Lost Songs feature track: "Brand New Laces (Same Old Shoes)"

 

I'm excited to have Rebecca Lynch and Barry Singer as guests on my latest CD Lost Songs. Here's Becky singing (and Barry playing) "Brand New Laces (Same Old Shoes)," a song I wrote when Becky and I were college students together at Occidental and performed as the acoustic duo Tres Bien. Barry and I played together in the '80s band Loose Ties, so it's fun to reunite and rediscover some Lost Songs!

Meet Podokey, the new Massachusetts State Dinosaur!

 

Massachusetts has a new state dinosaur! Discovered in 1910 in Holyoke by Mignon Talbot, Podokesaurus was the first dino species discovered and named by a woman. I thought it needed a theme song, so here you go - a video 200 million years in the making!

Thanks to the dino crew - filmers Chris Legare, Wayne Martin, and William Smith, editor Chris Constantine, and all the participating junior dinos.

More on the real Podokesaurus at https://statedino.org/

'Lost Songs' Debuts at #13 on National Folk-DJ Airplay Chart!

Thanks to all the DJs who are playing my new CD Lost Songs, which is at lucky #13 on the current (February) Folk-DJ airplay chart. I'm especially proud that 15 of the album's 16 tracks have been aired. I am also #14 'Most Played Artist', tied with, um, Bob Dylan, Susan Werner and Canadian artist Maria Dunn. There's lots of great, relevant music on the chart so it's an honor to be included. Thanks for listening and please support on-air folk music! More on the CD at terrykitchen.com

NEW TERRY KITCHEN CD 'LOST SONGS'!

 

2020 was a tough year for all of us. While I was trapped at home, I rediscovered a number of songs I'd written along the way that hadn't fit onto whatever album I was working on at the time. Some were silly, some were serious, but they seemed to fit the absurd lockdown moment we were collectively sharing. So I recorded them, along with some brand new songs, and the result is Lost Songs, a collection of 16 songs spanning years, moods and genres but that somehow all celebrate surviving 2020.

Despite covid limitations, the album features some great guest musicians, many recorded on my backyard patio. Players include Jackie Damsky (violin), Norman Zocher (pedal steel), and, from my '80s band Loose Ties, Barry Singer on piano and saxophone. Singers include Sarah Telford, Deede Bergeron, Brian Middleton and, notably, Rebecca Lynch, my singing partner from my Occidental College years, who takes the lead on "Brand New Laces (Same Old Shoes." The songs range from bluegrass to '60s folk-rock to acoustic swing, and there's even a polka. There's some social commentary ("Nickel Bag," about white privilege), some love songs ("Here's to Us") and almost-love songs ("She Never Looks Out the Window"), nostalgia ("Thirty-One Flavors") and anti-nostalgia ("Ex-Girlfriend Weekend." I had a blast recording it, and hope you enjoy it as well.

The physical CD is available at my website, and it's available to download/stream at iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. There's also a video of the opening track "Opposite Day" up on youtube. Thanks for listening and I hope it helps get you through 2021!

New Terry Kitchen Short Story Collection - Coping Mechanisms !

     Every once and a while, I hear a voice that doesn't really fit into the verses and chorus of a song, but I listen anyway and jot down what I hear. Here are ten stories, each about a character trying to navigate life's curves and pitfalls as best they can (as are we all). The stories are all relatively short, more snapshots than fully developed three-act movies, so I've collected them into an ebook, Coping Mechanisms, that's available (cheap!) from Amazon. Hope you enjoy them, and if so, bonus points if you get to post a short review. Stay safe and happy reading!
https://www.amazon.com/Coping-Mechanisms-Stories-Terry-Kitchen-ebook/dp/B087QVFP6T/ref=sr_1_1?crid=38FC6NKGODFKH&dchild=1&keywords=terry+kitchen+coping+mechanisms&qid=1588961399&sprefix=terry+kitchen+coping%2Caps%2C247&sr=8-1

Next Time We Meet debuts at #5 on national Folk-DJ chart!

     I hope that you and yours are safe and healthy in this complex time. On the good news front, I'm happy to say that my new CD Next Time We Meet is #5 on the new Folk-DJ chart, which tracks airplay on folk stations across the US, Canada, and beyond. "Party on the Roof" from the CD is tied for #4 on the song chart, and my take on the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" is #11. I'm also tied at #5 on the artist chart with the late great songwriter David Olney, which is an honor in itself. Thanks to all the great singers and musicians who contributed to the CD, and to all the DJs and programmers who are playing it. You can find out more about the album at terrykitchen.com. Stay safe and happy listening! 

Next Time We Meet - new CD!

