New Look for The Blog, New Digs for Bethany

Hello all (all...three of us?)

I am celebrating the two-week anniversary of my new apartment! I am based in Boston now (Brookline, to be specific). I flew out here the first week of Jan. and, between little tours and very hospitable friends, spent a merry month wandering address-less. Before coming to town, I sent a note to everyone I knew in the area letting them know I was looking for a place and to keep me in mind if they heard of anything. 

I got a response from a friend who heard about a place from one of the families she works with in an after-school program. Turns out this lady (and her son) had moved out of her apartment over the summer to her fiancé’s house, but because of how her mortgage is set-up couldn't legally rent it out. She mentioned to my friend that ideally she'd like to find someone who could watch her 8 year-old son after school in exchange for use of the apartment. That's me now!

I'm living rent-free in a private apartment in an up-scale Brookline neighborhood. I have room for guests, dinner parties, jam sessions, cooking, the works! I'm ideally nestled between two branches of the T and can walk to practically everything I need (grocery store, bank, cafe, park, my benefactors' house, etc.) I'm living more conveniently than I ever thought possible. My darling parents were even in town a few weekends ago (when I wasn't) and dropped off a lot of my belonging and instruments, so I'm feeling right at home. The people I work for are very sweet and understanding of my fluctuating schedule. Speaking of which...

Even though I'm not paying rent, I still need to buy food (and health insurance). That side of my income is coming entirely from gigs these days. I'm still in two contra dance bands, but have signed on with a more active touring musician. Most of my playing currently is with fiddler and singer Lissa Schneckenburger from Brattleboro, VT. She lives down the street from some musical heros of mine, where I spent many a weekend while I was in school near by. We've had a few mini-tours since Dec. and there are some exciting festivals and bigger trips coming up this summer. For the past few years I've played almost exclusively in dance bands, and it's been a little nerve wracking (but good) to now be in formal concert settings. So far it's just been the two of us traveling and playing, but for bigger venues we'll fill out the band with a bass player and an accordionist. You can get a sense of Lissa's music and see where we'll be in the future at: http://www.lissafiddle.com We were in Maine a few weeks ago and did a brief TV spot to promo the weekend of concerts. It's on-line now!: 

http://www.wcsh6.com/life/programming/local/207/story.aspx?storyid=99327&catid=50

This little update is turning into a novel, so that's all for now. Maybe next time I'll get some pictures together. Hope you're all well.

Take care,

Bethany