On another note!

One of my favorite days…random picture for this blog, but made it me smile. This was on Maui 2015, rented a bike and took Mo around the island. I want more days like this in 2021…holding the faith folks!!!

Hey Friends,

I wanted to ADD a thought here to the last blog “Final Gifts”. I misplaced the file and reached out to my good buddy (and old high-school boyfriend) Ken David to retrieve it. The file got sucked up in the vortex of computer audio and technology. Such a wonder sometimes right?

Anyway, I re-listened to it and a BIG SMILE came across my face! This is huge! Some of you may not particularly care for Ken’s version of this song , but I absolutely LOVE the creative place he took this song, so different than my version.

More reasons I love it: There is no bigger compliment than someone taking an interest in your song and re-creating it, giving it different colored wings to fly! I am jazzed that Ken David, a boy I knew since 7th grade, who is an extremely TALENTED musician, took an interest in my song and then did such a cool COMMERCIAL job with it!

This is more radio ready than the original and I love that. I’m not a commercial writer…but what if there are OTHER songs that I have, put into the hands of amazing musicians? Perhaps they could be put out there to the masses simply because they change a few things?! Heck, I’ll take that! Sure! Think John Prine right? He was genius and has so many songs that are fantastic. Look how many folks cover his tunes!

Maybe people will love a commercial version of “Life is Beautiful” or “Only the Lucky” and then they will be tripping along and find my original version? That would be so cool too!

Part of the Joy of music is sharing it. I don’t need to be territorial about my creations. I want to do the opposite and put it out there any way I can, and this is part of it. And YOU ALL get to see and hear this new creation of the “same baby” right? Soooo coool!

What if it went BIG!? Wouldn’t that be so cool!? I just love the idea that I don’t need to be the “motor” that runs the song all the time. Music is much bigger than we are! It transcends even OUR plans for it!

If you asked me 5 years ago where I thought a song would be now, in someone else’s creative process…I would have never been able to tell you Ken David picked up MY song and ran with it, and that Sundae & Mr. Goessl took MY song (“I love my baby better'“) and made it their own and are now playing it all over and put it on their album! That is just thrilling for me!

You may be “married” to the original, and “Yay! You’re my favorite fan, I have a liking to my original as well!”, but the possibilities are endless! This means all the work I do may not die when I die…right? It’s not all for not. That is a truly good feeling.

Give Ken’s version a chance and hear it on the radio…it could be the coolest break-though…or just another lost file! Ha ha!!! The Universe is awesome! Where will the NEXT 5 years take us? Be well friends!

Final Gifts

Sweet Friends,

Another year comes to a close and a new one begins! January 1st is like walking through a door, a marker so to speak. Even though it’s just another month like yesterday was another day, yesterday is sub-categorized into last year and today starts the beginning of a new journey. And many of us are ready for a new journey!

We’ve been through massive loss, grief and stress this year haven’t we? And yet here we are, thankfully healthy and still breathing. Some of us have not been so fortunate. It makes us all think of our priorities and how we spend our time? It makes us ask ourselves, “How much more time do we have left?” It also makes us think about those we’ve lost.

There have been “Silver Linings” to these times indeed. And now a new year is breaking through and hopefully an end or at least a drastic slowing of this hellacious virus. We’ve missed your hugs, your smiles unmasked, we miss feeling like a United country. There is much to miss and much to mourn.

But the dawn of a new day is breaking…indeed! We must hold on, “here comes a strong wind, and it’s looking for a fight… keep facing the Sunshine, with all your might”. I know for myself this last month, I’ve been trimming down my News watching habit, and my time on social media. I’ve been asking myself “who I want to be” when the world opens back up again. “Who do I want to be now?” In the face of still being in this crises.

I want to be kind, to myself and others. I want to show kindness. I wish to spread JOY and BE more Joyful. I want to have fun, love hard, cry hard when I have to…make it ok for others to emote and be who they are! I want to travel the world eventually.

As solstice was on it’s way, we got a call from a venue interested in booking us. The venue is about 2 hours East of here. They told us all about their Covid safety and how they believe they are being safe. We looked at each other and ran the math and risks in our heads. Gas + Hotel (which may not be safe) = 100.00 less than what we would make going. Sigh. The risk was not worth any of it, yet we longed to play, in a new venue of waggy tails.

Before my Dad passed he wanted me to get a new car. I drive a Mercury Mountaineer. It has collapsed on me a few times on the road. The last time was while we headed up to North Idaho to see my Dad. We told you all about it in our July/Aug. blog.

Ironically, when we left my Dad’s after him passing, we went to the ocean. Just to sit, to cry, to process, to grieve. We were 3 hours from our destination and the gas gauge went whacky. What I mean to say is, it registered full, then empty, then full, then empty. And I was like, “Dad! Quit messing with me! Ok Ok, I will shop around for a new vehicle!”

When the new venue called and was unwilling to put us up in a hotel and we were a bit skeptic of staying in a hotel, that added to this “new vehicle” train of thought. I was in the laundry room and for whatever reason, I think of my Dad in there because I tinker with tools and “Dad things”. I thought, “what ride have musicians used to stream line to and from gigs for decades?” - knowing the answer I called out to Mo that very same question.

She shot back with…”A van I guess!” “Exactly!” I said. It was like a lightening bolt. “If we could get a van, something that we can live in, something that we could be incognito, in and out of cities, towns, drive directly TO the gig, have plenty of storage for our equipment, have a place to crash, eat, sleep and even go to the bathroom or take a shower in…wouldn’t THAT be cool!???” We would be stream-lined! We wouldn’t have to worry about dropping a trailer somewhere and could even used it in the winter season.

My wheels were turning. I can’t help but think that was my Dad’s intervention. I pulled back and WATCHED this manifestation. It was so fun! I got a SPARK that said…”look into this…look into this now!”

