Laurelyn Dossett
listen now children a story I’ll tell …

Friday, Feb. 4 at 8 pm

Benefit Concert for the Carolina Theatre with Polecat Creek and Warren, Bodle and Allen.

Find more information and order tickets on the Carolina Theatre Web site. Meantime, we hope you’ll join us for dinner and this special event.

Tickets
$15.50 in advance; $17.50 on the day of the show; $37.50 for dinner (served at 6:15pm) and concert (contact the theatre regarding availability); $2.50 Theatre Restoration Fee will be added to each ticket.

Saturday, February 5th, noon and 8 pm

Rooster’s Wife/Poplar-Knight Spot Concert and Harmony Workshop
Polecat Creek concert with David Jacobs-Strain at 8 pm
Tickets and workshop information available on the Rooster’s Wife Web site.

Harmony workshop 1 to 3 pm
All levels are welcome! Lunch served at noon. Relaxed and fun atmosphere in the warm home of the Hen herself.

Tickets
$35, paid registration necessary by Feb. 1, 2011.
Order online here or contact Laurelyn by email to arrange lgdossett@gmail.com

It’s been so cold the last few weeks it’s hard to believe December 21st is the first official day of winter. This year, we’ll have both a full moon and a lunar eclipse on the year’s longest night.

Suits me fine. Lately I’ve been huddled by the fire, trying to write with an open heart, and thinking about winter’s night sky for a new project with the NC Symphony. There is something so blue, and so clear, about looking up at a December night sky—it simply can’t hold a candle to a summer night.

Meantime, don’t let those winter blues get you down. I found a few homemade remedies for the blues while doing a little research on the winter solstice. My favorite calls for “evergreens, bright illumination, large ongoing fires, feasting, communion with close ones, and evening physical exertion by dancing and singing.”

And I’ve got a few things planned this month to help you along the way.



“dancing and singing”

Solstice Celebration at the Poplar Knight Spot
Laurelyn & Scott Manring, Joe Newberry & Jim Collier, and the Martha Bassett Band 
The Rooster’s Wife at Poplar Knight Spot
Aberdeen, NC
6:30 pm, Tuesday, December 21
theroosterswife.org

“feasting and communion with close ones”

Skillet Fried Chicken and Songs from a Southern Kitchen
December 14 Laurelyn and Scott Manring
December 21 Molly McGinn
December 28 Laurelyn and Kari Sickenberger of Polecat Creek
Lucky 32
Greensboro NC
6:30 to 9:30 pm
lucky32.com

I’ll leave the evergreens and “large ongoing” fires to you, your loved ones, and your backyard. Meantime, here’s to Winter’s Light.

Virgina Center for Creative Arts

If the Virginia scenery isn’t inspiring enough, there’s always a night at the “dive in movie.”

I’m spending a little time away from home here at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts in Amherst, Virginia. The creative retreat provides quiet time and ample freedom for a small group of writers, composers and visual artists to develop new ideas (or recover from the last one).

Past Fellows are recipients of some prestigious fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as winners of National Book Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, and MacArthur genius awards.

Whatever they put in the water here, has good effect.

On the drive up, I had some time to think about this last year. 2010 brought some new and challenging projects, and I wanted to thank all of you who shared in the creation, production, and performance of each of them:

Providence Gap
Beautiful Star
Songs in the Rear View Mirror
Redbird Round
Polecat Creek and Steep Canyon Rangers

A walk around this gorgeous campus is helping me settle in. A few conversations with some Fellow guests will help, too. And there’s always the pool.

Residents here turned the empty pool into a “dive in” movie. Just the kind of creative idea I’d like to dive into.

See you when I get back.