Can y'all believe its another new NEW YEAR! I hope yours is off to a good start and you have exciting plans for yourself! I have some exciting news! I will be a Granny soon! Gonna have a little grandson, whom I am sure will be my hearts delight. Maybe I will sing with him at the clothesline. What do you think? Ha! Hey, it could happen!
So, I won't even go near politics as I am sure you don't want to hear anymore opinions on the current climate of our government, so we will leave that right there. I will say, I hope positive change is coming with the upcoming election. We sure need some relief from all the scary news! I wish for a peaceful future and a kinder social climate. Speaking of the climate, its been a little scary too! I hope y'all have all been safe from the storms, quakes etc!
I am looking forward to warmer weather and more book signings!
This Friday I will be doing a book signing at the Henderson School of Art in Marion, Va. There will be a concert honoring Larry McPeak (Whom the book is dedicated to) His brother Mike McPeak, Johnny Williams and Jeanette Williams are some of the band members and I look forward to this fun event!
In April, I will be a guest at the Wythe County Library Fund Raiser. This will be on the 24th at the Wytheville Conference Center. Elizabeth LaPrelle and her Mom, Sandy will be the guest musicians and they are some of my favorites from my book! If you can come please do!
My books sales have been pretty steady and I have been getting some very heart warming reviews and folks sharing their own old time memories, which they say the interviews really rekindled. I love reading those. I will make a review tab on my next site upgrade.
That's my little update for now. I hope to be back soon to share some more news with you! I hope you have a beautiful week and a fabulous new year!!

Hey Y'all!
I am sorry I have not updated my blog in a while! Been busy with book signings, photography and life! Ha! But it's been fun!
My first book signing was at the Oracle Book Store in Wytheville, Va. Randy Shell was kind enough to sponsor the event! Thank you Randy!
It was a great turn out for such a small space. Around 60 folks showed up to show their support, enjoy the music and get a book signed! I had a great time being the host and give away some fun door prizes, such as crowning the queen of the Clothesline with the apron from the book cover. She loved it!
The band that played were all folks from the book and they were fabulous! They were Debbie Larson on bass, Jim Lloyd on banjo and Casey Lewis on guitar and vocals. ( He is a member of the Cane Mill Road band, also in the book)
We had a wonderful time and my first book signing was a success!
Thanks again to Randy and the band for making this possible!
I heard from so many people, as they were leaving how much they loved and related to the book, which was so heart warming and gratifying for me after all the years of commitment!

My last book signing was at the Song of the Mountains. Nov 2nd. Time White invited me to come and sign books at the theatre gift shop and he even invited me up on stage (scared as I was ) to help promote my book and he had some very kind things to say about my work which was so humbling! Song of the Mountains is a PBS TV series recorded at the Lincoln Theatre in Marion, Va. It was there that I met Doc Watson in 2010 and got my first inspiration to do this book!
Wayne Henderson was the featured performer that night and he is also in my book. He is a world renowned luthier and a master guitarist. He recently lost his companion of over 20 years, Helen White, who started the JAM program ( and is also in the book) It was a sudden loss and we are all praying for peaceful healing for Wayne and her Family of many friends. I gave Wayne a book that night and I heard that he is very proud of it, which really makes me feel good that he appreciates it! Although Wayne is the kind of good soul who appreciates anything, which is a beautiful part of his character.

My next book signing ( at this date) will be Jan. 11th at the Song of the Mountains. The talented Emi Sunshine will be playing. (Yes, she is in the book :) She started out very young and is now a teenager with a more mature and beautiful singing voice and just a real talent that you don't want to miss. Her main instrument is the Uke, which is rare for Old Time music but she makes it work!

I hope to see y'all soon! You can still order my book (Link is in the menu to the left) Thank you to those who have purchased and sending me such heartfelt reviews! I will come back and post many of them here for you to read!
Y'all have a beautiful Thanksgiving with Family and/or friends and try to recall all the many blessings you have in your life! We all have so much to be grateful for!
Love to you!
​Susi

After I approved the 2nd Proof of my book yesterday, Edition One Books has now confirmed that this book is now in the printing process and will arrive at my house within 3-4 weeks! That means it will be here this Summer and I will be sending the pre-paid books off first thing and then marketing the rest via concerts at the Song of the Mountains in Marion and hopefully at the Galax Fiddlers Convention in Galax and at a book release concert yet to be announced! 
This has been a very long and intense journey of many interviews, portraits, concerts, travel, learning new software, overcoming computer crashes, power outages, illnesses, every day life and unknown crazy obstacles that I could never see coming!! But, I never once felt like giving up for one second! This book has been the most gratifying project I have ever undertaken as an artist and I am very proud to announce that it has reached its completion!
I hope you all, who have followed this journey with me, is as excited and proud as I am! I have felt your support and encouragement all along the way and it has kept me sane and motivated, so I thank you most sincerely!
I plan to post a shop here on this site and also one on my Facebook page and my photography site and so you will have plenty of ways in which to purchase!
Now I am working on updating the accompanying CD because I have had a few other musicians want to join in the music! I am adding Dale Morris, Elizabeth & her Mom Sandy Laprelle, Jim Lloyd and me! Yes, that last one is a shocker to me as well! I recently won 2nd place in our Chatauqua festival Song competition and so I was encouraged to put my song 'Golden Cage' on the CD. I am very shy about my singing so this takes a brave act of courage for me! Ha!
Okay folks, I will be back to announce the arrival of the books with pictures and maybe a video of me opening the box!
Thank you all for your kindness and patience!
Love y'all!