I spent hours grooming through different websites and you tubes on how to convert a van. I spoke with Mo more in depth about it. We went to a local place and got sticker shocked. Yet I kept my eye on the prize. I didn’t let price sway me…I felt there was something out there waiting for me, and Dad was gonna help from the other side.

I found one in Phoenix AZ. It was a STEAL! 2019 36K miles on it, ALREADY converted and the price was drastically UNDER what I would pay for a pre-owned SUV!!! OMG! It lit a fire! I ran this by the van guy I had met in Boise. He said I could flip it for $10K more AS is if I wanted! I ran it by my brother (the skeptic) my sister, a few other folks that have been elbow deep in van conversion research but have not pulled the trigger on purchasing one. I ran it by my sweet friend Kim Carrington, and asked her, “Do you want to go on a road trip and take a look at this thing? How healthy have you been?” Ha ha!

Then we were off! Like a lightening bolt! All systems GO, I saw the green light and figured, if we got down there and it was too good to be true, at least Kim and I would have a fun adventure. We had both. My sister released some funds from my Papa to purchase this little gem!

It’s a Ford Transit, complete with a bed, refrigerator, 2 solar panels, 4 Jackery Boxes, a compost toilet AND shower! It has a 350e motor! Plenty of power to fight a head wind, which we did leaving Las Vegas, and STILL able to pass a semi-truck going up hill! It gets MUCH better gas mileage than my Mercury AND I can take a nap (or take a pee) WHILE Mo drives! Yippie!!! It even has a smart TV installed in it!

It drives like a dream! So fun! You have this big wind-shield in front of you and it seems like you never get tired of driving. Kim and I had to fight for the steering wheel! She was such a sweet friend to join me on this wild ride.

It’s funny, every time I think I might “hang it up”, I always lean a little bit harder into this thing called music. We invested a little nugget, but it’s sensible and will allow us to go visit and play for people, see the country, get to the gig on time and play for those folks that haven’t ever seen us.

Some local friends might be worried that we will just be on the road all the time. Not to worry, we will ALWAYS come back home, and now we have live streaming to sooth our musical hearts!

I am blown away every time I look out back and see “Sparky” sitting in the driveway, waiting for an adventure. I named her Sparky because she’s given me a SPARK and a pep in my step. I keep watching you tubes to see how I want to re-create this floor plan just for us. Mo is a wonderful cook. These people did most of their cooking outside. We want to put a kitchen in it. We are looking forward to the creative process and all the places this mobile will take us!

It’s truly a dream come true that I would never have been able to do if it weren’t for my Papa! We have been wanting to travel all 50 states (well, maybe leave a few of them off the list ha ha) and now we have the tool to do it! I was just about to give up on that dream. The trailer is great, but it drags…literally and slowly. It’s wonderful for camping in, but the van will be stream line! Plus it’s the perfect business write off! I can finally separate all my accounting properly with this ride, instead of the confusion of personal use with the SUV/trailer set up.

It’s a smart way to go and I am going to love driving everywhere! When the people handed over the keys, I knew it was bitter-sweet for them. They guy was a musician in his youth and now had a son with downs syndrome. He and his wife loved it, but the son wasn’t all that crazy about the van trips. They also got called back to work at the office instead of working remotely, so…they used it and unloaded it to us.

I think it’s pretty cool that the guy was a musician. He opened for Stone Temple Pilots when he was in his 20’s so he must have been pretty good! He said he had long hair, and we all laughed cause now in his 40’s he’s completely bald. He told a short story of doing showcases for years and years and when he hit his 30’s he said, he just needed to get a “real job”. Whew! I didn’t really START music as a career until my 30’s.

I had the “real job” first. I think I’ve always looked back and wished I majored in music or started younger, but something tells me, I got my foundation and did other things…now, it’s time for music. All thing happen and roll out the way it’s meant to be. It’s time for touring and bringing joy. It’s time to meet some of these folks who join our live streams. It’s time to meet many of you who don’t live locally. It’s time to FLY!

I sat on the beach, wind hitting my back, staring at the ocean. “My Dad is gone now. The world as we know it suddenly changed. What dreams do I have left to make come true? If not now, then when?” The little voice inside churned these questions for the past couple months. “You may not have as much time as you think, if you have the dream, do it!” So here we are. A new (used) vehicle acquired, an open calendar and an open road. 2021 is FULL of possibilities!

What will be possible for YOU this year? What does YOUR “Little Voice” say? If not now…then when? What is left for you to feel, do, experience? Have you asked yourselves? Is how you are spending time, the way you WISH to spend time?

I believe we are ALL able to manifest. When I slowed the “clock of consciousness” down to study HOW I was manifesting this Van to come true, I noticed 2 things.

1. I WANTED it badly, I felt it in my heart 100% and got excited!

2. I BELIEVED I could have it! In my head it all made perfect sense, it was written in the stars!

This is one of my Father’s final gifts. I would never have it if it weren’t for him. I would rather have him, of course. But I know he will be watching over us as we progress on this new journey with Sparky! I know this makes him smile and he would be glad I listened to that inner voice. That voice that can be so small sometimes. That “Little Voice” inside.

So…I have a very special song, called “Little Voice”. I know you may know it, but this month your MP3 will be “Little Voice” by my high-school buddies Ken David and Scott Lippincott. They took my song and put a completely different spin on it and I LOVE when other artist do this. I think they did a great job with it. Check it out!

I hope you are excited for us and also excited for yourselves for a brand new year of manifesting some dreams to come true! Stay healthy! We aren’t out of the “woods” yet! Keep Facing the Sun and know we couldn’t do this without you, your love and support! Thank you so much!

Niccole, Mo and Juno

An excited Nicci as we finish up at the DMV in AZ!

Introducing “Sparky” perfectly staged here and ready to roll!

A spacious bed that will most likely be reconfigured to allow a bigger “garage” underneath to fit our equipment. It will work now, but we have plans!

Kim brought along a good luck charm as we drive through the desert!

