Variants & Variability

Trying to focus on the good news.

Hello!

After a few months away in the Adirondack mountains of New York, I’m writing to you from home in East Nashville. Kieran and I had some big adventures this summer, but the most thrilling adventure was finally getting back to writing and recording together after a long dry spell. Now we’ve returned to Nashville with what seems to be an album’s worth of songs in the can! How did that happen??

A rainbow across the Great Sacandaga Lake this summer.

Work Updates

The good news: a new recording project is in the works, an online fiddle workshop is coming up, and I’m returning to teaching and sharing (in the virtual realm) after a summer offline.

The bad news: due to Covid/Delta concerns, there will be no in-person gigs for me or for the KK & RG duo for probably quite a while. I was especially looking forward to performing in England this November as a member of Joachim Cooder’s band, and am heartbroken to have to withdraw from the tour. But, well… you know.

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I’ve scheduled my next online fiddle workshop for Sunday, October 3, at 1pm Central. (As always, the archived stream will be available to ticket-holders for two weeks after the live broadcast.)

This time I’ll be teaching Marcus Martin’s “Cotton Eyed Joe”.

And if you’re interested in keeping up with ALL my fiddlegeekery, you can sign up for a separate, fiddle-centric newsletter here.

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What I’m Not Saying

I started to write a whole screed about the emotional exhaustion I’m feeling from simply trying to maintain some hopefulness in the face of everything, but then deleted it. You certainly don’t need to hear my take on it — we’re ALL slogging through it right now in different ways. I’m well aware of my privilege and luck, and I sure as heck don’t want to whine.

Instead, I’ll share some things that have been of comfort to me recently:

• Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel • Shout out to my mom for sending me this book! It’s not only immensely inspiring, it’s also a reminder of how much conflict and upheaval our world has weathered in the quite-recent past — and an exploration of the role of artists during times of crisis. Highly recommended.

• Scoundrel Time by Lillian Hellman • This is a strange (and undeniably dark) little memoir about the McCarthy era. But, like Ninth Street Women, it comforted me by putting our current polarized political climate into historical perspective. When I posted about it on social media, folks were quick to chime in about Lillian Hellman’s reputation — so to avoid further admonishing, I will note here that I don’t think her reputation has anything to do with whether this book is of interest! (And even if you’re not into Ms. Hellman’s writing, the introduction by Garry Wills alone is worth checking out.)

• Young & Innocent (Alfred Hitchcock) • There are oh-so-many great old movies to recommend — KK and I watch a LOT of old movies! — but this is one we re-watched this summer that I was totally delighted by. I’d forgotten how silly it is! A really enjoyable bit of escapism.

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Thank You

As always, many thanks for reading my notes and caring about my music and my thoughts. It means a lot.

Take good care & keep in touch —

xo rayna