​

So, here it is September 2018 and I am still working on my book ! I won't go into all the gory details , but I will just say that I had no idea how time consuming such a book project would be ! I have added a few more interviews and portraits and even updated a few , at the artist request. There have been illnesses, power outages and ,of course working to keep paying the bills and all other time consuming aspects of a life !
One of the obstacles was the printer asking me to use InDesign , because that is what their printer works the best with and we all want things to go smoothly of course ! Took me about 4 months to get a handle on that software to feel comfortable with my page designs and such. I now have 50 pages out of 200 done, so its full speed ahead ! With the exception of keeping my photography business afloat , I plan to speed every open hour that I possibly can fit in, working on this book !! 
I am very happy with the layout and work flow and the fact that I am actually working on it page by page now in type and not long hand, is huge progress ! It took me many months to write down all the recorded interviews and so glad they are done and ready to go into text!
I am also wanting to put out a new CD for the book and adding Jim Lloyd , Dale Morris and me, if I can get the nerve ! Ha! So all of you , who ordered will be getting the new CD with the book !
Anyway, thank you to all who continue to show patience, support and understanding in this journey ! I have received many kind emails and messages from folks saying they are behind me all the way and look forward to having this book in their hands !
I look forward to that day as well !!
Thank you all so much !! Love to y'all !!

So happy to say , that after a lot of education on how to launch a fund raiser and then , how to build the site via 'Indiegogo' that I finally have the campaign launched !
Please follow this link to help support the printing of this book I have worked so hard on for so many years!! I promise you it will be a worthy investment , and for those who aren't interested in owning the book, I am also offering T-shirts, posters and many other perks for you to purchase and help me meet my goal. I thank you all very kindly and hope to make y'all proud !

https://igg.me/at/singingattheclothesline/x/9249814
​igg.me/at/singingattheclothesline/x/9249814

   Trying to decide' on a cover, has proved to be, one of the hardest things about this project ! I mean it has to convey the 'meat' of the book and also be visually pleasing on the shelf for folks walking into a gift shop or book store!
Of course I knew I wanted a woman at the clothesline and an old farm house. I tossed around the idea of folks playing instruments on the porch or snapping beans etc, but I had a hard time scheduling a photo session because of weather and folks schedules. So, I went through my pix for this project  and found one I loved of Lisa Hackler (sister-in-law to the Wassums who own the farm ) and so this felt right as a nod to the family and also the very place where I did 90% of my portraits and interviews for this project ! I had to photoshop the clothesline close to the house to insure it fit well on the cover, and to me, it looks more homey and cozy like this.
I showed my ideas to my Facebook crowd and got many suggestions. A good one was to turn LIsa to face the house and brighten the house paint, for it to look more 'lived in', So I made these changes and it does look more pleasing.
I will probably make a few more, but for now , I am pretty happy with the looks of it and hope you are too!
A couple of months ago, I did get to finally find a videographer , which I hired to come out and do the fund raiser video! Drew Robinson of channel 7 news came out and he did a great job!
We shot the video at The Reed Creek Farm and Kay Justice, agreed to come out and 'sing at the clothesline' and then join Quinten Boyles on the porch to play guitar and sing. I think the video captures the feeling that I wanted to portray about our Appalachian Music from the past and how it is still being passed on to our children. ( I wish I could have found a child for the video, but didn't want to continue with always putting things off until never never land )
I am now hard at work on the Fund Raiser perks and uploads for the site there. I have decided to use 'Indegogo' simply because it was recommended and the musicians seem to use it, a lot, for the CD projects.
I will continue to finish interviews and portraits during this fund raising process and , of course, hope to raise enough to make this all a reality ! It has been a huge commitment of time, passion, faith and hard work . But it has all been work that I love and very meaningful to me, and hopefully to you!
Thank you for your continued interest and patience.
Hope to make ya proud!


​    

  I drove out to Lenoir last Sunday to visit Ginny McJunkin, whom I stumbled across on Facebook last year and just fell in love with her authentic Old Time Mountain sound ! This Gal is the 'real deal' as they say !

