter, she, Britton, plays Marimba and is from New York.

They remarked that the other slow change here has been that artists are more involved. They are coming and networking more than before, taking things into their own hands. 'Bout time, right?

I also got to have birthday dinner at my most favorite place in the entire world

with my most favorite man in the whole world.

I DO have the world on a string.

ok, so 2010 is officially now the year of NEW ZEAL

I got to do an incredibly fun photo shoot with my darling Sandrine Lee,

Cassie O'Sullivan was our fearless stylist. Such that in one day, I was a hairy behemoth, Lucille Balle, and a lost ballerina. pix soon.

Sandrine also had her first gallery opening on Thursday. BRAVO!

Sandrine and Will (yup, bass player on Letterman)

In other crazy news. Poor Poor Ayla Brown's dad (who just became the new Republican Senator from Massachusetts... Teddy must be crying in his grave) basically auctioned her off in his acceptance speech. She seemed to shuck it off bravely. I thought her little sister would explode.

Anyway, the point is, she's the one who was on American Idol and recorded my song "ten cent wings." What a wild degree of separation.

Now, here in Cannes, I'm rooting for the Jets, but also for Brett Favre, but also for Peyton Manning. Ok and a little bit for Drew Brees, but not as much. I put my name in all the lotteries i could to win a REAL NFL Jersey, right here in the south of FRANCE!!

OK, but  I'm really here to check to see what the future of music might be. (again) I learn something every time I'm here.

Now, the deal is that artists have to create their own APPS. Could involve cool video games, or just ways into complete access to whatever "content" we can dream up, which hopefully people will then pay for. Just when I was trying to warm up to twitter and all the other things we're supposed to be doing, I need my own APP. My husband and I spent a lot of the day making up dirty uses for the word.

Thank god for our friend Steven Stewart at NOKIA who is here with some great new APPS they've got. He is tireless and so full of good ideas it's really not funny one bit. THANK YOU STEVEN!!

Plus he always shows up with lovely gifties for me to play with. This year I got the fancy new NOKIA N97 Mini!!! Wheee, and some fancy NOKIA headphones to go with. We'll let you know what kind of gidgets and gadgets we're going to get up and running asap.

Meanwhile, nothing beats LIVE!!

For now, it's just so nice to be next to an ocean, any ocean, and to let a breath out, and breathe in some NEW ZEAL!! 

Oh yes we Cannes Cannes

My friend Jen gave me a pretty pony last summer. She's been my mascot ever since. Well, yesterday she came to rehearsal with her boom box. I don't know, maybe I had too much wine Monday night...

But she really wanted to play

Whenever we rehearse at Euphoria, we run into the most amazing musicians. Sure enough this week we were rubbing elbow and catching up with Jon Herrington, (Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs)                                 He was getting ready for a singer songwriter gig at the tiny Rockwood Cafe.

Next thing you know,  Allison Miller popped her head in.

She's been touring with Brandi Carlile lately. Worked with Ani DiFranco for a long time. But she was there teaching drum lessons in room 1. She's got a new record out called "Boom Tic Boom." Wowee.

And if that wasn't enough,  then Sterling Campbell showed up. DAMN.

He's been mostly out and about with the B-52's but toured a LOT with David Bowie too. He came on the "Steady Pull" Tour early in 2002 and kicked our butts for a while.

Yesterday he played us a stirring version of "I love you just the way you are!"

We all agreed that that is one of the best things about New York. One week you'll go to see these monster musicians at Madison Square Garden where there's no access and no hang. Then the next week they'll be playing at a tiny, pass the hat gig down in the village for no dough, just for the love of playing great music. So of course, they'll be rehearsing at Euphoria. Everything, everyone converges at Euphoria. The gear is always in pristine condition. The guys really know what they're doing. And if you're lucky, Dave will come take your picture while you're working and you'll end up on the amazing wall of fame.

All this to say, it was a pretty great three days.

It was a crazy kind of knitting holiday for me. Somehow I just couldn't get my mind around much more than knit, purl, yarn over. And for once, I just went with it. Usually I would be beating myself up about what I wasn't accomplishing. But, no, I persevered, and just kept knitting.

I'm almost to the bottom edge of the body of a big behemoth cardigan. At this point each row has 293 stitches, so as I turn each corner I have to re-commit. But I think it will be beautiful, and the sleeves? cup of tea after the massive main part.

Then, of course, for distration when THOSE rows were too much. A little beaded treacle.

Yesterday, like a second Christmas, I got my band together to start rehearsing for the European dates coming up in February. Oh JOY! If I've been away too long, sometimes I lose track of that visceral certainty. That deep joy in the singing, in the playing, in the sharing. It hit me again. Deep. What a lucky girl.

Ben Butler, JB, Gail Ann Dorsey (yup, it's true!!) and Rich Mercurio.

I. JUST. CAN'T. WAIT!!!!!!