a note from newark, new jersey

ciao ragazzi,
well, i'm in transit again. the man who checked me in this morning at DFW said he used to be a musician but he just got tired of living out of a suitcase. but "oh, the music," he said with a wistful look in his eye. "oh, the music was fun."

and those are my sentiments exactly. i can't say i'm enjoying lugging around these massively heavy bags while i'm here on a layover, but i will say that oh, the music was such fun, and for now i think my back will hold up long enough for me to run around the globe playing my songs.

my last experience at this airport was less than ideal - see my first blog entry for a recap of the disaster that was my last trip to italy. today, however, has been sunny skies and friendly faces everywhere i look. there were about 20 people on my flight here (read: 3 seats to myself, which is good, since i went to bed at 5:20 this morning and woke up at 6:30, mainly because i didn't start packing until about 2 in the morning). once i got here to newark, i encountered super-friendly TSA agents, a singing customer service man (he answered people's questions in opera) and a man who worked for Continental who carried my guitar halfway through the airport and offered to change my ticket from London directly to Milan (which I would have taken gladly, could I have). And so now I'm here, twiddling my thumbs until the next flight to London (please, let me have 3 seats again). In London I'll be on the ground for way too long - 6 hours - then a flight to Pisa - then 3 hours of train rides to home. Whew. It's going to be a long couple of days.

As opposed to these last few weeks, which absolutely flew by. The band and I had so much fun on this tour, due in large part to so many of you who came out to our shows and cheered us on. My drummer said yesterday, "and what will I do without fajitas?" which to me translates as a successful trip. Target got Lord only knows how much business from my band - I took them on the first day and I'm sure we went back no fewer than 10 times in the three weeks they were here. The Target billboard "slurp for less" became a staple of our conversation (who knows why), along with the now infamous "enjoy your cows," as provided by the Chick-fil-a worker in Lufkin, Texas who said as much with a smile as she handed us our stuffed cows with our value meals.

And the shows were fantastic. Thank you to everyone who came out. We had great crowds in some of the places we least expected, and we played some amazing venues with wonderful owners, like Revolutions in Bryan and Ole Moulton Bank in Moulton. Thanks to everyone who bought the new CD - please let me know how you are enjoying it! You can post a review on the guestbook of my site, if you like, or on my CD Baby page. There are also some entertaining articles to be found online in the Bryan/College Station Eagle and the A&M paper, the Battalion.

Okay, that's all for now - my time here is almost up - another plane awaits - and please let the movie be decent...

More to come from Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy.
a presto,
Vanessa

to buy Thin Thread:
http://www.cdbaby.com/vanessapeters2
or email me directly at info@vanessapeters.com and you can pay by credit card (through Paypal) or by check.

the next album cover...shot on location in Keatchie, Louisiana... 

Here we are in Uvalde, Texas at a gun and liquor store. Shouldn't that be illegal? 

The Lone Star Saloon in Uvalde, Texas. 

our Houston show at the fabulous Dan Electro's Guitar Bar in Houston. THANK YOU to all my Houston fans for making this show so much fun!! 

Our first show at Poor David's Pub in Dallas, Texas. 

The boys again, celebrating the joy of the free refill (not available in Italy!) 

Juri (the bassist) and Alberto (the drummer), modeling their vanessapeters.com shirts at Wild About Harry's in Dallas, home of the best darn hot dog south of Chicago! 

briefest of updates

ciao!
i'm sorry i've disappeared into a black hole! i can't remember the last time i was so busy. between being sick, playing shows, driving all over texas, and trying to pack for italy, i haven't had a spare second to gather my thoughts. so i can assure you this post will be completely incoherent.

the guys and i are on the home stretch of the tour, and we've had so much fun. from a real texas dance hall in uvalde, texas to a great listening room in dallas, texas to a smoky dive in shreveport, louisiana, we've managed to play every type of venue imaginable. we've eaten darn fine bbq, hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, and everything other good ol' american food item i could find. we've had incredibly great crowds, a lovely show on KPFT in Houston, and nothing but kindness around every corner. Thanks to everyone who has housed us in these last few weeks - we are entirely indebted to your couches, beds, and floors.

The new album, Thin Thread, is selling really well and I am so happy with how it turned out. My friend Summer did a fabulous job designing it and I couldn't be more pleased. My friend Aaron did an equally amazing job with the t-shirts, stickers, and buttons, as you can see in one of the photos with my drummer and bassist.

We're about to head out the door to College Station for a show tomorrow, so this will have to be it for now. Until next time, enjoy your cows. (I'll explain that one on the next post).
all my best to each of you and thanks for your support. ;)
vanessa

3 cheers for efficiency and customer service!

Hello dearest lovely people,
Random plug: if you ever need stickers, posters, postcards, or t-shirts printed, I cannot more highly recommend Jakprints.com. Their customer service reps are super-friendly, and I love all of the stuff they did for me. I came home to a big ol' box of t-shirts, just waiting to be worn by you. :)
www.jakprints.com
that is all. Happy weekend!
vanessa

a fond farewell to a friend (that friend being 2004)

hello,
i have been meaning to catch up for a while now, and so what is about to follow will just be a random collection of badly-linked thoughts. i apologize in advance for that and give you a free skip-class-pass, should you choose to do so.

it snowed here last week (or was it 2 weeks ago?). i haven't seen snow, much less driven in it, in years. i went outside in the snow and took pictures in my pajamas. good times.

i've been taking the train to work in the mornings. i love saying that - taking the train to work. i suppose it's not really a train - it's the DART light rail - but it feels oh-so-much like a train (only cleaner) and it does run on tracks. that's enough for me. i don't have to fight an hour and a half of traffic (each way) to get to work in downtown Dallas, and i have time to read (Paula, by Isabel Allende) or knit, which is the perfect way to assure no one will try to talk to you on the train, even though no one does anyway - it's like what john hannah says to gywneth paltrow in "sliding doors" about no one talking to each other on the tube because everyone thinks everyone else is some kind of nutcase or psychopath. i promise that if you have knitting needles in hand and a scarf in progress, people will definitely think you are a nutcase.

i read "confessions of an ugly stepsister" last week (or was it the week before? time, time, slipping away...). it was actually, in some ways, better than "wicked" (both are written by gregory maguire). next i'll be moving on to "fast food nation" and "the art of travel." oh, the joys of getting books for christmas.

last but by far not least, the wait for the new album is almost over! THIN THREAD will be released online on Tuesday, January 11th and will be in stores in Houston, Austin, and Dallas the following week. it was a mad dash to get the artwork and the mastering done in time, but thanks to the kind folks at Crystal Clear Sound here in Dallas, all has worked out in the end, as it nearly always does.

so with that, i leave you in peace. 2004 was such a strange year. i don't even know how to characterize it, good bad or otherwise. my life has altered beyond recognition from how it was on january 1 of 2004. i no longer know where i call home. i have zero idea what city, country, or state i will find myself in in six months, and no way of even guessing. but at least i still have my guitar, my voice, my thoughts, and my desire to keep pushing and trying to attain ... what? recognition? fame? not really. i guess all i really want is just enough security to keep doing this for a while longer, if this is what i am meant to do. thanks for the part you play in making that dream a reality.

happy 2005!
vanessa

tsunami databases

hi there,
someone (not sure who) asked me to post these links....these are the databases i used to search for my friends...i make no claims as to their accuracy, but they seem legit to me. i think they only cover folks missing from thailand.
best of luck and my prayers are with you.
vanessa

http://www.phuketitcity.com/

http://203.113.86.240/phuket/listbycountry.php