I've been reading several books that are really blessing me: Journey to Freedom by Scott Reall and No Man Is An Island by Thomas Merton. They've been wonderful fodder for poems/songs. I usually write poems that I keep to myself, but I thought I would try setting some of my poetry to music this go around and sharing them with the nameless masses (or the 3 people who bought my album and read my blog :)).

Here are a few excerpts from the up and coming inspired works...

No Man Is An Island
No Man Is an Island
No woman- no child- no man
Is an island

Sometimes we get stuck
In an unforgiving rut
We isolate and ruminate over things we can't change
We feel paralyzed and victimized and alone again

We get swallowed up in it
Too close to see it
Numbed by the hurt of it
Programmed to repeat it

Need a rope- need a hand- need a clue- need a friend
To turn on the light, hold up a mirror, Help Us step outside the fear
Someone to share the battle and bare the pain, so we can learn to live again
To Boldly walk into the unknown
To know deep in our souls
We're not alone
No man is an island
No man is an island
No woman no child no man
Is an island

Here's another one- it's a little more dark and contemplative, but it's about living life with passion and purpose- so often we task our lives away and forget how brief and precious life is. In Scott Reall's book, he has a chapter about living the dash between the dates on our tombstone- kind of puts things into perspective. As Thomas Merton says in No Man In An Island, so often we feel we are on the outside looking into our lives and we become the smoke instead of the flame. It's a challenge everyday to slow down and truly enjoy the ride (shameless plug for another song I know :)). Note to previous English teachers:I love to mix my metaphors every chance I get!!!! Call me a rebel- I call it poetic license!

Graveyard Dash
Lost in the drift and living in the lack
Derailed by disappointments, uncoupled and off track
Feeling like an apparition hidden in a cave
Waiting for the stars to align and for someone to come and save me from this
Prison of a life I'm barely living-
Sitting on the curb on the outside looking in
To a house I call my home
Where my heart's desire burns
Like a fire that keeps the whole house warm
That's where I belong
Abiding in God's hope-
but I've become the smoke,
The dust- too soon
A mouth full of ashes-
What beauty God would trade
To put the life back in our dashes.

Here's to having more spring in your step, more joy for your journey and more life in your dash!

See yall on the road!
By the way, I have several gigs coming up:
March 22- Willie Nelson- Springdale Arkansas Convention Center- 7pm
March 27 Storyville Studios- Nashville, TN w/Roger Jokela, Gordon Vincent, Rusty Horn
March 31, April 1st- big audition- I'll keep you posted!
April 3- Tin Pan South Edgehill Cafe- w/ Kim McLean-Shana Morrison-Eve Selis-Devon O'Day

He came on the day he was due and not a minute too soon. I went into labor at 2:30 in the morning, went to the hospital at 4:30 and had him at 9:40. No meds, no epidural, just great music, my husband, my mother, and a lot of massage. I stood up for all the contractions until it was time to push. When he came out, he was all nose and had a perfectly round head. After 40 weeks of getting to know this little guy from the inside out, I felt I'd known him for years. Of course, I've dreamed of him for years. But my dreams were never good enough. I could have never imagined this kind of cuteness. Needless to say, I'm smitten. He makes a scene of cuteness everywhere we go. He's got slate-grey, puppy-dog eyes and the longest eyelashes I've ever seen- Tammy Faye would be impressed!

Shocking BIG NEWS!!!!
Current mood: blessed

True confessions of a blog slacker. It's been at least 5 months since my last real blog. I suppose my knack for not returning phone calls is now being upstaged by my proclivity to neglect my blog. I've been too busy living and not looking back to write it all down, but believe me it's not for lack of drama and saga, romance and lonely road strife. Pardon me while I wax philosophic and spew a barage of wordy verbage as I continue to procrastinate my duty to let the cats out of the bag.