This might come in handy! Ha! With no bathroom in the trailer we will be going first class!

Life is ALWAYS better with Friends! Thank you Kim for your big smile, love and support!

It's time to go slow

36 degrees, keeping the hands and toes warm with warmers from our good friend Trudy! Thank you Trudy! You keep our hearts warm too with all your love!!!

Hello Friends,

Well, I am making an effort to get back to my first of the month entries with you all. The last few weeks we’ve had the RARE opportunity to play in the freezing cold! Ha! It is amazing how clever we all have become during this time of Covid.

The Riverside Hotel asked if we would be interested in playing OUTSIDE at their “Sandbar” venue that overlooks the Boise River. We normally play once or twice in the spring/summer season. But last weekend between 5-8 pm it was 34 degrees when we started and dropped a few more degrees to freezing by the time we finished! Holy cow! The Sun set within the first half hour of our first set and we had frost on our CD’s when we wrapped up but it was EXHILARATING!!!

Honestly, it was such a unique show! They brought out the heat lamps and had almost one heater for every table, then as it got cold (and dark) they pulled the drapes to keep the heat more “localized”. So we were all spacial distanced, outside (roof off) but walls up…as they unfolded like a curtain. The feeling was like we were all in our teens again, making forts and sitting by the fire. Being able to be “naughty” by being outside together when no one really does that now. It was super fun!

It put the pep back in my step for sure. I know I have mentioned during this time of grief, I just have not been able to get my “mo-jo” going. But there are little advancements here and there. I have restarted the practice of writing down 3 gratitude’s each day. In fact, now they have an AP for that! Do you believe it?! It’s called “The 5 minute journal”. Check it out at the AP store if you would like. You can take a picture to remember the day and list 3 gratitude’s and some other things. It’s a great way to track your days.

Also, we are going to turn our attention back to LIVE STREAMING this Saturday. Yes, it will be the first Face Book live stream since Oct. before my world got rocked. I am hopeful to “see” many of you and as we hunker down and go further into “lock-down hibernation mode”…I think it will be helpful for all of us to “sit around a comfy campfire” of music. Music is good for the soul indeed!

Music restores so much, gives me a sense of hope and community, I think we can all use that right now. I have been writing too. I’ve attempted songs but none that have flourished into anything special. And that is ok, you have to make many attempts before you get a “jewel”…keep digging keep digging, and there are days when picking up the “shovel” is an accomplishment. I haven’t moved much “gravel”.

Here is a little excerpt I wrote during a zoom class called “The Write Path”. I have been taking this class for the past 4 weeks and I am so glad to just be open to the writing process regardless of whether it lends itself to music or not. It’s important to just keep expressing in times like this. Here’s the excerpt…we only had 5 minutes to do it:

“Try as best you can, not to let the wire brush of doubt scrape from your heart, all sense of yourself” (This is a line I chose from a poem by Irish poet John O’Donohue. Ironically, we stood at his grave site when we went to Ireland and took a picture of his tombstone.)

Doolin Ireland 2019 - Clare Co.

My free write:

I roll off the hamster wheel of my busy life into the saw dust, looking onward through the glass of my cage…to a life outside this “box of pain”. But I know it’s mine to do. To sift through these wooden chips of memories and pull myself back together again - in time.

I remain “off the wheel” for a while and hopefully never to get back on! Slowing my pace to a moderate clip for which I can feel joy yet once again. “It is time to go slow”, to think of holding his hand and remembering who he was as we watched the golden clouds roll by 3 days before his passing.

He knows I loved him, he still does. And it will be mine to do when the time comes, to move beyond this glass box on to the “fresh pastures of promise”.

Green Pastures where O’Donahue’s tombstone lies.

I hope you know how super special you are and how grateful we are to have you in our world. I hope you also allow yourself “time to go slow” through all this change we’ve seen this past year. I hope we can sing you back to “fresh pastures of promise”. Thank you so much! We selected Mo’s version of “Kind & Generous” for your mp3 download this months. We hope you like it.

You can’t “rush art” I’ve always been told, and have known this. I am not a song factory. Sometimes they come, and most times they are fleeting. I try to catch them when they come and share what I do catch. I hope this beautiful cover satisfies your thirsty heart and reminds you how much appreciation and gratitude we hold for each of you! And how grateful we can be on this journey together, through this time! One day we will celebrate in person, but meanwhile…stay safe, stay healthy and “go slow”.

Much love!

Niccole, Mo and Juno

Contagious Joy

Our hands are the same. I can look in the mirror and see him. He will always be staring right back at me.

Hello beautiful people!

From the last blog entry to now seems like a whole other world ago.  I let you all know what was happening in my world with my Dad’s sudden diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and knowing his inevitable death was near.  Something, no matter how you know it, how hard you try to wrap your head around it or try to “brace” yourself for…it’s simply impossible to know beforehand a world without the one you love in it!  One can never truly predict the processes and “rides” you go on after they leave.

This has been my predicament lately.  Getting me to this page seems like a small battle has been won to a degree.  When I am in my grief I have noticed I am certainly not as sharp. I also tend to procrastinate and for that I apologize for being late with this blog.  YOU all have been wonderful while I have been on this ride.

I figured I didn’t really have anything positive to write or share, what’s the point, right? Why depress other people with a sad blog?  Well, the sun cracked on Sunday (how appropriate).   We played at CSL and then at Bar 365 and many of you showed up. 

The smiles and love of the audience really soothed this soul and I know it’s true for Mo too.  We were kinda dragging our feet to the gig.  And then music starts happening and there is this thing inside, like a deep breath of life and possibility that raises to the surface…joy.  I was able to feel joy again!  It’s a contagious thing.  The audiences interaction with us, our interaction with the audience…we raised each other.  It was so beautiful.   In this pain, with my memory burned of his last days, I managed to feel joy among you all.  How incredible.  What a gift music is.  It’s also, “going where the love is”.  Which is our MP3 for you this month. 

