official site - sam lardner

official site - sam lardner - newsletter http://samlardner.com/news.html sam lardner: newsletter Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:21:17 -0700 http://samlardner.com/news.html#39
Dear friends,

We have been at full sprint for the last month, and I wanted to take a very brief moment to bring you up to speed on a couple of cool things that are happening on the music front.

First, our independent distribution dream for “Oceans Are Talking” is coming true! Not only can you buy the CDs directly from us”¦ now you can buy them through our “Hero Organizations” and support their efforts directly. If you have not purchased a CD, please have a look at what they are doing at OCEANA and A SEA CHANGE and support either one of these fantastic organizations. At least $8 per CD will go directly to their cause!

DO THIS NOW, OR YOU WILL FORGET!

http://na.oceana.org/en/support-oceana/shop-oceana
http://www.aseachange.net/store.htm

Second, the fall calendar is filling fast, and we are really looking forward to revisiting some of our favorite haunts on the east coast as well as playing for the first time in years out west. Can’t wait! The concert schedule should be finalized by month’s end, but for those of you who can’t wait: http://www.samlardner.com/calendar.html. Don’t worry, New York and San Francisco dates are all but set and
will be announced in my next letter!

Finally, yes finally, I want to congratulate Spain for putting together an inspiring campaign for its first World Cup victory. Â¡Qué bonito, de verdad! I felt the USA deserved far better than it got, and I want to congratulate Bob Bradley and his team for putting up with a lot of injustice and never quitting on any of us!

There will be lots more news in the coming weeks. I have never felt better about the power of music. Thanks for your support, and I look forward to seeing many of you out there this fall!

Always,

Sam
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JUNE 8 2010: OCEAN'S ARE TALKING TODAY!

Hi everybody!

Hope all is well! We are very tired but very excited to announce the official release of "Oceans Are Talking" on World Oceans Day!

Below is the News Release that is being issued worldwide through an amazing network of NGO's, official listservs and, last but not least, our own friends and fans. You can a difference in this project just by spreading the word!

With our hearts and minds focused on the Gulf of Mexico, we wish you lots of love on this great day! Right Now For The Oceans!

Always,

Sam
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Sam Lardner’s Oceans Are Talking released today, June 8th, World Oceans Day

Washington, DC
June 8, 2010

Oceans Are Talking and we need to listen! Oceans Are Talking is about exploding oilrigs, over-fishing, polluted habitat, carbon emissions overload, ocean acidification”¦and it all adds up to an uncertain future. We need to listen, RIGHT NOW for the oceans!

Oceans are Talking is a musical call-to-action to get kids excited about saving our seas. It’s a way to teach kids ages 5-13 and their families about the most critical issues facing the world’s oceans, and it’s all happening thanks to The Ocean Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Oceans activist, Ann Luskey, has teamed up with performer, Sam Lardner, to craft this foot-stomping call to action. The music will be available on CD through CDBaby as well as through a team of NGO distributors including National Geographic, OCEANA, Whaleman Foundation, WildAid and A Sea Change. Downloads will be available on over 50 digital platforms. Nationally syndicated cartoonist, Jim Toomey of “Sherman’s Lagoon” says, “The oceans finally have a voice, and it’s Sam Lardner. It’s rare to hear children’s music that I can actually sing in the shower. Now, I find myself showering more often.”

Lardner dedicates the first Oceans Are Talking single, titled “Blue Planet” to the life work of oceanographer Sylvia Earle and her renowned TED PRIZE project, Mission Blue. The track features guest performances by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary and long time world music and environmental champion, Paul Winter.

On June 8th Lardner launches the “Blue Planet” video which is being promoted by a professional and grassroots network of environmentally driven organizations including Participant Media, NRDC, VIMS and The Ocean Project.

Oceans Are Talking makes children the stars of a global effort to bring critical changes to help save the oceans:

* Oceans Are Talking concerts turn children everywhere into the heart and soul of each live performance!

* Video Contest: In July, Oceans Are Talking launches its worldwide video contest. Each month, a $500 Apple Store Gift Card is awarded to the person who produces the best video for the selected song.

* Song Contest: In August, Oceans Are Talking also launches its worldwide “Song 15 Contest”. To win, participants must produce the project’s 15th song. The winner will receive a $1000 Apple Store gift certificate AND gets to be included in Lardner’s recording and production of the track in December of 2010.

All profits from concerts, CD sales, and digital download sales will be distributed to oceans conservation, outreach and advocacy “Hero Organizations” at the discretion of Oceans Are Talking president, Ann Luskey.

All songs and lyrics are available for review at www.oceansaretalking.org
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MAY 12 2010: A VIRTUAL RELEASE!

Dear friends!

Greetings from Barcelona, where there is much afoot on the music front. You may remember that today was to be release day for “Oceans Are Talking”. As I am a man of my word, it shall be so! However, it will be a different sort of release for a variety of very happy reasons.

The release of the physical CD will actually occur on June 8th to coincide with World Oceans Day. Many of the organizations we will be celebrating and supporting thought that this was a good idea, and so do I. This is especially true because I have been blessed by the late-breaking intervention of two world-class artists on the project’s standout single “Blue Planet”. This track has been a special one from the beginning, but when Noel Paul Stookey and Paul Winter offered to add a bit of their magic to lift the song to a higher place, I was truly moved.

The sequence of the whole thing was amazing and made me feel like the musical world is headed in a great direction: I sent Noel an mp3 of the song while he was out performing in Ojai, CA. His response was “Wow, that’s a winner. I am really hearing a Paul Winter sax solo on this one” (How do you respond to that?). “Uh, wow, ok”¦” After creating and singing an excellent backing vocal for the track, Noel then passed the song on via Internet to Japan where Paul was putting the finishing touches on his latest project. Anyone who has ever been in the “finishing touches” stage of a recording will know how difficult it is to put everything aside and focus on a last-minute request, even if it is from dear old friend. Still, Paul, who has dedicated much of his musical energy over the years to environmental concerns (including entire projects composed to whale songs) really nailed his performance. Amazing. He sent his saxophone tracks back to Noel, who by this time was performing in Hong Kong. Noel edited the saxophone tracks and sent them back to us in Barcelona to be included in the new master. So “Blue Planet” has already been around the world at least once by my calculations. Very cool.

So how am I going to “release” the CD today? Very simple. I’d like you to go check in on the beta version of the new website: www.oceansaretalking.org

There you will find all of the songs with lyrics for your listening pleasure. The only thing you will not find is the version of “Blue Planet” with Noel and Paul’s performances. For that delight you will have to wait for the physical CD release on June 8th! I’m saving the best for last!

In the old days, this kind of madness would be considered commercial suicide. However, these are not the old days, and you are my loyal fans. I am thrilled to let you in on this little secret and enjoy these songs. Please tune your kids into these ASAP, as they will be the ultimate judges on this one!

