Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman

OK, I have returned and (mostly) recovered from my whirlwind tour of NYC and 43 hours without sleep!

For those of you that missed it, I went to NYC on Monday to see the lovely and talented Cara Dillon and her equally handsome and talented husband Sam Lakeman in concert. I was up at 5:30 AM to catch a 7:15 bus to the city, and arrived there at 12:15. More details on my city adventures later.

The concert was more incredible than I ever could have imagined. Sam was true to his word and put me on the guestlist, and my friend and I scored some great seats on a big, comfy velvet couch about 10 feet from the stage. We got there early and were first in line when they let us in at 9:00. Cara and Sam took the stage at 9:30. Usually they play with several other musicians, but this evening it was just the two of them. They played almost every song from the new album, Hill of Thieves - it's just been released in the US, go get a copy NOW! - except a few that they really needed a full band to play, and also a few of her older ones including a favorite of mine, Garden Valley. And, much to my surprise, Cara did an amazing cover of the well-known song "Crazy Love" and dedicated it to me! After the show, which lasted between 75 and 90 minutes, a gentleman approached me and asked if I was Kristin. I informed me that indeed I was, and he handed me a paper and said "Cara wants you to have this." It was her handwritten set list for the show! SO COOL! Then my friend went to use the ladies room and came back to tell me that Cara and Sam were hanging out backstage. Needless to say we headed back there! They were talking to some other people so we hung back for a bit, and when Cara was done talking she approached us. I thanked her for the song dedication and she said "Oh, you're Kristin! Thanks for coming!" She also thanked me for the bracelet my friend Malcolm had given her earlier this year. (I posted about it a while back, it's in the archives somewhere if you're interested about that.) At this point I handed her a box containing a new bracelet...she was very surprised and said I shouldn't have done that, but I said that since I had replied to her lovely thank you note with a message of my own promising to make her another if she ever came to NY, I couldn't very well go back on my word! She absolutely loved it (or at least is a very convincing actress!) and when I said I didn't see any CDs and asked if she had any for sale she sent someone to go grab a few copies for me and signed them. "You're not paying for them, I'm giving them to you!" she said, and also added that she would make sure I got an advance copy of her new live DVD, which is scheduled for release in the spring, "...so don't order it!". How cool is that? We chatted for quite a while - especially once I let it slip that I'm a twin and she started telling me about her 2 year old twin boys - and then she called Sam over to talk with us as well. I got a picture with each of them. After that I had to dash off to catch the 12:45 AM bus home...more on that disaster later, I'd hate to ruin such a happy post with that story!

As you can probably tell, it was a night that I will never forget. In addition to seeing an amazing concert by two of the most talented musicians I've ever had the pleasure of listening to, I was pleased to find out that in addition to being great musicians, they are also great people. There are not words enough to express how grateful I am to Cara and Sam for the kindness and generosity they have bestowed on me.

Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman...

...are two of the most awesome people in the world. Seriously.

lovely Cara

You may recall me mentioning Cara a few times before. If not, here's a little recap. Cara is one of my favorite musicians. She's an amazing singer from Northern Ireland who does a nice mix of traditional Irish songs and contemporary pieces, some of which she writes with her husband, musician Sam Lakeman. (He plays piano and guitar.) I've been listening to Cara for about a year, after discovering her on an Irish radio station on iTunes. (Any of you listen to the radio stations on iTunes? Seriously, they're awesome. Pretty much any genre you can think of!)

Well, back in the spring a great friend of mine from England, Malcolm, was going to see Cara. He said he wanted to give her one of the bracelets that I made, one which was inspired by the colors on the cover of her latest album The Hill of Thieves. He inquired about purchasing it, but I told him that having one of my pieces go to someone like Cara would be payment enough...plus Malcolm has been very helpful in acquiring some CDs for me that I couldn't get here in the states (or would have had to pay very high import prices for) so I kind of owed him one anyways. Aaaaaaaaanyways, I sent him the bracelet, which he put in a lovely blue gift box, and, according to him, Cara was quite pleased with it. Awesome.

Hill of Thieves

the bracelet (and Malcolm's lovely gift box)

a very pleased Cara

Even more awesome? A few weeks ago I stopped by Cara's fan forum and found this sweet message waiting for me:

Hi Kristin,

I've been meaning to thank you for absolutely ages for the gorgeous bracelet yo made for me. The colours are stunning and I am very touched at the time and effort you put into making this, I will always treasure it.I've been wearing it at some of our concerts and out and about and it's always admired.Again, thank you for your kindness and keep up the fantastic work.

your fan

Cara x

Is that not just the sweetest thing ever? A frickin' celebrity (OK, she's not too well known here, but according to a friend of mine in Germany, Cara's a "big deal" in Europe.) taking the time to thank me, and calling herself MY fan. Insane!

Could it get any better than that? Nope. At least that's what I thought. Then I read that Cara and Sam would be doing some shows in the states to promote the US release of HoT. One of the shows is in NYC. I've never been to NYC. Quite frankly, the idea of going freaks me out. I'm a strict suburbanite. I like living in a town with 2,500 residents, 2 gas stations, 3 pizzarias, and 3 stoplights, where everyone knows me, where I can drive 10 minutes (or less) in any direction and find corn fields and dairy cows, where I can walk anywhere I need to go in under 15 minutes. Big cities scare the crap out of me. Or at least I think they do. My only real exposure to big cities is going to Albany or Syracuse, and that's only for shopping or to go to concerts. I do what I need to do and get the heck out of there. But I digress. I hemmed and hawed about going, snarked about the price of a bus ticket, cab fare, and hotel room (if necessary), moaned about having to take a day (maybe two) off from work, but ultimately I decided that braving the city would be worth it, to see Cara and Sam live for the first time ever...even if the bus ticket there and back is gonna cost me $120.

