time for an update?

Jan 1, 2008 - May 1, 2008 - 55 shows in 4 countries
Aug 1, 2007 - May 1, 2008 - 110 shows in 8 countries

I've been very busy.

I've been meaning to write a blog for months now. It's not that no interesting things have happened - quite the contrary. But in the last 9 months, I've been in England, Ireland, America, Holland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, America, Italy, Norway, Italy, America, Italy, Holland, and Italy again (in that order) and I am just worn out.

I have come to love airports in some sick way - they feel kind of like home. I know airports very well. Some of them (Schipol) I love dearly. Some of them (Charles de Gaulle) should never have been built. Some of them (Heathrow), I'm terrified of having to visit one day. Some airlines - Continental and KLM and British - have earned my undying affection. Some - RyanAir - have earned something very close to contempt.

I have come to like wandering around airport in a half-dazed, sleep-craving state. I kind of like setting up my computer and catching up on my expense reports while watching families struggle by with three kids and a trolley. It's kind of like having an office with a window on the world. I like to guess the stories behind the rumpled clothes, the bleary eyes, the 14 suitcases piled one on top of the other.

But I am getting off topic. I think I haven't blogged much in this last year because I was fortunate enough to not be touring solo so much. My friend Katie was an absolute gem and she accompanied me on what would have otherwise been a very soggy and solitary tour of the UK and Ireland in August. And from September on, I had Manuel with me for most of the tours. We were joined by Alex later. Then in Denmark (which I did write about), I had MC. In Norway, I had Terje. So I found that blogging suddenly became less necessary when I was in the company of others. I guess that when you are with someone else, you already have someone to laugh/cry/wonder about things with. When you are traveling solo, the blog becomes your travel companion, the person with whom you share all your crazy/funny/scary stories.

I'm little sad that I don't have a record of this last year. 110 shows in 9 months is a lot when you consider that I have a full-time job as well. I am actually a little surprised they still want me. But maybe one lazy day this summer I can sit down and try to reconstruct the twists and turns between Dublin and Amsterdam and Dallas and Oslo and Castiglion Fiorentino.

One thing that will be happening on these lazy summer days - songwriting! Because I'm in the process of finishing up the songs for our next album. Don't ask me what it will be called, because I haven't the foggiest. I keep turning things over in my mouth but nothing tastes right yet. I will say that I am very happy so far with how the songs are progressing, and especially with how the arrangements are coming.

We will be back in the States in September to start work on the record with Salim. I'm so glad that we'll be working with him again. I love everything that we did on Little Films with him, and I can't wait to start a new project.

So I guess that's all for now. As we record some rough demos this summer, I'll post a few tracks for you all to sample. In the meanwhile, I'm taking myself a mini-vacation (showing my mom around Italy for the next two weeks!) and then I promise I'll get right back to running all over the world again.

Thanks for listening to our songs. We love you.
a presto!
vanessa