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MARCH
1, 2008
(continued
from home page)
autumn
was my season. Worlds of emotion,
especially a kind of sweet, romantic
melancholy flowed through me when
the leaves would change. It's that
way when you think you have an
endless life ahead of you. When you
know for sure you've lived more than
half of your life at best, those
early spring blossoms come to mean
something more and to be a
particularly precious sign in life.
Speaking of
something else very beautiful and precious
my sweet love, Patricia,
has begun taping videos of me
singing some of my songs so that we
can post them on YouTube and other
online sites. She has this sparkle
in those beautiful brown eyes of
hers that convinces me, despite all
my deeper instincts, that it's okay
to have my picture taken or a video
camera following my every move. I
swear, you could be repulsively
hideous and she'd find your good
side. I don't know how she does it
unless it's just all the love. (she
may have a magic camera)
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She's good on
either side of the dang
camera |
We set up a shot by my living room
fireplace and it was quite a circus
there for a while, trying to get
sound and light and fire all
coordinated. My friends, if you want
to test your relationship and see if
it can hold up under big pressure,
just have your true love film you
singing a long song, trying to stay
in good light while also trying to
keep the microphone from showing up
in the frame - and hoping the back
of your body doesn't catch fire when
chunks of exploding coals pop out of
the fireplace and down your collar.
Whee! I sang Living Things about ten
times before we could get it right,
but eventually, I think it came out
pretty good for our first try. You
can only detect just a slight hint
of surliness on my face.
I don't spend much time on YouTube,
partly because I'm one of those cave
men who still has a dial-up
connection in my home, but also
because you have to spend hours to
find a single thing worth watching.
I've noticed that a great many of
the music videos on YouTube look
like someone filmed them underwater
with their cell phone, so I figured
we could do at least that well. As
it turned out, my girlfriend, who is
an excellent professional
photographer, is actually great with
a video camera, too. So she made it
less painful than I ever would have
imagined. If you'd like to see my
Living Things video, just go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHMVkXs4WTs
We are
working on some other tunes and will
have them up soon. I'll be sure and
post notice when they're done.
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Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day
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 I
performed a concert in Seattle on GroundHog
Day and it was such a beautiful
gathering of friends. I don't mean that
everyone there was beautiful. No sirreee,
there were a couple of dozen doozies that
you didn't dare gaze directly at, but it
certainly was a happy, good-willed group.
I got a lot of letters and emails after that
concert; no matter how many times I hear
someone's story about where they first heard
one of my songs or what they were doing when
they listened, it never gets old to me. A
woman who'd taken the ferry over from
Whidbey Island that night wrote me the next
day, "With all the terrible news we hear
about every day concerning the state of the
world and the pain the people and the planet
are suffering, hearing your words, and music
was a breath of fresh air. Thank you so much
for putting my world back in order and
giving me hope."
I don't think there's much more a songwriter
could ask of a song than that it make
someone feel like that.
I also played a private concert in Lake
Tahoe last month. The whole countryside was
covered in deep snow and the sunshine
radiating off it was brilliant and
beautiful. Patricia and I took a drive on
the road around the lake and had breakfast
in the rustic metropolis of Truckee. It's a
beautiful little town and reminded me so
much of my time in Montana and Colorado when
I was young. (I'm a geezer now)
You may not have noticed on my website over
the years, but as well as my public
concerts, I am often hired for private
performances, flown to various parts of the
country to play for a group of friends and
family, sometimes a whole community or
organization. It's always an amazing event
because I get to step right into a family of
people who really love each other and am
always received like an old friend. Patricia
went with me for the Tahoe concert and we
joined a group of folks in a beautiful snow
covered lodge. It was such a joy to be with
people who exuded so much love and goodwill
and humor. It was truly a living room
concert I'll never forget.
If you're ever interested in any of my
private performances, you can
click here
-or- just write me to
find out more. |
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About my Dan Fogelberg Tribute
About my Dan Fogelberg Tribute
About my Dan Fogelberg Tribute
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In my last
rambling I wrote a tribute to
Dan Fogelberg, sharing my sadness at his
passing and also the strong influence his
music had on me in my early years of
learning to write songs. I must say, in all
my years of posting stories on my website, I
have never had so many people write me in
response to one. In reading your messages, I
could tell that many were grieving alone,
perhaps not knowing anyone else who felt as
close to or as grateful to Dan as they did.