Back when I was in 10th grade in Findlay, Ohio, I met an aspiring singer named Bill Kuhlman (in blue above). I was an aspiring guitarist so we decided to form a band. We ended up moving to Boston together in a van full of dreams and guitars. We had a lot of fun but never quite made it big, and stayed friends (in some ways better friends) long after the band broke up. A few years ago Bill found out he had cancer and decided to make the most of his time here, however long it might be. He spent time with friends and family, got to see his daughter start college, and we even fit in one more Loose Ties show, at a Findlay High School reunion. Bill spent his last few weeks in hospice care, with a parade of loved ones around him sharing stories - we actually got told, repeatedly, to keep it down since we were laughing so much.

I've spent the year since his passing thinking about Bill, and people he affected, and the world in general, and the result is my new album Next Time We Meet. I had some talented people help me - vocalists Mara Levine, Amy Malkoff, Deede Bergeron and Rebecca Lynch; instrumentalists Bob Harris (mandolin), Jackie Damsky (violin), Roger Williams (Dobro) and my Loose Ties bandmates Brice Buchanan and Chris Peeler. (I even play Bill's bass guitar  on the title track.) In addition to my own songs, there's a cover of "Norwegian Wood" since we spent many happy hours in Bill's basement listening to the Fab 4 and trying to figure out what made them so good.

If there's a lesson in all this, in the album and the experiences that made it, it would be "no regrets" - that we never know what's coming, so we better live, and love, each day as it's here.

Next time we meet...

New Terry Kitchen Album Rubies in the Dust Now Online!

I'm celebrating 2019 with Rubies in the Dust, a new collection of fun covers, live tracks, hard-to-find tracks, and collaborations with some of my favorite singers and musicians. Guests include Barbara Kessler, Rebecca Lynch, Annie Raines, Jackie Damsky, Amy Malkoff, Lucy Martinez, Sarah Telford, and Brice Buchanan and Barry Singer from my '80s band Loose Ties. It's available as a download or stream from iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and CDBaby. There's a cappella Beach Boys, acoustic Rolling Stones, solo takes of "Life Is Hard Enough" and "Heaven Here on Earth," and a few tracks nobody's heard other than my cat... Hope you enjoy it, and have a great 2019!

RIP Bill "Fabulous" Kuhlman

My friends and I have been pretty lucky over the years, with the passage of time and all the changes it can bring. We've said goodbye to parents, and favorite pets, but never one of our own. That changed earlier this month, when we lost our friend Bill Kuhlman to cancer. My best friend from high school, we founded Loose Ties together with drummer Chris Peeler, and moved to Boston en masse from Ohio in the early '80s to make it big (still waiting...). We broke up as a band in the late '80s, but stayed friends and saw each other for Red Sox games, Easter Egg hunts, and the occasional reunion show, most recently at our 2016 Findlay High School reunion when Bill was already diagnosed. Here's a clip of Bill singing his signature version of "Heard It Through the Grapevine" with Loose Ties circa 1987 set to some favorite pix. Hope you enjoy it - we certainly had fun playing it, and all the other tunes, but mostly we had fun just hanging out, bouncing Monty Python quotes off each other, and watching, and participating in, the parade that is life. Too soon gone, Bill Fabulous. Til we meet again.

The Quiet Places CD Release Concert Saturday March 10 in Framingham

On Saturday evening March 10 I'll be celebrating the release of my new CD The Quiet Places with a concert at Amazing Things Arts Center, 160 Hollis St., Framingham. I'll have a full band of guests from the CD including Rebecca Lynch, Deede Bergeron, Bob Vivona, John Coffey, and Brice Buchanan and Barry Singer from my '80s band Loose Ties. Also performing will be Mark Stepakoff, who has a new CD as well. The concert starts at 8 PM, and you can get tix here. The CD's already been played across the US and Canada, with the lead track "Enjoy It While It Lasts" reaching #8 on the national Folk-DJ airplay chart. The Quiet Places is available at www.terrykitchen.com, iTunes and Spotify and copies will be available at the show. Amazing Things is a great listening room, with free parking, a great sound system, snacks, and even an art gallery. It should be a great, one-of-a-kind evening so I hope you can make it!

Terry's "Over the Christmas Moon" on new Holiday Compilation CD!

I'm happy to say my song "Over the Christmas Moon" is included on the new Hudson Harding Happy Holidays! CD, alongside Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary), Tom Paxton, Mark Stepakoff, Phil Henry, Chris LaVancher and other talented artists. My song features Jackie Damsky on violin and closes the album. It's a promotional CD not officially for sale, BUT anyone who orders my new CD The Quiet Places or any of my other CDs (or my novel Next Big Thing) from my website between now and New Year's will get a free copy of the holiday CD!  Here's a preview of "Over the Christmas Moon." Happy holidays! (I should warn you that it's not exactly "Jingle Bells" - I'm always sensitive to the holidays being a hard time for people who don't fit in for one reason or another - which I bet is most of us...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UsA2Q0TVJ0

Nature's Way - the movie

My friend Karen Sauer did this very moving video for "Nature's Way" from my new CD The Quiet Places, hope it inspires you to do something nice for the planet. Thanks to Tim Casey for shooting the performance footage, and to Billy Carl Mancini for the claves!

