Lindalou and Michael Ryge

Greetings all,
Is it getting too late to wish you all a Happy New Year?… 2009 was a bit rough for much of the world and we have hopes that 2010 will be better for all of us…It’s gotten off to a rough start for many though. Our hearts go out to the people of Haiti who seriously need a break from all the heartache.

We wanted to thank everyone who responded to our last music newsletter. We had an overwhelming response to the news of my Dad’s passing and an especially positive response to the video we took of him singing one week before he died. When my sister Jeanette posted it on youtube we had no idea how many people would be touched by it.  The countless cards and emails with heartfelt condolences have been very comforting. We’ve tried to respond to many of them individually, but haven’t managed to keep up with them all. If you haven’t heard back from us please know we appreciate your kind words! If you didn’t get a chance to click the link before and wonder what I’m talking about, here it is again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEy8n8We5HY

We’ve been playing music as much as we can between the more mundane jobs:-) We’ve played at several wonderful parties, and we’re also playing for appreciative elderly folks in assisted living/ care facilities. We’re lining up some regular gigs like this and it’s rewarding to make ‘em smile, tap their toes and many of them love to sing along. We’re excited about the next one we’ll be playing in the auditorium at the Redwoods Retirement home in Mill Valley. This is a private concert for the residents and their families, but it’s a small auditorium where Pete Seeger played recently.  Joan Baez played a private concert there for the residents this month. So we’re honored to be asked to play there on the same stage as some of our musical heros! A hard act to follow… but we’ve been practicing up a lot of old familiar folk songs and we get a good response to the occasional original songs we play for them as well.

We don’t have any public gigs lined up right now, except a series of Farmer’s Markets beginning in May, but we wanted to send you all greetings anyway. If you or anyone you know might be looking for music for any event, we’re available for weddings, parties, house concerts, even memorial services…which we’ve been playing for loved ones as well as complete strangers more and more often it seems.

We hope all of you are well and enjoying the new year so far.
We love hearing from any of you who might actually read this! Thanks again for all your kind messages last month.
Wishing you all the best in 2010!
Peace and Love,
Lindalou and Michael

Dear Friends and Music Lovers,

Tomorrow night, December 3rd,  between 7 and 9pm.
We’ll be playing some songs at Ace in the Hole Pub with Festival of Friends, a great group of musician friends of ours from Sonoma County. Ace in the Hole Pub will be closing at the end of December. If you’ve never been there, now is the time to come enjoy the place while you still have the chance!

On December 16th,  from 6 to 9pm
The Calistoga Inn will have their 19th annual Pauper’s Feast.
We’ll be playing in the dining room with our friends, Dan Brunetti and David Chapman. We’ll play some holiday music interspersed with our regular repertoire. Hope to see you there!

Some of you have already seen this, but we just want to share it with everyone:

On Sunday Nov. 22nd, my dear 84 year old Dad, Ken Harris, passed away peacefully at home with his loving family after a short battle with lung cancer. He had a long wonderful music filled life. He maintained a great attitude and one of his last requests was for us to learn a couple of songs for him. One was a beautiful old song written in 1909 called “A Perfect Day.” He wanted us to sing it at his memorial service, which we did in Mill Valley last Sunday. He also wanted us to learn this song George Burns did called “Old Bones.” He asked Michael to back him up on it so he could sing it. I video taped him singing it exactly one week before he died. He could barely sing anymore but was determined to do it and wanted us to share it.

We have a large close family and we’re all missing our Dad and have shed many tears, but we’re at peace with his passing. We’re all grateful that he was able go gracefully, without too much suffering, and gave each of us a chance to say goodbye.

This video is such a treasure for us to have. My sister Jeanette has posted it on youtube and I thought you might enjoy it too.

Let’s all treasure our loved ones while we have them!
Love, Lindalou and Michael