It seemed that my tribute released something
in people and the letters that poured out
really meant a lot to me. I answered every
one, as I do all my emails and letters, but
I thank you again for your kind words and
for sharing your own feelings. |
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Progress with my new CD
Progress with my new CD
Progress with my new CD
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 I'm
making good progress with my new CD. Every
week I marvel at how the songs are evolving
and how much more beautiful and vibrant my
songs are than I even realized. I'm really
excited for you to hear them.
Soon, I plan to go to all the folks on my
mail list and ask for contacts and ideas,
places and people to send this CD to so that
it has the best chance of getting heard
around the world. I've never been more sure
that all the songs are good, that each one
is filled with heart and spirit and
goodwill. Yes, I always try to do that, but
in the last two years of my life something
in particular has happened to me: I've found
my true love, my best friend and true
companion. That does something to a man. It
brings out more love, more compassion and
gratitude and humbleness. I'm really excited
for you to hear what the result is.
If you know people in the media, press, in
movies or television, magazines,
organizations, charities, communities, who
you think will be moved by my music and
might do something with it, let me know. My
plan is to get these songs to people in
positions where they can really get things
accomplished. I'd love to have songs placed
in movies or tv and to have worthwhile
organizations use my music in their work.
The possibilities are endless and I'd love
to have your help.
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~How to be be a Sponsor of my new CD~
~How to be be a Sponsor of my new CD~
~How to be be a Sponsor of my new CD~
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I've spent over a year on my new recording
and I'm so very happy with it. It is truly
filled with some of the best songs I've ever
written and the production is beautiful and
rich and vibrant. Every week I feel that the
songs reach a new level of excellence. It's
such a dream to see this coming true and I'm
really excited to release this music into
the world.
In hopes of really promoting the CD widely,
in the US and Europe, I'm looking for
sponsors; companies or organizations or
individuals who would like to be a part of
releasing this music into the world. It's an
extremely expensive thing, creating a new
album. I've spent many thousands on it so
far and am nearing the finish. But there are
pressing and design costs and mostly,
promotion costs that lie ahead. If you are
interested in being a part of this project,
of having your name or company or
organization name associated with this
music, I'd love for you to get in touch.
There are a number of ways I believe the
association can serve everyone involved.
My plan is to do something much in line with
the way PBS promotes their sponsors:
tastefully and with respect and clarity. For
instance: This recording made possible by a
generous grant from the folks at Evergreen
Corporation.
- Each
sponsor will have included in the actual
CD packaging; mention and thanks by
name, along with logo and website URL.
- Major
sponsors will have an opportunity to
share a presence at my concerts. We can
talk about how this best serves you.
- On my
Official Website, I will create a page
of sponsors with descriptions and links
to your homepage.
- All
sponsors will be acknowledged in a
national e-mailing I will send out to
announce the release of my CD
I'M ALSO SEEKING
A SINGLE SPONSOR
TO SUPPORT A NATIONWIDE MAILING TO MY ENTIRE
MAILING LIST. I plan on
sending out a beautiful letter, not a
newsletter, an actual letter offering
something special for everyone on my mail
list. That one organization - if it is one
that is in alignment with my music and
goodwill - would benefit by being included
in the mailing and having nearly 9000 folks
know about what it is that they do and
offer.
- According
to your sponsorship amount, I will send
you a stack of the new CDs before they
are officially released to the public.
- All
sponsors and their guests will be
invited to a private performance I will
give in 2008.
There are
endless other ways we can be associated and
I'm open to talking about your thoughts on
this. If you are interested, please email me
and I'll get right back to you.
There are endless possibilities and I'm very
open to hearing about what you envision. If
you're interested in becoming a sponsor,
please email me at
mt@michaeltomlinson.com
My mailing address is
PO Box 15248 / Seattle, WA 98115-0248
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I cain't hep it, dogs jis
loves me |
Ever since my first
concerts I have told stories. I'm known for
many of them and sometimes people come to my
concerts almost as much for the stories as
the songs. I've actually surprised myself
sometimes, talking about something very
personal or painful on stage, something I
would never have dreamed that I'd talk about
in a room filled with people I don't know.
