Hello Everyone! It’s Mo Kelly! Niccole asked me to write this blog for you and I am delighted to do so! Hope you like this Mo Journey! We’ve missed you!
Happy Spring to each and every one of you, and may the sunshine on your faces fill your hearts with the love and possibilities that unfold with these longer days and incredible sunsets! It has been quite a month! We hope that you’ve had some wonderful times, visits with people you love, doing what you’re passionate about, and creating more beautiful memories for yourselves. Life is so precious!
Sometimes it feels like things move so fast that you don’t really get to fully envelop or savor the moment…..Living as presently as possible seems like the best way we can integrate the loving memories and experiences that we DO have and help keep us whole. People we love have a line on us, live in our hearts tenderly as we go about our day, and we smile every time we think about them. Our hearts beat strong because we know how much we’re loved. Their hearts beat strong because they know how much they’re loved.
Our hearts expand every time we think of someone with love. What a gift to be able to call upon a beautiful, tender, or even fragile moment, knowing that we both draw strength, faith and courage every time we revisit that memory. Thank you for all the beautiful memories you’ve added with your loving support and enthusiasm on this musical magic carpet ride! We simply could not do this without you! Gratitude to each and every one of you a million fold!
We wanted to thank you for tuning into the live production at the Sapphire Room here in Boise on March 5th! What a fantastic night with Meghan Kelly Watters on drums and Debbie Sager on percussion and vocals. They were the icing on the cake and we felt so blessed they were able to join us to entertain all of you! We worked hard on rehearsals and Niccole chose a fantastic set list that featured her rockin’ electric guitar solos. So proud of her incredible tenacity on that guitar! She owns it and it’s really great to see her shine!
We had a delightful and long over-due visit from our dear friend, Mel Wade and her wife, Liz Munn. Mel is a fantastic musician in and of her own right! They had fraternal twins last September and we finally got to meet precious Oliver and Addison at our home early this month. What a couple of adorable bambinos! Niccole definitely had a kindred connection with Addison. Oliver never stopped dancing in all our arms!! We loved peering into their beautiful eyes, full of hope, light, and everything new to experience! Mel and Liz make parenting look so easy! I thoughtfully cut up their meat at dinner so they could hold their lovelies and still get nourished LOL! We absolutely love them and are so blessed to be the boys Aunties! We’re so grateful to bear witness to their journey as they grow up and become the best of who they are in this world because of the guidance and love Mel and Liz give them. We are also hoping to be a shining example of love and light for them. None of us should ever feel alone in this journey. We all need each other.
We took a trip with a few friends March 10th-16th to play at Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Wyoming. I reach out to that venue in July the previous year to get a booking in March next year. We’ve done this for the past 10 years. It doesn’t feel very glamorous to be dragging all your equipment up 3 flights of stairs at 9,000 feet elevation. Thankfully we had help! And it’s really worth it in the scheme of things. Once you’re all set up and put your instrument around your neck, the magic happens!
Friday’s 3 hour set was amazing! Everyone was pinging off the walls! There was a group of about eight, 30 something year old beauties that were dancing all night! Turns out they were resident doctors from Detroit, Michigan. They were singing along, loving one another, doing hand stands in their ski boots, chanting “let’s get drunk!” They were clearly the entertainment for the night, though we rocked the sets with all we had! The tip jar was more abundant than the pay for the gig that night! What a blessing! Love the Universe! There was an exceptional period of time all along that felt expansive. It’s like time stopped for a while and we could just bask in the glory of every blessed moment! It was a first time experience to see Wyoming for all of our friends on this trip. Nicc was an incredible hostess and tour guide having spent much time in the Teton National Forest since she was 12. This is what we experienced.
We drove over the Teton Pass (10,000 ft elevation) with all of us in Nicc’s car; B&K tour van! We all bought cowboy hats, we tooled around town taking pictures under the antelope arches in town square, straddling the saddles over a shot at the infamous Cowboy Bar, visiting new posh hotels, took in all the outdoor sports shops, visited the incredible Mangelsen gallery, had some amazing Mexican food and jalapeno margaritas at Mary Piglets, hiked a bit in the Teton National Park, and took in the incredible views of the Teton mountain range from Dornan’s at Moose Junction. The time we had was restorative and relaxing. No agenda, no place we needed to be (after the shows), just feeling joy and light-heartedness with dear friends. While this was a working vacation, we definitely felt the LOVE from everybody! So blessed to experience this quality time with good friends!
We celebrated our good friends 83rd birthday on St. Patrick’s day this month; Joanne Zimmerman. We call her Jo Jo and make a big fuss over her every time she shows up to the show! She is such a beaming example of love, joy and light. There have been lots of reasons to celebrate life this month and may it be the same every month of the year! Always! We are so grateful for your on-going love and support on this magical mystery ride! We couldn’t do it without you! Thank you for all your loving encouragement all along the way. We feel your love and that’s what puts the wind in our sails! You take the best of care and know we carry you in our hearts all along the way! Love Nicc and Mo
A note from Nicc:
Hey friends, of course I have to have a “word” in here ha ha! I wanted to tell you a little bit about your new Mp3 download. I am delighted to share that this instrumental is a one take wonder! An ad-lib musing on my new guitar I got last November.
For those curious, this tune is in DAGF#AD…or as I like to call it “dagfad”. What that means is I change the tuning from a standard (EADGBE) to DAGF#AD and it gives the sound a nice low end ring. It’s very mysterious and dreamy. This whole tune was stream of consciousness “writing”. Basically me sitting down with my phone, hitting record and “dropping in” to something… and it all came out. I thought about the title for this instrumental, and I’m going to call it “Grace”. Can’t we all use a bit of grace?
I am elated that it was executed pretty spot on with only a few minor imperfections…this has TAKEN ME YEARS to reach this level of playing!!! OMG! I almost can’t believe that this is ME playing! Truly! I’m just so honored to have and share this talent with you! I have listened to Windham Hill records and greats like Will Ackerman, Chet Atkins, Ed Gerhard, Trace Bundy…these phenomenal guitar players are so inspiring! I have ALWAYS wanted to sound like them!
You will note tapping techniques which are extremely hard to execute, slides and hammer-ons, one finger and two finger hammer and pull offs…all of this with some harmonics thrown in for good measure. For most of you, that may sound like a lot of “mumbo gumbo” and will explain nothing ha ha! All that really matters is that you enjoy it and dream a little with me as I tapped into that “something” from Spirit! May it give you space for YOUR grace to come through and tap into whatever that “something” is for you!!!
I hope you enjoy it, as some things simply can’t be expressed in WORDS! Music describes what words cannot!
Much love to you all!
Nicci
