Welcome to our "Store"


(It's really just a bunch of links to books and CDs we think are great at Amazon.com but if you were thinking of buying any of these and you go through these links, we get a tiny bit of money! It doesn't affect your cost at all. We figure Amazon.com can afford to pay us, they have lots of money, we don't!)
More to Come Soon!

Special Featured Item (cause well, I just couldn't resist!)

Darth Tater

Music References and Stuff

New!

Voice and the Alexander Technique by Jane Heirich Jane is a mentor of mine. I took voice lessons from her when I lived in Ann Arbor and I still try to see her for lessons whenever I'm back in town. She also practices and teaches Alexander technique. It really taught me a lot about my body as a singer! This new book should be really helpful for anyone who wants to learn to let their body help them sing beautifully rather than have their body get in the way of beautiful singing which is all too easy to do. In fairness I should say that you can buy this from the publisher and pay less I think. Mornum Time Press.

Making Music for the Joy of It:... cover I love this book. I use it several of the workshops I give. It's a book every "amateur" musician should have (the author points out that "amateur" means "lover") but I think even semi-pro and pro musicians will benefit from it. Delightful to read and crammed full of useful advice.

A Soprano on Her Head: Right-Side-Up... coverAnother book I use for my workshops. This is a funny and useful book about getting past the interior judges we all have and being able to really let our musical expression shine. Well - that and lots of other things... just read it!

The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green & Timothy Gallwey This is a very useful book for some new ideas about performing, practicing and playing music. NEW!

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank:... cover This is a lovely memoir of the author's discovery of a very special piano shop in Paris (where he lives) and his subsequent re-discovery of the love affair he had with pianos as a child. It's delightful. Lots of insight into the world of the piano (building, playing, repair, tuning and voicing...) and a glimpse of life in Paris as well.

Piano Lessons, by Noah Adams I really loved this charming book which tells the story of how Noah Adams (of NPR fame) finally, as an adult, pursued his love of piano, bought one, and took lessons. NEW!

All the Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters by Craig R. Whitney I wasn't a particular fan of pipe organs before I married an organist but I must admit, even so this book would have been a great read! It's really interesting and the stories about Virgil Fox and others alone make it a fun read. As an added bonus Ed's Encylopedia of Organ Stops is mentioned in the acknowledgements! NEW!

Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization by Stuart Isacoff And, while you are reading about keyboards, I haven't read this one yet but Ed really enjoyed it. NEW!

Other Books - Fiction and Non-Fiction

Organizing for the Creative Person : Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching YourGoals - I love this book! When I first read it I had one of those amazing "AHA!" moments. Truly, it was like all of a sudden I understood why my attempts to use previous "organizing" books never worked! Definitely worth a look. Don't let the "right brain/left brain" thing trip you up - I know that has been largely de-bunked, but still, they make a point of saying that most people are really both but some of us fit into one "type" of thinking more than the other. This is certainly true for me and if you are a "right brain" type you'll be amazed at how useful this book can be. Organizing for Creative People (buy now on Amazon.com)

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith cover Anne Lamott - First I read this author's book "Operating Instructions" It's a journal of her pregnancy and first year as a single mom. It's funny, inspiring, honest and well written.(and a refreshing change from all the pregnancy books you read when you are expecting). My sister recently gave me Traveling Mercies. It's basically a collection of stories of her personal spiritual journey. . I love this book. She doesn't in any way proslytize. What she does is make her own spiritual journey very presonal. She shows deep respect for other spiritual paths while talking about her own. As in Operating Instructions this book is funny, moving, profound, inspiring and thought provoking. I'll be re-reading this one for years, starting right now.

Vectors coverMike Kube-McDowell - Vectors, Quiet Pools, Trigger, Exile - I admit it, Mike's a good friend of mine but please believe me when I tell you he's a really wonderful SF writer too. He writes intelligent, thought provoking plots, makes you look at all sides of an issue, writes characters you really care about, has a solid scientific background, and - best of all perhaps - tells a really good story! Many is the time that I've stayed up late reading "just one more chapter" of one of his books.

The Ivory and the Horn cover I love Charles DeLint's writing. This book of short stories is as good a place to start as any. (There's one story in this collection that I would classify as horror, it's that creepy, but the rest didn't bother me that way). He writes mostly "urban fantasy", which means he uses the everyday world of today as a setting for a whole hidden world of the fantastic. That makes it sound too trite, trust me, he tells a great story, with wonderful characters, and manages to make you think about life while he's doing it. If you really want to find more of his work you should check out Subterranean Press , which is where you can find more of his books that are "out of print" as well as collector's editions.

  A Cold Day for Murder cover I'm not a mystery fan exactly but I really love the way this Alaskan writer makes Alaska come alive. Not generally "gory" mysteries these have great characters, wonderful prose, and really interesting settings. This book is the first in her Kate Shugak series featuring a detective who is an Aleut native. So far I've liked all her books but this is a good starting place.

Summon the Keeper cover This book (and its sequels) became a oft-read family favorite in our house. It's the kind of book you pick up when you really want something fun that will make you laugh out loud. The cat character alone is worth the read. Lots of fun! NEW!

 

Recorded Music

Archetype Cafe coverTalis Kimberley - I love this album. The songs have thoughtful, interesting lyrics. The arrangments are nicely done. Talis' voice is lovely and passionate. There's not a bad song in the batch and a few of them are among my favorites now. Highly recommended!

Maddy Prior - Year We learned the song "Deep in the Darkest Night" off this album. It's got a lot of great music on it. I love Maddy Prior's voice and the arrangements are very nice. NEW!

Bill Staines - Going to the West We learned the song "Crossing the Water" from this album, which also has other terrific songs on it. It has two more of my favorite Staines songs: River, and Lord Fill My Thirst (by Douglass Clegg but a nice rendition of a gorgeous love song). NEW!

Judy Small - Best of the Eighties (Import) Ed introduced me to Judy Small's music. She's too often overlooked but man, she's written some terrific songs. Two of hers that we do are on this album: "Mothers, Daughters, Wives" and "From the Lambing to the Wool". NEW!

Cheryl Wheeler - Different Stripe We learned her wonderful song "When Fall Comes to New England" from this recording. She's a great song writer and has a really nice warm alto voice. NEW!

 

 

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