Go where the love is…why go anywhere else?  I cannot believe we didn’t have it posted for you already, but I guess it all unfolds as needed.  This song is so true and I love it.  It’s one of my favorites. 

A happy tune, and a reminder to seek out the good.  The good that came to me in the last month:

I got to hold my Dad in my arms during his last days, and in this world now with Covid, this is truly lucky! 

He and I watched the clouds go by, held hands and were silent together.  The power of that I will never forget.

I got to have him for a Dad, so so lucky!

He showed me how much he loved me, and I believe it. Again, very lucky.

Many of you sent love and prayers for us, and we could feel it!

We watched the leaves turn before our eyes during the time we were at Dad’s and the symbolism of it all was so profound.

He shows up in my dreams, and I know he is having a great time with Mom again.

I got to sit at the ocean for a week and cry my eyes out.

I have a partner who allows me to be, exactly how I am!

I got to come back home and “Go where the love is”, in the fold of music.  I feel super lucky for you all and for this journey.

No, I’m not 100%.  But there is hope on the horizon.  As a being, as a nation and as a world too! We will come together again!  And I look forward to the days I can hug hard and long those people that I love.

I hope you all stay safe and healthy out there. I hope you all know how much we appreciate each and every one of you!  Thank you for this time, thank you for your understanding, love, and care! 

Have a beautiful Thanksgiving!

Much love,

Nicc, Mo and Juno

A very happy Juno, waggy tails are contagious!

My Dad had a smooth voice like Frank Sinatra! No lie! He could have done this for a living, but it was just for fun. Imagine his surprise when I gave up my day job to be a musician, I did it “My Way” too Pops!

A kind, gentle soul. I just love this picture. His eyes are full of love.

Oh, how I wish I had…another 100 years with you! As the sun runs across the sky, another day of gratitude!

Faith and the Cycle of Life

Dear Friends,

I have been on a roll this year with prompt blogs and downloads added the 1st of every month. Yet THIS month…OUR month…Rocktober, I fell off that streak; my apologies. 

My world got rocked the tail end of September.  Some of you know that my father had suffered from a mini-stroke.  I found this out about 30 minutes before our #25 love stream that Thursday.  This news made it a challenge to play, but the news that came the next day was worse.  Pancreatic Cancer, spread to his liver.  Damn!

He’s been trucking along, able bodied, has a new love in his life, ready to live another 100 years!  He’s 89.5 years old.  Two weeks prior from all this happening, I bought him a 2021 calendar!  Ready to plan his 90th birthday, not thinking for a second he would be taken out before that time. 

The odds of him making it to MY birthday (Oct. 26th) will be a huge accomplishment at the rate he is going now.  Mo and I are packed up now and ready to take off early tomorrow, after the slew of appointments that I have today and a final outdoor show at the Sandbar.  We’ve cancelled a few shows at the end of our season, which is a bummer, but I need to be up there with him.  If I can walk him to the “door”, I will.

My head has been riddled with all sorts of thoughts and emotions.  His life and my time with him is flashing before me. I have cried my eyeballs out quite a few times, and my dreams are consumed with his sweet face.  Oh how I don’t want it to be true, but life flows in a circular motion.  

My heart hurts for the dreams of his new partner NOT coming true, my heart hurts for so much right now.  I lost my mom suddenly back in 2002, she had heart attack which took her instantly and we were all devastated.  The take away from her death is that even though I can’t get to hug her, look her in the eyes or speak to her face to face…I still communicate with her all the time. 

I find myself thinking of her and her little voice pops in my head and in some ways, our relationship has gotten closer since she’s parted.  She sees all of me now from where she sits.  She has guided me in many ways and has even saved my life once or twice.  (Another long story, remind me to tell you).

Anyway, it may sound crazy to some of you, but I have a STRONG FAITH. It’s not wrapped around any religious dogma, but it’s a powerful knowingness that transcends our worldly language.  Perhaps it’s only a thing that makes me feel better, yet…it feels much stronger than that. 

I have a knowingness that we see people (and pets) we love again, regardless of expiration.  That our souls and spirits never really die.  And this transition is another “chapter” of a life; a life well lived.  My father is being called back again, and mom is waiting on the other side for him.  I gotta believe that. 

Now, some of you can relate to this topic.  To some, it might be morbid.  But if we can’t explore death, we can’t live deeply.  And I’ve made the agreement to live deeply in this life; I am strong enough to FEEL all of my pain to its entirety.  That is an ingredient that comes out now and then in my music.  That is why sometimes a tear might stroll down a face or two in the crowd, or these days…my own face. 

The next few weeks are going to be a ride…and it’s like walking into an ocean.  It’s going to knock me on my ass, but I know that I can swim.  I have to trust my body, and my spirit. 

And I look at the world right now.  So many people in strife, fighting, and the disregard for peace; the election is creeping up, people are riddled with anxiety about it (and rightfully so).  The tally of deaths from this awful Covid;  215,000+ (just in the US) and counting!  My God…would I have ever thought I’d see a day?  Did YOU ever think you would be seeing this shit?!

Faith comes back to me folks, and whispers in my ear…LOVE is stronger than HATE, generosity, kindness and caring is contagious, it make us feel better then rudeness, bullying, and righteousness.

My faith tells me, “The pendulum ALWAYS swings back”.  The pendulum of Joy vs. Sorrow…or with any opposites really, is in constant motion and WILL come back around, like the LAW of gravity; it’s just the way things work.  And yes, it could get worse and swing even further towards an unfavorable side…but knowing the good of people, the beauty of this planet, the power of the Universe, we shall return to a more peaceful BETTER world at some point because of all these things going on now. 

