April Newsletter: Connect With Michele
April News
Connect with Michele
Hello friends. I hope this message finds you healthy and safe. We know that a lot of people are hurting right now, and we would like to stay in touch during these difficult times.
As you probably know, all of our April tour dates have been postponed. Some of those have already been rescheduled for the fall. Please visit my website for updates, as things are constantly changing and evolving. If you had tickets to a show that has been postponed, please contact the venue directly or hold onto your tickets for future use.
We will, however, be performing a LIVE streaming show this Saturday, April 4th, at 5PM Central Time to benefit Club Passim. More details below.
Many of you know Michele Gazich, my violin player who lives in Bergamo, Italy. Michele is a very close friend and has been a very important part of my live shows, as well as the Rifles & Rosary Beads record. We have shared stages together all over the world for over a decade. I have been sharing his updates from Italy on my Facebook page over the last few weeks.
Michele lives in the red zone of the COVID-19 virus in Northern Italy. He is in a safe place, a cabin away from the city, reporting to me what is happening in Italy. His stories are factual, heart wrenching and necessary. More than ever, I think it's important that we stay in touch with him now, as the rest of the world can learn from what is happening in Italy.
From Michele's Desk, March 22nd:
"To my American friends: It's difficult to write, to say something more meaningful than numbers. Maybe only Etty Hillesum could have something to tell us today: "One moment it is Hitler, the next it is Ivan the Terrible; one moment it is resignation and the next war, pestilence, earthquake or famine.
Ultimately what matters most is to bear the pain, to cope with it, and to keep a small corner of one's soul unsullied (7 July 1942)."
PHOTO CREDIT: ROGER LIPTROT
From Michele's Desk, March 21st:
"Today, March 21, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) celebrates WORLD POETRY DAY. This is the message today from Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director: Arranged in words, colored with images, struck with the right meter, poetry has a power that has no match. This is the power to shake us from everyday life and the power to remind us of the beauty that surrounds us and of the resilience of the human spirit."
Long Haul Paul
Long Haul truck drivers are still working. They are out there on the highways right now hauling emergency medical supplies like masks, ventilators, soap, and raw materials that help manufactures build those things -- paper, plastic, alcohol. Grocery shelves must be restocked. Folks everywhere need more toilet paper.
My friend "Long Haul Paul" Marhoefer is one of those truck drivers. God bless him. Paul recorded this cover of "Mercy Now" after reading Michele Gazich's Facebook post about the priest in Bergamo, Italy who gave up his ventilator to a younger person.
Father Giuseppe Beradelli, the 72 year old priest who gave a respirator (that his parishioners had purchased for him) to a younger patient (who he did not know) passed away.
May God Bless Father Beradelli and have Mercy on us all.
Live Stream to Benefit Club Passim
Saturday, April 4th | 5PM CT
Please join me and Jaimee for a LIVE Streaming Show on my YouTube Channel this Saturday, April 4th at 5PM Central Time.
Our online show will benefit Club Passim, where we were originally scheduled to play this Saturday. We would love to see you there!
Just click the link below to tune in online.
Magic at The Cloister of St. Giovanni: June 2015
Michele Gazich recently accompanied me on my two-week tour in Italy and Ireland, playing violin and viola on the songs I have written for soldiers as well as some of my recent songs from Trouble & Love.
Hello Again, and Welcome New Friends! “When I put my violin on my body, through it I feel all the stories, all the pains of the Italians, the Americans, the Gypsies, the Jews and many others, all the people that suffered in wars. The songs of the soldiers are a prayer for peace.”
Michele Gazich recently accompanied me on my two-week tour in Italy and Ireland, playing violin and viola on the songs I have written for soldiers as well as some of my recent songs from Trouble & Love. Michele’s viola and violin connected the stories of the soldiers I’ve co-written songs with to the stories of all the soldiers from all the wars – World War I, World War II, and all of the great conflicts throughout history – something I never could have imagined or planned.
During our show in Brescia, Michele’s hometown, we joyfully stood in front of a packed house of several hundred people that beautiful night in late May at The Cloister of St. Giovanni (built in 1505), with an overflow crowd listening outside in the garden.
The Cloister, still beautifully alive with fantastic acoustics and natural reverb (not bad for a 500 year old lady), was full of excitement, heart energy, and love. We played with our hands on fire, with the spirit moving through us, and another world almost within reach. I sang like I have never sung before, feeling each word deeply, then singing the essence of each word and listening as the natural room reverb held the notes longer than I ever could.
Michele’s viola emphasized phrases, added new layers of meaning to the language of the songs, and brought the audience to their feet with the emotion of his playing.
It was one of those nights I may have dared to imagine in my wildest dreams, years ago, when I allowed myself to be brave in my vision. Manifesting our wildest dreams is not about awards or honors, sales or numbers. Manifesting our dreams is about listening to our heart’s desires that necessarily involve love, community, and connection.
My heart’s desire is to connect people with my songs. On this night, the songs – especially the ones I wrote with the veterans - connected us and reminded us we are one.
We want to especially thank all the folks who came out to support us in Europe. Thank you for selling out our shows, and for experiencing this magic with us. We appreciate you so much.