Your feedback on the site and the songs is welcome, and I look forward to hearing how we can make this project better together!

I’ll be back soon with more news on the Coast-to-Coast tour as well as some interesting info on the “Hero Organizations” we are currently working with to try and get this message out to millions.

Take care, have fun, and enjoy “Oceans Are Talking”. Today is a very excellent day!

Always,

Sam
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APRIL 2010: OCEANS ARE TALKING RELEASE DATE!

Dear friends,

Last Sunday was one of those days where two unrelated things conspired to create a reason to write. It was one of the first warm days in early spring with high blue skies, the kind that make flowers and buds pop out everywhere and prompt everyone to throw open the windows and air their lives out. For some reason, I had the time and space to be able to take a nap on the couch in the sun with the living room window open. You know, first fresh air nap of the season. One of my kids had a soccer game, one was at the skate park, and the others were at the movies”¦ I had also just received some long-awaited news about the definitive, final, no-going-back release date of the “Oceans Are Talking” CD.

Before I get to this excellent music news, though, you have to hear about the unrelated and goofy events of Friday and Saturday. The weekend had begun with the annual San Sebastian Veteran’s Hockey Tournament in the Basque Country. This tournament, famous for it’s totally unspectacular sport value yet amazing culinary benefits, is held annually at the height of Holy Week and attended by old timers from the 6 hockey teams that make up the little known Spanish hockey league. To give you an idea of the organizing committee’s priorities, Barcelona’s first three games were held Friday night at 12:45 am, 1:30 am, and 3:00 am. This programming was meant to allow time for arrivals from distant points and also a “quick dinner”. Our carload’s quick dinner (4 pax) commenced with a fresh garden salad with French lettuce, white asparagus, black olives, baby onions, ripe green tomatoes and local-caught anchovies. We washed this down with the first training beverage of the night, a sparkling young white TxakolÃ from the hills near San Sebastian. For our second course, we shared a 1.5-kilo Besugo, or Sea Bream, which is possibly the finest white-flakey fish I have ever tasted anywhere. The Basques cook these local beauties over a grill and serve them in a light mixture of olive oil, sautéed garlic, parsley and cider vinegar. More TxakolÃ, of course. Then we rounded our quick dinner off by sharing a 2-kilo ox steak, cut about 3 inches thick and fast-seared over coals to a barely medium rare doneness. This we accompanied with the second training beverage of the night, a full-bodied Ribeira de Duero called “Protos”, 1999 Reserve. Since we were, after all, there to play hockey, we limited ourselves to a homemade crÃ¨me brulee for dessert, and capped it all off with a double espresso.

Our arrival at the Txuri Urdin Ice Pavilion was a joyous occasion. We greeted fellow teammates and rivals alike with spirited handshakes, hugging and backslapping, all comparing our respective training meals and agreeing that this was already “the best tournament ever”. The Barcelona veterans shared a locker room with the veterans from Pamplona, whom we were scheduled to play in the evening’s first game. The level of hilarity in the locker room was eclipsed only by that of the warm up, which featured much falling down and getting back up.

The competition produced the typical upsets and surprises, but somehow the guys from Madrid managed to keep it all together and win their first 3 games. At the end of the night (4:30 am), the weary teams walked back to the Amara Palace Hotel for a well-deserved power rest before retaking the ice for the final games on Saturday afternoon. These final games were disputed without incident or injury and ended just in time for a nap and the final awards dinner at the world-famous Basque eating society, Gaztelubide.

Though I can’t tell you the order in which all the teams finished (other than the cheaters from Madrid with their 5-0 record), I can tell you that the eating was memorable. In a typical Basque eating society, the men do the cooking, and the women (when invited) sit back and enjoy. We opened the dinner with fresh bread, country pate and magnums of ViÃ±a Real, a standard old fashioned Rioja that is a great pairing for just about anything. Next we were served deliciously runny scrambled eggs with local wild mushrooms and oceanside rosemary seasoning. The salad that accompanied the scramble was simple: romaine lettuce with sliced onions and a cider vinaigrette. Then came the Basque favorite: pan-stewed calamari in its own ink with lots of homemade bread to soak up the abundant black sauce. Roll up the sleeves! For kickers, and in order to justify the non-quitting magnums of ViÃ±a Real, we were once again treated to monstrous ox steaks seasoned only with Malden sea salt. Dessert featured light puff pastries covered with super fine confectioner’s sugar that sent many of the rookie old timers into sneezing fits when they took that fateful inhale in anticipation of their first bite. This sparked more hilarity and a new type of backslapping that actually resembled first aid for choking victims. Really, we are talking the best hockey tournament ever. The time just sort of evaporated. Then, as Hemingway might have put it, “We returned to the hotel. It was 4:30 again. We slept hard without dreams”.

So, back to Barcelona and my nap on the couch in the sun with the window open. It was now Sunday, and my body was an aching mess due to the 5-hour return trip in the car on top of all that falling down, getting back up, and little or no sleep for the previous 48 hours. But none of that mattered because in my computer’s inbox was a series of emails confirming that my “Oceans Are Talking” CD will be released in early May through a partnership with the Ocean Foundation in Washington DC. The lesson here, apparently, is to do all kinds of totally unrelated things to distract yourself from the real issues until, one day, everything comes together as you doze off on your couch.

The Ocean Foundation specializes in providing funding and 501(c)3 status to promising projects related to the oceans, and their support will allow us to do some pretty special things over the next two years. Most importantly, I will be traveling around the United States and Europe with my band to perform 200 outreach and awareness concerts in 2010/2011. These concerts will be geared to children from 5 to 13 and their families. Ocean Foundation studies show that this age group has the greatest potential to influence within their households on the major issues facing the oceans, and make no mistake, we’re talking to parents and grandparents as much as we’re talking to kids. These concerts will celebrate the challenges we will all have to confront in the coming years, and they will do so in a fun and highly interactive way. I really can’t wait to get out there and make some noise.

I will be sending out an update every ten days prior to the release in order to keep you abreast of some potential last-minute guest performances on the CD as well as the progress of the videos we are producing to support the songs. The CD is being presented this week during the TED Mission Blue Voyage to the Galapagos Islands, and many wonderful people and organizations are mobilizing to support this release. I promise that all of you will receive a free sneak preview single in late April as thanks for your loyalty and support over the years. It’s good stuff, it’s important, and you are going to love it.

I am already booking the October and November tours. So please do not hesitate to let me know of any schools, community organizations or other groups that would like to host an “Oceans Are Talking” concert. Many of you have already suggested venues (why are you Boston people always one step ahead of me?), and it’s fun to start putting the routing together. West coasters get ready. I’m finally coming back out there!

