Dear friends,

I hope you're doing well. The twin hurricanes, the start of school,
and other stuff make for an interesting month. I hope this e-mail
finds you in favorable circumstances, or at least with a favorable
disposition! ;-)

For me, my car's engine blew up coming back from the Kerrville
Wine & music festival, and a number of odd inconveniences have
been odd, however my relationships have been going well.

DISASTER RELIEF:
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Currently, if you buy one of my CDs online, all the money will go to
the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund.

SHOWS NEXT WEEK:
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It's a pleasure to have a regular gig at the Satellite Cafe
(down at the Y-intersection of 71 & 290) --- the second
Saturday of every month, from 8 to 9pm.

Next weekend is also the Southwest Regional Folk Alliance conference
out at the Lakeway Inn and Resort. Currently I have two "showcase"
spots:

* Thursday, 11:50pm-12:10am in the HAAM showcase room 802
* Friday, 12:40am-1am in the "Performance Alley" showcase in
room...um..."TBA"!

Many of the SWRFA showcases are free (including mine), with some GREAT
singer-songwriters and friends of mine (yes, the two sets overlap
somewhat!) playing. So come on out! See www.swrfa.com for more info.
(If it says "Server error", just try again...)

NEW WEBSITE:
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I revamped the website. Check it out!
http://www.scotthawley.com

JOURNAL:
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Last Thursday, the composer and guitar virtuoso Pierre Bensusan
played in Austin. (http://www.pierrebensusan.com) It was a truly
inspiring evening, and very special for me in particular. I had
the privilege of studying under Pierre at his house in France
in the spring of 2001. Seeing him again recalled to mind many of
the lessons about music-making that I learned and somewhat lost
touch with. The emphasis on "playing from the heart" of being
"totally fearless" was fully realized in Pierre' performance.
Furthermore, for myself in particular, it was great to interact
with Pierre again. Since he's an international bigshot, I figured
I'd have to jog his memory a bit. ("Remember me? Scott? I played
ball with your son in your yard?") Such was not the case. Not
only did he remember me --- he told the ENTIRE AUDIENCE a story
about me, about how I suggested an easier way to play one of his
songs. (Tune the second string up to a C.... but Pierre only
plays in DADGAD...) He then played a song I learned, but
differently from how I learned it, he would flash a funny smile
my way. He pretty much played the song "at" me...
The eye contact I had with Pierre during the night was great.
Sometimes his expression would be "Hey, watch what I can do!" or
"You're not expecting this!", and sometimes it was the expression
of a teacher, "Hey! Are you paying attention, my student?"

One Pierre anecdote: I went up to talk to him before the show,
but then I quickly got self-conscious because I didn't want to be
bugging him right before he went on. But Pierre said, "Oh no. I
want to be out here, with the people. The last thing I want to do
is be 'meditating' in my dressing room." And then he looked at me
and pointed a finger, saying, "The meditation occurs when I am
playing." I will remember that for the rest of my life...


Hope to see you soon.
Best wishes,
Scott

--
http://www.scotthawley.com