Thursday, July 30, 2009

Make your own album cover!

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or something similar to put it all together.




Did you ever dream of making an album? Well, now you can at least make an album cover! This is so much fun. Try it. I'd love to see your results!
My son did one and his band was named "Tottenham" and his album title was "Unnecessary Purchases". How perfect is that?!
Bespoke Furniture-
It is pretty difficult these days to find a craftsman who can actually make something from "scratch". For example, a carpenter who can fell a tree and make furniture out of it. Do you know anyone who can do that? I found someone. He is a very quiet unassuming man with a wicked creative streak. He works for a company making doors and windows, but his heart is in making amazingly beautiful didgeridoos and creating furniture out of indigenous trees. I've commissioned him to build a wall cabinet for our living room. When he's finished I want it to look like a tree on the wall, with branches and nooks and crannies for bird's nests and CDs. Today I get to go see the tree he found for me. It's a German oak. Famous for it's strength and longevity. This one was struck by lightning 5 years ago and has been "ripening" ever since. He will wrap the tree in black plastic and lay it in the sun for a week. That's the environmentally friendly way to kill any pests that might lurk in the tree.
I'll keep you posted on the progress!
Tomorrow Adax Dörsam, the amazing master of all string instruments is coming to the studio to add his art to our album. Be very excited! :)

Tuesday, July 28, 2009


The first crop of hay has been cut in the field close to the studio. Driving by last weekend I saw not one, not five, not 15 but 35-40 storks gracefully strolling through the field sucking up bugs and frogs. It was quite a sight, folks. Storks are kind of fairy tale creatures to me. And so very rare, that in the 28 years we have lived in Germany, I doubt that I've seen 40 storks. If they were around, they would be hard to miss. They are honking big birds! As we all know from watching the Disney movie, "Dumbo", the stork is kept busy carrying babies to happy families. Seeing so many storks in the area make me think we're about to experience a population explosion. None at my house, please, thank you very much! My youngest just turned 18!
I had 2 concerts in the last week. Last Thursday at Dudelsack in Karlsruhe as special guest of a Sandie Wollasch concert. Sandie and Matthias Hautsch (guitar) and Tommy Baldu (percussion) invited me to do 4 songs with them. I sang "Lean on Me", and "What Are You Doing the Rest of your Life" (by special request of Sandi) as solos. Sandie and I sang two duets: "Shop Around", a great romping fun song made famous first by Smoky Robinson, and then again by The Captain and Tenille, and "Things", an ode to the 60's and Bobby Darin who wrote it and first recorded it. I completely forgot my text and just made stuff up, but nobody noticed except Sandi who tried desperately to follow my rantings. She was fantastic and we laughed so hard. We always enjoy singing together.
We sang together again on Saturday when we had a 4yourSoul concert in Bamberg. A long drive to sing one of our rare 4yourSoul concerts in an Open Air venue on a rainy evening along the banks of the Regnitz River. Was it worth the 3 1/2 hour drive? You better believe it! Edo Zanki was in excellent voice as was our special guest of the evening, Charles Simmons. Such a talented singer. And kind of nice to feast your eyes on, too! :)
We've blocked 2 weeks in March 2010 for 4yourSoul concerts. We do enjoy singing together so much, but each of us is also committed to their own projects and it is really hard to coordinate concert dates. Maybe by reserving these dates for 4yourSoul concerts we can actually do a tiny tour. If you're interested in booking 4yourSoul during this time, March 15-28 2010 then you can contact Silke Pfaff at: info@onstagemedia.de
Today Luke (my 18 year old ) is having some musician friends over to jam. We love it when they come over and rock the house. It's moments like these that make Eddie and me so glad we finally bought a house. Rock on , my babies!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Opera Chorus

