| Good day from Music City and the Nashville Film Festival,
For the last few days, Tonya and I have had some powerful and inspiring moments attending films, panels and red carpet events at the Nashville Film Festival. You can read about some of the highlights at our blog which we’re continuing to update throughout the festival this week. A very meaningful exchange came on Saturday afternoon when we had the opportunity to meet and speak with one of my musical heroes, Vince Gill. We were able to attend an intimate moderated Question & Answer session with him in one of the theaters. Tonya and I both got to ask him questions and later meet and speak with him privately at the conclusion of the session. I asked him about a particular project he recorded on in the 80’s and Tonya asked him how he goes about selecting the songs he performs when he makes his appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. I have always respected Vince’s musicianship, songwriting, voice, approach and style, and spending time with him in that setting Saturday also showed how kind and giving he is of his talent and experiences. Towards the end of the Q&A, someone else asked him what song he wishes he wrote. I’ll tell you his answer if you keep reading this email!
In This Issue:
a) New Photos: Band’s Photo Shoot in mid-March; Photos from the Bahamas in late March and Film Festival pix
b) New Music: First CD release of 2011 coming in the heart of the summer
c) One year anniversary of historic flooding in Nashville – download your complimentary copy of “Won’t Wash Away”
a) Check out our Photo page for lots of new pictures! On March 12th, Tonya, Andy, Sumner, Sean and I were able to squeeze in a Band Photo Shoot at the scene of our upcoming feature concert, the Landing at Pine Point. This is a fairly new venue in my hometown of Scarborough, Maine. A former church converted into a fantastic music and event space, we had fun with our friend and photographer, Sue Raftice, and we thank Jim Ciampi (and four-pawed assistant Bella) for their hospitality and accommodation that day. For our hometown area fans, we would really love to have you join us for our Friday, May 20th concert at the Landing. It’s going to be a special show for us as we’ll be performing some songs from the upcoming new CD for the first time and because it’s our first show (of many, we hope!) in the venue. In other photo news, you can see a couple of snapshots from the film festival this past weekend and from the Bahamas where Tonya and I joined 10 friends for our first “destination” vacation in a few years last month. While you could usually find us in or around the pool or ocean on the trip, we did enter the staff-guest talent show one night with some of our friends and won a few bottles of rum! (see Tonya rocking a borrowed six string bass in one of the photos).
b) April’s an important studio month and I’m having a great time working on our new CD, tentatively scheduled for a late July release. The newest song is called, “The Dust Never Settles”, an idea I got from my mother after she uttered those words – unknowingly poignantly – one day earlier this year. I’d had a melody and groove roaming around in my head recently, and early last week, the parts came together and the lyrics came next in rapid fashion. I started recording it last week and if all goes as planned, the band and I will start performing it as early as next month.
Around that album project, work continues on the new Christmas CD and we are getting ready to announce a third new CD project! That will be the subject/big announcement of our next email in a couple of weeks.
c) Free track/song download: We are fast approaching the one year anniversary of the historic flooding of Nashville. On the weekend of May 1st and 2nd last year, Nashville received enough rain in 48 HOURS to make May 2010 the third rainiest MONTH of all time. This epic event affected not only Nashville, but 50 or so counties in Middle Tennessee. At the time, the global news story and attention was on the BP oil spill as it was only a week or so old. In the days after the rains, the rivers continued to rise, overflowing riverbanks in record style, destroying neighborhoods and property and creating images that will stay with me forever. I was moved by the events and the spirit of Middle Tennesseeans who came together amidst huge adversity to help one another through that first week of crisis and disbelief. “Won’t Wash Away” was a song that wrote itself. I wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered in a 3-day period and shared it with others on May 6th, 2010. We’ve put the song up on our website where you can stream it or download it – feel free to share it.
What song did Vince Gill wish he had written? And what kind of music sale are we offering?:
SALE at www.doncampbellband.com From now through the end of Monday, April 25th (my wedding anniversary!), you can download some of our albums for only $4.99 each! Which albums? Check it out! That’s an entire album…$4.99. If you prefer to mix and match single songs from different albums instead, Tonya’s put a smattering of single songs on sale for 49 cents each with the remainder at 99 cents each. You’ll have to peek to see which ones she picked for this sale! And finally, if you’re looking for a bargain on physical CDs (that we will put in the regular mail to you with an autograph if you’d like), those are also on sale for $10 and we’re offering free shipping to US and Canadian addresses! These deals are only available at our website and only through this Monday night, April 25th. Thanks for supporting original music. It means a lot to us.
Vince Gill mentioned that he’d recently been singing a certain song with his daughter and that he loved the melody and it was his answer to the question, “What song do you wish you had written?” SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW
That’s it for this note, but stay in touch between emails at our website, and/or:
Like Us/Follow/Be part of the Community:
http://www.facebook.com/doncampbellband
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http://www.twitter.com/donskimusic
(or simply check the home page of our website as they are posted there too!)
Thank you 2011 Tour Sponsors, Bill Dodge Autogroup (they have great deals, promotions and give-aways on their Facebook page, by the way!) and Sue Brusa/RELIV. Thanks to our 2011 Project Sponsor, Lebel & Harriman.
Happy Earth Day, Easter, Spring, School Vacation Week, or whatever you’re celebrating this week –
Don
Don Campbell Music
P.O. Box 1071
Portland, ME 04104 |