Happy New Year!

Please check out the upcoming shows below.  We’d love to see you there!

UPCOMING SHOWS

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

The Corner Bar (Next to Gypsy Cab Company on Anastasia Blvd), St. Augustine, FL
WITH BOB PATTERSON, DAVID WATT BESLEY, SHARON GOLDMAN & ELAINE MAHON

FRI FEB 21, 7:00PM:  CONCERT FOR SUSTAINERS OF PRAIRIE CREEK CONSERVATION CEMETERY
Prairie Creek Lodge, 7104 SE CR 234, Gainesville, FL
featuring ACOUSTIC EIDOLON  (SAM & ELAINE MAHON OPEN)

FRI FEB 21 – SAT FEB 22, HEARTWOOD MUSIC FEST IV
Heartwood Soundstage, Gainesville, FL
SAM & ELAINE MAHON (SCHEDULE TBA)

THURS FEB 27, 11AM-1PM: SHAKERAG COFFEETALK
Melrose Senior Center, 309 SR 26, Melrose, FL
SAM & ELAINE MAHON

FRI MARCH 13- SUNDAY MARCH 15: WILL MCLEAN FESTIVAL
Seratoma Youth Ranch, 85 Myers Rd, Brooksville, FL 34602
SAM & ELAINE MAHON (Schedule TBA)

MORE ABOUT UPCOMING SHOWS

MON JAN 20, 7PM: SONGWRITER NIGHT AT THE CORNER BAR
BOB PATTERSON, DAVID WATT BESLEY, SHARON GOLDMAN & ELAINE MAHON

Florida’s premier storyteller, conservationist, author and award winning songwriter Bob Patterson is our host, along with David Watt Beasley.  Joining us will be my talented songwriter friend from Summersongs Songwriting Camp, Sharon Goldman.  Sharon is an extraordinary writer and recording artist with an absolutely beautiful voice.  This is going to be a really fun evening.

Our host Bob Patterson, has a lovely new book out: “The Saga of William Ellis.” The book features stories from William Ellis’s life in the Florida wilderness.  Illustrations are by Joe Mark, a wonderful songwriter as well, and with whom I shared the stage with last time I played Bob’s Songwriter’s night. Pick up a copy while you are there – it is an enjoyable read.
You can read more about it in this article from the St. Augustine Record

FRI FEB 21, 7:00PM CONCERT FOR SUSTAINERS
of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery at Prairie Creek Lodge

ACOUSTIC EIDOLON  (SAM & ELAINE MAHON OPEN)

Free for sustainers of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery.
If you are not a sustainer  donor and are interested in becoming one by pledging monthly donations of $5 to $60 please call 352-317-7307, or you can sign up as a SUSTAINER at the show.

If you don’t wish to become a SUSTAINER, but do wish to attend the show we suggest a donation of $20 to benefit the nonprofit Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery.

Seating is limited and advance reservations are recommended:
call (352) 317-7307 to reserve your seats.

FRI FEB 21 – SAT FEB 22:
HEARTWOOD MUSIC FEST IV
SAM & ELAINE MAHON (SCHEDULE TBA)

THURS FEB 27, 11AM-1PM: SHAKERAG COFFEETALK
Melrose Senior Center, Melrose, FL

SAM & ELAINE MAHON

FRI MARCH 13- SUN MARCH 15: WILL MCLEAN FESTIVAL
Seratoma Youth Ranch, 85 Myers Rd, Brooksville, FL 34602
SAM & ELAINE MAHON (Schedule TBA)

NOTES IN PASSING

In Mid October 2019 I spent a week attending an audio engineering workshop for women in Nashville, TN  with veteran recording engineer and producer Fett at Azalea Studios. Fett is a great teacher.  What sets him apart is his willingness to consider different perspectives when questions are asked so that the answers land in such a way as to both educate and empower. He’s not satisfied with his answer until you are.  What a lot of difficult and enlightening questions came out of this marvelous group of women musicians and studio owners from around the country.  It was so energizing to be in the company of such creative minds engaged in the process of recording, engineering, mixing, and mastering together.  Thank you Fett and Nancy for hosting this incredible workshop and for supporting women in music!  While in Nashville I had a lovely dinner with David Ponorof who used to work for Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery and helped with many of the Sandhill Stage shows.  He is now in charge of a conservation cemetery near Nashville on land owned by the Nature Conservancy.  I also had the opportunity to visit with my good friend and sometime songwriting collaborator Lisa Aschmann.  We had a good time, and I even got to attend one of her shows, but we needed more time to write, something we resolved we’d make allowances for next time I am up that way.