But I've learned to trust this and if I feel
a story coming on, I try to allow it to
emerge. Sometimes it's left a room in
stunned silence, sometimes it leaves them
howling in laughter or quietly crying.
Ideally, a little of all. There is often a
sense of ebb and flow of emotion and humor
permeating the evening that feels like
breathing. And when it's all over I marvel
at what transpired that was so much more
than a concert.
This flow of stories became gradually easier
and more natural for me. I'm fortunate for
this; because there is a freedom in being
able to tell your stories and in feeling
that your listeners come along on the
journey with you. I've known for a long time
now that they come along because my stories
are so much like their stories. Different
names and places but still, they are stories
of my own search in life for love and
friendship and spiritual connection.
In my years of hosting my own weekend
retreats called, A Gathering of Friends, I
learned this beautiful lesson: Given a safe
space and enough time in which to tell it,
there is not a human being on earth who
cannot leave you stunned by something in
their life experience, something they have
overcome or accomplished or survived. It's a
beautiful thing really, watching and
listening to another human being tell you
their stories. There is really nothing more
fascinating on earth.
I've brought this up because I want to
suggest to you that you begin to tell your
own stories more often. Sure, start with the
charming ones if you like. All expression is
a door to deeper communication. But when you
can, when you're courageous enough, tell
your difficult stories. Even your sad and
shameful stories. These are the stories that
will free you and will free the person you
tell them to.
I remember several years back that I was
having a great many powerful spiritual
dreams and revelations. I had not told
anyone about many of them, thinking they
were such unusual and powerful stories that
I wasn't exactly sure where to begin - or if
they were too strange to share. But then I
thought how important it is to me for the
people I love to really know who I am. It's
important to me to know that when I leave
this earth, the people who I love will have
known the real me and loved me for who I was
and not only for who they thought I was.
This means that I need to share my difficult
stories as well as my entertaining ones.
I went to each of my closest friends and
talked to them about the dreams and
experiences I'd been having. To a person,
each and every one I told would glance off
almost in a transe during my telling,
reliving something they themselves had
experienced, and when I was finished,
couldn't wait to gush out experiences of
their own which mine had reminded them of.
It was a deeply intimate thing to have
trusted that I could tell my stories and
then to have my friends gratefully feel free
to tell theirs.
I've been in an unusual position in this
lifetime, certainly in the years since I
recorded my first album, to hear from people
all over the world. The stories are as
unique as each fingerprint and at the same
time, they are the same story. I have
received thousands of messages and letters
over the years from people who feel that
they have no one to share their stories
with. They hear my songs and think I'm
someone safe to do this with. What they
don't always realize is that every neighbor
up and down their street, every co-worked
and family member thinks the same thing:
that they cannot share some parts of their
world and experience with each other.
 That's why it takes some courage to be the
first. I wonder what would happen if you
were go to someone you love - or maybe even
a stranger - and tell them something of your
story in life. I don't mean just your
achievements and accomplishments. I am
talking about your revelations, your losses,
your awakening or your grief. What if you
were to tell someone something you are
ashamed of or afraid to tell? Do you know
what kind of gift this could be for the
person you entrust? No matter what your
story, I promise you the person you tell
will then be relieved of having to hold
their own story inside. They will say
something like, "Are you kidding me? That's
not bad! That's nothing! If you knew what
I'm like, you'd freak totally out!"
Which is where you then get to listen and
then yell out, "No way!" and shove them like
Elaine Bennis would shove Jerry Seinfeld
when he told her shocking gossip. And then
of course, you get to get out your vast
supply of untold stories you've never dared
to tell. Dammit, you're going to shock this
person one way or another. To hell with this
"oh, I've done far worse" bidnis!
I think you get the general idea, don't you?
I'm just suggesting that you start to tell
your stories. There is someone who you can
safely do this with. It takes courage, but
you will feel so proud of yourself for being
so courageous as to share a story of your
own journey through life so that your friend
may feel free to do the same.
Thanks for visiting my website and for
reading what I've dreamed up here. Thank you
for listening to my music and sending me
such good will, whether through emails or
letters or thoughts and prayers. I get them
all.
I hope you have a beautiful springtime
coming your way. Take some deep breaths
every day and be kind to yourself.
Your friend in sunny Seattle,
~Michael |
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