photo by Peter Ashworth
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October 25th 2006Hi there - I'm sorry it's been so long - again! Trying to avoid the opening 'Well'! I have been busy both with music and with life - shock news - I got married in June to David who must be very brave and is certainly wonderful in many and newly unfolding ways. My dogs Kitty and Lily were bridesmaids and had special silk collars and leads with sparkly crystals on (I'm afraid any restrained taste deserted me here) and were really very well behaved; in fact, they got a bit bored and went to sleep. The ceremony and party afterwards were made even more special by my dear friends Ingrid (Schroeder) her long-time partner Barry Flynn who is a great singer, Clare (Kenny who even sang her trademark Jolene later on with us all on backing vocals!) and Nicola (Hitchcock) all singing an acapella song which was so touching. Loreena (McKennitt) sang a beautiful song with Brian Hughes on guitar, and Rafael, a truly wonderful flamenco guitarist played and played and we even got to learn flamenco clapping (very hard!) and David and I danced the Sevillanas that we had been practicing for hours every day for a month! We're now back to normal life again and I'm working away on a new cd whilst David has just opened a new veterinary practice in Exeter, Devon. We met through Kitty of course! We've also added to our small doggy menagerie; Elsa the naughtiest puppy in the world - guess what, she's a greyhound, so no surprise there - now lives with us and is trying to chew us and the other dogs (David has a rescue collie cross called Jess) until we all have little red marks everywhere. I feel that she may not actually be pure greyhound but must have at least one crocodile parent. We took her to puppy class last night and she promptly wrestled all the other pups to the ground and chomped on their ears til they squeaked, so I feel I have a small challenge ahead of me to civilise her over the next few months. On the plus side, she is totally charming and very clever as she has already learned to sit, lie down, come back like a rocket and carry things around in her mouth, which is unusual for a greyhound. As well as the music, I am doing a foundation degree in dog behaviour and training, so she is part of my learning experience there too. Gulp! The new cd is going to be very exciting as Justin Elswick aka Sleepthief and his partner in music Israel Curtis, have kindly agreed to produce the new music. It is a little along the lines of Spirit but with more energy. I am sending my songs over and they are putting their considerable stamp on them and sending them back - Justin is also going to write a couple of backing tracks which I'm going to write over the top so it's all exciting stuff. I think these new songs are among the best I've written so I am very excited and I'd like people to hear some tasters to see what they think so if you would like to hear a little bit then email me at caroline@carolinelavelle.co.uk and I'll send you some mp3s. In September I was out in Granada, Spain with Loreena and the guys doing a series of concerts for tv and dvd. As usual, it was a lovely time with the concerts made even more magical by the setting in the Alhambra. It is such a privilege to be able to work in some of the places we do. Also as usual, I learned a lot from Hugh and Donald and the rest of them; their musicianship and artistry is immense and I enjoy playing with them so much. Every night is different and special when you are playing with musicians that good; I often feel like a little sister tagging along and being indulged by the big boys (musically speaking you understand!!) and just listening and asking a few questions can tell me such a lot. I would need several lifetimes to be able to really get to the bottom of their knowledge. I hope you're all well and happy! Til the next time Love Cx Cx sitedesign: hygge | all contents © 2001 - 2005 |
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