Deborah Crooks

Hello there, 
It feels like spring in these parts: magnolia blossoms are bursting from branches, birds are nesting, and it's warm enough to play music on the porch again. Last year's porch shows really carried us through much of 2020 and we're glad to get back to it this month. Plus, Bay Station has a new EP cued up for an April release. Dates and more information follow. Here's to a happier, healthier, new month! Take care there, Deborah

MUSIC 

New Bay Station EP Beyond the Safe and Sound 

Bay Station is…

FOLK UNLOCKED 

View Two Livestream Performances 

The last trip i took before sheltering in place was to New Orleans for the Folk Alliance Conference. We had an adventurous week of hosting a Love the Bay-inspired showcase room and taking in as much of NOLA as we could. Flash forward to 2021, and I'm pleased to share that I'll be performing twice as part of the Folk Unlocked Virtual Conference this coming week: Tues 2/23 and again as Bay Station on Thurs 2/25 6:30pm CT/8:30pm PT.  Usually, the in-person…

The first song I wrote was called “I Work in the Bakery.” I was five or six years old and I made it up because I thought I looked like a baker while getting out of the tub in my shower cap. My older sister transcribed it for me. It’s not particularly good, but I’ve never forgotten it: 
“I work in the bakery/I make cakes and pies/I work every day inside/I make bear claws and wreaths and pancakes for a feast/and on your birthday/when you can have anything you like/be sure to come here” 
As requested Kwame…

More beauty, yes? I got a 'memory' notice about a fun show I did at The Lost Church four years ago, a February birthday-themed gig with Michael McNevin, which had a great poster design by NEMO. It felt like time to share what other bits of beauty have been keeping me afloat this month:

• This amazing essay in Guernica "The Grief Artist" by  Traci Brimhal. read it HERE.
• A look at Rachel Rodi's latest mosaic in San Francisco can be found HERE
• Almost any day's photo from Nasa's Astronomy Photo of the…

Tune in to  WJAE 420 this evening 7pm CT/5pm PT as I'm a guest on the Wendy Love Edge Women in Music Show.

My work has truly come to embody the term 'cottage industry' this year. As we stay close to home and at a distance, our bungalow continues to be the site of music making, yoga instruction, video production and 'zine creation. Island walks (post-storm view pictured below) and keeping the bird feeder full are filling in the time between. Read on for details!

MUSIC 

Livestream 

This year's Folk Alliance International conference will be virtual. As such I'll be doing two streaming showcases for Folk Unlocked on…

“Look Up” my ode to Hawk Hill & Golden Gate Raptor Observatory paired with an awesome collection of photos by some my fellow hawkwatchers.

Golden Gate Raptor Observatory 2020 Season from Golden Gate Raptors on Vimeo.

#tb reminder of playing music in venues! While playing out is still both memory and future (esp. now that the #SaveOurStages act recently passed, yay!), I'm pleased to find songs from The Department of the West continuing to be broadcast via the radio airwaves, including from stations in Alaska, New York, Massachusetts, Arkansas and Scotland this past week.  Thanks to all the djs, music lovers and musicians keeping the flame alive!

In 2016, I released a 7-song EP Beauty Everywhere. The title song sprung out of a practice I'd made one year, making lists of beautiful things to raise my spirits during less hopeful moments. As I've sang the song regularly over the years, the literal practice of listing beautiful things has become internalized.  Beauty is everywhere if I look and I'm ever more grateful that I notice it. Today's mental beauty list kept growing and I felt duty bound to share my findings. Especially now, when it's easy to get…