• It was a rainy Sunday , but it was warm , around 60 degrees , and I figured I better go for it, before it dropped to 20 again and starting laying down that white stuff !

When I got to Ginny's place she reckoned we should go do the interview at her brothers where it was quieter,

Her little dog 'Cody' was quite the barker, and she figured he wasn't gonna let ua for the likes of me! Ha! 
But first we headed across the street to this old abandoned building. She said an old man used to live in it, but we figured it was most likely an old store, when it was first built . 
I wanted to climb those stairs and do her portrait from there, but good sense grabbed a hold of me, as it sometimes does when you get older , and we stayed on solid ground. It got to raining pretty hard, but we managed to get some pretty cute pix of her , her old hat and her Alvarez guitar. We had quite a few laughs too!
I had a great old time chatting with her and Burl, at his place ,and , not only did we talk about music , but the harsh discipline of the old days and the hard work ! Ginny , had 11 siblings (now down to three) and they farmed, made fern baskets and others crafts to make a living. Ginny started playing at age 12 and even rode the Daniel Boone wagon train (Google this , its fascinating ) with Doc Watson and many other musicians of that era. Ginny said , she was shy like me about singing, but when she started playing in the bands and at the pubs , she figured somebody ought to be singing ! She said she was surprised that folks enjoyed her voice, as she thought she weren't no good! Now Ginny is a wonderful singer in the style of pure mountain organic sound that is true to her region ! You know the sound Im a talking bout, without having to explain it, now don't ya!
If you want to hear the beautiful songs she has written, just look for her on Youtube or Facebook! She writes from her childhood experience and , if you are from here, you will certainly relate !
I wish I could have stayed and played with her , and listened to more stories,  but it was getting late and I had to get back home! I ended up getting the BeJesus scared outta me (or into me ) on top of the big mountain on route 18, where my GPS decided to test my courage! The fog was as thick as driving through creme of potato soup ( as Granny used to say !) All I could see was the little reflectors on the yellow line! I was never so happy to get into Independence, where the fog finally lifted and I could see my way home!
Was it worth it to meet Ginny? Damn straight it was ! 
We feel like family now! She is such a dear heart!

     If you are from Appalachia , and love the music here,  then you most certainly know the origin of the banjo . The banjo originated in Africa and was brought to our region during the arrival of slaves . This music naturally was shared and became a part of our local 'old time ' music , just as the fiddle made its way from Europe and the guitar from Spain. Our music is a true melting pot of different cultures resulting in what we now see as our very own mountain music.
     Of course I wanted to ensure that my book acknowledged where our banjo music came from and so I began my search for black musicians , willing to become a part of this project. I soon found 18 year old Tray Wellington, who plays 3 finger style banjo , and recently won first place at the Galax Fiddler Convention this Summer ! He also plays for the band, Cane Mill Road. (Whom I recently did promo pix and a CD cover for their first album !) I wish them the best!
      Tampa Enoch Reese, pictured above, I found quite by a pleasant accident while looking at Instagram ! I was so delighted with her humble kind spirit and her true old time claw hammer style , that I asked her to please be in my book ! She was hesitant because of her modesty , but I was so happy she decided to take part! We really connected during her interview at Reed Creek and have continued to stay in touch ! One of my favorite benefits of working on this project , is not only the join  of meeting such amazing musicians , but the blessing of new friendships that are priceless !
        Thank you Tampa and Tray for agreeing to take part ! I am truly grateful for your contribution to my project and to our local music! Keeping the music  alive !!

So I have decided this is my last season for interviews before this book becomes an encyclopedia of Appalachian Musicians! Ha! 
I am having some trouble getting my last few folks to find the time for the required sessions and just may have to go forward without a few folks I was hoping for. But, of course I will continue to pursue them and hope for the best!
One of the most important elements of this book I will be sure not to ignore  , is to include the contributions of our African American musicians ! Without their significant presence in our culture and history we would not even have mountain music, the way we know it ! The banjo, of course , is an African instrument, which has almost become a symbol of Appalachian music , and of course, where would we be without the soul of the blues in our music ?
I am hard at work now, trying to locate some of our local black musicians and hopefully they will want to take part in this project! I really don't want to put a book out about our music and make it about just white folks, as that would be a great injustice to our true history and heritage.

Been a hot summer so far with plenty of rain in the evening, which has caused some rescheduling , but of course we need the rain and it sure cools us off at night! Really enjoyed the 'Buck Moon' last night from my back porch ! I do not live out in the country, but I am fortunate that my porch provides a nice view of the moon rising every night and I enjoy the sight with my little dog and , of course  ,some of our mountain music playing on the radio !

I will continue to update my project! Thanks for your interest!

Picture below is the Reed Creek Farm, where I have been doing many of my interviews ! Thanks again to the Wassum Family !
​