That is why I thought the song, “Make You Feel My Love” was a perfect fit for this month’s Mp3 download.  Now, I just learned it, and I’ve only have the time for a basic recording (no Mo, meow!) so, a little forgiveness for that and my tardy blog ha ha!   I would like to dedicate this song to Janie B, our newest member from Ohio!  Janie found us through Cheryl Wheeler and I absolutely LOVE the story and thank Cheryl for sending her looking for “Ghandi Buddha” on the world wide net and discovering us!  How fun!  See…the Universe is good…it’s filled with Janie B’s.  ;-)  Thanks for suggesting this song Janie!

Hang in there folks, let’s walk into the ocean (“the storm is raging on a rolling sea”) and trust ourselves! Much love to you all!!!   

Niccole, Mo, and Juno

One Step at a time….

One Step at a Time!

A card that came the DAY I completed the song, by a completely different listener who had NO IDEA I was working on a song called “One Step at a Time”.

Hello Beautiful Friends,

Well aside from the “world at large” life almost felt “normal” in August.  We had a semi-busy month. We had many private party gatherings, which were very small and spacious, all outside with a lot of heartfelt love. 

We played at some of our favorite outside venues; The Sandbar, Indian Creek Winery, Red Fish Lake & the Roseberry Concert Series. We got to see many of you, masks on, from a safe distance. We’ve had a couple weeks without a love stream (which has been strange since it’s the the “new norm” for us). We got to go camping, feeling pretty lucky and now it’s suddenly September! 

The election is in the air and there is as general feeling of anxiety towards it.  We feel it.  We see it with our friends and strangers and we are all embarking on our own individual journey and as a mass population, “One Step at a Time”. 

“One Step at a Time” is a new original song that came right on time.  It’s also your next download.  Two lovely VIP members came to me with an idea, the title actually.  I listened to their stories and the feelings they had about their individual process as individuals, a couple, and a family.  Something connected that day for me as I understood exactly what they were meaning and how it relates to the world today. 

All of us are on this journey to take life day by day, one step at a time.  Many of us are not making big future plans for a trip or to spend time with distant family members because this Covid thing is still a very real threat.  So all we can do is practice presence and let each other know how much we care. Sometimes just knowing that there is someone else on the “trail” with us, a friend, a lover, a dog…makes the “walk” of life more tolerable, less scary, and more joyful. 

We used to be a population that had its calendar stuffed to the gills, I am completely guilty of this.  And now, it’s a day to day, week to week, month to month living.  There have been pluses and minuses to this way of living, but if I go back to the songs’ meaning…it helps me through.  It helps me feel appreciation for the journey that is NOW.  It helps me get through to Nov. 3rd and beyond, with whatever fate throws at us.  It helps me not give up because I’m feeling uninspired, deflated or “old”. 

We’ve all had feelings of helplessness through these times.  We can feel insignificant and powerless.  Let’s face it…a massive trauma has plagued the Earth’s humanity.  It’s the first in our story here when the world is really spinning.  A first true global pandemic (I know about the Spanish Flu yes but technology makes the world a bit faster…yes?  And…none of us were around to experience it back then.) Think about when trauma hits a single person.  The re-evaluating of life for that person…it’s what the whole world is going through whether people are consciously aware or not. 

I’ve been inflicted with severe and chronic PTSD myself, and the way I’ve always described the feeling is, “the file cabinet got knocked over”.  If you think of your life as a four drawer file cabinet, this is how you’ve organized your thoughts, emotions, belief systems and have made some sort of sense in your world…every thought and feeling is filed away in your body, mind and heart.  All your pain, joyous moments, learning, and experiences are in your own “order” which invoke feelings of safety, understanding, belonging and equilibrium.  (Assuming work has been done to put and keep it in order, ha…no easy task and a life long process.)

Well…when trauma happens, depending on how severe it is, someone or circumstance, kicked over your file cabinet or pulled out a few files and through them on the floor.  Disorder, chaos, unresolved feelings are now needed to be organized.  This happens to an individual who has been traumatized.  Now think of it… the WORLD has been traumatized, and you might wonder why you feel a “little out of sorts”, and can’t explain it?  The files are all over the floor.  It’s a scattered disorganized feeling. 

So…one step at a time, we pick up our own pieces.  We organize ourselves for this “new world” we are living in.  Society at large is reshaping the fabric of how to proceed during these times and since the files are out…there is a lot to process.  “Oh…I forgot about that paper I wrote in the 5th grade” so to speak.  It’s a recycling, a re-organizing, a great “cleanse” if you will.  And we are all in it, no matter how removed one may be or feel.  So in that, I am grateful that I heard our wonderful members reach out with hopes for a song about “One Step at a Time” and I am honored and humbled that Spirit met me to complete this song. 

I hope you like it, that it keeps you going through this time, and that you understand we are WITH you in this journey. We will make it over the “rivers and the rocks” along the way.  We will “walk” with each other every step of the way…one step at a time.  May it bring you hope, comfort, and peace. 

Thank you immensely for all of your love,

Niccole & Mo

PS.  You will also note that Mo is not yet on this song…that is how new it is.  We may do a second version of this when she gets her part down.  Also, the video (for those who get video) is a bit different than the download.  I encourage you all to not get too attached to a particular version yet, as it will fluctuate until it settles a bit.  But enjoy them non-the-less, I hope!  Much love! 

Dinner with Fran! Our member from Washington who we’ve loved seeing this summer! Thanks for coming and bringing your love Fran!

My two favorite girls, Mo & Juno! Cut from the same cloth they are! LOL! You KNOW what I mean!!! Ha!

Walk softly and sing under a big tree!!! LOL! Compliments of Melinda Bristol! Thanks Melinda!

Smile and the little mouse!

Smile, the tow truck is here!

Sandpoint Adventures July 4th-July 16th, 2020:

It was somewhat strange, I’ll admit, preparing the trailer all week to make our way up North to visit Nicci’s papa in Sandpoint.  We were excited, but also somewhat skeptical to make the journey with Covid looming in the air.  I’m not generally superstitious, but there were also a few things that happened before the trip that made me wonder whether or not this was a good idea after all.

