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A Digital Update on Farewell to Nauvoo:
Our newest CD, Farewell to Nauvoo, has joined our others in the Digital World. For those of you who prefer your music a la carte, or a la iPod, here are some links. Our other CDs are also available at these sites, so fire up your browser and have a listen. Of course, if you like hard copy music best, you can order physical CDs (complete with our award-winning artwork, and bonus historical background on the tunes) from our website (www.fiddle-sticks.com) or from www.CDBaby.com.
Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/album/farewelltonauvoohymnsandsongsofthemormonpioneers?artistId=5097318
Apeus:
The new album should also show up soon on iTunes, Napster, Amazon, etc, if you prefer those sites. Happy listening and Happy Holidays!!
The FiddleSticks Family Annual Holiday Letter
For those who like to suffer through such things, here's our annual Davises' Report on the FiddleSticks Family, with plenty of bragging and news. Happy Holidays!
(Note: if you got the hard copy version of this letter, it had the wrong zip code for our new address in Washington DC. The correct zip code is 20003, as printed here!)
Hi Folks, December 4, 2006
OK, we'll pause between packing our moving boxes to write what we can to catch you all up on our year. Every year we look back amazed at the year that was, but 2006 has been about as busy and memorable as any! (More on the packing boxes later.)
Mark Writes: Such a year it has been! Xan is four, tall, and active; and Zina (yes, we finally decided on a name!) is two, sweet and silly. Both Becca and Matt finished their masters degrees at Berkeley this year, and Liz and I went down to help them pack for their move to Hawaii. Katie left on a mission to Africa. Liz toured the world playing music and then ... but I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first:
The first thing we did in 2006 was to finish up two new FiddleSticks CDs. Katie and Liz wrote and recorded a great set of original tunes for (mostly) cello and fiddle, and we released that collection in February as the CD called "Ampersand." Then at the same time we got working in earnest on our second CD of traditional hymns and pioneer songs. This one we did together with our friend Lisa Arrington, and the CD is called "Farewell to Nauvoo." You can see and hear them at our website, www.fiddle-sticks.com.
In May we started a "two-week" project to put in a new sidewalk loop through our back trees for the kids to run and bike on. But two weeks became two months, and longer.... I didn't get much of a garden this year, since my long-nursed topsoil got buried under a ton of rocks and gravel.
We just about got the yard finally finished and ready to enjoy in August when, to our surprise, my long-time business partner decided to go his own way, just at the same time that my firm got a new project that will require lots of "in-town" work for several months -- the town being Washington DC. So we decided to do a "sabbatical" and move back East for a few months.
At first we thought we would move in September but then, to our surprise (not really), Liz got engaged to Andrew Maxfield, the man of her dreams, and they decided to get married in November. So that postponed our move date until after the wedding. Which is why we're now in moving-box mode. The wedding was lovely, of course. Andrew is a wonderful addition to the family - Xan and Zina have been calling him "brother" for months -- and we all really love him. Since Katie is in Africa, Liz and Andrew (aka "Lindrew," or "Driz") decided to have their reception when she gets back in August. (So if you thought you had missed their reception, take heart, and mark your calendar for August 25, 2007.)
So now I'm looking forward to our upcoming urban adventure. "Urban" because, despite looking at many lovely houses around Maryland and Virginia on farms, lakes, or quiet suburbs, the place that finally caught our fancy is a smallish townhouse right downtown, just a few blocks from the Capitol. We'll most likely be back in Utah at our same house by next Christmas (so don't change your Rolodex), but so you can find us, our new address for the next several months will be: 1008 Independence Ave. SE, Washington DC 20003. Yes, there's a guest-room, so come visit!
Between construction and music, I still made time for some law business, including trips to China, Argentina, England, and India. And "while I was in the neighborhood" I dropped in to see Katie in South Africa. She's loving it, and I had such a good time "shadowing" her - watching her teach lessons, play music, and speak Zulu with the people there who, it is clear, really love her. And, just to put my "proud-dad" quotient over the top, while I was with Katie we found out that Becca and Matt are expecting a baby girl! So now I can begin to work on my "proud-grandpa" persona, too! You can spam Marco at mdavis@...
A word from Katie in Africa: Well, Christmas this year is going to be HOT and HUMID. I'm labouring in the South Africa Durban mission. Right now, the area in which I stay is called Berea, and it's a populated urban area only a few kilometres from the Indian Ocean beach. Things are going well. Being a missionary has brought many blessings to my family--Liz found her man, Becca is having a baby, Dad and Andi are going to the East Coast, and Xan and Zina are getting smarter and smarter and staying healthy and funny. It has also brought many blessings to me--for example, I have procured quite a lot of new clothing for small prices here in Africa, and I now know how to cook yummy Zulu steam-bread called Jeqe (the Q is a click sound). Missionary Service also brings many unforeseeable spiritual blessings. And I just got to tour all over the mission from Swaziland to Ladysmith to Madadeni presenting a Christmas musical program. I return home in August, after which I plan on hanging out with Xan & Zina and watching lots of movies and eating Mexican Food. Merry Christmas to all of you! (You can write Katie at zulufiddle@...)
Liz's Story: I cannot believe that it is Christmas time already. This past year has flown by. Not like a bee or a fly though.... more monumental... a hang glider or pterodactyl maybe (but a very good pterodactyl keep in mind!!)
