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CLAUDIA'S HISTORY BIO,
PHOTOS, AWARDS CLAUDIA'S MUSIC HEAR
THE CD CLAUDIA'S
CLAUDIA'S SHOW CONTACT
FOR BOOKING |
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NYGAARD'S NEWSLETTER
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Summer, 2011
| NEW CD IS FINALLY FINISHED!!! (visit "Store" to purchase) | ||
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I am very happy to report here that (after spending way too much money mixing it) my new CD "Let The Storm Roll In" is finally finished! I've just sent several hundred out to radio stations, and I'm headed out on the road for pretty much the whole summer. Reviews are starting to trickle in and I've been embarrassed by the praise! (After all they're not really songs, I just made them up!) I'm in the process of revamping my website, and this page will soon be a blog. I hope to have it interactive, so you can write on it too. Check back and get your two cents worth! I had a great time designing the artwork for the CD. While I was performing in Tucson in October, I mentioned the title of the CD to venue host Bonnie Vining. She suggested I try to do a photo shoot out in the desert at "Windy Point" with photographer Bob Block. We wandered out there and I climbed up onto some rock formations underneath this giant thundercloud and Bob got some great shots. I'm having a lot of fun working on the art layout. It's kinda like fingerpainting for grownups. |
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 Showcasing at Southwest Regional Folk Alliance with Sean Kelly (bass) and Michael D'eath |
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Photo by Ben Gangloff
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WHERE I WENT IN 2010... I covered a lot of territory this year. In January I stayed home working on the CD, then in February I headed down to Memphis for the National Folk Alliance Conference. March found me gigging mostly in Tennessee and surrounding states, and then in April I performed at a wonderful house concert up in Chicago. While I was up there I had an interesting "coincidence”. Years ago, I was quite enamored with a Chicago folk singer. Sadly, he was killed in a motorcycle accident four years ago. On April 18th as I was driving around downtown Chicago, I kept thinking I was seeing him on the street. That night, haunted by his memory, I googled him and discovered his memorial website. On it, I learned he had died four years ago TO THE DAY, and that my gig the next day, would have been his next gig had he lived. It was quite a "coincidence". |
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 With Michael Gaither at the Ugly Mug, Santa Cruz, CA |
 "Linden Nights" in Linden , TN |
 Recording Sousaphone with Bobby Durham on "Miss Kitty"
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In May I headed west, performing in Salt Lake City, Tucson, Southern California, and Northern California. I got to see LOTS of old friends and family. From June through August I gigged close to home in TN so that I could finish the CD. Then in September I headed down to Texas to perform, where I saw more friends and family and was chosen for the official showcase at the Southwest Regional Folk Alliance Conference. In October I headed back up to Chicago again where I was chosen for the official showcase at the Midwest Regional Folk Alliance Conference. The same month I also headed out west again - to Tucson first, where I got the great shots for my new CD cover, then back out to California where I managed to be in San Francisco with my cousin Brian the night the Giants (my team as a kid) won the World Series! From there I flew east to Massachusetts and spent a few early November days with old friends on Cape Cod, followed by a lovely gig in an Art Gallery outside Boston. From there I made a trip into New York City with some other old friends, where I finally made it to the Guggenheim Museum before heading home. |
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 Chuck and I in the 70s |
It was a good year, but not without some sadness. In July my first real love and first musical partner Chuck McCabe, the man who taught me to play the guitar, taught me how to put on a show, showed me the east coast for the first time, and was the first man I ever lived with, succumbed to pancreatic cancer. It came as a huge shock because he had kept his illness private. I only learned he was ill four days prior to his death, and I was barely able to get a note to him before he passed. It left me feeling a little angry at him for not telling me goodbye. But in October, while I was attending the Far-West Folk Alliance conference which was held in San Jose, I had another interesting "coincidence”. I was given a CD from Chuck's Co-op record label. Leaving the conference I stuck the CD in the rental car. I listened to a variety of artists from the label as I was drove away from the hotel and wound my way up into the canyon where Chuck and I shared a little cabin back in the 70's. I wandered around forever before I found it. When I did, I reached to turn off the ignition just as one of Chucks songs came on. It was a song called “Our House”, written in and about the little cabin I was sitting there looking at. I guess he did say goodbye after all. Now I just have to forgive him for taking a piece of my heart with him when he left. |  And again in 2006 |
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Summer 2009 I was chosen for the "Emerging Artist Showcase" at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival! It was great honor to be selected, as over 500 artists applied. It was a fun time being up in New York, and sloshing around in the mud on the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. I met some great people and heard some great music, and everyone was SO nice. The south has not cornered the market on hospitality. I felt so welcome in New York!
