Robin and Linda Williams: January GreetingsDear Friends,"January 6th, a long time ago The old folks danced the doe-si-doe Christmas time has come and gone Breaking up Christmas, right or wrong" As the old song says, the holidays are officially over. All the decorations in the Williams household were all taken down yesterday and are waiting to go in the attic until next December. Now we are moving on. We're ignoring the snow which has been on the ground for over two weeks (a farmer friend of our says it's just hanging around waiting for more to come) and, thanks to a huge project we took on in the fall, we are sitting in more warmth than we're used to in this old, drafty farm house. A root cellar and a crawl space underneath four rooms was dug out, lined and sealed, thus blocking the wintery, bone-chilling winds that have made our house so hard to heat for so long. Those who haven't experienced it can't know how comforting it is to not worry about frozen water pipes. It's a good sign for 2010. We had a spectacular holiday season filled with everything one could expect or want. We were busy but not so busy as to forget that the Christmas season is a time when we should open our hearts to one another. We loved getting back to the material from our Christmas CD and we played several enjoyable shows that concentrated on those songs. Christmas eve and Christmas night were spent with old and valued friends. We celebrated the season in ways that only those who've known each other for a long time and with whom they are completely comfortable can do it. There was much merriment and more fun than people our age should have. Then it was back to music and the Hank Williams Tribute shows that we've been doing for 13 years. It's hard to explain why but the shows this year were looser and more fun than ever. There was something more this year than just talented musicians doing those marvelous songs. It seemed that the sparkle and enthusiasm of this year's shows were a culmination of all the years we've been doing them. It's been the same ten people on stage for the last nine years, and we enjoy being with each other so much, that the audience is aware that something special is happening. We parted, already looking forward to next year's shows. On New Year's Eve we played "1st Night" in Charlottesville, VA and enjoyed the evening immensely. The drive home afterwards was through an intense fog with temperatures hovering close to the freezing point. We ascended the Blue Ridge on Afton Mountain and as we got close to the top, drove out of the fog into a clear starry night onto dry roads. And there it was, the Blue Moon. We took it all as a sign of us all moving into a new day, a day of open-mindedness and promise. Through realistic eyes we are hopeful as we look towards 2010 and the new decade. Then, to top the whole season off, we went to a fabulous 12th Night Party at "The Oaks," the historic home of the Collins family, Staunton, VA's, First Family of the Arts. Staunton really is an interesting town. Where else could one go to a party with a former poet laureate, Rita Dove, the Director of the National Institute of Health, Francis Collins and a former director of the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center, Alan Jabbour. There was great music that continued into the wee hours of Sunday morning. We are getting ready to drive and play this weekend. Hopefully we'll see some of you. Happy New Year to you and yours. Your pals, Robin and Linda
Williams Robin and Linda's web site: www.robinandlinda.com |