i have settled in to my first house. moved in the beginning of november. i didn't realize how much stuff i had. i actually got rid of a lot.. but dammit, wouldn't you know it? i still have way too much stuff! it's all up in my attic now, waiting for its proper place in my house.

my friend timmy asked my best friend, jannon, and i to start a band with him. we are meeting to play together for the first time this sunday. i'm excited and nervous... i haven't been creative or inspired musically in so long. i think this could help get me out of the funk i've been in. i used to think i wrote my best when i was depressed, but maybe i was never really depressed before and only thought i was... true depression seems to create only a void. it's like the sight of my guitar just makes me want to go into the other room and hide. but i'm hoping all of that will change soon.

one thing that i am probably the most excited about is that i'm going to start having house concerts in february. micah blue smaldone will be playing in my house on february 15th. i had the honor of playing a show with him in chestertown, md last may... he is phenomenal... please come to see micah play. he is from portland, maine... and his voice and banjo, dobro, 12 string guitar playing will mesmerize you! if you do want to come, please email me candy(at)candycraig(dot)com and let me know you plan to attend. (i hope a lot of people will come, but i'm also not sure how many people my house can hold).

so a band, sxsw, a new house, house concerts... seems like this year could be the one that inspires me to write again and actually release that long promised album!

i have a show coming up this week.

i played a fun festival memorial day weekend in chestertown. while there, i had the fortune of watching magic. micah blue smaldone, from portland maine, performed that night. he silenced and amazed the crowd. you should check him out.

i had to cancel my show at the radcliffe mill because i had a bad strep infection. it was disgusting and terrible! i know, things could be worse. i have it easy.

i will be playing a show in millersville, md (a town near annapolis, i think). please check out the shows page for details!

thank you john, for getting me a show in chestertown... i can't wait to play!

mostly what i've been doing lately is listening to some great music. i'm really loving devendra banhart right now... i got to see him play in a little gallery in baltimore in june. he's so incredible. the people who opened up for him have been on heavy rotation as well: joanna newsom and vetiver.

and yes... i'm still working on my album. so nothing is new. except i just accepted a position through AmeriCorps. it will start in september. i feel ready to give back to my community in some way. i'll be working at a local community outreach organization coordinating their volunteers and working at a cold weather shelter.

April 20, 2004
chorus line
it is always wonderful to be introduced to music that touches your heart. i feel blessed that sodastream has come into my life. i saw them perform the other night in a very intimate venue in arlington. i had the opportunity to sit for a couple of hours after they performed and hang out with them. they are the most genuine and approachable people i have met in a long time. the united states is lucky to have these talented boys from australia here right now. they will be here until may 10th. try to catch one of their gigs.. you'll be glad you did.

i am going to be opening up for mary lou lord on february 24th at The Mojo in Baltimore. she is so generous and kind to give me this chance. i only hope that i can get through my set without apologizing...

i uploaded the elliott smith songs that i covered at the baltimore tribute. i figured you out and angel in the snow . when i performed angel in the snow i had this strange feeling that elliott was watching me. i felt his presence throughout the evening, but i really felt him during that song. i looked up and saw someone that looked just like him. to this day i am convinced i had a vision of him... that he really was there.. okay. so you're thinking 'this girl is off her rocker'.. well maybe i am.

January 4, 2004
happy new year!
so another year! i can only hope that this one is better than the last...
The Elliott Smith Benefit Concert i helped to organize in Baltimore was a big success. We raised over $2200 for the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund for abused children. Soon I will have pictures, a sound recording, and a DVD of the night. I will go into more detail about it soon...

I wanted to share that i have two new mp3s on the audio page. i was chatting with my friend martijn and asked if he wanted to hear some of the stuff i'm working on and then it led me to want to figure out how to put them up myself. my ex-roomie used to help me with that stuff.. i'm happy to say that i'm learning html (slowly but surely) yay! so please check out the audio page. i wrote a song about elliott called the sweetest one. it's very rough.. vocals needs fixed and it needs mixed down.. but why not share it? the song what your love does is older. it was inspired by lou barlow. i can hear it.. don't know if you will...