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Another great experience of the summer was playing the mainstage at the Kerrville Folk Festival! I got to perform on Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend. It was perfect weather, the sound guy rocked, the audience was huge and VERY responsive, I sold a ton of CDs and had all kinds of people coming up to me after and saying they loved my show and well... I had a REALLY good time! Especially because I had a little help from my friends... Pictured here is Sean Kelly on bass, who I just love performing with. Also pictured here is Jimmy LaFave, who joined me on stage to sing a duet on "I Want To Touch You". He is so soulful, and he really nailed it. I love Kerrville. When you come in the gates they say "Welcome Home" to you, and that's exactly what it feels like. I've made so many friends there, and I've had such wonderful times there - especially winning the New Folk Songwriting competition in 2004. |
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With Sean Kelly on bass and Jimmy LaFave
(photo by Cheryl Kagan) |
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 I adore working with Sean. He adds so much to my songs, and what a great human being! (Photo by Neale Eckstein) |
 The encore: my new song about Darfur - "Chenee" (Photo by Neale Eckstein) |
PERFORMING ON WFMT IN CHICAGO...
| Earlier in the month I performed on Rich Warren's live radio show "Folkstage" in Chicago, IL. It is broadcast live on WFMT's website the night of the show, then rebroadcast on XM satellite's radio station "The Village" about a week later. I got a great recording of it thanks to both Rich Warren and engineer Eric Arunas. The nice thing about a live show recording is you get all my stories that intro the songs and the audiences reaction. It's kinda like being there without all the annoying traveling! If you would like to purchase a copy, go to my "Hear the CD" page. | ||
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 "Twelve Little Red Heartaches" (judging from the bar chord) |
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Rich steps up to introduce me
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| While up in Chicago, I also had a great time playing Two Way Street Coffeehouse in Downer's Grove. What a great Chicago tradition (38 years!) with a wonderfully responsive audience. Then it was great fun to play Bill's Blues too, with host Nancy Emrich. I was delighted when my cousin Chris Svare whom I haven't seen in years showed up. I can't wait to get back to Chicago! | ||
Spring 2009
| In March and April I had some fabulous gigs as well. In early March I finally performed for the first time at Uncle Calvin's in Dallas, TX. (Although some folks there seemed to be under the impression I had already played there...) It was a great time, followed by an equally great time the next night at Urban Campfires, a house concert series where we shot a little video I hope to have on UTube soon... AFTER I finish the new CD.
In April I returned to Dataw Island and performed at the Folk At The Cannery House Concerts Series again, along with a lovely series on Skidaway Island at the Landings. While down there I played a couple nights at one of my favorite hangs, Marlin Monroe's on Tybee Island. Tybee is so fun, and it was great to see lots of old friends while I was there. |
Winter 2009
| It was, to quote George Harrison, "a long cold lonely winter"... but I did have a couple great shows that warmed things up for me during those last chilly months. Just before Christmas I performed at a house concert called Canyon Acoustic Society in Watsonville, CA. It was an amazing night for me. It was close to my old home town, and as a result there were people there I've known since the first year I performed professionally. | |||
 With Canyon Acoustic Society Host Marky Starks |
 Dear Friends from way back when I first started playing music... from left, Russ Brutsche, Marie Pence, and Brian Dorney. |
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| Just before the Canyon show I gave Michael Gaither an interview he put on his "Songs and Stories" blog. Click on it and have a listen!
Then in January I had the chance to share the stage with veteran artist Bill Staines at Folk 'N Great's House Concert in Maryland. Pictured here with me are hosts Cheryl Kagen, and David Spitzer. Cheryl is now running for state senate. You go girl! |
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In February - Singing with a dixieland band!
Shrove Tuesday, aka "Fat Tuesday", is the day before the forty days of Lent begin. It gets it's name from the church's historic tradition of eating up all the fattening food in your pantry in order to prepare for Lent, a time of fasting and reflection. (Not a bad idea right after the food of the holidays!) For the last several years my church has held a Jazz Mass on Shrove Tuesday, and I've come to really enjoy singing "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" with Marty Crum's dixieland band each year. We all dress up in Mardi Gras Costumes and parade down the center isle of the church to some great dixieland music. These guys are incredible musicians and it's an inspiration to sing with them. |
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| With the Marty Crum Band |
RECORDING IN AUSTIN...