Now, you're probably wondering where things start getting better. I'm getting to that. So, a few days ago I checked Cara's fan forum again and found another message, this time from Sam.

Hi Kristin,

I was just checking some of the messages on here and noticed you're planning to come down to the NY show. It sounds like it might take a bite out of your wallet. Cara and I would love to put you on the guestlist if you were to make the effort. It might make for a more enjoyable experience. The whole reason for the trip is promotion anyway so what's the point if we can't make sure our real fans get to come along and enjoy us live.

Sam x

On the guestlist? Me? OK! If I wasn't going to the show before that, I was now!!! As I understand it, being "on the guestlist" basically just gets you into the show for free...and tickets are only $12, so I'm not saving much. But the gesture means so much more than that. I love finding out that my favorite musicians are not only good musicians, but good people in generally. Makes me truly happy to support them, glad to shell out for concert tickets, CDs and DVDs. Now I like very, very many musicians, and so few of them seem to be such genuinely good people. (Pat Green is one exception...I have a few good stories I could tell about him.)

So needless to say, I am very excited right now. To top it all off, a childhood friend of mine, who lives in the city, wants to go to the show with me. I haven't seen her in a few years, so getting to hang out with her for the day will be great. It's the icing on the cake. A very big, chocolately, sugary sweet, ooey gooey cake, at that. September 28th can NOT come quick enough!

After all this, I'm positive you're all dying to hear Cara. I know it. And one of you probably will be lucky enough to hear her. No, I'm not going to stuff you in my handbag and smuggle you onto the bus and into Joe's Pub for the concert. But, knowing me, I probably will snag an extra copy of Hill of Thieves to give away in an upcoming Win-It Wednesday. Try not to die of anticipation before then, OK?

Etsy update...

4 bracelets sold on Etsy so far, 3 in the past 4 days. Not as good as I was hoping for, but I am set for the bracelet showcase on Wednesday, hopefully sales will pick up a bit after that. I need to get a few more things made and listed before then. The pieces that sold are:

Plus I've had a few off-site sales recently:

The first one, which you may recall was inspired by the colors on Cara Dillon's Hill of Thieves album cover, actually went to Cara herself...a friend of mine on a Cara message board liked it and bought it to give to Cara when he saw one of her shows last week. Apparently she was quite pleased, which makes me quite pleased. :) The last one there...well, that's the same one shown above. My boss bought one just like it only the small oval beads were blue instead of green, but I don't have a picture.

so I'm a little behind...

OK, OK, I know I said I was hoping to have my online jewelry store up and running by now, but I'm running behind. As you can see I've been busy making lots and lots of bracelets...I just haven't had time to take proper pics and get the stuff listed. But I will soon, I promise.

After working for a while, I began running out of ideas. So I turned to an odd place for inspiration...album covers. I love album art. It's part of the reason I was so reluctant to join the 21st century and download albums instead of buying CDs...I just like the pictures. So anyways, here are a few of my "inspired" pieces...

This one was inspired by the shirt Cara Dillon is wearing on the cover of her Hill of Thieves album.

I really liked the turquoise color of Julie Fowlis' album Mar a Tha Mo Chridhe so I started from there. The English translation of the title is "as my heart is" so I decided to add a crystal heart charm. It looked weird with just the pink heart so I incorporated a little more pink into the bracelet and I was surprisingly pleased with the results. I may end up keeping this one for myself.

Last but not least, the oh-so-inspirational Laughing Girl album by Jenna Reid. I named my blog after it. I named my store after it. Now, I have a bracelet inspired by it. The combination of orange and bright pink is a little odd, but I like it, and the black gives it an edgy look.

...these are a few of my favorite things...Part 1

OK, I'll be honest here...I don't really have anything important to say right now, but I'm trying to get into the habit of posting regularly so rather than not write anything at all, I thought I'd go into a little more detail on things I like, which was briefly discussed a few days ago.



Here you have some CDs that I've been listening to a lot lately. It's hard to choose a favorite from this bunch, but let's start with the one on the left, with the pretty little blond lady on the cover. That's Cara Dillon's spectacular new album Hill of Thieves. It wasn't available for order until January of this year, but lucky for me I was able to score a copy back in November from a fellow who attended one of her concerts.



Cara's an amazing singer originally from Dungiven, Northern Ireland. I guess I should say musician instead of singer...she plays a bit of fiddle and tin whistle as well. Hill of Thieves is an amazing album consisting mainly of traditional Irish and Scottish songs. The exception is the title track, "The Hill of Thieves," but you'd never know it. Set to the Fred Morrison tune "The Lochaber Badger," it blends seamlessly with the other songs, giving the album a focused, cohesive sound. On the lively "Spencer the Rover" Cara's breathtaking vocals join with those of her brother-in-law, Seth Lakeman for a sound that is nothing short of divine. Then fast-forward to "The Verdant Braes of Skreen," where Cara's wistful soprano damn near breaks your heart. Go ahead, give it a listen.

Seriously, just do yourself a favor and buy the album. With songs ranging from haunting and heartbreaking to uplifting and so much more, there's something here for everyone. If these wonderful songs and Cara's heavenly voice don't touch your heart, you probably don't have one to begin with. Go. Buy it. Listen to it. Love it. Then buy all of Cara's other albums because they're almost as good.

Well, that's enough shameless Cara promotion for one night. (Side note...I am in no way affiliated with Cara, and stand to make no profit from sales of her album. I just want all of you to realize what I did many months ago...that Cara is awesome.)

I'm out like a trout. TTYL.