Yesterday we recorded 8 singers from the Badisches Staatstheater Opera Chorus on our new album. There are several songs that absolutely required a BIG FAT -VOICE CHOIR. Well, we certainly got that- in spades!
But the first surprise for me.: Even opera singers know who Edo Zanki is. He was hanging out in his studio cooking lunch for another production team. He introduced himself to the opera chorus and they were star-struck! Cool!
Second surprise: These 8 voices were so homogenous. They blended beautifully. No matter whether we were recording full-out big sections of Händel's "Worthy is the Lamb" or a vocalise to be sung purely without vibrato. Fantastic blend!
Third surprise: And it shouldn't have been a surprise, but I was impressed. They were all excellent sight-readers. Florian doesn't write plain and simple vocal arrangements. When I saw the arrangements he wanted the choir to sing I was prepared for this recording session to last long hours. But these 8 singers sang these complicated arrangements almost perfectly the first time through! That was exceptional to behold.
Fourth surprise: They were so funny and easy to work with. Diva voices without diva personalities. They just ate gummi-bears and cookies and grapes and laughed and joked and sang their guts out.
The men had "Fidelio" rehearsal at 6:30 so they left first. But Florian kept the 4 women to sing some even more complicated vocalise for another album. I mean, it's not every day that you have voices like this in your studio. So Florian made the most of it and you'll also be able to hear the ladies singing on Xavier Naidoo's new album. They did a fantastic job!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Sizing up Death.

If I be the first of us to die,
Let grief not blacken long your sky.
Be bold yet modest in your grieving.
There is a change but not a leaving.
For just as death is part of life,
The dead live on forever in the living.
And all the gathered riches of our journey,
The moments shared, the mysteries explored,
The steady layering of intimacy stored,
The things that made us laugh or weep or sing,
The joy of sunlit snow or first unfurling of the spring,
The wordless language of look and touch,
The knowing,
Each giving and each taking,
These are not flowers that fade,
Nor trees that fall and crumble,
Nor are they stone,
For even stone cannot the wind and rain withstand
And mighty mountain peaks in time reduce to sand.
What we were, we are.
What we had, we have.
A conjoined past imperishably present.
So when you walk the wood where once we walked together
And scan in vain the dappled bank beside you for my shadow,
Or pause where we always did upon the hill to gaze across the land,
And spotting something, reach by habit for my hand,
And finding none, feel sorrow start to steal upon you,
Be still.
Close your eyes.
Breathe.
Listen for my footfall in your heart.
I am not gone but merely walk within you.

-Nicholas Evans, from "The Smoke Jumper" copyright Nicholas Evans, 2001

Today I said Good-Bye to Hella Heizmann.
Her girls, Melanie and Viola, were so strong and poised and graceful and generous with their grief, I know Hella would have been proud of them. They even sang 2 duets at Hella's request. And they did beautifully.
Hella had also requested that I sing a song that meant a lot to her, "Ich Brech Noch Einmal Auf" from my CD Welt von 1000 Wegen. I was honored but scared that I would break down crying when I stood up to sing making a spectacle of myself. It was such an emotional day. So many tears. Melanie told the story at the beginning of the service about how Hella had asked her girls to sing for her funeral and they were afraid that they wouldn't be able to do it. And Hella's response was, "You can do it, my treasures, you can do it". And they did. So, when I stood up to sing I heard Hella saying to me matter-of-factly, "You can do it, Cae, you can do it". And I did.
As I stood at the graveside, a big beautiful butterfly landed on the flowers on the casket, showed off its' colors for a moment, then flew away to greener pastures. Some day I will do that, too.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Treasure in the trash


Today I received another package from Scotland with Amanda McGregor's gorgeous hand made beads. You can see her work at www.moogin.com When she ships them to me she wraps each bead carefully in tissue paper so that it is like Christmas morning full of beautiful little surprises. The pictures never do them justice.
I'll be making these into rings. And everyone who sees these little jewels will be amazed that there are such creative and talented people in this world.
You know what else I love about Amanda McGregor? Well, she's cute as a bug- but that's not what I wanted to mention! She told me last week that her husband is a "bin man". You know what that means? That is British for "Sanitation Engineer". He's a trash man! I met him once and figured him to be the lead guitarist for some alternative rock band in Scotland. He has that very cool Chris Martin (Cold Play singer) look about him. But no, he's a bin man in Edinburgh and loves his job. "He gets to be outside all the time and he sees parts of Edinburgh that no one else gets to see", she said.
Why can't we all find treasure in the trash?

