HOPE WAITS

Happy New Year!!!!!

Yes, I know, it's the last day of January, and the New Year in the U.S. is now ancient news, however, I tend to get excited when Chinese New Year begins, and especially this year, as it falls under my animal sign, the Year of the Dragon.

There is something beautiful about the way the Chinese New Year celebrates honoring relatives who have passed away, and celebrating life, by giving us all an animal symbol; which they believe reflects certain characteristics, and even life paths of those born under each animal sign. 

Although, of course, we all know the Dragon is mythical, and not a true member of the animal kingdom, it is considered to be the luckiest sign to be born under, so I'm betting on 2012 being an AMAZING year;-) 

Here's a GREAT piece of news to start off the New Year.... I'm playing some shows near YOU!!!!!

This Saturday, February 4th, 2012, I will have the distinct pleasure of being Carolyn Wonderland's special guest at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz, CA.... you can buy tickets online: http://moesalley.com/tickets.php?show_id=1304

When: Sat / Feb 4th 2012 / 9:00 PM (Doors Open at 8pm)
Where: Moe's Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95065 
Details: www.moesalley.com

(p.s. here's a nice link to a blog page that, by chance, just so happened to feature Carolyn and I on the same page, as they are diggin' our music!... www.roamingthearts.com)

Next Saturday, February 11th, 2012, I will be driving back up the coast to the beautiful CRU Wine Company for a special acoustic performance during the Madera Wine Trail from 12pm - 4pm. More details below:

When: Sat / Feb 11th 2012  / 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Where: CRU Wine Company, 20146 Road 21, Berenda, CA, 93637 
Details: www.cruwinecompany.com

After that, I'll be preparing for my next East Coast Tour, starting in NYC at Rockwood Music Hall on April 16th, and ending in Charlotte, NC on April 21st at the amazing TOSCO MUSIC PARTY at Halton Theater. Definitely get your tickets early for this one, as the last event they held was SOLD OUT by the day of the show! www.toscomusicparty.org

Here's hoping that all of you have an amazing Year of the Dragon, have lots of fun, enjoy your families, and hopefully I'll get to see all of you at one of these shows!!!

xoxo,

Hope

Tonight, Hope will have a live interactive interview with Music on the Couch host, Vinny Bond Marini.  The interview begins at 9:45pm Central (10:45 EST / 7:45 PST). 

Music On The Couch streams LIVE on BlogTalk Radio each Monday at 9:00pm Central and is then archived forever at MusicOnTheCouch.com and on their BlogTalk Radio Page.  The shows feature interviews with independent artists in the Blues and Rock genres with occasional forays into the worlds of Country, Americana and Roots music.  Each show has two artists, giving them 45-50 minutes each to tell their stories and to hear their latest music. 

Each show features a live chat room.  There you'll be able to chat with each other and send Vinny questions to ask Hope.  Instructions on the chat room are below.

CHAT ROOM:

**During the live broadcast, there is an interactive chat room which can be found by going to www.blogtalkradio.com/musiconthecouch and clicking the "CHAT NOW" link (This link is only visible once a chat room is established)

**The chat room will be open at about 8:45pm CENTRAL

**Only registered users can actually chat. Registration takes just a few minutes and is free. By registering anyone in the chat room can talk to the other occupants and also send me questions to ask of you, the guest

**To pre-register you and your fans can go here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/register.aspx

Music website Voices to Hear recently caught up with Hope Waits for their "Simply Six" Q&A series.  Read Hope's answers below and check out the website for "the best music you've never heard" - www.avoicetohear.com.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

That moment came at a very young age. Going to church with my mom and hearing those singing voices, that was just it for me. I'd been singing since I could speak, but to realize that people actually got on stage and sang in front of an audience, and that you could MOVE people with that, and at the same time it could make you, the singer, feel as though everything else in the world made sense.  Gosh, that was such a revelation.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

This week starts the week-long East Coast tour. Come check out Hope and band in the cities below....and please spread the word!!

Oct 25 | Jammin' Java | Vienna, VA (Washington D.C.)

Oct 26 | Black Eyed Sally's | Hartford, CT

Oct 27 | Johnny D's | Somerville, MA (Boston)

Oct 28 | MilkBoy Coffee | Ardmore, PA (Philly)

Oct 29 | Rockwood Music Hall | New York, NY

Today at 1:30 PDT (2:30 MDT) I will be live on western Colorado's KDNK with the Dreamweaver.  You can listen to the interview live on KDNK or stream it online here.

Also, don't forget that tonight I will be performing with a full band at Room 5 Lounge in LA!  I'm really excited about this show and hope that all of your fine Angelenos can make it out.  Forget the work day, have a drink and get your soul fix!

xo,

Hope