The year began with a new CD. Katie and I loved making Ampersand (despite the occasional inevitable CD-making frustrations). It was a great way to send Katie off on her mission. Through the project, we became almost inseparable! My Winter semester at BYU was really fun. And I managed to finagle decent grades despite the increasing time I spent with Andrew rather than studying. In April, Andrew graduated and I gladly welcomed the summer break. I attended and taught at the New Directions Cello Festival in Sacramento with the most amazing Jazz/folk cellists. In June I embarked on a month long (long month) tour to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Canada in the band for the BYU international Folk Dance Ensemble. We played (and danced) in concert halls and festivals and we spent much of our time in a commercial bus. It was overall a great experience (I must mention that Andrew's encouraging and clever correspondence is probably the reason that I still have any sanity left).
Soon after my return, I visited Becca in Hawaii and enjoyed their rainy, cold version of the Big Island. In August, Andrew and I escaped for a week to northern California where we harvested at his Uncle Grady's organic farm. It was a wonderful experience-- I am just about convinced to become an organic farmer when I grow up. On the way to the farm, Andrew and I took a little detour that ended in an exchange of rings. He proposed to me on the bank of Whiskey Town Lake in the Shasta National Forest. It was perfect and well, I said yes. In the fall, I began again at BYU and I really loved my classes. But they seem a little less noteworthy than more life changing events: Andrew and I were married on November 25 in the Salt Lake Temple. (Our reception is taking a rain check until Katie gets home in August). We are loving married life so far (we have it all figured out of course!!) and we look forward to our upcoming move. We're starting out the new year by packing up our car and driving to Boston where I will be attending the Berklee College of Music and Andrew will be... uh well.... working....! We really look forward to our time there-- It's about time for an adventure, I say. I hope you have your fill of adventures as well. Have a great Holiday Season! (Liz's new email address: liz.maxfield@...)
Matt and Becca: We are enjoying our digs on the Big Island of Hawaii, in the little ranching town of Waimea/ Kamuela. We live up on the "green" side - the euphemistic term for the "mouldy" side. It has been said that in Waimea, people don't tan, they rust. But luckily we're just a short drive down the hill from the beach-- recently we've seen lots of dori fish, sting rays, giant sea turtles, and whales-- though so far no sharks, luckily.
For a little extra cash Becca has been substitute teaching for a local private middle school and teaching mediation to 2nd graders a couple of hours a week. But most of her time has been, up to now, consumed in researching and writing her master's thesis in Folklore about Hawaiian slack key guitar. But as of December 1st, she officially became a master of folkloristics and handed in the 200 page tome to the Powers That Administer at UC Berkeley. They gave her a lollypop for her pains (not kidding.) The research was grueling and involved traveling to Maui for a week for a middle-aged-Californians' slack key summer camp on the beach to observe and interview the teachers, where she learned no slack key but got to help make some some "ono local grinds" (tasty Hawaiian food) like laulau, haupia, and poi. Matt got to come for the last few days of the camp and play some slack key and become Uncle George Kahumoku's personal cooking assistant. He loves his job for the Univ. of Hawaii extension service. Between writing grants and papers and organizing workshops, Matt gets to wrangle cattle, tour goat dairies, and drive a jeep all over the wild countryside. He also has been able to visit cattle producers on all of the other islands, and always comes home appreciating the cool Waimea weather.
We enjoyed the excitement of the October 15 earthquake and didn't suffer too much damage-- just some broken dishes, pictures, mirrors, and windows. The house we're renting survived fine-- probably because it's made out of scrap plywood stolen from unguarded construction sites.
We enjoyed the excitement of the October 15 earthquake and didn't suffer too much damage-- just some broken dishes, pictures, mirrors, and windows. The house we're renting survived fine-- probably because it's made out of scrap plywood stolen from unguarded construction sites.
So that about sums us up: Cows, thesis, earthquakes, mould-- and in the Spring we can add BABY to our list. Come visit! (Becca's email is beccaannedavis@...)
Andi Gets the Last Word! Our 2006 at the Davis home has been much like a technical Olympic dive from the high board. What would be the difficulty level of a "Double CD, mission, moves, marriage, with new grandbaby on the way?" Of course it is all executed seamlessly. The gold metal prize is adding two new members to our club. Andrew signed up in November. (He got lots and lots of toasters just for joining.) And a new baby this spring for the Stevensons of Hawaii. (She won't get a toaster -- at least not yet.)
As for me, I have been busy prepping Xanny for medical school admission. At four years old he tells me he wants to be a brain surgeon. When asked what exactly a brain surgeon does he replied. "They open your head, take out the old Medulla Oblongata and put in a NEW one." (Note to self: Lock the knife drawer.) Never to be one-upped by her older brother, two year old Zina (pronounced "Baby Ni-na") can tell you where your patella is -- in Spanish. Her first clever joke came when she rolled an egg across the table and said, "Look mom, a Run-A-Huevo."
Both kids have been attending a Spanish pre-school and loving it. This is a definite improvement on last year's school who gave three year old Xanny a failing grade in music, of all things. We were all quite proud of him (especially Katie) and saw this as a definite sign of impending musical genius. Where in the world would he get the idea that you are suppose to sing your own original compositions during music time? Merry Christmas, come see us in DC, and remember to always sing your own Spiderman tune during singing time. Andi's email: andipitcher@....
Happy Holidays from all us Davises!
Andi Marco Becca Matt Katie Liz Andrew Xanny Zina
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