 A couple days before our departure, I noticed Niccole’s car battery was completely dead, and she’d just had it in the day before for an oil change, where they supposedly checked everything.  So that was a two day endeavor back and forth to the dealership, but provided some relief as we thought our trusted ride “Slyvie” was all taken care of now.  Also, I filled up the water tank in the trailer earlier than usual, and thank God I did because when I went to turn on the pump, water started spewing everywhere!!  Needless to say, I drained the water from the tank and packed about 6 gallons for drinking and washing.  What a drag, but hey, the silver lining was at least we had a place to rest our heads, stay a safe distance from folks, and cook some good meals.

Our trip had some interesting gigs to start with.  We played for a wedding in Horseshoe Bend (about 45 minutes North) on July 4th.  Everyone was dancing and having a great time in the beautiful outdoors; a lovely 50 acre property right on the Payette River with giant cottonwoods, ponderosa trees, and old mining cabins.  Very cool terrain!  The fireworks show they had went till 3 am that morning, though we wouldn’t have minded if they weren’t being blown off 20 feet from our trailer.  We missed the “memo” on where they were going to do that apparently….. 

Headed off Sunday morning, eyes half mass, to play on another flat bed truck at the Dirty Shame Saloon in Garden Valley (another hour North).  We played for several hours in 95 degree heat, having to pull our mic stands and sound system back every 30 minutes  to avoid being exposed to the blistering sun.  We’d heard about the giant rock slide in Riggins on Hwy. 55, 120 feet long and 40 feet deep, so we knew we’d have to take either 84 West through Oregon and the Tri-Cities, WA. Or go up through Stanley, Challis, Salmon, ID. to Missoula, MT.  Well the decision was made for us, cause just as we were finishing up our set at the Dirty Shame, we found out there’d been a horrible accident about 30 minutes away that would prevent us from going home, taking Hwy 84.  That accident that happened at 4pm, ending up holding traffic till 12:30 am that night. It was a bad one.  At least one fatality and the other 3 life-flighted. They went off the embankment into the river.  We said a silent prayer for that family, and also for all the folks hanging out in the blistering heat that couldn’t get back home after a long 4th of July weekend.

Our only route option.

We landed at Southfork Lodge, a beautiful hotel nestled on the river banks of the South Fork and Payette River that night.  Our friend and another fabulous VIP member, Trudy was with us as she’d come to our show, and couldn’t make it home due to the road closure.  So we camped in our trailer, and she got a room, and we had a quiet evening/morning in a lovely Oasis. The breakfast was delicious as was the much needed shower! Of course, Juno was in her hay day frolicking in the river, and rolling in the grass! She loves a good road trip!

From there, we headed further North Monday morning to Stanley, then onto Challis, and into Salmon, about a 5 hour drive.  The terrain and landscape was absolutely breath-taking! Like a combination between Glacier and Zion National Park with rolling farm lands in between. Magnificent! And “Slyvie,” our trusted ride was powerful and doing  great so we continued to roll on towards Missoula after we swam Juno in the Snake River.  We were hoping to find camp somewhere for the night as we headed up the Lost Trail Pass. 

We were about a mile or two from the summit, MT/ID border when Nicc looks at me, very concerned as says “do you smell that?”  I put my sniffer on it right away but didn’t smell anything.  Then in a flash, the cab filled up with a most foul odor, and while Slyvie was spiking over 4000 RPM’s, she was losing power quickly! Fortunately there was a pull out ahead, and we pulled over just before we lost all engine power.  Whew! First thought….Oh Shit! Second thought, thank God for this pull out! We popped the hood, and a fellow, already parked there, came over to inspect the situation.  He thought “sounds like the transmission.”  Another fellow, Ray who’d already driven past us in his Winnebago had turned around and came back to check it out.  He and his 16 year old son, who was a 6 ft. 7 baseball pitcher, looked at the engine, and we started to trouble shoot what’s to be done.  We let the engine cool, and tried Slyvie again.  Ray, who will further more be referred to as Arch Angel Raymond, proposed to attach and tow our little trailer on his if Slyvie could make it to the top, thinking that we might be able to coast down 50 miles to the next town in Hamilton, MT. Good idea in theory, but “Slyvie” stunk to high heaven and wasn’t going anywhere. So we swapped numbers, and gave him Nicc’s family’s numbers so they’d know what was going on. He agreed to find a tow company from Missoula to come get us that evening since none of us had cell service.  We were completely in the hands of a stranger, and thankfully a kind stranger.  It was 6:30 pm when we broke down.  We set up camp on the side of the road and made some dinner.  We had a beautiful picturesque mountain view from our spot,  I cooked;  grateful we were okay, and that help was on the way. 

Double tow truck service…double the dough $$$ yikes, what’s the garage going to charge?

22 hours later, the next day we’re wondering what the heck is going on?  People would occasionally stop at the pull out, but it was to let other traffic go by.  We would wonder each time, is this person “Safe or creepy?” “Here to help or hinder?”  There were definitely no tow trucks, or cops in sight which furrowed my brow.   We made breakfast, read a little, did some yoga behind the trailer, and then while sitting in our road side chairs wondering “WTF?” this bright yellow flat bed truck “Wimps Towing” drives by, and I make a commotion, waving him down.  Tim was his name.  He said that he’d heard on the radio that we were already picked up by another company last night.  To which I replied, “well we’re still here as you can see, and haven’t heard anything, can you please help us?”  He was on his way to pick up a motorcyclist, then would come back to check in.  He called in another fellow, that would be coming from Hamilton, 50 miles away.  “Arch Angel Michael” was his name.