I hope you're all safe and appreciating this beautiful autumn despite the sad events of the last few days. I have a new CD, The Quiet Places, which has some songs of peace and hope for these troubled times. The thread that runs through the album is that all the small ways we reach out and support each other add up, so individually and collectively it's important to keep doing the work we do to make the world a better place, even if it seems no one is noticing. I was lucky enough to have some talented friends on the CD, including singers Mara Levine, Amy Malkoff, Rebecca Lynch and Deede Bergeron, players Bob Harris (mandolin), Roger Williams (Dobro) and Sam Dechenne (trumpet), and Brice Buchanan, Barry Singer and Chris Peeler from my '80s band Loose Ties. In addition to my own songs, we do a version of the Spirit song "Nature's Way," because the state of the heart becomes irrelevant if we kill the planet first. I hope you enjoy it, and that you find some Quiet Places of your own.

EDITING FOR CLARITY

I was recently asked by the American Legion Neighborhoods Greenway Coalition to edit a letter urging people to comment on the Mayor's Imagine Boston 2030 plan. The original letter contained a lot of information, and links to other documents and organizations. My edited version (below) narrows the focus to what people can do right now to make an impact, mentions the two places in the plan most relevant to their cause, and the only link is to the plan. Click it and let the mayor know what you think!

Hi Neighbors,

The Mayor's Imagine Boston 2030 draft plan is out and American Legion Parkway is included! This plan will become the blueprint for our city, so it is vitally important our voices be heard now. Many voices from our neighborhood need to comment to ensure that American Legion Parkway improvements become a committed part of the plan.

Ten minutes of your time could make a huge difference in getting the city to allocate resources to upgrade our neighborhood’s quality of life, including traffic calming and other public health and safety issues, and "right-sized" development. The comment period may close soon, so please comment today!

To comment, please click the Imagine Boston 2030 Survey link below. There are two important places to mention American Legion Parkway:

Q3 Enhanced Neighborhoods - Protect American Legion Parkway’s green spaces and establish safe walking and bike paths so our neighborhood’s families may safely enjoy this beautiful and vital link in Boston’s extended Emerald Necklace.

Q9 Initiatives: Economy, Energy & the Environment, and Open Space - Recognize American Legion Parkway as the vital green link connecting Franklin Park with the neighborhoods of Roslindale, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Mount Hope and Jamaica Plain, and establish and maintain safe walking and bike paths and pedestrian crosswalks. Protect and enhance its green space by limiting development and cleaning up long-neglected roadside lands and waterways.

Here’s the link: https://surveyplanet.com/580537c1c18cdb234289836e

Thank you for caring about the neighborhood and city we all call home.

Best,
American Legion Neighborhoods Greenway Coalition 

My first letter to the new President

My first letter to the new President, sent via www.whitehouse.gov. I encourage you to let him know what's on your mind as well.

 

Dear President Trump,

Congratulations on winning the election, and I hope you will do your best for our country. As I read your An American First Energy Plan, I was disappointed to see no mention of solar, wind, and other renewable energy. As President, you are not just responsible for our country at this moment, you are also a steward for the future of our country and our planet. Please consider that since the beginning of the industrial revolution some three hundred years ago, we have used almost half of the planet's fossil fuels, fuels that it took the planet millions of years to produce. It may be tempting to continue to burn oil, coal and gas, but with our continued population growth the resulting pollution, greenhouse gases, and wear on the environment of burning fossil fuels will quickly outweigh any short-term economic benefits. Already, people in Beijing and Tokyo regularly wear masks because of air pollution. You mention lifting environmental restrictions, but please remember the acid rain of the 1970s which killed forests in the Adirondacks in your own state of New York before Clean Air laws were in place to limit pollution. I myself lived in Los Angeles from 1976 to 1981 and can attest to smog so thick it was impossible to see across a football field. Renewable energies such as solar and wind, which have no harmful emissions, are our best long-term solution. Luckily the cost of renewable energy has fallen to be competitive with fossil fuels, and in many cases (such as home solar collectors) can contribute without expensive infrastructure. I urge you and your administration to consider the best long-term interests of our country and planet, and to choose to promote and invest in renewable energies as the best way forward.

Respectfully,
Terry Kitchen