It's hard to keep your private life private in this world where you open your diary up to friends and strangers everywhere. When I was a kid, we had real locks on our diaries. NO one, especially our siblings much less a stranger was allowed to read our diaries. We only wanted them read after we were posthumously discovered to be geniuses. Writing in my diary as a kid, I imagined that some day scholars would analyze my day to day struggles and look for early glimpses of my amazing talent and perspective. Yes, like most kids, I was egocentric and had a more than healthy dose of a sense of self-importance. But I digress...

The biggest news in my world is... here it comes... wait for it....my husband and I are expecting our first child!!

I still try to keep my private life private, but now that my private life is starting to show, I thought I'd share the juicy details. I won't be wearing any cut off Wrangler shirts for a while. I just played a show in Woodward, Oklahoma- my last road gig for a few months while I record a new album and of course, deliver a little miracle into this world.

For several months I wondered if I had a brain tumor or some kind of evil post nasal drip that was causing me to be nauseated and depressed. After ruling out carbon monoxide poisoning, we ran to a clinic one night right before they closed. When I told the nurse my symptoms, she smiled and asked if I had taken a pregnancy test. It had never entered my mind!!! SO I took the test, and then the doctor came into my room holding the wand of truth! I carry the little pink plus sign stick around in my purse as a time capsule of the moment my whole view of life changed.

I'm happy to report that the baby is healthy and growing more everyday. I've been working through the morning sickness which for me has been "all day except in the morning" sickness.

I just found out the sex of the baby, but my husband is old-fashioned and wants to wait until the baby is born to hear those words "It's a ...!!" For me, I wanted to know as soon as I could. I wanted to know everything about this powerful force that is taking over my body.

While this new reality eclipses all other events in my life, I'm also excited to report that "Mama's Don't Let Your Cowboys Grow Up To Be Babies" went all the way to 13 on the Texas chart. Pretty ironic that I'll be a Mama soon and will surely have to eat my words!

Also, I've been talking to some amazing producers lately about my next musical project. We'll be going into the studio in the not so distant future.

So I guess you could say I'm feeling pretty creative these days.
For those of you who thought maybe I'd been hittin' the Krispy Kreme a little too hard lately or eatin' too many naner sandwiches, now you know!

The whole weekend will be documented on video for The Musicians Network. So there won't be much down time. Then next week, we'll have the album release party in Arlington, Texas- my hometown.

For some reason, I'm not nervous. Maybe it's just all too overwhelming to comprehend at once.

Man alive, I feel like I won the lottery. All the hard work is starting to pay off at once.

I guess I'll just take it one day, one show at a time.

It's easy to be cocky and spout off when you're out of town, but you gotta really check your facts when you come home cause they know where you live and they knew you when you were going through those awkward chubby stages long before you plucked your eyebrows or straightened your teeth. They were there when you were learning to play guitar, when you made more noise than music, and long before you had a clue about interview's or radio tours. They might have thought you had potential, but they were hard to impress.

I've been around the world honing my skills, writing songs, getting ready for the day when I could come back home and show 'em all that the promises I made about my dreams came true.

Life doesn't always turn out like you plan or hope. I was in the Sony witness protection plan for almost 4 prime years. I poured over an album for two years that never came out, but I knew I wasn't finished. I asked to be released from Sony and almost two years later, I was. Then I had to decide- do I want another major deal- do I want to stand in line for another 2 years and then still not have the guarantee of a chance to be heard? No, we took the bull by the horns and decided to go indie.

I'm happy to report we are climbing the Texas chart.
I'm happy to report that I just did an interview for the Top 20 Texas Countdown with Chuck Taylor that will air Sunday May 6th at 10 am Central Texas Time!
There's no greater feeling than coming full circle to do what you do in your hometown.

The hard work is finally starting to pay off: I just entered the Texas chart last week and we're getting great response. My new single is a true story about my grandmother who grew up on a Cotton Field. It's all true except for the part about telling me to "keep on pickin till my fingers bleed." She would never have wanted me to hurt myself for anything.

