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~ News, Thoughts, Dreams
& Things
to Mention~
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Spring into Summer -
lilacs, welsh story songs, black bears, local gigs, all is well,
hummingbirds, garden, rocks, dna explorations, night birds....
May 2008
Awareness of Welsh Heritage is really growing these days. recently i became
a sponsor for the MadCeltFest in Madison, Wisconsin thanks to Mona at
the Cambrian Heritage Society. There are a lot of great sponsors - please
take a moment to check out their website ~
Cambrian Heritage Society of Madison, Wisconsin
Nanuk’s Igloo Custom Jewelry
My
daughter Rebecca (Becki) surprised me by creating a "Jodee
Necklace" with my favorite brown seed beads and copper color
crystals. Some get into the
hall of fame, some get a star named
after them and i get to be a necklace ~
Here is the commercial ;-) If you are looking for Celtic designs, bridal
jewelry or custom jewelry pieces to fit a variety of tastes, styles,
ages, and budgets - please check out her web store. i think you will be
happily surprised at all the great creations on there -
Nanuk's Iglo
Custom Jewelry
Here's a necklace Becki recently designed and donated to
the upcoming MadCeltFest for the Cambrian Heritage Society
of Madison, WI
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Happy 2008!
from Henry and me
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Suddenly
November 2007
Here it is autumn,
my beloved time of the year.
I've been lost in recording world -
While October brought me to Vermont just in time for the colors. i had
a lovely stay at the Bird House B & B in Poultney, VT while at
Green Mountain College - and so happy the college is reviving the Harvest
Fest, thanks to Kenneth, Art and Joanne and so many kind helpful people
there. Two of September's special highlights were the beautiful
Lancaster County, PA Mennonite children in the front row with their smiles
and bare feet. (Talk about bear feet - just the other day i practically
stumbled upon a new neighbor who was also checking out the red berries
behind the house here) and the Fredericksburg, VA Welsh Festival. As
always thank you to Moch Pryderi for their heart rendered work in
making it the wonderful event that it is.
Beth Phillips Brown & i at Poole Forge,
Narvon, PA - thank you
Yvonne for the photos ~
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February 2007 - Welcome Winter!
(And so tell me, where did half a year go????)
Well, i have
literally fallen way behind -
i've been mending from a broken arm/shoulder
and am just now starting to catch up on the website.
A giant
thankful to all those who have sent their kind good well wishes this way -
my love to you all.
Here's a picture of Henry and i :-)
Henry was part of the "flying fall" i had the end
of last summer.
Silly hound, he thought we could run as fast
as the truck going down the farm lane here,
only i couldn't seem to let go of the leash
in time before crashing into a big rock.
Mini 2007
Update
Hurray! i
began making a new recording -
i found quite a few songs in an old notebook of mine, mostly originals, that
i have been wanting to record for some time. i've added those to the list as well.
Jewelry, Jewelry, Jewelry!!! Nanuk's Igloo
If i can be
so bold, i'd like to mention my daughter
Becki's custom jewelry website -
Nanuk's Igloo
Custom
jewelry made especially for you -
including Celtic designs, dragonflies,
bridal jewelry and more
all bearing the bark of Nanuk...
(Nanuk is my grand dog :-)
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~ August 2006 ~
Behind & Special
Things
Well here i am, all fallen behind again with updates -
i'll be back with more news and adventure (festivals, house concert (thank
you Vinnie!) video,
pix of Celtic Sister's sudden Rt
95 highway-side concert, Welsh Heritage Week, etc.) i promise!
In the meanwhile, we have flipped the band a bit inside out and have become
Celtic
Sisters as well.
Lesl's Mike Rafferty Tune Book
For those of you who know
Lesl Harker
(past band member and good
friend) - her focus on Irish flute tunes has manifested into something
pretty special!
She has a book out:
300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty
Outside Merthyr - the road up to the Beacons
~ February,
2006 ~
Recent Visit to Wales
i'm catching up with all sorts of news here - the end of last month we took
an unexpected trip to Wales to see my mother in law who lives in Penydarren,
Merthyr Tydfil and is in the hospital with a broken hip. We hope to
return this summer to take her for a ride about - the Brecon Beacons sit so
close to Merthyr and though we spent most our time wanting just to visit
with her, we did take a couple rides nearby up to the Beacons - and got some
great pictures of the vast sky, the oak trees and mountains.
Cambria Magazine
There's mention of me in Nov/Dec 2005
Cambria
Magazine
(Wale's National Magazine) in an article on Welsh Music in America. A
heartfelt thank you to Bob Roser of Moch Pryderi for such kind words and to
Cambria Magazine itself.
Telling Our Stories
- Pennsylvania Humanities Council
Also catching up with this year's news -
Merched Madoc (Beth Phillips Brown and i) are now part
of the Commonwealth Speaker program through the Pennsylvania Humanities
Council with our program,
The
Welsh Dragon's Tongue
Indiegrrl
January 20th, 2006
Hey now lookie - i'm an
Indiegrrl
Performing Member and quite proud - what a super bunch and what a wealth of
support for women in the independent music industry.