I’ll be back in touch in 10 days or so. Until then, take care, stay well, and do plenty of random unrelated things!

Always,

Sam
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DECEMBER 2009: LETTER FROM HOPENHAGEN

Hi everybody,

Greetings from Copenhagen, a city that, though under heavy siege by the United Nations Climate Change Conference, is actually maintaining its elegant composure and going about the traditional celebration of the Christmas season in typical Danish style.

My letter begins, as is often the case, on the plane ride from Barcelona to Copenhagen. Contrary to my assumption that the trip would be overbooked with people trying to save the planet, I was pretty surprised to share the flight with only 28 people, all of whom looked like tired Danes anxious to sleep off their Barcelona all-nighters. Of course, there is a reason for everything, as I was later relieved to be seated in an empty row when my yoghurt burst open like a shaken soda and splattered my shirt, pants, face and all neighboring seats with raspberry colored spots. Confirmed: if your ears are bothering you, the cabin pressure is not right. “This sometimes happens on empty flights”, the flight attendant explained to me apologetically as I nervously peeled open my replacement yoghurt under the tray in front of me. So, Sam arrives to COP15 covered with yoghurt spots from head to toe. Excellent start.

I was greeted at the airport on Friday evening by good friend, Kim Loudrup, and whisked to the relative safety of a Viking Christmas Dinner (capital letters are no accident). I have been to five of these now, and I am afraid I am not at liberty (or able) to report on this subject in any detail. Let it suffice to say that, in the land that lays claim to Santa Claus, they put a pretty hefty spin on yuletide cheer. Enter with extreme caution.

Yesterday, I (slowly) walked the streets of downtown Copenhagen amidst warnings of 100,000-person demonstrations and with helicopters overhead at all times. Riot police stood at strategic street corners, and crowd control vehicles sat parked discreetly in alleys and corners of the main squares. However, aside from the amazing number of people walking around with HD cameras and tripods waiting for some amazing thing to happen, it all seemed pretty much like a typical Saturday in Copenhagen. I later saw reports of disturbances by young anarchist groups that resulted in 989 arrests. Must not have been any football matches to ruin. The rest of the protesters had, by all accounts, a great day and felt that they had made their cases known in a peaceful and constructive way. Favorite banner: “There is no Planet B”.

Denmark is a remarkable country that, according to everything I was ever taught during my school days, should not work. Imagine paying 180% tax on your new car, the price of which is already inflated. I walked into the Apple store in Kongens Nytorv and was amazed at the brisk business they were enjoying thanks to their shiny new iMacs, iBooks and Nanos, all conveniently priced at 100% more than US prices. Smiling happy people handing over their money. I’m not kidding, and I will offer nothing more than the innocent observation that there must be something in the health care, social security and high average salaries that makes it all worthwhile. Go figure.

One of my reasons for coming to “Hopenhagen” was to meet up with the folks from “A Sea Change” who were featuring their documentary in three different venues around Denmark during the Conference. I continue to be amazed by their efforts, and if you haven’t yet seen the movie, now’s a really good time: www.aseachange.net . One of the final songs on my “Oceans Are Talking” CD will be dedicated to their cause, and it was excellent to meet their outreach team in person. I feel they present their case in just the right tone to succeed and inspire, and I have done my best to match that tone in all the songs of this fun project that will come out early next year. One very excellent piece of news is that Noel Paul Stookey has very generously offered his help in executive producing “Oceans Are Talking”, and he has already helped me a great deal in honing the message and the melodies of these songs in order to bring families together and celebrate the challenges we will all have to face very soon. Many thanks to all of you who continue to send me links and contacts related to what we are doing. And many, many thanks to Ann Luskey of Washington, DC, who is the heart, soul and chief motivator of this music. It has been a very rewarding project so far, and I can’t wait to release it in early 2010.

I’d better take this opportunity to wish everybody an excellent holiday season as the big dates approach. These are tricky times, but take it from a guy who is surrounded by people from at least 192 countries all basically headed in the same direction and trying to work together in a peaceful way. When you are in the middle of this, it feels like it can work, despite all the squabbling that is happening at the political level. Celebrate like Vikings with your family and friends (it works), and know that from where this correspondent stands, Copenhagen is already a success. Period.

Take care, and keep the good things happening.

Always,

Sam
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AUGUST 2009: THE SEVENTH INNING STRETCH

Hi everybody,

I am loving these last few weeks of August. They always seem to provide such a welcome seventh inning stretch. Most of the calendar year is behind us, and yet there is such a wonderful sense that new beginnings and changes are upon us: new beginnings at school and at work, and along with these the first evidence of the slow and inevitable entry into fall and winter.

This year, my family and I were lucky enough to make it back to Maine, and during the last few days I have been observing a maple tree with one prematurely turned branch of red leaves that is hanging down over a small brook outside our window. Today is the fifth scorcher in a row, but change is on the way. One day soon, we’ll wake up to a snap in the air and a very different energy altogether. That branch will start to make sense.

On the Costa Brava in northern Catalonia, friends are beginning to comment on the occasional evening Tramontana, a northern wind that will eventually blow daily throughout the winter months, making the beaches and rocky coves an impossible proposal until late next spring. The Spanish summer is still in full swing, but thoughts are beginning to turn to the inevitable reentry into full-speed, raging life.

Looking back from this seventh inning stretch has been particularly enjoyable this year. My “Best of Both Worlds” tour with Pedro Hermosilla was as an enjoyable musical experience as I can remember. It was great to see so many of you out there this time around, and we truly felt your energy at every show. As Pedro’s new album will be released in a few weeks in Spain, and I am not sure when we will next be able to enjoy his presence on U.S. stages. I expect his release and national tour to be very successful, and I know I speak for all of us when I wish him all the luck in the world from this side of the Atlantic.

I am also very excited at the prospects for the “Oceans Are Talking” project, which took up most of my time this spring and is now receiving a lot of positive attention from a very broad variety of artists, record labels and NGOs who share a growing concern for the welfare of our oceans. I expect to have excellent news on the release of “Oceans Are Talking” when I write you next. If you are interested in discovering why this is becoming a central part of what I will be doing for the foreseeable future, I highly encourage you to see an extremely well produced movie on the subject called, “A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish” (www.aseachange.net). That way, you don’t have to take my word on it. The film strikes an excellent balance between scaring the you-know-what out of you and providing hopeful solutions that are well within our reach if we act NOW.

Finally, I want to send my thoughts out to Noel Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow who will be celebrating their nearly 50-year collaboration and dear friendship with Mary Travers this weekend at Wolftrap in Vienna, VA. Mary is unable perform due to the lingering effects of her treatment for cancer, and this concert will doubtlessly require them to draw on every ounce of energy, experience and magic they can muster. Peter took the time to come to our show in New York last month, and Noel has been extremely generous in his guidance with “Oceans Are Talking” this summer in Maine. Together with Mary, they are among the finest people in the business, and I want to congratulate and thank them all for their music, inspiration and love over the past 5 decades.

