On the Road to Kennewick (Part 4 of the Christmas Tour Recap)

Behold! The chariot on the left in the photo below drove us from Utah to Washington and back again. Notice how it is appropriately entitled the "Chateau."

Here's what Life on Le Chateau looked like:

Regardez notre chauffeur, Monsieur Gledhill.

See Matt sit. See Matt read. See Matt wear a cool thrift store coat with a fur collar at the Chateau dining table.

Griffin was a champ aboard the Chateau. His disheveled perma-bedhead was the envy of all the band members.

By golly, I think it even rivaled Joe's stylishly unruly coiffure.

Spencer has mastered the art of baby talk.

We knew we were in Oregon when we saw a valley of fog below us.

Pendleton, OR was where we made our stop for lunch and boy was it awesome.

We ate at The Rainbow Cafe. Great little place. I recommend the tuna on sourdough.

Inside The Rainbow.

We stopped in at an amazing old junk shop on the main street in town. I bought some vintage shoes for $10. They had some fabulous finds in there.

Not much more than an hour north of Pendleton, we found ourselves in Kennewick, WA loading in our gear for the show. Our sponsor, Marilyn Lott, greeted us, fed us and made her magic happen to make the night the best it could be. Thanks Marilyn!

We discovered some pretty badical props backstage at Kamiakin High School Auditorium and put them to good use in our set design. But the fancy red bunting was custom made for me by none other than Washington's own Danyelle Mathews of Dandee Designs.

A special thanks to Krista Maurer for all of these killer photos. How lucky can a girl be to have a tour manager who is also a photographer?

And that concludes this year's "Christmas Tour Recap." Thanks a million to everyone who came to the shows! May you have a happy new year. Signing off.

The Most Meaningful Event of My Christmas Season (Part 3 of My Christmas Tour Recap)

Meet Bryn Jones. Bryn is as bright and beautiful as little girls come. Bryn also has a genetic disorder called Rett Syndrome. Rett Syndrome is a disorder of developmental reversals most noticeably in areas of expressive language and hand use. Hence, the words that Bryn had once learned to speak and the ability to use her hands, began to regress when she was a young toddler. Now Bryn is no longer able to speak or control her hands. Currently, there is no cure for Rett Syndrome.

I was originally going to do a house concert in Boise for photographer and blogger, Cristi Dame. When Cristi's friend Makita Jones (Bryn's mom) heard about the concert, she related to Cristi that my music was one of the few things that was able to calm Bryn down. (And this is the part where I tear up). After a few phone calls were made, the concert had shifted into a fundraiser for the Rett Syndrome Foundation with Bryn as our guest of honor. (Excuse me while I wipe my eyes yet again). This was by far, the best thing that happened to me this Christmas season. You can watch a news clip on the story that features Bryn here.

Bryn and her daddy, Steve.

My first meeting with Bryn. Isn't her skirt adorable?

Cristi Dame and Makita Jones did a fabulous job of making The Rose Room in historic, downtown Boise look like an enchanted, winter Candyland, complete with an old-fashioned soda bar. You should have seen the wide-eyed children.

Me with the Jones Family.

Enter Cristi Dame (on the right in both photos). Cristi is largely responsible for making the concert happen and 100% responsible for these lovely photos. Many thanks to her for being a key sponsor of the event. You can read her own words about the evening and see more photos on her blog, Weeds to Wishes.

And lastly, you can watch a news clip of the evening here, in which I blubber. Thanks to all who attended and donated a collective amount of $17,000. But most of all, thank you Bryn.

With Love,

White Elephant

And the winner for the best white elephant gift goes to ME! How did I ever get by without these neon green floor mopping sandals with Christmas accents glue-gunned on top? I know not.
Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas Tour Recap: Part 2 (Provo and Pocatello)

I'm going to be honest with you about something. My show at Velour in Provo last week was my worst performance of the whole tour. It definitely had it's shining moments, but there were a few times where I felt like a competitive figure skater who just couldn't quite land that triple loop. No. Triple sau cow (it's more fun to say). But somehow, the Gods smiled upon me that evening. Perhaps they took pity. For lo and behold, not one, but three fantastic photographers showed up in the audience that night and captured some great shots. Velour is a magical venue and if you haven't been there, then you you should run to their next show.

