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CLAUDIA'S HISTORY BIO,
PHOTOS, AWARDS CLAUDIA'S MUSIC HEAR
THE CD CLAUDIA'S
NEWSLETTER CLAUDIA'S SHOW CONTACT
FOR BOOKING CLAUDIA
IS PROUD |
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NYGAARD'S NEWSLETTER
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Spring and Summer 2008
RECORDING IN AUSTIN...
| In early 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 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 pedal steel) & Redd on Telly | Cindy gives Redd some helpful suggestions... | |||||
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CRUISING WITH MY SWEETIE...
| For the last year, my boyfriend Jimmy Maddox has been a piano bar entertainer for Holland America Cruise Lines. Since he knows about every song ever written and has never known a stranger, he's really good at it. It's been kinda lonesome with him gone so much, but the perks of being able to join him on the cruises a couple times a year have (so far) outweighed the downside. Further down this page you'll see photos of the cruise I took with him to Aruba and Curaçao last April, but most recently I joined him in the Mediterranean... just after we did a mission trip for my church. We first went to Lithuania to help our sister church, Vilnius United Methodist, start an Alateen group for the youth there. While we were there we 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 we didn't end up parents. They absolutely melted my heart! | ||
 Touring in Lithuania with Jimmy |
 Jimmy Juggles For The Kids While I'm Tuning Up For The Show |
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 Is This What They Mean By An All Ages Show? |
 A Magic Show Has Their Attention |
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CRUISIN THE MED WITH JIMMY...
| After we left Lithuania we headed down to Rome and did a little sight seeing before we climbed aboard the Noordam for Jimmy's next gig... cruising the Mediterranean to Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Malta and France! | ||
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| Our First Stop Was To Walk The Forum | ||
 Then we were "slack-jawed" by the Coliseum |
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 Like They Say... All Roads Lead To Rome! |
| AND THEN IT WAS TIME TO BOARD THE NOORDAM... |
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The Mediterranean Sea is so blue, whereas the Carribbean is more green... (see below)
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OUR FIRST STOP - 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. We walked the wall around the city, and found a great restaurant overlooking the sea, where we sat and ate mussels. I was in heaven.
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THEN THE GREEK ISLES...
After Croatia we stopped in three Greek ports - Corfu, Katakalon, and the incredible Santorini where we rode donkeys 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 cruise 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? | Paul preached in this 40,000 seat amphitheater. I tested the acoustics with a verse of "Amazing Grace" and it carried to the top row! Jimmy tested it with a verse of "Spongebob Square Pants". | |
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| 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 we 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!
My last day of the cruise was also my birthday, and what better place to celebrate my birthday than Monte Carlo! (Monaco) Unfortunately Jimmy had to sail off on the Noordam at 4 pm (top right), so I spent the evening by myself. I made do by visiting the palace in Monaco and the casino, and treating 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) |
MY FIRST CRUISE...
My first cruise with Jimmy was to Aruba and Curacao in April. Here are some of the most important reasons for cruising...
The scenery...
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The Carribbean Sea
The entertainment... |
Curaçao
And of course the food!!! |
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Jimmy entertaining aboard the Westerdam
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Jimmy admiring the baked Alaska
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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 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 really great musicians and it's an inspiration to sing with them.
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| With the Marty Crum Band |
Well that's it for now. i'm hoping to have the CD ready by Christmas, so I'll be updating this newsletter in the fall. In
the meantime
Click
here to email me what you've been up to...
Be good to yourself,
TO VIEW PAST NEWSLETTERS, CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW:
2005-2007 NEWSLETTER:
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!