Wherever you are, please enjoy this seventh inning stretch. Sit back this weekend, listen to some Peter, Paul & Mary, and make the most of what's left of summer.

Always,

Sam

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MAY 2009: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Hi everybody,

I hope this e-mail finds you happy and well wherever you are. Barcelona is still in full celebration mode after FC Barcelona's European Cup victory over Manchester United on Wednersday night. The victory capped a picture-perfect season in which Barcelona won the Spanish league title, the Spanish King's Cup and the European Champions Cup. The legenday "Triplete". Hundreds of thousands of delirious fans have been filling the streets for the past two nights in attempts to keep the good feelings going. Sociologists and psychologists might attribute this ongoing bender to the attempt to escape the sadder underlying reality of the times. And they would probably be right. Spanish businesses closing at a record rate. 20% unemployment and climbing. But for now, let the party rage...."We are the champions" with a slightly hollow ring...

My good friend Pedro Hermosilla and I are planning our own version of the great escape, and I thought it would be timely to let you know what's up. We are fine tuning a duo act called, "The Best of Both Worlds", in which we will both celebrate and explore each others' music for the benefit of anyone who needs a boost of energy, light and good vibration. Pedro and I have collaborated on lots of songs over the years. Many of you will recognize him as the co-author of "Me He Perdido", and others have had the pleasure of seeing him during his years with me in the Barcelona Band.

We are throwing together a summer swing of New England, and the first two shows are confirmed:

July 23, 6:30 pm The Living Room New York, NY

July 26, 8:00 pm Club Helsinki Great Barrington, MA

Please mark them on your calendar, and stay tuned for more details in the next two weeks.

We are very excited about this new show, and we look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible during this tour.

As always, if there is a new venue in your area that we do not know about, please contact us. We count on you as our eyes and ears! We will be in the states from July 21st through August 2nd, and we will continue to announce shows as they are confirmed!

Finish the school year strong, and we look forward to seeing you out there this summer!

Always,

Sam
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APRIL 2009: ROMANCE CONQUERS ALL

Dear friends,

Yesterday Barcelona celebrated the day of Sant Jordi, the annual street party of books and roses. It was perfect spring day, and business was literally brought to a standstill downtown by the throng of people stealing a few hours (or the whole day) to join in the festivities of what has become Catalunya’s favorite unofficial holiday and the ultimate excuse to play hooky. This year, there were many doubts as to whether giddy romance could overcome the deepening crisis funk we are all living through. However, the statistics say it all. According to my favorite local radio talk show “Freakando Matinee”, Catalans spent 20 million euros on books and 6 million euros on roses yesterday, outscoring last year’s overall effort by 2.5 million euros. That’s a bunch of love!
As I did in 2007, I will defer to George Semler, the leading North American expert on Catalunya and, coincidentally, my father-in-law to explain what this day is all about. His Sant Jordi article, published a few years back in Sky Magazine, pretty much says it all. Thanks, George, for letting me share this with everybody.
Before that, though, I want to thank all of you who bombarded me with suggestions, links and articles for the “Oceans Are Talking” CD. I have learned a ton, and your input and energy have made this the most enjoyable project I’ve ever undertaken. That being said, we also have some major cleaning up to do out there. So I hope this project will be a small part of a giant collective effort to make a difference while we still have a chance.
The final lineup of characters is as follows:
1. A dolphin and a seagull philosophizing about life
2. Two seals wondering where all the fish have gone
3. A contaminated clam
4. Sharks asking for a break from just about everyone
5. A greenback turtle in search of a clean beach
6. Some tuna trying to navigate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
7. A blue whale family that is generally tired and bummed out
8. Some very small krill wondering why it all depends on them
9. An entire coral reef generally up in arms
10. A manatee imploring speedboat cowboys to back off the gas

Thank you for your help. You are the best, and I look forward to getting this CD out in the next couple of months!
And now, for George Semler’s article on Sant Jordi. Enjoy, and see you soon.
Always,
Sam
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La Diada de Sant Jordi: Barcelona’s Lovers’ Day
Barcelona’s best day? Easy. April 23---St. George’s Day, La Diada de Sant Jordi, Barcelona’s Valentine’s day---a day when kissometer readings go off the charts, a day so sweet and playful, so goofy and romantic, that 7 million Catalans go giddy from dawn to dusk.
Patron saint of Catalonia, international knight-errant St. George allegedly slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful princess south of Barcelona. From the dragon’s blood sprouted a rosebush, from which the hero plucked the prettiest blossom for the princess. Hence, the traditional Rose Festival celebrated in Barcelona since the Middle Ages to honor chivalry and romantic love, a day for men and mice alike to give their true loves roses. In 1923, the lovers’ fest merged with International Book Day to mark the anniversary of the all-but-simultaneous April 23, 1616 deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare.
More than 4 million roses and half a million books are sold in Catalonia on Sant Jordi’s Day, men giving their inamoratas roses and the ladies living books in return. Bookstalls run the length of the Rambla, and although it’s usually an official workday, nearly all of Barcelona manages to play hooky and wander. In the city, St. George is everywhere, beginning on the facade of the Catalonian seat of government, the Generalitat. Art Nouveau master Eusebi Arnau sculpted Sant Jordi skewering the unlucky dragon on the facade of the Casa Amatller as well as on the corner of Els Quatre Gats café, while GaudÃ dedicated an entire house, Casa BatllÃ³, to the Sant Jordi theme with the cross of the saint implanted in the scaly roof and the bones of the dragon’s victims framing the windows of the main facade.
A Roman soldier martyrized for his Christian beliefs in the 4th century, St. George is one of the most venerated of all saints, patron of England, Greece, and Romania, among other places. Associated with springtime and fertility, Sant Jordi roses include a spike of wheat and a little red and yellow senyera, the Catalonian flag. And the books? There’s the Shakespeare and Cervantes anniversary, and Barcelona is the publishing capital of the Spanish-speaking world. Language and love have, in any case, always been closely associated, to the point that contemporary evolutionary psychologists identify the cerebral cortex as both the erotic and linguistic center of the human brain...and don’t affairs of the heart inevitably lead to exchanges of letters, books, poetry?
In Barcelona and all of Catalonia, Sant Jordi’s Day erupts joyfully. The spring air is sweet and filled with promise. Lovers are everywhere. There is a 24-hour reading of Don Quixote. Authors come to bookstalls all over town to sign books (...and being an author and a Jordi on this day of days is all but a license to steal). In SarriÃ , floral artisan Flora Miserachs displays 45 kinds of roses representing 45 different kinds of love, from impossible to unrequited to filial and maternal. The sardana dance is reverently performed in PlaÃ§a Sant Jaume, while the Generalitat, its patio filled with roses, opens its doors to the public. Choral groups sing love songs in resonant corners of the Gothic Quarter as jazz combos play in PlaÃ§a del Pi. The Rambla is solid humanity from the Diagonal to the Mediterranean, 2 miles of truants basking in the warmth of spring and romance. Rare is the roseless woman on the streets of Barcelona, schoolgirls to avias (grandmothers) aglow with bashful smiles.
By midnight, the Rambla, once a watercourse, is again awash with flower water and covered with rose clippings and tiny red-and-yellow—striped ribbons with diminutive letters spelling “Sant Jordi”---“Diada de la Rosa” (Day of the Rose)---“t’estimo” (I love you).
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MARCH 2009: OCEANS ARE TALKING

