Check out Catie’s video of “People Look Around”

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

It’s New Music Tuesday, guys! And today is particularly special because Catie’s brand new album, “Long Night Moon”, hits the shelves. Be sure to grab yourself a copy. Also, we would like to hear your reviews on her new album. Share your thoughts in our forum.

It’s 1994 and there I was, broke. It’s a beautiful day, I’m window shopping. Walk into Hear Music at Stanford Shopping Center. Catie’s first release of TFL was on a highlight display. I’d never heard of her before, but instantly fell in love with her and the music on the first spin! And damn, she was cute too! But I didn’t have any money to buy the CD, so I stood there and listened to the whole thing. I was pretty new to the Bay Area, poor, and I didn’t live really close to the Center, so it was nearly a year before I got back there to buy the CD…really craving it all along.

Finally got it and I immediately wrote to get on the mailing list. I addressed my note to Mongoose Music…being a bit ignorant of the music business back then. Lo and behold, Catie sent back a gig postcard with a little note written on it. Hey…the personal touch…I liked that! I immediately responded and ordered FYTH with a more personal note to Catie…’i play some guitar and write songs, but VERY much the novice songwriter.’ She wrote back again with a little note saying that “we’re all amateur* poets. That is no one can master the creative process. *as opposed to expert” (Yup, still have that postcard…footnote and all) Obviously endearing me to her even more.

Went to see her for the first time when she opened for Dar Williams at the Great American Music Hall in SF. I’d never heard of Dar Williams! There was funny story about standing in line, but the punch line is I end up getting her autograph. Now mind you, I have NEVER really been a complete idiot of fan of anyone in my life, I’m too cool for that! But Catie was a first…so I was feeling very stupid! I saw her one other time and we corresponded a little when I ordered Dandelion…the infatuation deepened!

Then, in 1997 a friend of mine at work who I talked music with handed me this brochure for an adult music camp, California Coast Music Camp I said, yeah right…in my dreams. I could never afford that! Then I took a closer look at who was teaching what. OMG…you gotta be kidding me!! Catie Curtis was teaching songwriting!?!?!?! Okay…forget the money, I’ll get it some where…but there’s no way in hell I was going to miss THAT!!

I knew no one, but headed up for a week in the Sonoma mountains to hang with Catie, take guitar theory with Nina Gerber, and get to know Robin Flower & Libby McLaren, and many other talented teachers and students. I got to know Catie a bit and have continued to be a disciple of hers ever since! Come to find out, her partner Liz had worked at a camp for kids with terminal illness for 7 years, in fact, that’s where they met. My first profession was an administrator/director of summer camps and outdoor education school…so I’d found a kindred spirit too!

I have the deep privledge to say that Catie and I continue to be friends. She is truly a caring, supportive, and wonderful person as well as an extremely talented musician, songwriter, and performer.

This may sound trite, but truly, my life changed significantly because of her. I wouldn’t have gotten to know some of my closest and dearest friends, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get to know so many talented and wonderful independent musicians, I would never have gotten on stage behind a mic alone in front of a room full of musicians to sing and play my own song (with Catie in the front row!), and I probably wouldn’t feel so deeply connected to music if I had not had that experience at CCMC. So, I think my fanhood and friendship with Catie were quite serendipitious and meant to be.

I learned a hard lesson in college to take the soonest opportunity you can to thank those people who have painted beautiful colors on your life’s canvas - even those painting that once in a lifetime stroke of color - you may not get another chance. In the 20 years since, I have followed that philosophy with much satisfaction. I highly recommend the experience to you all. I am glad that I’ve had the opportunity to thank Catie for what she’s meant to my life.

Check out the Catie Curtis E-Card put up by Compass Records for the launch of her new album “Long Night Moon”. It features a slideshow playing to the song “People Look Around”.

Click Here

A coincidence? Doubtful! The official release of Long Night Moon? is August 29.remember what happened only a year ago on that date. As a stark and poignant reminder and leading the way out of the new CD at Track 6 is the International Songwriting Competition Grand Prize Award Winner People Look Around, co-written with Mark Erelli. Having recently returned from a film shoot New Orleans, Catie is busy making a video of the same song, a video sure to be powerful.

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing most of the songs in shows as she introduced and polished them in front of live audiences, but I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to those as well as newer ones on the CD they sound great! With this album, Catie once again shares with us her strengths as a songwriter and storyteller in the honored tradition of folk music. I like the general vibe of the album that gives us a little less pop and a little more folk sound. Produced by Lorne Entress, who is also one of the members of her fabulous band, she has some of her other friends join in both instrumentally and vocally, such as Mary Chapin Carpenter singing with her in the sad, yet beautiful Water and Stone, Kris Delmhorst playing cello on Innocent, Erin McKeown in vocals on Hey California, and her latest award winning collaborator Mark Erelli playing guitar and singing all over the CD.

As an old camp director myself, I recognize a good camp song when I hear one and Catie’s got a couple on here. The first is the optimistic and hopeful Passing Through, co-written by Mark Erelli, and her real life camp inspired song Hard Time With Goodbyes. Someone bring the tissues to the closing campfire for me, would ya? I can also recognize a hot love song along with a good ribbing when I hear one, and as a California native, Hey California I hear a good dose of both!

The CD cover art is a beautiful blue based piece called An Unfinished Life by Jeanette Staley. And speaking of CD covers, just be ready to find the lyrics here or over on her own site because they aren’t with the CD. A new technology, paper saving and tree saving move but call me old fashioned, I kind of like the pleasure of sitting and reading the lyrics, credits and enjoying the artwork as I listen to the CD on my stereo for the first time and my stereo is not my computer!

Be it on your computer, on your iPod, or with a surround sound stereo system…make sure you take time to listen to the wonderful new addition to Catie’s continuing gift to us…her heart and her music.