13 year old Faith Johnson left everyone's jaw hanging wide open during her opening set. I've never heard anyone that young have such control over their voice and command so much attention.

Then Ryan Innes came out and KILLED IT. Oh man, every time that man opens his mouth to sing, the audience is spellbound.

I was so lucky to have such a fantastic band this tour. Joe Corcoran on guitar, Matt Mayhall on drums, and Spencer Harrison on bass. Thanks to our tour manager, Krista Maurer for these first three photos.

Jefra Starr Linn took these next three photos and man are they CUH-RAY-ZAY. As in crazy awesome. They feel so warm and bright and I just want to jump inside of them and swim around in the glow. As a side note, Jefra took the photo of me on the cover of Winter Moon. Thanks Jefra!

When tickets were up for sale for this show, I saw Justin Hackworth's name pop up under the ticket purchasers. "Excellent," I said in my best sinister voice, while tenting my fingertips a la Mr. Burns. I speed dialed Justin's number to see if he'd be willing to snap some photos for me and he was so gracious to oblige. I'm so pleased because I got some signature clean and classic photos from him. You can see a few more and read his words about the show on his blog. Thanks Justin!

The next morning, we hopped in the Chateau and drove up to Idaho State University in Pocatello, ID to do a show with the Teton Chamber Orchestra. Oh, how I love playing with an orchestra! I nearly cried several times throughout the show, singing with a shake in my voice to hold back the tears. The conductor, Eric Wenstrom, is such an amazing man and his scores are gorgeous. I'm completely dumbstruck as to how I would be invited to play with him and his musicians. But I thank my lucky stars for it, believe you me. (Thanks to Krista Maurer for these three photos with the orchestra).

The set design came together so beautifully. Thanks to Fauneil and Luhi Purcell for making my paper snowflakes! Here's how they did it.

Many thanks to Corey Fox at Velour and George Casper at Idaho State University for making these two shows possible.

Christmas Tour Recap Part 1

I have been recovering from a post-tour coma these last few days. And while in my comatose state, I dreamed about my little Christmas tour over and over again because it was just THAT AWESOME.

On Monday last week, I picked up my band at the Salt Lake airport in a 31 foot RV complete with brown and mustard decals on the side and the word "Chateau" printed in enormous letters on the front. Upon climbing aboard, my guitarist Joe stated that he felt inspired to get a photo of himself sans shirt, in leather pants with a boa around his neck in the Chateau before the tour was over. But with his shirt still on, we drove up to Bountiful, UT to put on a house concert in Krista Maurer's home (aka our tour manager).

She had the place decked out like a magical winter fairyland what with a doily-clad bunting, hanging gold stars and a wall wrapped in bright, red paper. People were squished in the living room like packing peanuts in a gift box, and believe you me, the evening truly was a gift. I left feeling ecstatic that my first show in Bountiful was sold out.


The next morning we headed up to Good Things Utah where we were interviewed about our "Winter Moon" music video with "puppet friends." The highlight? When my drummer Matt Mayhall acted as the puppeteer for Simon (left) and later confessed that he forgot to move Simon's mouth for him while he was talking. Perfect.

After our segment on Good Things Utah, we scurried over to Channel 2 News to sing a few Christmas songs.

The next night was a private concert hosted by Christian and Stephanie Nielson at The Great Salt Lake Guitar Company on Center St. in Provo. What an amazing little venue. I would definitely love to do some more shows there. The room sounds fantastic and it looks incredible with handmade guitars all over the walls. (And if you're still looking for a stellar Christmas present, one of their guitars would be a dream come true for your special someone).
But the best part of the evening was when CJane came up on stage with me to sing The Christmas Song and she basically peed her pants. Read all about it here.

Check back tomorrow for Christmas Tour Recap Part 2! You won't want to miss some amazing photography by Justin Hackworth, Jefra Starr Linn and Krista Maurer.

P.S. All photos by Krista Maurer except the last one, which was snapped by Mr. Christian Nielson.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

In case you've been living in a cave, I have a show at Velour in Provo, UT tomorrow night. (Tickets here). The opening acts alone will knock your socks off. Faith Johnson (she's only 13!) and Ryan Innes will join me for a fantastic evening of music.



Also, tune into Good Things Utah at 10:00 a.m. today to watch a live interview with me and a few of the puppets from the Winter Moon music video. And if you miss it, catch me singing again today, live on Channel 2 at noon.

