We hope our first newsletter since last summer finds everyone doing well and making time to go out and enjoy live music. We got to see Scarlet Rivera, violinist of Bob Dylan's Desire fame last week. Dan had met her in his early 20s when she recorded on a demo Dan was doing with Columbia Records. It felt like a full circle moment for him to see her again after so many years, and wonderful for us to sit in the audience for a change, taking in all that inspiration.
After a busy 2019, we've been off the road since November, resting up and re-imagining our individual and collective dreams and goals. It's also been a wonderfully productive time.
Dan recorded and released several new solo albums this winter, including his 60th (!!) solo album released just today. After some past success with having his songs featured in movies, and the hundreds of additional songs he's written and recorded since then, Dan's hoping to foster more connections in the film industry this year and open up his extensive catalogue to the possibility of more of these types of opportunities. It's a bit daunting and hard to know where to start, but as they say, "every journey starts with a single step." Check out, listen, and download his wide ranging releases featuring all original material here https://officialramblingdanfrechette.bandcamp.com/music
Dan's also been entertaining around the California Central Coast, performing frequently at private events, local venues, and as a guest musician in a few bands, as well as teaching a variety of local and Skype students on guitar, ukulele, harmonica, banjo, and a few of the other instruments he plays. Learn more at https://www.danfrechette.com
This year marks Laurel's 24th year teaching the violin and viola, and her 11th year working primarily with students scattered all around the world who take their private lessons with her via Skype. She continues to enjoy the unique challenges each student brings to the table and besides reaching a wider audience through the online courses she's published and the occasional Strings magazine article or blog post, she hopes to combine her touring and performing with more opportunities to also share her love for teaching and her expertise at more music camps and workshops. Learn more about what Laurel's doing at https://www.laurelthomsen.com
This month eases us into our 2020 touring, with a return to Southern California this week, and a Santa Cruz area Valentine's themed show also featuring another musical couple - Amanda West & Pete Solomon, coming up on February 15th. The rest of this year will include: a return to Oregon in April; touring in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Manitoba in May; more California dates this summer; EUROPE in September; and a Western Canada "Home Routes" tour in November. In March 2020, Dan will be touring the Canadian Prairies, his first solo tour since 2014. Please check our upcoming dates here https://www.danandlaurel.ca/Tour/, and Dan's March tour dates in Canada here. We hope to see some of you soon!
Speaking of touring, we are always booking ahead and are currently filling in a few more dates for 2020 and looking ahead to 2021. Please contact us if you or someone you know would like to host us for a house concert or have a venue or festival to recommend. If you're not sure what a house concert is or how to host one, we're happy to answer your questions. You can also check out the information we've put together here: https://www.danandlaurel.ca/Booking/ Finally, thanks to a wonderful producer and music advocate, Doug Young (also a phenomenal guitarist!), last Fall we were able to record a TV spot featuring our music for KMVT in Mountain View, California, and we're excited to share one of the songs featured in that session with you! It's an oldie (for Dan anyway), but one of our favorite songs to perform off our 2018 album "Driving By Candlelight." It's a magical moment when a song just falls in your lap, and in the case of this one, it also turned out to be rather prophetic. Scroll back in the video to hear the humorous backstory, otherwise, just enjoy "New York City Sundance."
A few other new videos, including one featuring the formidable Jeremy Rusu joining us on electric accordion (aka honky-tonk piano, bass, drums, horns, etc.), can be found here: https://danandlaurel.ca/Video/
We're honored to share our music with you and seeing your smiling faces in our audiences makes us feel that all is right with the world. Thank you all so much for your continued support!!