Dear Friends,

I have enjoyed the many responses to my “crisis” recipes in the last newsletter, and I thank you for the recipes you have sent me in return. Kate Magram’s authentic Stone Soup recipe was the hands-down winner in the budget category, while Henry Winslow’s Fried Chicken Skin Sandwich on Toasted Wonder Bread with Mayo and Red Wine Vinegar won the “tempting-but-not-quite-ready-for-that-one” prize.

Like most of you, I haven’t had much time to stop, reflect and report on what is going on these days. This may be a year (or more) of scrambling to keep up, but there are fun and hopeful things afoot. First, I have just finished the co-production of an outstanding project by the Danish Indie band, Zididada. I have mentioned this group before, and I really think they are on the verge of doing something very big on the international scene. This project, a collection of their best songs over the last ten years, is full of positive energy, great melodic pop tunes, and excellent vibrations. It is currently being mixed and mastered in London under the expert supervision of Gary Wallis, drummer for Pink Floyd, Mike & the Mechanics and (yes, it’s true) Spinal Tap as well as Musical Director of Il Divo and Tom Jones. The CD should be released later this spring, and I’ll be sure to alert you when that wonderful event happens.

As the Zididada story unfolds in London, I am currently writing and producing a CD for children that is dedicated to saving the world’s oceans and its creatures through a series of 1st person songs meant to communicate a specific problem or plight and enlighten children and their parents as to the possible solutions. The challenge of this project is huge, but I am having a great time working through the concept in the studio with my band and a number of local songwriters who are 100% behind the effort. Since the Mediterranean has more problems than most, this project hits them quite close to home.

I promised before Christmas to include you in this effort. So here goes: If you know of a specific marine creature that you or your kids think would be a good “spokesanimal” for a given ecological issue or environment, now is the time to give me your ideas. So far, we have songs by a homesick baby grey whale, a greenback turtle whose patience is running out and a clam that is tired of living in contaminated water. I know, it sounds grim, but I promise to make it a celebration of what we all need to know and do to face the challenge of saving the seven seas. Thanks in advance for your help in this. Judging from the variety of your recipes in December, your input will definitely make a difference!

Nothing else! Back to the scramble. I wish you all hope, strength, love and even some old-fashioned luck until I can write again.

Always,

Sam

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DECEMBER 2008: THREE RECIPES AND A BARGAIN

Dear Friends,

I am writing today because, at the rate time is currently passing, one more harmless day of procrastination and I’ll be writing you in mid January wondering where the Holidays went.

I now have confirmations from just about every owner of every establishment I frequent in Barcelona that there is a true crisis out there and that it will be a different season for just about everyone. In a humble attempt to ease the pain, I offer you three recipes and a bargain.

First, the recipes. These are 3 of my favorites that have gotten me and my family through a number of tight stretches over the years. They are simple, inexpensive and awesome! Enjoy!

1) Sam’s Heartwarming Garlic Soup (feeds 6)

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

-yesterday’s stale bread
-6 whole cloves of garlic, peeled with love
-Â½ cup of olive oil
-1 table spoon of mild red pepper
-2 quarts of water
-salt to taste

Start bringing your water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a deep pan, sauté the garlic cloves in olive oil until they turn golden brown. Lower the heat and add the bread in small chunks. Stir it all up until things look good enough to eat, and then add red pepper and salt to taste. Keep stirring and don’t let the mixture burn at this point! Add boiling water to the pan and let it all cook for 5 minutes. Serve immediately! (For extra credit, add raw eggs one at a time to the boiling deliciousness, and serve 1 egg per person in the final mix — killer!).

2) Sam’s Bodacious Lentil Stew (feeds 6)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 pounds of pre-cooked lentils
- Â½ pound of hard spicy sausage
- Â½ pound of blood sausage (if available)
- 2 medium onions, peeled and diced with affection
- 1 can of plain tomato sauce
- Â½ cup of olive oil
- 1 head of garlic, peeled with love (see garlic soup)
- Â½ cup of sweet red pepper
- Â½ cup of red wine (the drier the better)
- 8 black peppercorns
- salt to taste

In a deep pan, sauté the onions and garlic cloves in olive oil until they become soft and golden. Then add hard spicy sausage and blood sausage until things start to look good enough to devour. Next add tomato sauce, wine, black peppercorns and lentils, and stir like crazy. Salt to taste, and then reduce heat. Allow the lentils to stew for at least 30 minutes. 2 hours is better, and 6 hours on super low heat is, well, I can’t actually say it here.

3) Sam’s Outrageous Roasted Chicken (feeds 6 plus)

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: /-40 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 whole chickens
- way too many onions, peeled and quartered
- more cloves of garlic than you might think necessary, peeled with love
- massive amounts of chopped green peppers
- some dry white wine
- some olive oil
- some rosemary
- some salt

Preheat oven to whatever you think is good and hot. Peel and chop onions into quarters. Peel garlic cloves. Chop green peppers into medium chunks. Sauté onions, garlic and green peppers in olive oil until everything begins to soften up. Pour entire sautéed loveliness into a huge baking dish to form a bed of awesomeness. Lay chickens, breast-side down, in the bed of awesomeness and anoint with white wine and rosemary. Throw some salt around, according to taste. Roast these babies for about 30 minutes, then turn them breast side up for the last 10 minutes. This sends the moisture into the white meat and then sort of sizzle-seals it so the “normal” top of the chicken is golden brown yet wickedly tender. BE CAREFUL WHEN TURNING THE CHICKENS! THEY ARE ATOMICALLY HOT! Serve all main course portions with too much of everything, and follow it all with a cleansing green salad with super light dressing.