I tried to batten down the hatches in the trailer as best I could because I knew it was going to be a shit-show after being towed behind the big wrecker tow truck.  After he got Nicc’s truck on the flat bed he attached the trailer, and we all piled in the cab of the tow truck, Juno on Nicc’s lap, us with our masks on.  We were watching the trailer in the rear view mirror. It might as well have been one of those mechanical bulls, buckin’ and poppin’ the whole time, holy crap!  So we called a shop in Hamilton, M& M Trans and Auto, most of them were about to close.  Mike, our driver said we could have his appointment spot, as there were 60 cars to be fixed ahead of us.  They were really nice folks, and let us camp in their parking lot that evening.  Silver lining was, we were safely off the pass, and had a great view of the Selway-Bitterroot mountain range where we watched the sun set that evening.  

M&M AutoTrans in Hamilton MT in there “parking lot”, pretty sweet view. Silver linings!

We were praying it was something simple to fix, though I’ll admit we were both worried it was going to cost us an arm and a leg.  The guy took Slyvie out for a test drive several times, ran his diagnostics, checked everything out, and what did he find?  A mouse nest, and its foul smelling latrine all over our engine.  Fortunately it had not chewed any wires, but the nest and mouse had suffocated our engine on the pass, and the smell was, well mouse excrement or ground up dead mouse carcass!!  Uggghhh!  So he cleaned out the engine of the nest as best he could, never did find the damn mouse, and we were on our way.

We didn’t want to go over any other significant passes (Lolo and 4th of July Pass), so we opted to go Hwy. 200 through Thompson Falls, MT. into Sandpoint.  It had been a long time since we’d taken that drive, and we’d forgotten how jaw-dropping beautiful it was! We plopped our trailer at pop’s place right next to his amazing garden and under the graceful shade of two ponderosa pines. It was so good to land in such a magnificent place!  We had dinner, caught up, and slept probably 10 hours that night, after having had two nights of little rest due to road-side trucker Jake brakes.  Silver lining….we finally landed safely! 

Ahh…safe at Papa’s!

Juno was in her glory!  No borders, fences or any restrictions on this big beautiful plot of land, so she ran for the ball like her life depended on it!  She was the happiest and freeist we’ve ever seen her!  There were fields of long grass and wild daisies everywhere you turned!  The aspen trees rustled their leaves singing nature’s song.  Hummingbirds by the handfuls fighting for the feeder right outside the dining room window. They’d often come right up to you and say hi. Osprey in the distance feeding their young, and the luscious forests that spread as far as the eye could see!  It was quite a solace sanctuary to land, and we were so grateful to be there!  Nicc getting the quality time with her papa she’s been so looking forward to.

Juno and Sunny in the lake. Sunny learned how to swim that day!

Her dad cooked us breakfast every morning, and took us to his favorite restaurants almost every night.  The floating restaurant in Hope, right on the water, was a definite high-light.  Again, everywhere you looked between the Selkirk, Cabinet, and Monarch mountain ranges, to Lake Pend Orielle; that gorgeous 43 mile glacial lake, and the healthy, dense forest all abound, you felt infused with life!  We both remembered the allure of why it was we’d lived there for so many years.

Highlights of the trip were too many to describe, and what a good problem, eh? Nicc got to go car shopping with pops, though she’s still on the look-out.  Slyvie got us home just fine thankfully.  Niccole also gleefully got to drive dad’s giant Denali truck (he never lets her drive).  She drove his Polaris, 4 wheeler all over the property, and had a thrill on his high powered lawn mower!  Dad jumping out of the way at 89 years old, yelling “slow down Niccole!”

We floated the Pack River in a double kayak one day.  We didn’t realize this happens to be the major pass-time of all the locals now, so it was quite a busy float, but beautiful nonetheless. Dad BBQ’d some steaks in his “green egg” and it was probably one of the best smoked steaks we’d ever had!  Big pig-out sesh! Our friend, Kimmy came up for a surprise visit and came to our show, camping next to us one night.  Swimming our dogs at Tressel Creek was a blast.  Dad lives 8 miles North of Sandpoint, and we didn’t even venture into town till the last day of our trip cause we were having such a great time in the sticks.  We got to spend some outside quality time with our dear friend, Rhea, Niccole’s former acupuncturist, who had also come to our sole performance there in Hope, ID at the Old Icehouse Pizzeria.  Talk about a lot of LOVE in the audience. It was like coming home!  It was a feel-good show, where you could see everyone’s hearts open to the music.  And a gorgeous view of the lake and majestic Monarch Mountains in the back drop.  Everywhere you turned there was such exceptional beauty and bounty.  Idaho is quite a home!

Mo and Juno on the Pac River. Pac full of beauty!

So that being said, we had all of you with us in our travels, and wanted to give you a peek into our adventures along the way.  The song “Smile,” off Niccole’s second album kept resonating with us on the trip.  “Smile is the sunshine of your Soul….. puts joy where there was once a lonely hole, no need to keep it together, emotions are like the weather, no control.”  Since our smiles are presently all covered up with masks, we wanted to give you this song as a reminder and giant thanks for being our rays of sunshine through it all! We recorded the Blaze and Kelly version of “Smile” in our studio just for you!  Hope you enjoy!  Take very good care of yourselves, and may your smiles also bring a ray of sunshine to humanity during these unprecedented times.   Be safe, and be well! 

Love Mo and Niccole

Nic’s note: My awesome Dad and I target practicing…he’s 89 and still a “dead eye” :-)

 Nicc’s notes:

We decided to give you BOTH versions of Smile so you can hear the difference back to back. There is almost 20 years between these 2 recordings. I love the Cello and the vulnerable “baby” voice I had back then, but…I prefer Mo, even over the Cello ha ha! I find it amazing that a song so old can be even more relevant than when it was originally created! I hope you find it interesting. Thanks sweet friends, for bring smiles to our faces every day!

Cheers Cheers Cheers!

Hi Friends,

I hope this finds you well and healthy and if so, THAT is worth celebrating. A lot has happened this month; in the news, in the world and it seems to be steam roller-ing along as we “sit in our homes” and wonder, “What’s next?” Or do we dare to ask that question in hopes not to tempt fate.

