Hello Hello! 

I write to you as I wait at JFK...soon I will be boarding a flight to London and begin my adventure! My European Tour...a musical one!!

.....the beginning of a dream that I have dreamed for a very long time now....

gosh...travel  is such a complex bit of emotions...it is for me at least...

I had not realized to this extent...

First I'm excited, then I'm more excited, then more excited still...

(Yes, that quite possible! Haha)

And yet I find all the ways to worry...

But I can't predict the future!..and why should I even want to try?

....knowing all the happy or sad moments before they happen... ? Nah ...not for me!

I like to think that good things will happen...because they always do.

So what did I finally end up packing for a 5 week tour??

Obviously I wanted to pack light...everyone does!  

Not sure if I accomplished that..

The clothing is very basic:

2 simple dresses, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 tops, 2 sets of pajamas, a sweater, a light coat, one pair of shoes, 2 pair of socks and tights!  (Oh my that doesn't sound light! Haha!)

I have all that in my soft guitar case protecting Garcia (my guitar)

Maybe I should have cut the list in half...but it all fit, so I went with it...

Then, I packed music, a small amp (Roland), a mic (Mikey), chords, batteries, CDs , business cards,  art pad, and oil pastels! 

And I still had room to bring my iPad, phone, umbrella,curling iron, toiletries, hair dryer , oh! And two cute saves!  

So all this fits in my guitar case (yes my guitar is in it as well! Haha!) and a carry on bag the shape of a big purse.  Wow...just listing all this stuff even amazes me...no wonder that my two bags are very heavy!! Oh well.....we'll see what happens... It is manageable ...I do hope!

I'll be arriving in London at 9:30 ...London time tomorrow June 23! 

Oh my oh my!!! This will be my first time!! 

Talk to you tomorrow!

With Love,

Andrea

Hello!!

Oh WOW!! I leave in the morning... 

Philadelphia to JFK... and  then I wait for 7 hours... 

I will use that time wisely....I will write more to you!


talk soon!

eeeeee!! London here I come!!

xo!
Andrea 

It's a bitterly cold January afternoon....I think they say the wind chill is minus one!!

I feel so fortunate to be sitting here, in my reasonably warm room with a hot cup of Earl Grey tea.  Potatoes are baking in the oven...the house is getting a bit warmer even.....,and the smell gets stronger and better!  So as "comfort" food bakes (and soon fills me), I shall fill this page with words....

Today is a "day off" for me. I teach guitar at Settlement Music School....I do have the best job ever! I adore all of my students! I fill most weekends with gigs and play music with so many different musical artists. This weekend in fact, I play with someone new!...Michael Ronstadt on Cello! Next week Joe Arnold joins me on Violin, and David Bobdrummer on Percussion! Then, the following Saturday my 18 year old son, Anthony Carlson, will be playing Violin with me! (He is quite the talent I must say!)  I love sharing music so many ways...and the ways seem to be new each time... and with endless possibilities.

This sharing of music is what is driving me to Europe! (Ah ha! It must be that!)  I know I don't need to go far to do such a thing...as I do plenty of that here!  But the stars seem to be aligning for me...and I'm not going to argue!

I'm still working on my connections and planning... I do realize more than ever what a booking agent must go through.  I book all my gigs here in the States with the exception of a very few. I have had good success with that.  But, far away lands....I find this is quite different...or is it??   Not everyone responds, but when they do it seems to be positive and promising!  So I must keep the faith and keep moving forward with the process any way I know how....

As I have mentioned I have bookings in the works, but I need to spend more time...and reach out even more!  This is a rather huge task and ends up taking a lot of time!  If I wasn't just "learning as I go" I imagine it might be easier. So, maybe the bright spot is that when I go again next year (haha! why not??) I'll have an easier time of it! And, as I find so often, my day off is really another way to work. This is what music is too..it is a business...as much as I try to deny...

But, how can it be work when I love it all so much??  Cleaning the house, now THAT is "work"!!
Okay, I get it, I'm taking the day off from that! So I DO have a day off after all!!! Yay!! ....
(and many many more most likely!)

Oooo! Lunch is ready!! Yay!

more news soon!

with love always,
Andrea

I'm up so late writing...but that is nothing new really.
I am a "night person"... a convenient way to be, especially if you are up late writing!

Hello!!

Happy New Year!  2013!
And, the topic is European Tour!
Surprise!! haha!

With the holidays some of the "planning" slowed down a bit. This is the stage where I am still gathering the contacts, writing, and waiting for responses.. Now that I have my tickets, I have to really sit down and decide on the cities I plan to visit.

Lets see,...as it stands right now..
London
Paris
Amsterdam
Oslo
Berlin
Budapest
Vienna
Milan
Barcelona

Oh MY! It's starting to sink in how tiring this might be! Perhaps I need to scale down a bit, but then I keep thinking...5 weeks...3 to 4 days in a city.....hmmmm ... there is time.. I think!  I want to be free, but I also know I need to make some clear plans for performance dates.  This is a challenge.

Perhaps the best way to handle this is to keep all the cities I plan to go to still on the "list" and mark them off as needed, depending on where I will need and not...

It's better at this point to think broad .....

I'm thinking.... and it is a little daunting too!  Now that I'm back in the swing of all this I'll ponder and get back to you soon..

I feel it is important to share this part of my plan....the confused part...because after all..you are here to experience this with me....hang in there!! This is happening one way or another!

with love,
andrea