In October 2019, Sam & I had a wonderful time playing at the COMMON GROUND MEETING HALL in Northport, FL.  We want to thank Andy Brown for inviting us, as well as our friends and family for making the drive out to support us, especially Joan Bradbury for inviting us to be her house guests and for treating us like royalty. A special shout out to Passerine’s Carmela Pedicini, Sara Stovall and David Brain for taking time out of their busy musical lives to attend the show.  Passerine rocks! If you live in the Sarasota area please support COMMON GROUND MEETING HALL as a listening venue and tune into their folk radio station WKDW 97.5 FM and simulcast on KDWRadio.com.

In November we played a house concert in Micanopy, FL, at Jack at Lorrie Moore’s home.  It was the most fun I’ve ever had at a house concert. Just a delightful group of people, and an incredibly engaged audience. People kept interrupting to ask questions about the songs and the songwriting process, it was like a show and tell, a songwriter’s dream.

Also in November, Passerine’s lead singer Carmela Pedicini and I started to collaborate on songwriting and our first writing weekend was a blast. Our first co-write is a love song to the Suwannee River called “Carry Me.”  We both have a deep affinity for that river, and it seemed like the natural place for us to land topic-wise. How funny that a birder like myself would find herself working with someone in a band named after the songbird species! I’m  looking forward to hearing PASSERINE’S version of “Carry Me.” We ended up composing the song on banjo which is strange because neither of us really know how to play the instrument beyond rudimentary skills.  As a result of our collaboration I’ve been inspired to teach myself how to play banjo, which surprises me because I was never drawn to the instrument before. Carmela was kind enough to loan me her banjo to work with. I  am certainly having fun trying out free youtube banjo lessons and realizing how many songs must have been originally conceived on a banjo!   All in good time. Carmela also took our creativity to the kitchen and prepared some delectable dolmadi and tabouli in her ample kitchen to feed our hungry creative minds. We hope to further our collaboration this winter.

December brought me a wonderful opportunity to serve as Artist in Residence at a Unitarian Universalist SWIM camp near Lake Placid, FL.  The camper’s at SWIM were a stellar group of civic minded, thoughtful and caring individuals, most of whom had a long history of attending camp together. They welcomed me as family and made me feel as if I were an integral part of their experience.  Sam & I gave a concert the first night of camp and then he and John headed back to Gainesville the next morning. I stayed for a few more days, camping in the woods with our new Sierra Design tent.  Even though it rained practically the whole time I stayed comfy and dry in my little refuge, listing to the rain on the fly and the owls hooting in the trees above me.

Even though I am not a UU member, my music seemed to be a good fit.  In addition to hosting a general creativity workshop which was a lot of fun,  also attended a workshop conducted by Chaplain Jone Johnson Lewis on the neuroscience of ethics. Her talks were quite intellectual, but also heartfelt and insightful dealing with important topics such as racism and grief. One day Jone invited me to do the music for one of her evening services. Immediately before my first song my B string decided to go completely wonkers and I had to keep the congregation waiting while I begged for pliers to remove a stuck peg and quickly restring the guitar.  At that moment I was reminded of a John Hammond show I attended where he broke three strings in succession. John didn’t even bat an eye, he pulled out a string and restrung a new one before you hardly registered what had happened. I don’t yet have the speed and grace he exhibited, but luckily my strings don’t break often since I have a light touch. The service turned out even better than either of us had imagined.  The songs seemed to magically dovetail with Jone’s sermon even though I had no idea in advance what she was going to say.

The food at S.W.I.M. was great thanks to our Chef Emeer who whipped up the most sublime lemonade from my Meyers lemons that I have ever tasted.  The secret sauce? Orange blossom water and mint.  You have got to try this at home, it is out of this world.  and the company even better.  If you want to make a glass for two:  juice one large Myers lemon, heat a little water and dissolve roughly 1/3 C sugar. Mix lemon juice and sugar water, add chopped fresh mint and 2 Tablespoons of Orange Blossom Water. Mix. Pour into two 10oz glasses, top off with ice and water.  Stir well. Mmmmmm.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HOST A HOUSE CONCERT?
I’ve been on a writing spree lately and Sam and I are slowly trying to work out arrangements and incorporate the new songs into our repertoire.  The more we play the easier it is to keep the repertoire fresh, adding new songs as we go. We  love the intimacy of house concerts and would be thrilled for the opportunity to play one in your home. House concerts are fun because they are pot lucks with musicians you host, playing for your own friends in your own home.  You don’t have to go out late, and you get to hear some pretty wonderful music right in your own home. If you are interested in venturing into hosting a house concert please email me at elaine@elainemahonmusic.com