December 3, 2003
mountain man
i am working on a song about a mountain man. i'm not exactly sure why.
i have been writing a lot lately...and everything that comes out is about him.. i just can't help it. i don't mean to think about elliott all of the time. i don't mean to post on sweet addy all of the time, but i do. it has brought me a lot of comfort to gather with people who miss and love him in the same way. no one that i know in "real life" has been affected by his death in the way that i have been...but through this bbs i met someone really special. her name is anjy. and together we have been working very hard to organize a tribute to Elliott in the baltimore area. we finally have a venue and a date secured. now i do know someone in real life who feels the way i feel about elliott. and yes it is bittersweet...but at least we can transform our sadness into something more positive and ultimately (i hope) something beautiful...something that would make elliott proud...
we feel so honored to have been in touch with elliott's family and to receive their blessing for our tribute. here is what is planned:

Elliott Smith Memorial Tribute Concert
Tuesay, December 30
Ottobar
2549 N Howard St.
Baltimore, MD
doors 7pm/ show 8pm
all ages

**All proceeds will go to the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund.

This is an outline of the evening:

Scheduled acts play 2-3 songs
with unscheduled musings in between acts - via sign up sheet (open mic style).

Introduction:
Open with a story.
First scheduled act

Rotate sign ups/Scheduled bands
-Screening of Lucky Three
-Music continues
-Screening of Strange Parallel.
-Social Time/Spin Elliott Smith songs (possibly rare stuff?)

Music performed will consist of any Elliott material, songs Elliott covered, anything uplifting or thoughtful, or relevant in some way.

We have had a wonderful response and have possibly 13+ people who are scheduled to play.

December 2, 2003
thank you mary lou
i have had the song i figured you out on my site for several weeks now. i feel that it is time for me to take it down. i feel honored that i was able to host it for mary lou. she hasn't said that she feels it is time for me to take it down. i have a feeling she would let me keep it here indefinitely, but i feel that would be taking advantage...so hopefully those of you who wanted to hear it had the chance... if not, go out and buy mary lou lord's 'martian saints' ep... you'll be glad you did!
xo

Mary Lou Lord w/Elliott Smith
i figured you out
Here is a beautiful cover of an Elliott Smith song by the beautiful singer/songwriter, Mary Lou Lord. This song is on her album Martian Saints. The song was recorded by Elliott Smith. He also played the instruments.
I Figured You Out (3.86 mb)

The first several days I was only able to listen to Elliott Smith, and then I was able to break out Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's 'spanish dance troupe'...yesterday, while tanning in the sun (or should i say trying to achieve, what my cousin jokingly calls a different shade of white...i'm pretty pale) anyway, while lying in the sun I realized that I had to listen to Belle and Sebastian. So I broke out their latest album, 'dear catastrophe waitress'. At that point it was impossible to look out at the sea and be sad about anything. sigh...if someone came up to me right now and told me I had the choice of being in any band i wanted to...i would definitely choose Belle and Sebastian. They are my Glaswegian heros...and everyone could use one of those!

I plan to record the third weekend of this month. I'm hoping to have a full length album ready after the holidays. I'm aiming for a Jan-Feb 2004 release. It should be a fun process.

I competed in the Mountain Stage New Song Festival last weekend in Charles Town, WV. It was amazing and humbling to be a part of it and to hear so many great songs played by the other contestants. I'm so happy that one of the last performers in my group ended up winning the entire contest. The Hunger Mountain Boys are pretty amazing, and you should check them out. I was sad that I didn't make it onto to the next round to compete, but when I heard they won, that put me at ease...clearly they were meant to win. Wow! Those voices!! Very inspiring...

I'm trying to learn Brazilian Portuguese. I've been wanting to learn this language for a very long time. When I was at work yesterday I decided to take the first step and bought a language learning cd...it's a start. Eu entendo um pouco...I'll be dishing it up Astrud Gilberto style soon enough...

I was supposed to play at the Full Circle Cafe Saturday August 9th. I sent out an update to my mailing list and received a response back from a friend of mine who informed me that the cafe closed over the July 4th weekend. It's so odd because I played the Saturday before that. She must have known she was closing...why did she book me for another gig? Oh well...I'm disappointed, but what can I do?

There was so much to look at and experience at the festival. I brought a little bit of it home to enjoy....old time Kettle Popcorn. I saw people walking around with huge bags of popcorn....so good! I think I will only share it with Ely.

Upcoming Shows:
July 11th - Hagerstown, MD
August 9th- Keedysville, MD

For additional info click here.

vaya con dios...