Welsh Heritage Week
I'm over the moon - This year's Welsh Heritage Week (a week long course on
everything Welsh) is being held just a hop, skip and a jump from me in East
Stroudsburg
University,
Stroudsburg, PA
on
July 23 - 30.For
more info on
Welsh Heritage Week
2006-
www.welshheritageweek.org
Snow blowing through the fields by the house
Welcome 2006
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Happy 2006 Everyone!!!
Hope you had a wonderful holiday season
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November 2005
CD
Baby
Come one, come all!!!
My new CD, Two Shores is now available on CD Baby!!!
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jodeejames
Project Hope
Floats
I am honored to have my song, Titrwm Tatrwm, as part of a DVD
created for Safe Haven Project Hope Floats in Mesa, AZ. Its purpose
to raise awareness of laws passed in regard to the abandonment of newborn
babies - to encourage those in this desperate situation to turn over their
newborns to certain agencies without prosecution. Thank you Brian D. Steele
and Mary Jacobson for such a wonderful dream.
Autumn sky above the
fields here
Remsen, NY FOTA
September 28th, 2005
This past
weekend brought us to Remsen, NY - a little town about a half hour
above Utica. What an amazing event they put on each year. A big thank you to
Jerry Waskiewicz for the photos he took of Arlene and i there - they've been
added to the web gallery here.
Munnelly Tour &
Fredericksburg VA Welsh Fest
September 25th, 2005
It's almost the tail end of September - Welcome fall, its my favorite time
of year. I'm back from being away most of the past month and really not sure
where to begin writing about it- i should have kept a journal like you Paul
Kelly :) but now left to my own devices, i'm scrambling to recall the past
weeks even if in no particular order.
With the David Munnelly band, in a van that never seemed to stop, we had
wonderful times in MI, IL, VA, OH, NY, MA, MO, KS and everywhere in between
of course. i have a hundred thank-you's to give - i feel like i took a tour
of Americana - it restored my faith in humanity - i saw so much goodness in
people. It all was magic like that. And i finally made it to Kansas. Thank
you David for letting me
be one of the guys.
Arlene and i had great weekend in Fredericksburg, VA - the rain just about
held up for the Welsh fest. Thank you to Moch Pryderi and to Bill & Nancy
for being such super hosts.
Upcoming Tour with David Munnelly Band
9 August 2005
A bit of
new news to be adding here - i've been invited to perform with the
David Munnelly Band from
Ireland, in their upcoming tour of America, and as a result will be singing
some folk songs for a change ;-) Their tour begins August 26th and continues
through September 19th - the performance schedule is up here on my webpage -
and above is David Munnelly's website link for more information on the band.
PS. They are wonderful.
Summer 2005
Now that the flower garden has covered the path to the house here, i
feel like i can finally get back to projects. Its kind of nice to be walled
in by a garden. Today a small thunderstorm passed by, small as it was here,
it knocked out the power again, so i'm sitting here by the window with the
bit of daylight left, writing up some notes of what to remember to say here.
And so what comes to mind - i went to Florida to see Becki last month which
was truly the highlight of my year, took a great train ride 9 states long,
performed at a Yeats society event in NYC with fiddler
Cady Finlayson that was
especially enjoyable. Had a great day at the
Old Village Museum in New
Milford, PA where a wealth of heritage is being preserved. Arlene and i had
a wonder of a time at the Kindred Spirits Fair right here in our own
backyards of NW New Jersey, where they had a flag of peace parade and
honored Wales. Thank you Dave Miller!
There's a new song ip on
my Download.com page, called A Good Tale for the Telling
- a song for my nephew Seth & Loretta's wedding. Almost done (yes,
really) is Two Shores - the CD that i keep crying wolf with, that has been
finished 6 times in the past two years ;) For certain, there's other news,
slipping right past me at the moment and i will surely kick myself for not
mentioning it, but for now i'm going to dream off awhile in the twilight
here. Amazing how still it is when the lights and things aren't humming
away. Perhaps it will rub off on my mind. Also, i would like to give a
special welcome to those we have met at gigs over the past months. Thanks so
much for coming out to see us. Hope to see you again and happy rest of the
summer ~
Happy May!
May 4th, 2005
What a great May Day we had - Arlene and i joined in the festivities before
playing - the maypole and walking the labyrinth - a wonderful way to welcome
the coming of summer and so many shining hearts there. A special thank you
to Nancy Stephens for having us. i met Nancy while she was taking a picture
of my aura ;) - please visit Nancy's site at
Violet Aura
And so i think it is almost summer here...or spring, it has been so chilly
the past week or so, it is hard to tell. Early yesterday though, when i
stepped into the room here, the morning sun was shining so strong through
the window, i knew it had to be not too far off. We have most of the herbs
planted and am working on the new flower bed by the house. i have projects
to work on, but can't seem to resist those little packets of flower seeds.
Since white flowers don't appear everywhere i walk, like with Olwen in the
welsh stories, perhaps i'll just plant them everywhere. In the meanwhile we
are thinking of doing a midsummer concert locally - details to follow....
