Whatever..........
December17,2006 As usual, I'm woefully behind in my blog or whatever this is, but my New Year's resolution is to stay more on top of it next year.Happily, I've had a flurry of Holiday shows this year (mostly with John Kuhner on keyboards), and now I'm gearing up for a trip to Holland, England and Switzerland in January.Once again, I played over 200 shows, and next year looks to be similar . Playing every Saturday at the Heritage Resort and Conference Center has been great-right down the street from where I live.
Personally, I'm enjoying the mild weather so far, but I imagine my friends in Switzerland are dismayed by the lack of snow, and therefore, the decline in tourism.
August 1st, 2006. Sitting in the kitchen at the computer, wondering if it really is as hot outside as predicted. I'm trying to update my website a little more often...If you notice there are no shows listed between August 6th and 13th, it's because I'm actually taking a VACATION. (most of the time,I don't feel like I need one). I'm going to Canada with my brother Jim and his 9 year old son, Patrick. We're going to catch a Blue Jays game in Toronto, and then travel another 500 miles to an island Jim owns on Lake Chapleau. You have to take a boat seven miles to get there,and I've never been there before, so it should be interesting.On the way back,we'll be picking up my 14 year old niece Erika from camp.
I just heard the Dolce Heritage Hotel in Southbury,CT where I've been playing most Saturdays for two years is being sold, so we'll see what develops (or de-develops) from that...
Next tour to England tentatively scheduled for January, 2007.
All Star Game July 11th, 2006 Wille here, listening to the All Star game in the background-looks like the National League may finally win one again. I've had a very busy summer so far, and thankfully, it looks to continue that way. I'm hoping to get back to England and Switzerland before too long (not to mention getting back to the Channel Islands), but I have a great hotel gig every Saturday At the Dolce Heritage(1/2 mile from whre i live) and i don't want to leave my "loyal locals" too often either. Anyway, I'm thankful to be so busy. Got my picture in the Waterbury Republican-American yesterday with two Democratic mayors playing tambourine with us on "This Land is Your Land" . Please keep checking the website and I'll try to log in a little more often. Two run triple by Michael Young-maybe i was wrong about the National League.
Happy 16th birthday to my oldest (and taller than me) nephew, Victor-a loyal Red Sox fan in face of legions of Westchester County Yankee supporters at his school. Another independent Nininger.
2-10-05 - If you got a chance to listen to the radio show on the radio or on the web, hope you enjoyed it.
12-23-04 - From time to time I hope to have the chance to add a little something here to let you know about anything that's going on that I think you might want to know about. We'll see how it goes. Just got this site up this week so there is a lot to do before concentrating on this little diary but I'll get to it eventually. Hope you enjoy the site. Contact me with any ideas, suggestions or complaints.
Happy Holidays, Willie
12-22-04 - appeared this past Sunday morning with Christine Lavin on WFUV's City Folk show. We each played our own contributions to the Winter's Night CD. Then I joined Christine for a New York show later that evening. Fun day.
Earlier News -
Willie appeared at the Bottom Line in New York as part of the Dave Van Ronk tribute concerts. Joining David Bromberg, Suzanne Vega, Christine Lavin, Tom Paxton, Odetta, and a host of others, Willie performed his children's classic, "I'm Proud to be a Moose", which Dave had recorded. Dave's version appears on two of his own albums and many children's compilation records. A live recording of Willie doing the song is on Willie's Almost Home CD and also appears on the Fast Folk Live at the Bottom Line 1986 Album. You can order the Fast Folk CD from the Folkways website Fast Folk section or click here to purchase a copy of Almost Home.
The concert capped a celebration of the life and work of Dave Van Ronk across the U.S. In addition to the Bottom Line shows, the Mayor of New York proclaimed the day Dave Van Ronk day in the city and folk performers across the country paid special tribute to Dave Van Ronk's genuis in their own shows. Proceeds from the Bottom Line shows were used to produce a CD of Dave's last performance which is now in competition for a Grammy at this year's awards in the Traditional Folk category! The album is called ...And The Tin Pan Bended, And The Story Ended... and is available to purchase or listen to samples by clicking here. (this isn't some sort of advertisement for Amazon.com but they are just an easy and pretty comprehensive way to link to sound samples).
Hi everybody. This is Willie checking in on October 8th, 2005 from Southbury, Connecticut. I hope you've been enjoying the website (as I have). Up till now, 99 per cent of what you've seen here has been due to the efforts of my long-time friend and sometimes singing and playing partner, Ross Dolloff. Thank you, Ross. I've been promising to take a more active part in the website, and this little blurb is a small, first step. Please continue to let us know what you like and don't like about the website. In this case, bad news is better than no news.
Thankfully, my performing schedule is pretty darn full through the end of the year-partially thanks to the Olive Tree, Dolce Heritage Hotel and Nick's Country Kitchen continuing to employ me on a regular basis. In 2006, I hope to get back to England,the Channel Islands and Switzerland also.