Monday, July 13, 2009

Makes me smile



And in the midst of all the sadness, someone turns 70, a baby is born, a new song is written, and God sends butterflies to our garden that are so whimsical that I can't help but smile.

Until we meet again.


An amazing artist died today. She has been an inspiration to me for 25 years. She was the only female Christian artist in Germany to command big audiences when I came here. She was always poised and well-spoken, well-dressed and perfectly mannered. Her style of singing and enunciation was the standard of excellence for so many young singers. Her music has moved thousands and thousands of fans here in Germany. Several of her songs have become part of the tapestry of protestant music. "Denn Er hat Seinen Engel befohlen über Dir" was the youth hymn of the 80's.
I learned a lot from her.
My heart goes out to her two beautiful daughters, Viola and Melanie, and her husband, Fritz.
She and her daughters were recording a new trio album this summer. They will have to finish it later. In heaven. Maybe they'll let us sing with them......
Good-Bye, Hella Heizmann.
Until we meet again.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

I am a garden

Eddie and I spent most of the day today cutting down a big old prickly Thuja tree. It was about 4 meters tall, ugly, and had the most painful needles you can imagine. They were often in our skin. Especially if we went barefoot in the garden.
After hours of back-breaking work, it is now gone. History. Hasta la vista, baby. And good riddance! And while we were at it we cut back other bushes, trees, pulled weeds, and generally opened the garden up a bit. It looks so light and un-cluttered now.
I think I need to do this with my life. Cut some stuff out. Organize and un-clutter my activities. Let a little light into my life.
Light helps me grow.
I am a garden.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A thought-provoking answer

" Is it better to call ourselves a Christian country and not act like one, or not label ourselves as such but act with Christian morals and ethics? "
I posed that question yesterday and received an insightful answer from a Facebook friend of mine. He is an academic, but didn't present this as an academic "response-to-end-all-responses". Nevertheless, it is challenging and thought-provoking and I wanted to share it with you because all too often we are unaware of the history of our faith and therefore aren't informed enough to judge what we are being taught.

"The idea of the United States as a "Christian nation" is a product of the Second Great Awakening of the 1830-40s. Such a concept would not have made sense to the writers of the Constitution. Their religious understanding was shaped by their independence from State-dictated religion and Enlightenment philosophy which postulated a world controlled by inherent laws rather than divine fiat. The current resurgence of religious sentiment in U.S. politics is due to the radical growth of American evangelical anabaptist churches which has accompanied the emigration of rural Southern culture into the middle of the continent. Leaders of these communities realized that, unlike the previous generation, they now commanded a potential political power and could use that power to push their agendas through governmental policy. In this way, American Evangelical denominations resemble the Roman Catholic Church, which views itself as much an arbiter of public as private behavior.
To call the United States a "Christian nation" is to assert that the majority of citizens are Christian and therefore have the right and obligation to assert Christian morals and ethics through the political process. The writers of the Constitution were deeply concerned that the will of the majority not overwhelm and silence the rights of the minority and created a number of specific mechanisms in the legislative and judiciary branches of government to counter the tendency of the majority to exploit their numbers in achieving their goals. Historically, the protestant and Roman Catholic Christian churches asserted their influence on public policy through influence, protest and lobbying. The innovation of the American Evangelical churches is to use their numbers to attempt to directly control policy through the legislative process.
It is misleading to regard American Evangelicals as a majority. Although 80%+ of Americans define themselves as Christian, if this is defined as membership to a specific church, regular attendance and tithing, the numbers shrink significantly. If American Evangelical churches are taken separately from mainline Protestant denominations (with whom the share Nicene orthodoxy but differ on social issues) and Roman Catholics (with whom there are differences on Apostolic Succession and sacramental issues), they represent significantly less than a majority.
The significant factor is money. Historically, itinerant Evangelical preachers had to provide for themselves and this created an entrepreneurial aspect to their ministries. Prosperity Theology takes this idea a step further, insisting the disproportionate tithing will produce not only spiritual, but temporal gain. Financial success is equated with spiritual virtue. Increasingly, money given to the Evangelical churches has been funneled not into edification of church property or direct relief to communities in distress, but to the church's prophetic ministry. This has included the use of modern publishing and broadcasting tools, tools which generate significant profits. These profits are reinvested into the ministry which has claimed an increasing share of the market share, which in turn creates the appearance of increasing membership in those ministries. It should come as no surprise that these ministries seek to defend the U.S. capitalist system as part of the divine order.