Pennsbury Welsh Music Festival, PA
30 April 2005
There's something very special about being able to play for children.
Storyteller Beth
Phillips Brown and i were amazed by our audience - just under 1000 third
graders and all as good as gold (at least from what we could see ;) They
were delightful and they sure liked to join in! A big thank you to the kids
and teachers alike, to James Moyer - as well as those behind the scenes. It
was so super to be there.
New Look for the Website & Catching Up Over the Months
April 8th, 2005
Spring is here or at least according to the calendar it seems to be and
while the trees still seem to be sleeping, stark white crocuses have begun
popping up along side the house here. Somehow with the season spinning ready
to happen, i couldn't resist reviving the website a bit. With the fickle
weather of near spring, one day dry and cold, one day wet, and another day
sunny, the early morning mists gather more and more.
i decided the photos on this site should be reflective of these early
mornings - thus, i'm standing here in the mist
as well ;-)
I hope you enjoy
the song samples now added to the site, as well as the new page of song
lyrics. On my eternal need-to-do list i have plans to add the english
translation for those lyrics posted in welsh. Sunday last was picture taking
day - thank you to Phil for dreaming with me and being the patient
photographer even though he'd rather be out celebrating Wales' big rugby
win. There are also new photos on the gallery page, including a few from
recent shows. On my Download.com page i've added the full version of Be a
Dreamer (based on the traditional song, Hiraeth am Feirion,
meaning Longing for Meirionydd.)
i would like to use
this place to savor all the great times we had over the months sharing music
with you - i may be slow in writing thoughts of these good times down, but
i'm fast in remembering them. I'll be adding these thoughts here over the
weeks.
Thank you - i
appreciate your emails, inquiries, suggestions and encouragement and wish
you always a bright and blessed Spring - Jodee
The Welsh
Dragon's Tongues Study Guide
March 28th,
2005
Storyteller, Beth Phillips Brown and myself, otherwise known as Merched
Madoc (The Daughters of Madoc) are pleased to announce The Welsh Dragon's
Tongues Study Guide, a guide prepared for use by both students and
teachers alike in learning more about Wales and all things Welsh. Beth did
an amazing job in putting the guide together, which consists of stories,
songs and traditions of Wales, including a variety of topics, suggested
activities and worksheets. For more information please contact
Beth. We look forward to
presenting this program the end of April for the Pennsbury, PA school
district.
Mid-September, 2004 ~
Next month we head out to Iowa. This month Fredericksburg, VA and Remsen,
NY. Also finalising plans for making a video. Arlene found a lovely place
- an old schoolhouse in Middle Valley. The new CD is getting a face-lift
thanks to Clarence. Fall is starting to show here - i can see through the
trees down towards the stream. I'm way too anxious to look out and see the
hills for i suppose it means summer's leaving for sure. I noticed the
thistles have about "emptied" - the meadowsweet (hmmm, is that what it is?)
still smells beautiful.
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Early August, 2004 ~
After a lot of time slipping behind on updating my webpage -
i decided to catch up a bit after being off line for a little while. Its
been a busy year with moving house and a new recording still on the way,
which has been haunting me for months. I managed to get lyme for the second
time. But in the midst of all the year's madness we have played some
wonderful events and places. My heart goes out to you all. And to
Dianna of Island Heart Artists, as always, for keeping me on track and
helping me to make my dream. We were especially blown away with Longwood
Gardens - to see so many faces and what a beautiful place. We couldn't have
asked for a better day. Thank you to those who made it especially wonderful.
Recently (July) we were in Lowell,
Massachusetts and playing outside a new place called
Second World
- what a great shop! And great people
with a goal of celebrating world culture from all over this planet. A
special thank you to Valerie for having us and a thank you to Art and Joanne
of
Celtic Beat for
directing us their way.
March set me on my way in New Hampshire and Massachusetts
playing my first solo tour - which held some pretty fun times but was a sad
time as well. My mom who passed away in December, had a showing of her
artwork (of which graces these pages here) at the library in Nashua, NH in
honor of Celtic Heritage Month, and my tour was centered around her exhibit.
Thanks again to Art and Joanne of Celtic Beat - for all your kindness and
steadfastness in having Welsh folk music heard.
This being in no particular
sequence of events, though it does seem i'm going backwards here......
In January i met up with Arlene Muzyka, who is now the percussionist in the
band. Surprisingly we were practically neighbors, well if we had canoes we
could have been, living along the same river at the time. She's been a
bundle of support and good energy not to mention a great contribution to the
band. She also makes fabulous jewelry which you might want to check out here
-
Archaeopteryx.
This past winter and spring i spent a lot of time at
Dynamike's studio outside Hackettstown, NJ drinking coffee and eating bagels
- he is a rack of patience and good cheer. A special thank you to you Mike.
And lastly my
latest news, though i have probably forgotten so much and will need to
revise this several times, is that i now pretty much live in nowhere and
have a dog named Henry and a cat named Owen which keeps me totally
overwhelmed yet contented.
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