My only living grandmother is my mom's mom. She says I need to write a song about her. She's right. It's not for lack of inspiration. She's a almond green eyed, blond haired, hotpink lipstick wearing, Edith Piaf swallow your face glasses sportin', hip grandmother who's 80 something and still won't say how old she is. She plays ragtime piano-always in the key of F. She's always had a talent for painting fields of flowers in bloom, fluffy clouds, ladies in dresses, cats in the sunshine.

A few years ago, she got remarried to an older man- he's 90. They were neighbors back in the 40's. Their children were born days apart. They reconnected as friends while my grandfather was suffering from Parkinson's and while his wife was slipping off into Alzheimer's. After their spouses passed, their friendship turned to love. My Nana had never been on a plane, much less lived outside of Ft. Worth, Texas. Now she's married to a retired Airforce pilot and they live in Georgia. He built her a workspace where they share their love of painting. She said, "Darlin, the Good Lord didn't mean for me to be alone."

Somebody asked me on the radio tour if I ever get lonely or if being on the road affects my social life. I really try to make an effort to reconnect with my loved ones on the weekend and when I can. I believe that life is more about relationships than a career. I try to find a balance- it's not easy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. There's a time to push and a time to relax. A time to stir it up and a time to settle down.

Right now, it's time to decompress and slow down.

I woke up coming down, feeling a little numb.
Went to visit a friend on his last lap in the hospital- cancer of the spine. Dear sweet man- skin and bones, emaciated face, clear blue eyes shining, smiling.

Pulled me close to his chest like a loving father- love, swirling all around- that hug made me dizzy with peace and stopped me in my tracks.

Then I was off to the nursing home- my other friend moved from the assisted living to the Alzheimer's wing after a nasty fall when that chair reached up and grabbed hold of her in the dark. That's all she sees now- dark shadows. She says "it's 9 at night all day long." Feels like she's losing her mind or going to see God soon. I said I feel like I'm losing my mind sometimes. She said, "yeah, but at least you always find it again." She's 85.

There were 5 of us sitting lined up in the Rec room in front of the tv: 1) James, who's over 100- he was snapping at pointing at the fish in the aquarium as if to say- I see you- stop that- stay where you are. He kept talking about driving trucks in South Florida. He'd say something and then giggle like he had said something really funny. Then there was Mrs.W., my friend, rubbing her head- she skipped lunch- not feeling well today- never herself these days. 3) a sweet smily lady who couldn't remember who gave her her pretty necklace made of seashells- said "maybe you'll find another way to be happy" when Mrs. W said she didn't want to go to the movie because she couldn't see. 4) Bonnie, Mrs.W's roommate- she is real talkative and energetic- says "you sure are cute" everytime I'm there. and 5) me, worn out, a little sad and taking it all in.

I asked Mrs. W if she'd like me to come play guitar and sing for her. She said, "I don't know if they'd enjoy that or not." I just laughed. She's always been pretty blunt. One time she said: are you gettin' fat? Just last week I took her to my condo to see my parents and nephew. We sang songs and ate lunch. She said, "you know, I don't think I would have had as much fun if it was just you and me." Don't get me wrong- she's always saying how God sent me to her and what a blessing I am in her life. I know she would never want to hurt my feelings.

About a minute after I asked her, she turns to Bonnie and says proudly:Bonnie, Robin plays guitar and she's going to come play for us. Bonnie says: Ohh, we'll love that. I asked what song she'd like me to sing and she said "whichever one you do real well that you like." I said I like to do "It Is Well With My Soul," "Power In The Blood," and "In the Garden." Then Bonnie started in singing: I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses..." Then the lady next to her joined in, Mrs.W added a low harmony and I chimed in softly, so I could still hear them. The old man had nodded off and we broke out into laughter at the end of the first chorus.

These are the gigs that matter most.

Tomorrow, I'll be in the studio recording a song called "Feed The Child" a song that is being recorded in many languages to raise money to help stop hunger. I was asked to translate the song into french and sing it. I am so excited about it. Ray Kennedy is recording it at his place. He's one of the coolest producers I know- very organic and edgy. He did Reckless Kelly's latest album and I met him when I sang bgv's on their album.

Robin,