WINTER’S DAY, DEC 7 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRY CLARK!

 

Terry celebrated his birthday mostly in the work shop with his band mates.  But instead of opening boxes of gifts, he spent the time assembling 350 gift boxes in preparation for the great Crow Foot & Key Society inaugural mailing of the Crow’s Nest.  

We debated renting a larger space for gathering and assembling all the moving parts, but as long as his son Sam stays completely clear of the studio for the next few weeks, what could go wrong?

If you want to give Terry a birthday ‘attaboy’, you can email him here terry@carbonleaf.com 

But you did not get it from me.

Barry

IMG_2283.JPG
IMG_2288.JPG
IMG_2290.JPG
packing detail.jpg
 

Winter’s Eve, December 6 - In The Hall Of The Cardboard King

Early morning, May 15, our small forthcoming music project, Gathering, began it’s course, with a handful of Carbon Leaf demos, a notebook, a pen, an empty house and a lot of pacing. 

I put it on the calendar, ahead of time: “WRITING” 

Now, December 6,  our studio is filled from floor to ceiling with special goods for the Crow Foot & Key Society.  

How did we get here?  From ‘writing’ to all of this…FOOTPRINT?

Have we bitten off more than we can chew?  Absolutely.    

The arch of this project started with a need to get back to Center:  Sitting still, breathing,  listening, learning, confronting, dreaming, doing.

Gathering up. 

Now, we’re on the hook.  We’ve created a mess.  We’ve made our most ambitious project to date. We pulled it down, put it on paper, and then made it 3D.  And then added live people.  

We’ve put something in motion we are accountable for.  

That’s exciting, daunting, scary….WE MIGHT FAIL.

Worth it.

Barry

Winter's Eve, December 4

“Winter’s Eve December 4

The tree is up and the lights adorn

I push the cloves into a tangerine

Fetch the holly from a neighbor’s tree..."

- Christmas Child

 
 

None of this has happened today.  

What DID happen today?  

Carbon Leaf bassist Jon Markel was born.  Take a moment and wish him a happy birthday and let him know how special he is. 

I couldn't reach Jon to ask for permission to post his email. Sooo...

Here it is.  Bizmarkel@gmail.com

jon_markel

Winter's Eve, December 2

"Painting of a different stream…recess with my mind” - November (makebelieve)

I still have a packet of 25 Christmas Cards I bought - about a baker’s-dozen years ago - to start writing holiday greetings.  It’s a warm painting of a cat wearing a Santa hat, pondering a gift list. They are unopened in their box.  

I bring them out each season, and they sit.  Then, come January, I put them away.  It’s become a little failure ritual.

During our Philadelphia post-show meet-and-greet each year, some fans always stop by the table and give each of us a  miniature painting of a winter scene that they've painted themselves and signed.  It is tucked inside an enveloped family Christmas card.  It fits in the palm of your hand, but is stretched canvas and even has a wire for hanging.

I like to zoom in on paintings sometimes, and see myself in them and imagine things.  So even doing that on this tiny one, can take you to a different place.

Try it now with your computer and take a stroll.  

Crunch crunch,
Barry

Steve Martin Upstaged By Carbon Leaf

"Winter’s eve is creepin’ in, on December 1st on a cold wind…”

Good evening and hello from World Cafe Live in Philadelphia! Sorry Steve, merchandise has to go somewhere.   

As we hit the east coast home stretch of our Gathering Tour 2017, we are also winding things up back at the Carbon Leaf warehouse and readying for the holidays with the launch of our new project.

Things are nuts, but we are excited.

This is a permission email, as I want to do something I’ve not tried, which is send a message out every day for the 31 days of December.  Some photos, a paragraph or two, some video, and glimpses into the new project.

If you would rather NOT have me in your daily feed for December - I understand, life is busy enough - you can opt out of that right here.  You will still remain on the Carbon Leaf mailing list, you just won’t get 30 days of me.

But as we wind down the year on the eve of our 25th anniversary run in 2018, I need to force myself for 5 MINUTES A DAY to sit back and say, 'Barry, it’s the holidays...be present.’  
Writing and connecting can be hard when you have a studio filled to the ceiling with boxes that need assembling.

I took this picture tonight as we were setting up, and I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes, which is actually a Steve Martin quote, and he has embodied in beautifully so far in his life, completely reinventing himself several times over so, so far.

‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.’ - Steve Martin

Til tomorrow, 
Barry

 

Join The Email List

 
Cart (0)