WARNING: ALL THREE OF THESE DISHES ARE BEST SERVED AT LUNCHTIME ON A WEEKEND WHERE LONG NAPS CAN OCCUR SHORTLY THEREAFTER. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD THEY BE SERVED THE NIGHT BEFORE THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES: CHURCH; POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS; LONG CAR RIDES; DISSERTATIONS. APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES AFTER SUCH MEALS INCLUDE LONG SOLITARY WALKS NEAR RUSHING STREAMS, LONG SOLITARY BIKE RIDES THROUGH URBAN CENTERS, AND — BEST OF ALL — LONG SOLITARY PARACHUTE JUMPS INTO WILDERNESS AREAS.

And NOW, last but not least, THE BARGAIN: For those of you who want to remember friends and family in a special way without going broke this year, I am setting the price for my “Barcelona” CD at $10 per copy until December 15th. After that, they will go back to regular price of $16.99. If you are interested, do this NOW or you will forget! I happen to know that you are very busy: http://cdbaby.com/cd/samlardner3 .

Take care, much love, and have a happy holiday season!

Always,

Sam
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NOVEMBER 2008: THANKSGIVING MUSINGS

Dear Friends,

The Christmas lights have been thrown on in the streets of Barcelona, proving that commercial hope springs eternal amidst the gloom of the current money crisis. The skies have been crystal clear for a week, and temperatures have dipped into the high 30’s at night. This is considered “freezing” by the thin-blooded citizens of Barcelona, and yet there is a certain amount of excitement out there as the season’s first winter fashion opportunity allows people to don their lined leather jackets and exotic fur coats. In a place where outdoor lunching takes place on balmy afternoons all winter long, you have to take advantage of the cold days when you can.

This year’s cold snap has actually prompted more nostalgic musings about Thanksgiving than usual. I love Thanksgiving. Aside from providing the only guaranteed 4-day weekend on the American work calendar, it is also a strange sort of high water mark in the year. At least it was for me during my student days. It marked the end of fall foliage season and the entrance into the dark days of winter, the end of soccer season and the long-awaited first ice in the hockey rink, the first official return home for massive family feasting and football comas in front of the TV. Later, when I was a prep school teacher, some senior colleagues (who shall remain nameless) would actually joke that Thanksgiving was the unofficial end of the school year. The logic was twisted but attractive. After Thanksgiving break, there were only two weeks of legitimate work left until Christmas break. Then, by the time students were back on stride in January, long winter weekend would hit. After that, spring break was just an abbreviated February away. Fort Lauderdale here we come! And nobody ever does anything but goof off during the entire spring term. Year over. Hence, the birth of a tradition: the Unofficial Year End Faculty Thanksgiving Party in November of 1988. The UYEFTP was quickly declared an itinerant event due to the havoc unleashed on the hosting campus during the first edition. Fueled by its own goofy premise, it released a cathartic explosion of backed up teacher energy that made New Year’s Eve look like a tea party. Ah, my teaching years.

Over the years we have had some memorable Thanksgiving celebrations in Barcelona. One year, in an attempt to provide us with an authentic tasting feast, my father-in-law loaded his carry-on suitcase with two wild turkeys he had shot in Connecticut before leaving for Spain. I don’t know what the customs people in New York and Barcelona were on that day, but we plucked the miraculous birds shortly after arrival and ate them with a zeal only matched by the original famished pilgrims. Another great Thanksgiving feast was conjured up by my good friend, Julio Puertolas, and his lovely wife, Anika Larsson. Stricken with a Mediterranean strain of Last-Thursday-Of-November Fever, Anika decided to play around with the idea and serve the meanest (and perhaps only) dinner of Peking Turkey the world has ever seen. Things getting a bit old in your household? Looking for a way to put some jump back into Thanksgiving? Just give this one a whirl! This year we will actually adhere to a more standard version of the family turkey tradition, albeit on Sunday, as even the generous Spanish holiday calendar does not include days off for descendents of pilgrims or the Native Americans who saved their very white butts from starvation.

Some of you have written to ask why I didn’t come back with the band this fall, and I thank you for your concern. The decision to stay put this year was driven partially by the state of the dollar (which has recently shown renewed signs of life) but mostly by a couple of opportunities here in Europe that seemed worth pursuing. The first was the chance to help produce a fantastic CD by the very successful Danish band, ZIDIDADA. The project is titled Sunshine Revolution, and it is the most upbeat, positive and powerful group of songs I have heard in a very long time. The band is riding a very tangible wave of hope here in Europe after our recent elections, and I think the timing of this CD could not be better. I will keep you posted as to the release date, but our intentions are to introduce this band to the rest of the world in 2009. It should be very fun.

This winter I will also be composing songs for a children’s CD. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and my kids will not let me rest until it happens. In my next newsletter I will fill you in on the details of this project, as I will be asking all of you for suggestions, snippets and vignettes that might help me enrich the songs.

Finally, I have joined the latest paradigm shift in social networking and opened a fan page in Facebook. It’s a great communication tool, and I am fairly certain that most of my future correspondence will happen there. Therefore, if you are up and running in Facebook or even considering the idea, please join my fan page by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sam-Lardner/41383569240
I promise not to abandon traditional e-mail anytime soon, but “the times, they are a changing”.

Take care, have fun, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Always,

Sam

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OCTOBER 2008: THE TEARS OF SANTA EULALIA

Dear friends,

The Fiestas de Barcelona have just ended, and the Fiestas de SarriÃ have begun. Yowsa! One of the great benefits of living in a thousand-year-old town within a two thousand-year-old city in Catalonia is that there is no shortage of traditional fiestas. The Fiestas de Barcelona, or La Mercé, is a 10-day event featuring over 600 concerts, numerous firework displays and a dizzying list of cultural offerings all over town. The fiestas are held in honor of the Virgen de la Merced who became the patron saint of Barcelona in 1687 after Santa Eulalia, patron saint of Barcelona for the 1400 years prior to that date, was unable to stave off a locust plague from her vantage point in the heavens. What a world! Not even patron saints have total job security.

Betrayed saints do hold grudges, though. September is prone to rain in Barcelona, and this year’s Mercé was rainiest of the dozen I have experienced since moving here. Any rains that fall during La Mercé are commonly called with great local irony, the “Tears of Santa Eulalia”, shed from on high by the forever-embittered former first lady of Barcelona. Significant rains mean the cancellation or postponements of many events, most of which are scheduled out of doors, and most of which are free to the public. The result can be an administrative, economic and organizational nightmare, not to mention the bummer of missing a cool concert.

