Tag Archives: Thornfield

The big concert! It hath happened.

About a week ago, on Saturday the 21st, my band Thornfield had our big farewell concert and CD release party.

And it was a fantastic night.

We got to the art gallery space where we were having the event around 4pm, so as not to feel rushed about our 7pm kickoff time. Our friend Petras had already set up the music equipment for our rehearsal earlier in the week . . .

. . . so all that remained was setting up chairs, lighting, and our CD table.

Looks! It’s our CDs! Bright Northern Skies . . .

. . . and One for a Lover.

(and our release on itunes approacheth!–I will most definitely update you all when this happens, and then harass everyone I know until we hit platinum. Or something.)

My dad climbed a very tall ladder to hang twinkle lights from the rafters.

Thanks Dad! Alice and I appreciated being able to stay firmly planted on the ground.

Of course, being occupied making music, I wasn’t able to get any shots of the space filled with people (120 or so according to my guesstimation), the incredible appetizers table our friend Shandra put together out of the goodness of her heart (brie? manchego? other awesome cheeses, anyone?), or the amazing variety of friends and family that showed up to support us and throw their money at us (heh heh).

Our friend Petras opened for us, and some time after 8pm, we started our set with the rollicking “The Watchman’s Back.”

My mom did man my camera for me for a while, but (surprise surprise) focused a lot of her shots on . . . well, me.

Gee, Mom.

I’m blushing.

I love this shot of the group–we seem to having a blast!

Hint: we were.

And I’ve noticed that the audience always has a great time if the band is having a great time. So having fun was, so to speak, our bounden duty.

Very cool thing: Eric’s brother John Pazdziora was in town (from Scotland!) with his wife. John has written lyrics to quite a number of our songs, so we were thrilled that he could come to our concert. He also did a gorgeous spoken word piece in the middle of our set.

As far as nerves, after we hit our stride around song #3, they didn’t even come close to haunting me.

It was fun, you guys. Lotsa fun. Which is exactly what I hoped our farewell concert would be. We are definitely rolling out on a high note, emotionally speaking. And ending things with a bash gives so much more closure than kind of fading slowly away, right?

Right.

The end of the night found us sweaty but triumphant.

Chairs were rearranged and tables came out for a brunch happening in the space the following day . . .

. . . conversations started winding down, and the venue slowly emptied out.

The twinkle lights came down . . .

. . . we packed up our equipment (which had completely taken over the back room) . . .

. . . and I nixed the whole ‘after party’ thing that was being talked about. Am pregnant. Must to sleep. Now.

Not only was it a great night of music and friendship, but our budget was looking much better than it ever had–we recuperated about 1/3 of our recording costs in a single night! To that I say: yippee-doodle-daddle-day.

(Now let’s just do that two more times, pliz.)

The only thing that could have made the night better is if you all had been there.

Happy Monday to all!

All He takes away

There’s nothing for a couple like good couple friends. Friends who feel to drop by for dinner, call you up spontaneously, cry with you, work alongside you, text you when they’re in need of prayer. Eat your ravaged mustard mash that didn’t turn out quite right with nary a word of complaint.

Especially when they’re not only your couple friends, but your bandmates. Who have also been in your Bible study for 3 years. Oh, and are on the worship team at church with you. And when the female component of this couple is your best girlfriend.

In case you haven’t caught on yet, I’m talking about my friends Eric and Carrie.

Carrie was the one who kicked my butt into the world of blogging over two years ago. Carrie was the first person to call me after our break-in in January. She took me for my first pedicure. Carrie’s thrift shopping stamina is enough to satisfy even this hard-core thrift shopper. And Eric and Carrie forced us to go to a Regency Ball . . . twice!

Carrie invited me to sing back-up vocals for one of her gigs one fall long ago, which put the wheels in motion for the formation of our band, Thornfield.

Eric and Carrie were the first people I played one of my original songs for (with the exception of my husband, of course!), and the catalysts for my songs actually ending up not only being performed in front of actual people, but recorded on our CD. They have encouraged, challenged, pushed, comforted, and advised me.

I can’t say what Eric and Carrie have been to me in the past 3 years.

Now they are moving to North Carolina (a process started long ago), where Eric will be getting his Masters in Composition at UNCG. We had a goodbye brunch for them at our place a few weeks ago, and another goodbye brunch with our church family this past weekend. Yesterday evening we helped them pack up the truck.

And that’s it. Now–as in, this morning–they are going to get into their vehicles with all their stuff (as well as our furry and cruel band manager) and actually drive away. In fact, at this time of the morning they are probably already outside the city limits of Chicago, heading South and zooming off into this new phase of their lives.

And the only reason I’m not burying my head in the sand in despair is because I know God has a plan . . . that his plan is GOOD . . . and that he will meet all of our needs.

We will try to keep both our friendship and Thornfield going from a distance, share our lives and songwriting, engage in road trips for the occasional gig, and hopefully record another album down the road. But the reality is–it’s not going to be the same. I know I have a lot of tears ahead of me, and there’s nothing to be done except cry them, and walk through the pain of my loss.

I take so much comfort in the words of the hymn “Be still my soul” that say:

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side,
Bear patiently the cross of grief and pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide,
In every change He, faithful, will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend,
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

And especially close to my heart is this verse:

Be still my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know his love, his heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From his own fullness all he takes away.

I love you guys, Carrie and Eric.

Drive safely, sweet friends, and I pray that after a few years, somehow, we will end up in the same city so that we can share our lives again in this way that has been so, so precious to me.