12/00

Dear Surfer:

December was pretty busy. We started off the month with a gig at O'Donnell's on December 1st. Fun, as usual. You should have been there to see Garth Koren's rendition of "Bust A Move". It's pretty hilarious! And Doreen Younglove's rendition of bn9's "Be Like You". She sings it so well, I'm thinkin' we may never record it! It's her song at this point! On the 9th we played a private party for Athena's birthday. I think I embarassed the hell out of her with my personalized lyrics to "Happy Birthday", but the party was a great time. Thanks so much to John for asking us to play it! It was an honor.

On the 12th, we went down to Phili (Manayunk, to be exact.) We played at the Grape Street Pub. It was a freezing cold night and I was coming down with a cold which lasted the rest of the busy week. Anyway, the other bands, all local, were amazing! And the people who were there seemed to dig our groove. Most notable about the night was the NICENESS of the people - the crowd, the bartender, the doorman and especially the sound guy. We were so appreciative of the humanism of these people... maybe it's time to get outta NY! I don't know.

Borders Books in Marlton, NJ, is another great place to play. We sold a bunch of CDs to a totally responsive and respectful crowd. This area is close to my hometown (Willingboro, NJ) and Jack's family's residence, and a lot of friends & family showed up, some of whom haven't seen us in a loooonnnngg time. It was fun.

On Dec. 28th, we returned to the Elbow Room with the Random Horns. It's always a thrill to play with them and the Elbow Room is one of the few places we can do it. Thanks to everyone who came out. You guys were a great crowd, especially because you actually braved the icy cold to come see us. We'll keep you all posted on our next NYC appearance.

Looking back on the year itself, there were so many changes! New singers, new keyboard player(s), working with Lloyd again, adding horns to some live shows and getting back in touch with lots of people from my past. I got laid off from my day job in March and I may just make one year with no day job! That's my goal. The band gigged more this year than ever before. Of course, we released our first CD and had to promote it. It's no wonder some people couldn't keep up with it, but I'm so appreciative of Jack, Minoru & Marco for being professional and supportive. I feel fortunate to have these great guys and excellent musicians to work with. I'm also thrilled to have Joel Hirsh working with us as well as Sheila Connors and Kristy Cates.

The year also brought us in contact with Frontier Entertainment Group, a management company based out of Princeton, NJ. We've been working with them on some (top secret) stuff and should be in full swing in 2001. We also are working on some stuff with Stemway Productions, a marketing and promotions company based out of NYC. They plan to keep us busier than perhaps we can handle in 2001 and I'm somewhat torn because one of my other goals is to start working on the second CD. Decisions, decisions!

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Please see our schedule for January shows and we hope to see you in 2001!

Peace,

Stefanie

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Letters from the past:

November, 2000
October, 2000
September, 2000
August, 2000 (from Marco)
July, 2000
June, 2000
May, 2000
April, 2000
March, 2000
February, 2000
January, 2000
December, 1999
November, 1999
October, 1999
September, 1999
August, 1999
July, 1999
June, 1999
May, 1999
April, 1999
March, 1999
February, 1999
January, 1999
December, 1998 (from Stefanie)
November, 1998 (from Stefanie)
October, 1998 (from Stefanie)
September, 1998 (from Stefanie)
August, 1998 (from Stefanie)
July, 1998 (from Stefanie)
June, 1998 (from Natalie)
May, 1998 (from Stefanie)
April, 1998 (from Susan)
March, 1998 (from JoAnn)
February, 1998 (from Kim)
January, 1998 (from Stefanie)
December, 1997 (from Stefanie)