Here in Idaho we have been affected by the Covid but not to the degree that other states have, but…we are catching up with the rest of the states. At the same time the numbers in our state grow, venues are wanting to book us. So strange. Such a strange place we are in, all of us, witnessing, watching, praying, protesting.

I have come to the page thinking, what is really new to say? What is there to be joyous about? What is going on with music that we are excited about? Is there ANYTHING exciting?

Last blog I wrote about finding joy in the simple things. That is still the case. My drive to get projects done has waned, as there will ALWAYS BE another project. I’ve extended my energies towards “accomplishing” enough. I have immersed myself in Netflix series. Immersed myself in Gin and Tonics too! Now, I’m drinking tea. The pendulum may be swinging back to balance for me. Not a new world that I like…but one that I am slowly accepting… perhaps.

I still miss hugging people when I see them. It’s still so strange to feel so much love and not be able to do anything with it. We are beginning to play out live, mainly at outside venues provided they are maintaining the safety perimeters. In doing so, we feel the emotional distance too at first. Yet, music is the grand uniter! After 2-3 songs in, people forget the hard times and start smiling again, if only for a moment. This is good and makes our hearts smile.

How can you be aware of what’s going on…concerned and safe…but NOT worried! Right? What does worry get us anyway? One step at a time, alligator closest to the boat, right? Keeping conscience and staying aware yet also holding the knowing-ness that all will inevitably be ok in the long run anyway.

In the long run we all will go back to our maker with the gifts we’ve collected from this world. The exchanges that we’ve had, the memories, the soul gets it’s “food” for where ever it needs to go next. No one nor I knows concretely where we all wind up of course. But I have faith that it is someplace beautiful and good.

I know it’ seems a morbid blog. Yet there is a reality…many people are passing from this planet. It IS happening. And politically we are faced with GREAT CHANGE for the world. How ELSE do people listen? If their lives aren’t threatened, if there are no grave consequences for our actions, people tend to keep “going along”.

There is a grand intelligence to the universe indeed. We look around and see the “magic” of a crystal stream and the ecology of what it supports. We see the circular pattern of the a day into night or a year into next and the seasons change like a sunrise and sunset. We see the universal law playing before our eyes and sometimes…especially in times like these…we can feel so small. So minuit. Up against a big thing, a series of systems and unfolding.

We can feel helpless in the midst of solidified mind-sets, other peoples programs or belief systems that differ from ours. We can think the little things don’t matter. But…they do.

I said to a crowd this weekend, “Have you ever tried to sleep with a mosquito in the room? The little things definitely matter!” This little germ spreading across the world has made itself matter. Sometimes we can wonder in anything we do…”does it matter?” Especially in isolation. People, others, the love for others gives us purpose and gives us a “mattering point” if you will (for lack of better word).

It is an easy time to lose our compass and the feeling of our true North. But this is where we pull in the reins a bit. We take shorter steps. We walk the trail and we NOTICE the small stuff going on in our consciousness. We do the “house cleaning” and we get to the “calm” in the middle of this shit show. We find ourselves. We look in the mirror at another day and walk into our lives as best we can.

I have known enough or figured out as much about myself to know what motivates me. I am very accountable to other people (not so much to myself at times but if I say I will do something…I’ll do it.) Last year I had this song idea dropped into my lap. "The 5 star dive bar”.

Actually Earl Grief a guy who hired us for “Ride Idaho” a non-profit here in Bose, called me to write a song called “the 5 Star Dive Bar”. Earl is quite a character. Very fun loving, whimsical, sweet, ornery, and sometime surly. We love Earl and have been playing for his organization for over 9 years.

When he first told me about the song concept (5 star dive bar), I though, “how clever”. Yet, it seemed vaguely familiar. Well no wonder, up in Sandpoint at a seedy little joint called the 219 there is a sign that reads…”the 5 Star Dive Bar”. Earl stole the idea from that. Sandpoint of all places! I had a whole other life there years ago so I thought that was coincidental.

I was excited about a twangy “country-fied” song that would tell a story about a 5 star dive bar. Visions played in and out of my head for about…5 years! Ha! Maybe more maybe less, they go so fast these days. I wrote the song a million times, but I never wrote it down. I would show up for Earls gigs and sing him something different each year. I would make it up there on the spot always poking fun at Earl and the audience would laugh.

Every year he would ask, “Did you write that song yet?” and I would fib my way through a live ad lib for pure fun and entertainment with a sweet crowd. Well, last year 3 days before Earls gig I was sitting in the bathtub…songs fall in when everything else falls out. I started coming up with lyrics and melody.

“Damn it Earl, now I have to get out of the tub, dry off and write your damn song!” Ha! You never know when the song fairies are going to drop “gold” into your head and this time it was truly inconvenient. But I got up, dried off, grabbed paper and pen and recorder and penned out this very fun song.

I sang it for Earl 2 days later and we laughed like hell. 5 Star is a culmination of all walks of life. It’s a tale of coming in as a stranger and leaving as a friend, where all walks of life reside and are accepted. There was no covid then, people played darts and rode mechanical bulls. The good ol boys merged with the queers and nobody cares. I invented a place like that in my mind. A true melting pot of color, creed, gender and all the in between ADDED to this 5 star culture. Variety made it great…like the scene from Star Wars and all those weird characters in that bar.

I wanted it to be a celebration song where everyone sings and raises a glass. We STILL have much to raise a glass to boys and girls. It may be camouflaged right now, but there are some strides being made. I know you all need some cheer! I hope you enjoy having this song and many of you are in the audience of this recording saying exactly that….”cheers cheers cheers”…good things are coming! Hang in there and stay safe!

Much love and many hugs!

Niccole

Cheers Cheers Cheers, at an Irish Pub in Whistler Black Comb Writers Tears Whiskey with a Guinness emmm…

Mo in her happy place in the sun on the slopes.