Thank you with all my heart to the people of Finland, Italy, Switzerland and France for a great last pre-baby European Tour! It has been so wonderful to see many of my now, long time friends traveling from all over Europe to join me.
t's also been great to rock out with Jon, Walter & Piero again, as well bringing some new blood to the stage, like Nicola Venturiniand Marco Galiero.After a couple of great days off at the lake and zoo in Zurich, CH, I made a quick stop in the gorgeous, medieval city of Avignon, FR, Then I took a little vacation, aka Babymoon, back in Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea near Piero Perelli's home town of Lucca! Me and the boys ended our stay in Italy on July 5th, with a homemade pizza party courtesy of Papa Perelli, followed by a full band jam at The Perelli's beautiful, Tuscan home!
Next, I headed to Ekenäs, Finland where I just did a live appearance on Radio Nostalgia in Helsinki. I'm doing more press Friday and then we will rock our last European show atBossaNova Blues and Rock Festival on Saturday July 9th.
My welcome back to gorgeous Finland was a gourmet dinner prepared by our host and festival organizer, Chef Kristian Karnell at his impeccable lakeside restaurant, Bossa Nova, with his wife Sara and father Kurt joining us. Kristian's theme for the fest is, "no junk food" and they're setting up champagne and wine tents!
Lastly, I'm headed back home to the USA for the final state-side shows before Mama-hood!
07-14-16 Callahan’s Music Hall – Auburn Hills, MI USA - Show 7:30pm Tickets
07-15-16 Bluesfest Windsor – Windsor, ON Canada - Show 11:25pm Tickets
07-16-16 Peter’s Players – Gravenhurst, ON Canada - Show 8:00pm Tickets
07-17-16 Belle Bash – Mayville, NY USA - Show 8:00pm Tickets
07-27-16 Iridium – New York, NY USA - Show 8:00pm Tickets
I'm so sorry that I had to let go of the August dates but it was doctor's orders not to be performing away from home just two weeks before my due date! I guess I was being overly ambitious and it certainly didn't help my case that the doctor watched my videos on YouTube ;-)
It's been almost surreal to travel through Europe for another summer, something I've done now every year since 2009, but this time with the company of my unborn baby boy, who's growing in me rapidly and kicking up a storm.
Knowing he's with me has been quite comforting on this tour, especially the late nights alone where I lie awake from jet-lag missing my recently departed mother, father and brothers so profoundly. Especially my mother. It's so strange not to share all of my travel details with her and not to be sending her photos on this tour.
But now, I imagine someday, I'll get to share these experiences with my child. I'm already starting to see the world a bit differently as I project it through his future perspective and his experiences yet to come. Such feelings of wonder, fear, beauty, excitement and at times sadness, all crowd my heart. How interesting that this myriad of feelings all culminate into a sort of peaceful calm which I haven't quite known before. Likely, because I have no idea what the near or distant future holds. Actually, I never did, it's just now even more apparent that I have no control and no clue...what a relief! :-)
Thank you all for helping me keep my chin up and my heart open through such a bizarre journey of love, loss and life. A journey we all take. How wonderful to take it together with you.
'm forever grateful and my heart is deeply moved by the notion of sharing with my son the stories of my great journey with all of you. Most definitely to be continued...
Now time for Chapter Two.
Love, Joy and Immense Gratitude,
Dana