The Power of F.O.C.U.S.

Hello! Jessa just returned from Anaheim, CA where we attended a week-long business conference. I have since returned and my head is swimming with ideas!

I'd love to share some of the pearls of wisdom I took from the conference with you. Please leave comments and share some of your stories, thoughts, and ideas.



PEARL #1 The Power of F.O.C.U.S.

One of the recurring themes of the week was the power of focusing on a goal, a plan, etc. I particularly liked the acronym Follow One Course Until Successful. (thanks Mari Smith!) It's so often that people begin a project or a business or a song, for that matter, and never follow it through to completion!

This week I am going to focus on performing live as much as possible. Last night I got off to a good start and played the open mic at Lucy's in Pleasantville. Then, today, I booked The Callen Sisters at The Living Room in NYC on June 22!

How can you apply the power of focus this week?

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Printing setlists

Rehearsal with our band!

Hunting for Flea Market Gems

Flea market in Chelsea (NYC) ... searching for clothes for our album photo shoot next weekend

Arranging and rehearsing!

Guitar Kitty

The Callen Sisters have been listed in this year's All Music Guide, The Definitive Guide to Popular Music, 4th edition!

See the book on Amazon.com

New Year's Resolutions, Callen-Style

2010!

Happy New Year from Beth and Jessa! For the past few years I've made New Year's resolutions, but this year I think I came up with some really good ones.

* Do something every day that makes me joyful, no matter how basic the activity
* Be present in each moment (whether this means petting my kitties, washing dishes, or playing "Here Comes the Sun")

Backstage at the Bitter End in NYC

Currently Listening To ...

Father Lucifer by Tori Amos.

The track is from Boys for Pele. This song reminds me so much of London. It was impossible to ever be sad while singing in my head "Nothing's gonna stop me from flo-o-o-o-ating." I love the piano part and the beautiful sparse arrangement - - - especially the addition of trumpet (yea James Watson!). What lovely colors!

The Tale of Molten Java and My Shower Curtain

This past weekend we played a show at this sweet little coffehouse called Molten Java in Bethel, CT. Upon entering their restroom, to my delight, I discovered that the curtain hanging from the ceiling, whose job it was to conceal cleaning supplies (I think that's what it was hiding, although I didn't even sneak a peak behind it), was a twin to my very own shower curtain! See image below for visual reference. Exciting, yes, I know. ;-)

Hudson Valley Concert Series

Join us for a concert with our full band in April:

We will be joined by David Gluck on drums, Dan Castellani on keyboards (and perhaps accordion??) and Chris Anderson on bass. Wine and light refreshments will be served before the performance and during a post-performance reception.

One Week Til Memphis

Hey Y'all! Jessa and I are gearing up for the trek to Memphis on Wednesday! (Hence me practicing my greeting with you). We've been invited to perform on Friday night at the ASCAP showcase as part of the 2009 International Folk Alliance Conference. We open the show, which begins at 6:00 - and are followed by musicians from Los Angeles to Galway, Ireland. Jessa and I will play an acoustic set of songs from our debut album as well as two new songs which we are currently recording. We've been laying down tracks for a new record - due later this year on Cordless Recordings.

Joining us on the drive south is Anais Mitchell - check her out online here

We hope you will stop by if you are attending the conference and look forward to meeting you. 

Beth

Airplane in the Hudson River

Yesterday I drove into NYC and brought my Taylor to get repaired at 30th Street guitars. Little did I know, just a couple hours later, a commercial airline plane would be making a crash landing in the Hudson River! It is a miracle that everyone walked away alive, and a testament to the pilot's skill. One of the really touching aspects of the whole event was how many different people, who did not know each other, came together to rescue the passengers. Ferry boats and water taxis, filled with tourists and sightseers, rushed in to help immediately. The bravery and compassion that these New Yorkers showed makes me proud to call this city home. 