The fact is, though, Eulalia has a right to be bitter. The martyrdom of this 13-year old girl at the hands of the Romans at the end of the 3rd century is truly one for the record books. To quote George Semler in his great book, Barcelona Walks:

“Santa Eulalia became a fervent Christian to protest the corruption of the Roman Empire. When the Roman emperor Diocletian decreed in the latter part of the third century that Christians were to be persecuted, Eulalia reported to Decius, the local authority. Decius demanded that she worship Roman gods, to which Eulalia responded by throwing a handful of sand at the altar. For this she was imprisoned and subjected to thirteen progressively crueler martyrdoms: she was whipped; her flesh was torn with hooks; hot coals were applied to her feet and breasts; her wounds were treated with salt; she was scalded with boiling oil, sprinkled with molten lead, thrown into a vat of lye, rolled thirteen times down the hill now named for her in a cask of broken glass; she was thrown into a corral filled with ravenous fleas and then driven naked around town in a cart pulled by oxen. After each ordeal Santa Eulalia is reported to have slowly shaken her head, faith intact. The twelfth ordeal was the attempt by the Roman consul’s son to seduce Eulalia and convince her to recant; she remained unpersuaded. Her final ordeal was crucifixion outside the city walls in the PlaÃ§a del PedrÃ³. Today we can only hope that much of the story of Santa Eulalia is fictitious.”

Fictitious or not, “hell hath no fury”, and in the minds of many Barcelona citizens the Tears of Santa Eulalia are a gentle reminder of their failure to honor a promise.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, a curious discussion is taking place among the members of the North American Folk Alliance regarding the use of political messages in music and live performances. The Alliance is a fantastic forum for artists, presenters and other people related to the world of American folk music, and for many years it has been the guiding light in the direction, promotion and survival of folk music nationwide. This most recent flurry of discussion has been truly remarkable, though. The debate surrounds the appropriateness of politics in music and whether and when artists should risk offending or marginalizing part of their audience to express a political viewpoint during a show or in a recording. On one hand, artists who are trying to reach new audiences and expand their fan bases are concerned about losing people by politicizing their performances. On the other hand, many veteran artists are claiming that by clearly stating political positions, performers are more likely to gain larger and more loyal numbers of fans. The points on both sides are expressed with great tact and concern for all involved as active participants or as readers like myself, but I must say I am pretty amazed by where we are right now. Folk musicians scared of voicing their political opinions?

So with this debate raging, and only a month or so remaining until presidential election time, I am forced to do two things. First, I must honestly declare that I am not a “folk” musician in the American sense of the word. Like Russian poet and novelist Boris Pasternak, I guess I believe that each artist eventually creates the art that lies within. That art may, by nature, have nothing to do with politics. By nature and by very serious choice, my music does not have anything to do with politics, and so, well, I’m out.

That said, I will not wimp out on my friends in the Folk Alliance. In the spirit of democracy, free thought and healthy sharing of opinions, I will declare that I, who am neither a declared republican nor a democrat, am a 100% supporter of Barack Obama in these elections. He is the best presidential candidate I have seen in my lifetime by a mile. That he is black and has therefore prompted the McCain team to employ a “novelty” counterbalance in Sarah Palin is proof in my mind that, despite McCain’s noteworthy military and public career, the republican candidacy is a house of cards. That Obama is black, in addition to being a superior candidate, is important to me in that his election will bring closure to the first cycle of a process that has been grinding away throughout my entire lifetime: the fulfillment of Martin Luther King’s dream and, in direct relation, the validation of the American experiment started in 1776. I would like to emphasize the words “first cycle”.

I am sure that some of the people who have supported my career over the years and enjoy reading these letters from Barcelona will have things to say about that last paragraph. But I am also pretty sure that they are not going to drop off my mailing list. I am only one person and offer only one opinion on an issue that is important to all Americans. I welcome comments, quips and even razzing in this most important U.S. presidential election in my memory, not just for Americans but for the whole world.

Barcelona can live with the tears of Santa Eulalia and its broken promise to her. It’s only rain. But I’m not sure the U.S. can afford to continue hedging on its 232-year-old promise of democracy, freedom, progress and hope to the rest of the world.

Life, love and music to you all! Viva el debate!

Always,

Sam
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JUNE 2008: LETTER FROM KERRVILLE

Dear friends,

There are moments in all of our lives when we see things clearly: where we’ve been, where we are, and where we might be going if we’re lucky. While I am fortunate to know some very special people who spend most of their lives in this state of grace, I am not one of them. For me, it usually takes a confluence of people, place, good fortune and timing for the clouds to clear completely. This weekend at the Kerrville Folk Festival was one of those high blue-sky moments.

To begin with, the weather in Texas was hot, dry and relentlessly sunny. The last time I attended the festival (1995), it rained so hard that I remember feeling the water running under my tent at a couple of points during one sleepless night. This weekend, however, the evenings were perfect for concerts, and the nights cooled down just enough to make the occasional bonfire at Kerrville’s famous all night songsharing circles a welcome source of warmth, ambience and inspiration.

In its 37th year, Kerrville is an American musical legacy set in a gorgeous landscape of rolling grassy hills and trees about 60 miles north of San Antonio that actually reminded the band of the countryside near Tarragona to the south of Barcelona. The festival is an 18-day celebration of songwriting, performing, musical craftsmanship and basic peaceful coexistence presented by the elegant Dalis Allen and run by the most amazing army of volunteers I have ever met in my life. Many of the finest songwriters in North America make an annual pilgrimage to this musical Shangri-La, and a hand-carved sign at the festival entrance says it all: “Welcome Home”.

We were lucky enough to share the bill on Friday night with 4 other excellent acts. Scott Ainslee (Brattleboro, VT), Freebo (Los Angeles, CA), Slaid Cleaves (Austin, Texas) and Bob Schneider (Austin, Texas) all delivered very memorable performances, and we were moved by them to reach for something higher in our own show. We were also given a major boost by Noel Paul Stookey, who generously offered to introduce us and, in his own inimitable way, give us the wings we needed to make things easy and fun from the get-go. The fact is that there were so many things going on before, during and after our show, that I feel fortunate just to have played well and made a whole bunch of new friends happy. We were extremely touched to have Peter Yarrow come backstage and congratulate us after the concert on the eve of his 70th birthday. And it is actually to Peter Yarrow and Noel Stookey that I owe my moment of clarity, although it came 24 hours later during their performance on Saturday night.

I made certain to get a good seat under my favorite tree, close to the stage but far enough away to get a good sense of what was happening in the audience around me. I was also joined by new acquaintance and major talent, Sonia Rutstein, who has recently embarked on a solo path after years of successful music with Disappear Fear (www.disappearfear.com). Her new album “Tango” is a four-language (Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and English) gem that I have had playing in my iPod since she handed it to me the other night. Together with Sonia and her partner, Terry Irons, we watched the evening build through a moving solo performance by Noel, a typically rousing/poignant/hysterical duo set by Peter and Noel, a remarkable performance by vocalist Bethany Yarrow and cellist/guitarist Rufus Capadoccia, and finally the moment I had apparently been waiting for, the grand finale.