Regarding the American Evangelical churches, there are also strong theological contradictions to orthodox Christian thought. There are some who believe that it's tenets vary so far from the Christian traditions as to constitute a separate religion or, to some, heresy, much in the same way of Catharism, Bogolism, Waldensianism and Mormonism.

Here are some points of discussion:

Adherence to Old Testament law and customs. According to Paul and the epistles of John and Peter and further elaborated by Augustine and Luther, Christians are sanctified by grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Therefore we are not judged by the Law rather redeemed through grace and the Law does not apply to us.

The obsession with supernatural evil. The biblical God differs from many other religions by being a single First Principle. Evil is not a First Principle and Satan is not co-equal with God in a cosmic struggle between Good and Evil. He is cast as the Tempter, the voice of despair, but his power is nullified by God's primacy. Jesus, as 2nd person in the Trinity cannot by definition be involved in a spiritual battle with Satan for men's souls. Nor can mankind be understood to be in the midst of a cosmic battle between good and evil. Huxley points out that obsession with supernatural Evil actually encourages greater natural Evil to exist.

A literal interpretation of the Biblical canon. For the 4th century Christian fathers, such a concept didn't exist. A scientific world view had yet to be postulated and so there was no thought of interpreting myth literally. The Church fathers were extremely well-read in Greek philosophy and understood that Truth, as an inherent principle of a beneficial divine creation, manifests in many guises as a natural law. It could be found in Biblical texts and in Greek philosophy. The books of the Bible were understood as a testament to Truth not as Truth itself. This view remained paramount in Christian theology until a scientific world view emerged in the 18th century. Even then, fundamentalism as such only existed in certain Pietist and American Evangelical traditions and never entered into orthodox Protestant or Catholic thought.

Christian triumphalism. Christians are freed from sin and death through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. We are called to the imitation of Christ, to bear joyously the trails of that calling regardless of our worldly status. In worldly terms, Jesus' ministry was a disaster: three short years in Galilee culminating in a week in Jerusalem during which he was arrested and executed, deserted by all but a few women and one disciple. To equate those events with the type of worldly success seen in the American Evangelical movement today is to stand its meaning on its head. The major point of Jesus' narrative is that having utterly failed at worldly leadership, God raised Jesus triumphantly from the dead to give us hope that in all things, it is God who will ultimately be the judge and reconciler.

Apocalyptic determinism. The belief that there are clues to the exact playing out of the end times encoded in the Bible is neither orthodox theology or good Biblical exegesis. The latter first. Jesus' statements in all 4 gospels indicate that God alone knows the course of history. To interpolate various passages of the Pauline epistles with passages from the book of Daniel and the Revelation of St. John into a single literal narrative is a type of amalgamation that is outside traditional orthodox Biblical study. It is cabalisim and gnosticism. The concept that there is a definite course for history laid out by God both denies the free will of God and the Biblical understanding that man is in control of his own destiny.

What is personally most disturbing to me is that all this emphasis on “Christian values” seems to contradict everything I was taught and believe about God’s love and human nature. We are all sinners, redeemed by grace to equal degree. Even the just are scarcely saved and I count myself as no less or greater a sinner than anyone else. When I look at my fellow human being, I am taught not to see the Law but to see the redeemed sinner. That means I don’t look for that which is failing, but for the light of God’s presence in their lives. Everything else is chaff and the log in my own eye.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Heels of compassion

