Libby's blog

Live on air broadcast from WRXP tomorrow, 9:00 am bright & early! - 101.9 if you're in the New York area, streaming from the web @ http://www.1019rxp.com/

wrote a new song today... it's very fresh, but made a little clip of it, it's in my videos. -hope you like it as much as i liked writing it, starting to open up the door for the next.

Looking forward to next Wednesday's show (Feb 24th 2010, @8:00) at The Living Room. I'm playing that night with Milton, whose new album, "Grand Hotel" I've been enjoying while driving, one of the few places I actually can listen uninterrupted these days! Milton's band features Julia Joseph, who possesses one of the more beautiful voices I know and is a truly warm and engaging presence on stage & off (and who oh my, just as I'm writing this I see an email coming in from her - funny how that is) - and it is, I believe, the last night of their February residency at The Living Room.

I visit my family. Drive into that town, the scene of many memories. There's where the apple orchard used to be, there's the old elementary school, with the automatic conjuring up of a mini version of myself alone, ambitiously mining the length of the playground for lost marbles (the clear ones were the best), and collecting dead bugs for my bug collection.

It seems I spend a lot of time in various forms of transportation and constantly in motion. Today started off not that well. First there is the temperamental (wow, I never realized there was an 'a' in that word) coffeepot (the espresso kind you put on a gas burner) which occasionally refuses to perform, I don't know why. So after standing there in suspension waiting for the stuff to come bubbling out, and waiting, and waiting, I start over.

Today is New Year’s Day 2010, a good time to write. I needed to come up with some stuff for a new bio, so I decided to write a blog and see what might be useful. Starting the year off pretty happily, already gone out to two films in the past 24 hours. So ready to have this album out! Realized after the fact that I made a date to do the cd release on the first day of Passover, booked it without looking at the calendar, but I’m not changing it again!

Putting together this event was such a cool process, interesting how strong a collective body can be in bringing an idea to fruition. Also a lot of fun. Was joined that night by my sister, Carrie Johnson, and my friends Mick Hargreaves and Taylor Giacoma. The second shot was taken just as it was announced by the door that we'd raised almost $3,000 that evening & that it would be matched, and we were really excited because it had exceeded our expectations.

Friday (Friday, November 13, 2009) is the concert to support building schools in Tanzania and Kenya. There are a million details still to do, especially with tech stuff, but it's getting done...the opportunity to do this concert came up a few months ago. I would have done it even without a personal connection to Kenya, but as I do have one, it makes it all the more special for me. The schools have already been established and this current fundraiser will support the need for a cistern and latrines. Most of the students are children who have lost either one or both parents to HIV.

Leonard Cohen just sprang to mind, and my friends sharing with me their experience of seeing him the other night. I have to see him next time. I've been in awe of him my whole life and have not seen him live. That he is still out touring as an artist is incredibly inspiring. To witness such a powerful artist whose career spans generations...and remains hungry and fulfilled to go out and do this...no words...