CMJ

We had an awesome time playing CMJ on Thursday. Our set was at The Living Room, a sweet singer/songwriter-friendly venue on the lower east side of manhattan. We had the full band there, and started the set with three accordion-laden tunes. We played three brand new new songs during the set that we will record when we go into the studio officially next month! Here's the setlist from the show:

Tangled Up
Like You
No Shelter (new one)
Irrelevant
Reincarnate
Lullaby
My Own Way (another new one)
Life (impromptu)
Between Us (yet another new one)

At the show we had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Gliss from LA, and tried to catch their set at The Delancey the following night, but missed them by 5 minutes. I blame it all on traffic and not on my propensity for being late ;-)

All in all, it was a great weekend ... it's fun and exciting to see so many musicians littering the streets of new york city, gathered in their tour vans, lugging guitars and amps and cymbal bags, double parked or searching for a spot. License plates from Wisconsin, California and Ohio, people dressed up and dressed down, whiskey and beer flowing, and an electric vibe of "happening-ness." I love this time of year.

We Signed to Cordless!

Hey all,

Just in case you didn't see the news on our website, we just signed a deal with Cordless Recordings!

We wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes sneek peek at the signing, so we snapped some photos with my camera phone. Check it:







Beth





Jessa





Mark making sure it's official

Our Show at Purchase College

On Thursday we played a sweet show at Purchase College for the first time since we attended as students. I actually can't remember the last time I was at Purchase - - - hmmmmm. I'll have to ponder that for awhile. Abby Payne opened the set with some stellar songs from her new record. The sounds were lovely. I found myself humming some of her songs in my head at the after party.

The Callen Sisters followed suit by debuting three new and as-of-yet unrecorded songs. One is a ballad that Jessa sings by herself. It's a beautiful heartfelt little tune. She played it in the middle of our set on the stage by herself. When the band came back to join her, Chris, our bassist, belted out a hilarious Tom Waits cover.

The other two new songs rocked...partly because I was playing my new ASAT Classic. It is pretty sexy as far as guitars go, I must admit. Here, to your left, is a nice pic for your viewing pleasure.

My new song, as Dave, our drummer, likes to tell everyone, begins in the time signature of 5/8. If that is musician garble to you, just know that it sounds like a funky groove - and it's really fun to play with the full band.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the show. We had fun playing for you and experimenting with the new sounds of the accordion and stand up bass. If you missed the show, then boo hiss! Haha... we are going to be adding a string of tour dates in New England this Fall/Winter, so stay tuned.

Love,
Beth

Studio Time

Hello kids. It's an exciting time of year, what with all the school busses back on the roads, and we have good news for you. We started production on our sophomore album! Woo! At band rehearsal this past Wednesday we ran through two of the new tunes and started getting ideas for arrangements. If you are in southern NY on September 25, come by and give them a listen at Purchase College. We're playing an alumni concert with Abby Payne. This particular concert is going to be really fun because Dan is going to rock the accordion and Chris will man the upright bass.

These photos are from one of our demo recording sessions. Jessa keeps her harpy downstairs, and when we record, she and Dan get the exciting task of lugging it upstairs (that are slightly too short to fit any large items up them).

The Callen Sisters' Sophomore Album - Planning Stages

Hello all,

I know it's been awhile, but my sister and I have been up to no good - and by that assertion I mean that we've been writing our follow-up album to our debut. I am very, very close to being done with all the writing for this record!! (yaaaaaay!) I have a total of 11 songs, 9 of which I plan to record, and 6 of which will most likely (cross fingers) end up on this next recording.

This week I'm dog sitting for our drummer, Dave. He has a very sweet Australian Shepherd mix named Leia, and she and I have become quite good friends. Dave also happens to have a piano, which I find myself seriously lacking in daily life. Because of this easy access to a keyed instrument, and perhaps because of the lack of responsibility to tend to my own home - and let's not neglect to mention the amount of beer I have been consuming - I finished a track I was having a lot of difficulty with. It was mainly the lyrics that were perplexing. I had two lines that just would NOT come. No amount of coaxing was doing the job. It's a funny thing, lyrics. I don't know why they take so long for me sometimes. I suppose it's because I base a lot of what I write on actual experience...even if that is exposure to someone else's experience.

Whew!!! I feel as if I have been 'talking' a lot... so I will bid you adieu. Keep your eyes and ears alert, as we will post more on the recording progress (and other exciting news that you will have to join the newsletter to experience).

Love and Peace,

Beth



P.S. This is an election year. I encourage you to register to vote. Please visit our website, www.thecallensisters.com and click on the "Register to Vote" banner to register.

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