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Where we spent our Sunday afternoon. If you're mainly looking for upcoming shows and want to skip ahead, click here. (We're in Texas and New Mexico starting Wednesday!)
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There was a break in the rain, and a need to walk a forest path before the asphalt takes over for a bit. Luckily our new home is not far from a beautiful state park, one that I haven’t visited in nearly three decades, so we spent Sunday afternoon there.
We were the only ones on the trail, stepping over roots and walking under cypress, oak, and elm trees that were shading us from the overcast sky threatening a drizzle. Initially there was the stillness and quiet of the bird-siesta hour, but soon they began waking, and hidden in the leaves I envisioned tiny beaky yawns and feathery wings stretched wide on the sides of fluffy bellies and beady black eyes blinking away their cat naps.
As they started talking and rustling in the branches, one finally sat long enough in a clearing that we could see it. Long enough for us to take in the full picture of it sitting there among the trees, trail, fallen leaves, and pops of bright green moss wrapped like scarves around roots. I had a pair of binoculars hanging from my neck like a giant locket, so I lifted the black barrels to my eyes to get a closer look at the bird, but all I saw were magnified branches and vines and leaves no matter where I moved the tiny telescopes. I let them down from my face to see the bird in the clearing again, in the same spot. I tried again to focus on him, to only see more magnified bark, but no bird. On the third try, I moved more slowly and deliberately, making sure I kept my eyes on him and brought the binoculars into my line of sight, being careful to not move my body. And there he was, every camouflage color revealing itself in more clarity as his feathers came into focus.
I felt a parallel to my life at that moment. I am both the bird, and the observer.
Shifting from living on the road full-time to having a place to stop and be still when we’re not touring has been a messy and beautiful transformation that is continuing to taking shape. This respite at home before the traveling picks up again has given us the chance to take a harder look at the big picture of our life and music career, notice ourselves there in the clearing, and then try to focus in and figure out how to be our best selves and create the best work we can.
The keyword being, try. It has felt like looking for that bird in the binoculars and finding branches and bark. It’s easy to move quickly and see all the things you aren’t, but it’s hard to steady yourself and look in at where you truly are. To objectively identify what needs work and what you’re doing right, and to not just have goals, but figure out how to put systems in place to manage your energy and time so that the things that matter to you are prioritized and result in progress.
Showing up consistently, creating time and space free of distractions and notifications and not feeling guilty about it, doing the hard work--slowly, accepting the discomfort that comes with learning...these are some of the things I’ve been grateful to recognize the importance of in this new year.
We are also grateful for you. Thank you for allowing us to connect with you in this way. We hope to see our Texas and New Mexico friends this month, starting this Wednesday! Details below. As well as a new video right here↯
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// Music //
Recent video released: Shadow
(lyric video w/ artwork by Lisa Bastoni...p.s. you'll want to listen to her music)
Honest is out everywhere you can find music
Physical copies available at shows
or through our website here
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We are incredibly thankful for these kind reviews
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Another spot along the trail from Sunday.
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OE Unedited
This is the section where we share an unedited journal entry or object write.
(Object writing is a daily 10 minute writing exercise, where you write to a particular object in a sensory stream of consciousness kind of way. You can read more about it here.)
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Object write topic: alphabet
a click and a soft scrape
white on green
leaving behind dust
forming letters like crop circles
in a field
left by a tall, thin, but solid woman
that looks like the real life version
of one of those drawings
on the outside of a sewing pattern
with short, rich black hair
that bounces slightly as she writes
she’s teaching us the tiny parts
that come together
to make our language
the words that i’ll always be drawn back to
that keep me moving and breathing
she’s speaking in a nearly nasal voice
that is resonant and loud
and bouncing dutifully off the blackboard
her slender fingers
hold the slender chalk
like a conductor
orchestrating a lesson in letters
so we can form words
so we can have a voice
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Note: For fans of this section, my poetry book Words to Read is available here.
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UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Where we'll be the next couple of months. Details/advanced tickets links for all events can be found here
2/12 Houston, TX - JP Hops House w/ Chuck Hawthorne & Libby Koch
2/13 Galveston, TX - Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe w/ Chuck Hawthorne & Libby Koch - Get Old Quarter tickets here
2/14 Corpus Christi, TX - Corpus Christi Songwriters Festival - Get CC Fest tickets here
2/15 San Antonio, TX - Private House Concert
2/19 Austin, TX - Cactus Cafe (Chuck & Libby open) - Get Cactus tickets here
2/22 Amarillo, TX - Private House Concert
2/23 Santa Fe, NM - The Kitchen Sink - Get Kitchen Sink tickets here
~Australian Tour~
12/3 Northcote, VIC, AUS - Merri Creek Tavern w/Khristian Mizzi
13-15/3 Warburton, VIC, AUS - The River Folk Festival
20-22/3 Yackandandah, VIC, AUS - Yackandandah Folk Festival
22/3 Seymour, VIC, AUS - Blue Tongues Berries
3/28 Houston, TX - Burlinghall House Concert
Please feel free hit reply if you know of a venue or house concert we should check out (or if you want to have us play in your home).
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As always, feel free to hit reply and say hello, or let us know if there is something in particular you'd like to see in our newsletters. Thank you for your support!
See you down the road,
Crystal & Pete (who is tuning his banjo...totally not kidding)
www.ordinaryelephant.net
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You’ve bought our albums, you’ve come to our shows, you’ve signed up for our newsletter--you rock! Wondering what other no-cost things you could do to support our music?
- If you’re on Facebook and want to like our page there, you can do that here.
- If you're on Instagram and would like to follow us, you can do that here.
- Think others may enjoy our music and newsletter? Forward them this email or tell them they can check us out and sign up at www.ordinaryelephant.net
- If you use Spotify, and would like to follow us, that's here. And if you make playlists there, consider adding one of our songs if it fits in.
- If you use Pandora, you can create an Ordinary Elephant channel, or if an OE song comes on that you like, give it a thumbs up.
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