In a gesture that only two grand masters of the stage would dare to make, Noel and Peter rejoined Bethany and Rufus and invited all willing children from the festival ranks to get up on stage and sing “Puff The Magic Dragon”. About 25 kids, ages 3-10, swarmed the stage in a soundman’s worst nightmare, squiggling around among the microphones, speakers and cables and getting in prime position to sing their hearts out. Noel and Paul managed the chaos brilliantly, capitalizing on the natural charm of missed notes and invented lyrics from the mouths of their impromptu choir of angels and quite thoroughly and completely bringing the house down. During the last chorus, I looked around the crowd and was quite certain that EVERYONE in sight was singing along — some with tears in their eyes, others laughing, others arm-in-arm - no one unmoved.

And that was it. Through the hills and valleys of my own personal and musical landscape there suddenly appeared a very coherent path that had led me directly to this moment, and I was so grateful to be there. On that path next to me were two new traveling companions, Sonia and Terry, thanks to whom I was richer for sharing the moment. And before me was a clear and perfect example of how we can complete the circle of our lives and enrich the people around us, young and old, by celebrating ourselves and whatever it is we have been given to contribute to making the world a better place — at whatever level.

So my thanks go out to Dalis Allen, Rod Kennedy, Noel Stookey, Peter Yarrow, Annie Wentz, Sonia Rutstein, Terry Irons and the Kerrville Folk Festival for conspiring, some of them unknowingly, to give me that moment. The band and I cannot wait to get to the New York shows this week, and after a short few weeks in Spain this June, we’ll be back in New England for some summer action. Please check http://www.samlardner.com/calendar.html for those shows, and let us know if there’s somewhere near you where we should be playing.

Have fun and “hasta pronto”!

Always,

Sam
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MARCH 2008: "HIBERNATION"

Wikipedia: “Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernation conserves energy, especially during winter. Hibernation may last several days, or weeks depending on species, ambient temperature, and time of year. The typical winter season for a hibernator is characterized by periods of hibernation interrupted by sporadic euthermic arousals wherein body temperature is restored to typical values”.

Well that about sums it up, folks. I can’t explain in any other way where February went. While I haven’t been in total hibernation, I have definitely been doing my fair share of sleep walking and driving. I’m pretty sure my kids got to school and back everyday, but beyond that it’s all pretty murky and vague.

Spring has arrived to Barcelona with a burst of color, light and energy, and yesterday I awoke from my hibernation in the strangest of ways. I was playing in the courtyard behind our apartment with my youngest son, Oliver, who is 3. He was given a new bicycle for Christmas and, like me, has spent the last few months going round and round on his training wheels, singing and not really paying a whole lot of attention to anything. But yesterday he stopped his bike and said, “That’s a nice tree, Dad”. And indeed, I saw that the almond tree in the garden next door was in full, white-blossomed bloom. Then he asked, “Can I take the little wheels off?”

“Well, sure, I guess so”, I said, “are you ready?”

“Yes, it’s time”, he answered.

I think most people can remember their first time up on a two-wheeler, and I can certainly remember that Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico back in 1968 when my father ran me up and down our street yelling, “Peddle, peddle, keep peddling!” until I suddenly found that amazing balance point that for the rest of our lives we all take so much for granted. And what better advice to give a child than, “Keep peddling!”. I remember that moment as clearly as any other from my childhood and more lucidly than most from my adulthood. It’s amazing how many other people say the same thing about that first ride on a bike.

Of course, I was almost 5. Oliver is still 3, and as I removed the training wheels from his bike, it did occur to me that, were he to pull this off, he might not remember it as an adult. Was I to be forever denied that amazing “best supporting actor” role in one of the biggest scenes of his childhood? Oh well. As I feared, it took him about 7 loops in the courtyard with my help before he yelled, “Let go, let go!” and was off. I sat down on the bench to watch this tiny kid go round and round, cursing myself for not owning a video camera, when suddenly I heard the oh-so-familiar and unmistakable sound of someone from the window above the garden trying to play “Stairway to Heaven”.

Oh, the agony of the thousand different ways to get that little guitar riff wrong! Nostalgia day for Sam! I was instantly transported back to my bedroom in Weston, Connecticut, where I sat for weeks in the winter of 1979 gripping the life out of my new Guild acoustic 6-string, trying to get that little riff right while singing that haunting rock ballad that would become the nightmare of guitar teachers around the globe.
I must say that the kid upstairs, a girl from the timbre of her voice, was doing a pretty fair job of getting through both the guitar work and the lyrics. I was having all kinds of nice happy thoughts about my childhood and how nice it was to be sitting in a courtyard with Barcelona in full bloom under a blue sky watching my impossibly small son do his first laps ever on a bicycle when it finally came: the moment of my awakening and the end of my hibernation. You all know that part of the song that I’m talking about. It’s the part we all waited for whether we were playing it or listening to it at a keg party. The moment where the mother of all rock ballads blows wide open into full majesty, and we are sure that rock and roll will rule the world forever”¦.

DA NA NA, DA NA NA, DA NA NA - NA NA!

”¦.and THEN we really find out who can play bar chords and who can’t, as the song jams out in it’s pounding 3-chord finale that ends with Robert Plant’s immortal line”¦

“Hend she’s buuuuying, a staaaaiirway to heavuun”.

What a song.

So I snapped out of it, and thanks to Oliver, an almond tree, and a singing girl who shall forever remain faceless, I am back with you.

First, I am very, very happy to announce that we have been invited to play at the Kerrville Folk festival in Texas on May 30th. The band is completely jazzed, and we are really looking forward to contributing to one of the greatest music events anywhere. We will probably play a show or two in Atlanta on the way down as well as a series of shows in the New York area on the way back. Our thanks go out to Noel Paul Stookey and Annie Wenz for helping make the Kerrville dream come true for us! Stay tuned for shows in your area as they materialize!

We will also be barnstorming the East Coast in July and August, with confirmed shows in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine. So keep an eye on the calendar, and hope to see you very soon!

Finally, the results of the 2008 network sales challenge for the Barcelona CD are in! There are actually two winners! First place goes to Ann Luskey of McLean, VA, with a grand total of 51 CDs to her name. Ann will receive a free concert in the venue of her choice on one of our 3 trips to the USA this year. Congratulations and thanks, Ann!

Second place and a very honorable mention goes to Susan Brandt of Boston, MA, whom we very luckily met at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival last summer. Susan actually purchased 30 CDs from us and has sold all but 4 in her local coffee shop. Take that, Starbucks! I am currently working out the prize for honorable mention, but I have a feeling we may be doing an impromptu show in a certain coffee shop in Boston this summer.

I hope all of you are well and that, wherever you are, spring is in the air. It’s great to be in touch with you again, and we are all looking forward to some great musi]]> http://samlardner.com/news.html#39 official site - sam lardner - newsletter