Thanks so much to Travis and Dehn at Mango Film Productions for making this video.

And thanks to Cjane for renting out her giant Yeti Christmas tree.

Here We Go!

Here we go! A week of Christmas shows every night. Tonight, the Bountiful, UT house concert is sold out. But just in case there are any cancellations, you could try calling Krista at (801) 360-1235 to see about getting in.

Wednesday night is my show at Velour in Provo, UT. You can still get tickets HERE.

Thursday is my show with the Teton Chamber Orchestra at Idaho State University. Tickets can be purchased HERE.

Friday's show is a benefit for The Rett Syndrome Foundation in Boise, ID. See the poster below for details and get tickets HERE:


And Saturday, I'm elated to sing in Kennewick, WA. Details in this poster below and tickets HERE:

Looking forward to seeing many of you!

Feel the Rhythm. Feel the Rhyme. C'mon Everyone, It's Concert Time!

Photo by Krista Maurer of Island Belle Photo

I have no idea why I'm channeling "Cool Runnings" right now. Maybe because Winter is upon us? Maybe because it's late and I'm delirious. Or perhaps because I'm going to sing a Jamaican tune at my next show. Who knows?

But the real reason for this post is to tell you that next week I'll be doing a string of concerts, performing songs from both Anchor and my new Christmas album, Winter Moon. I just might be coming to your town! See details below:

• 12/12: Bountiful, UT // House Concert (limited seating) // 8:00 PM // For tickets, contact Krista at (801) 360-1235 or kristaqm@gmail.com
• 12/13 Private concert hosted by The Nie Nie Dialogues
• 12/14: Provo, UT // Christmas Concert at Velour Live Music Gallery // 135 N. University Ave. // 7:00 PM // Buy tickets now!
• 12/15: Pocatello, ID // Mindy Gledhill Christmas Concert w/ the Teton Chamber Orchestra // ISU Stephens Center // Tickets or call the box office at (208) 282-3595
• 12/16: Boise, ID // Christmas Concert to Benefit the International Rett Syndrome Foundation // The Rose Room // 718 W. Idaho St. // 7:00 PM // Tickets
• 12/17: Kennewick, WA// Kamiakin High School Auditorium // 7:00 PM // Tickets

Even if you don't live in within 60 miles of any of these places, could I ask you a favor? Will you tell your friends that live near these cities about the shows? That would make me so very happy. Merry Christmas my friends.

P.S. If you can't come to a show and you want to listen to my new Christmas album, or give it as a gift, there is FREE SHIPPING on my website on all purchases, now through Christmas!

Meet Joe, Jenny and Henry

Would you like to know who was doing all those crazy puppet voices in the Winter Moon music video? How about the person who plays all the guitars, banjo, uke, mando, bass and brass on my recordings? And that dude with the killer glasses who plays in many of my shows?

Ladies and gents: Meet Joe Corcoran.

Last Thursday, I flew down to L.A. to do a little set with Joe at an event called Art and Soul. It was a lovely evening in the Lily Kate showroom in L.A. where artists, photographers, fashion and jewelry designers gathered to show and sell their wares. Joe's sweetheart, Jenny Ewing was in charge of the whole deal and she did a fantastic job.

Our "stage." (Awesome red bunting, compliments of Dandee Designs).

Joe and Jenny were kind enough to let me stay in their guest bedroom. Their apartment is so lovely and artsy. It's the kind of living space you imagine a hip, young L.A. couple to inhabit.

In the morning, Joe chopped up some fresh mint and made me a warm cup of mint tea.
After which he cooked up some chilaquiles that were out of this world.

After breakfast, I took a the liberty to snap a few more photos around Joe and Jenny's Silver Lake apartment.

Let's not forget their wonder-dog, Henry.
Henry, hold still.

Hold still, Henry!!! (Ah, and look. Here's Jenny!).

Henry only has one eye. He got attacked by a German Shepherd when he was a baby.

After breakfast, we went for a walk around Silver Lake, stopping in at the darling shops. Doesn't Jenny look so beautiful?

Many thanks to J&J's B&B for putting me up.

But wait! There's more! This little video of Joe singing to little Henry will make your day. Enjoy "Henri le Chien."