| Last summer I headed down to Texas to do a couple gigs, and dropped down to Kerrville to camp with some friends at the Kerrville Folk Festival for a few days. Truth be told however, my real reason for heading down there was to get my old friend and recent grammy winner Redd Volkeart to put that mighty telecaster of his to work on a couple songs on my new CD. Redd has been living in Austin for several years now, and I can't imagine doing a new CD without having him play on it. Besides being a bud from way back when, he is probably the finest Telly guy in the biz. We cut in a studio owned by Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, and I was thrilled to have Cindy Cashdollar lay some great steel, doboro, and lap steel on the tracks too. | ||||||
| Working in Ray Benson's (Asleep At The Wheel) studio with Cindy Cashdollar & Redd Volkheart | ||||||
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| Cindy playing lap steel (behind the nonpedal steel) & Redd on Telly | Cindy gives Redd some helpful suggestions... | |||||
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On a mission...
| Last summer I made a musical mission trip for my church. I first went to Lithuania to help my churches partner church, Vilnius United Methodist, start an Alateen group for the youth there. While I was there I also played a few concerts to bring people into the church, and put on a show for children at a nearby orphanage. It is something of a miracle that I didn't end up a mom. They absolutely melted my heart! | ||
 Touring in Lithuania |
 Jimmy Maddox Juggles For The Kids While I'm Tuning Up For The Show |
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| After I left Lithuania I took the first vacation I've had in years. I headed down to Rome and did a little sight seeing. | ||
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| My First Stop Was To Walk The Forum | ||
 I was "slack-jawed" by the Coliseum |
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Like They Say... All Roads Lead To Rome! |
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AND THEN TO A MEDIEVAL WALLED CITY...
I had never heard of Dubrovnik, Croatia prior to the cruise... but what a lovely destination! It is an old medieval city, with an "old town" that is encircled by a wall. I walked the wall around the city, and found a great restaurant overlooking the sea, where I sat and ate mussels. I was in heaven.
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THEN THE GREEK ISLES...
After Croatia I visited three Greek ports - Corfu, Katakalon, and the incredible Santorini where I rode a donkey up the face of the cliff to get to the city.
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EPHESUS - TO WALK WHERE PAUL WALKED...
| One of the highlights of the trip for me was a visit to the ruins at Ephesus in Turkey. Ephesus is said to be the place where Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians. It is also rumored that Mary, the mother of Christ, spent her last days in this city that was known for it's religious tolerance. It was once a thriving port, but trees along the river were cut down and the erosion caused the river to fill with silt, landlocking the city and bringing about it's demise. COULDN'T WE LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS??? | ||
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| "Main Street" - see the tall library at the end? | The library - in its day it was the 3rd largest in the world. | |
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AND WHAT WOULD A TRIP TO ITALY BE WITHOUT STOPPING IN SICILY?
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 Cathedral Door |
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At 12 noon the clocktower comes alive. The lion roars, the cock crows, and the figures below the cock march around in a circle... all to the sound of "Ave Maria" piped out loudly onto the square. |
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| FLORENCE... I WANNA GO BACK!
Of all the cities I visited, this was the one that made me want to return. The charm of the city is enough of a reason to visit it, but I'm so in love with the art of the Florentines, especially Botticelli. I was thrilled to get to go see his paintings at Galleria degli Uffizi, and also to see "David", Michaelangelo's incredible (20 feet tall) sculpture at Galleria dell'Accademia. Photographs were not allowed in the museums, so you'll have to go see them yourself. In the meantime, here is a beautiful cathedral, an incredible building, and a fresco from a church near the train station. |
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OOH LA LA.... FRANCE!
What better place to celebrate my birthday than Monte Carlo! (Monaco) I visited the palace in Monaco and the casino, and treated myself to another bowl of mussels (followed by creme brulee.)
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| AND FINALLY ON TO PARIS...
The next day I boarded the train for Paris. I only had one day in Paris before I had to fly home, so having been there several times before I decided to spend my time with my friends Mary, Rosemary, and Eric. Eric and Rosemary are French singers and songwriters too. Check out their websites at http://www.eric-vincent.com and http://www.rosemary-lou.com If you want to see pictures of Paris, click here, or at the bottom of this page: CLAUDIA'S FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR - 2001 |
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| Mary, Me, & Rosemary - (taken on Mary's houseboat on the River Seine) |
Well that's it for now. I'll be updating soon when I get the CD finished!
Be good to yourself,
TO VIEW PAST NEWSLETTERS, CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW:
2004 NEWSLETTER: PHOTOS OF SWITZERLAND & NORWAY
2004 - WINNING THE KERRVILLE FOLK FESTIVAL SONG COMPETITION
2003 NEWSLETTER: RENOVATING AND TOURING
2002 NEWSLETTER: ON THE COVER OF COUNTRY MUSIC ROUND UP MAGAZINE!