Gas Pricing Sign Ann Arbor, MI

Drop the Knife: A-memoir-in-song

Jeanne Mackey, Michigan activist and songerwriter/singer marks her 60th birthday with a performance of her memoir-in-song in Ann Arbor on November 21 at 2 pm. Details are at Jeanne Mackey's site. The show's title is a legendary answer to a question "What is the sign of someone who knows God?" The 14th century Persian mystic Hafiz answered, "Dear, they have dropped the knife. They have dropped the cruel knife most so often use upon their tender self and others." (Daniel Ladinsky, The Subject Tonight is Love) See "No Time to Hesitate" from Drop the Knife on Jeanne's site, and on YouTube.

Barb Barton House Concert

On a soft focus summer evening in the woods of Michigan, with the trees shushing the wind, the crickets singing background, Barb Barton's music shepherded our spirits for a few hours this weekend.

We sat in cozy chairs with our shoes off as the goldfish hustled to get the best seat in the pond, and the moths fluttered to the upper balcony, stage right high on the window.

A few turns of a tuning key, a couple of soft strums, and the music of Barb Barton drifted into the summer night.

Barb Barton produces smiles, unfolds arms, balances spirits, removes the build-up of hanging out in the world.

I believe that if you're singing, it's not possible to feel bad. Barb takes that to the performance level - it is not possible for anyone to feel bad when she's singing.

A home is the best small venue to experience your favorite musician. People who are invited are there happily, eagerly. It's a mini-festival feeling.

Close up, we're rapt by tuning keys, fingers picking, the light glinting on the silvered neck of the guitars, foot moving softly to the beat. We see faces, smiles. Smiles are catchy. The intimate setting coats your psyche, the music stays in your head and the warmth stays on your heart for days.

I walked slowly out into the night after the concert, said good night to the trees, and the backlit sky, bemused and humbled by the extraordinary musical gift we'd shared, and hummed some of my favorite lyrics all the way home.