Today I'll be making earrings. Lots of ladies like to pick up earrings as little souvenirs of the concerts. So, they go fast. I enjoy designing them and putting them together. So: win-win situation for all!
Yesterday I heard a sermon criticizing President Obama for saying at a visit to Saudi Arabia, "The U.S. isn't a christian country any more". I'm not absolutely sure what the President meant by that, but I can guess it was a strategic political statement aimed at mending relations with Muslim countries. There has been so much suffering and hatred in the Middle East in the name of christianity. I think he is trying to distance himself from that and begin anew on a balanced and secular playing field.
The pastor in his sermon was bemoaning the fact that we aren't a christian nation anymore. My question is: Which is better- to call ourselves a christian nation and not act like one (consider just the last 8 years!) or to not label ourselves as such and act with christian morals and ethics?
I, for one, would definitely choose the latter. Jesus himself showed us how to care for the poor, feed the hungry, tend to the sick. I think it's time we concentrated on that aspect of our christianity! Salvation can follow on the heels of compassion better than behind the wheels of a tank.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Beautiful concert last night! So many fun elements: a new sound man who did a great job, Luke accompanied me on the guitar for 3 songs, Florian played a wonderful instrumental piece that really transported me to some other tranquil place, Eddie guested on 3 songs, and I had to be given an injection of cortisone by an emergency doctor who just happened to be in the audience. Fun times!
I'm still having trouble breathing from my bout with the flu last week. The doc says there's fluid in my left lung. Well, it was such intense work to haul in enough air to sing, I absolutely sweated like a pig. Maybe I had swine flu! I mean, I was totally soaked. And a big woman soaked with perspiration is not an attractive sight!
We live in the famous flatlands on the Rhine river plains. This area gets heat WITH humidity so high that army troops are trained here before they are stationed in the tropics. Fortunately there are only a few weeks out of the year when the weather is almost unbearable. We are in one now. Last night after the concert as we were all leaving and enjoying the cool of the evening outside the church, we were treated to the most amazing spectacle of summer lightning. It was like God saying to us "Sorry for the suffering in this heat, people. Here's a little something to ease the pain."
We are enjoying a beautifully quiet Sunday. I'm about to go have some Sunday morning coffee on the back terrace. A blessed Sunday to you!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Last night I got to watch Eddie sing the "Doctor" role in Samuel Barber's "Vanessa" in Giessen. Some of the music was wonderful, the stage design was very interesting and I really liked the libretto (by Gian Carlo Menotti) of the opera. One of the lines: "And, you old people, may death release you before you too clearly remember or cease to dream". Oooooh, I really like that line.
After the opera and the ubiquitous party afterward, we went back to the hotel room. It was blistering hot in the room so we opened the windows, which face the busiest street in Giessen. It took us about 1 minute to decide to pack up and leave. So, Eddie drove home while I helped from the passenger seat (with my eyes closed) and slept until 10 this morning.
It's now almost 31° and we have fans going in every room and all the shutters closed. If we don't move around much, it's actually OK.
Tomorrow, the 4th of July, I have a concert in the area. I'm trying to decide just how few articles of clothing I can decently wear to sing in. And just how to deal with the fact that I have a persistent cough that I will have to fight tomorrow night. I've asked for back-up in the form of Luke, Eddie and Florian. Together we are strong!
I just listened to a few rough mixes of songs for the new album. This is going to be very very special. :) Hope you like it!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

What is in a name?

There's a big discussion going on right now about what the title of our new duet album should be. For 6 months I have been "pregnant" with the naming of this album. The songs are for us personally very special and close to our hearts. There are songs that we have sung since we were children, very old songs from as early as the 17th century, and a couple of contemporary songs that describe what our faith means to us today. Some are in German, some in Latin, some in English and Italian and several of them in more than one language. We have recorded all the vocal tracks and laced them with lots of tears. When something means this much to you, you sometimes get emotional when you share them with others.
That's why I chose the title "Inner Sanctum". The songs are for us an inner holy place that we retreat to or return to when we want to meet God.
On a Monday afternoon, the "powers- that- be" from the record company got together and decided that the title doesn't work for a German audience. In 15 minutes they decided that a much better title would be "Dona Nobis Pacem". While that song IS on the album, it certainly doesn't begin to describe what is on this CD.
Stay tuned to find out what happens.........