Dear Friends

We are thrilled to announce our upcoming EV-O-LU-TION show at THE FREIGHT AND SALVAGE COFFEE HOUSE in Berkeley. CA!

Save the date - Sunday, September 14, 2008 8:00PM. We will be headlining the night with no opening act.

This is our one year anniversary and we are honored to have been invited to play one of the Bay Area's most respected music venues. A true listening room that has been a fixture in Berkeley for as long as anyone can remember.

I have seen my dear friends and amazing musician's Rebecca Riots here many times over the past 13 years and look forward to our debut at the Freight.

Michael and I have had a GREAT YEAR and are grateful to have found each other and to have the opportunity to play music as much as we do. It's a good life. We are also looking forward to our Midwest tour in August.

For now, please help us spread the word about our show at the Freight. Tickets are on sale now! We have a bunch of new songs to share with you and a few special guests to help make this a very special celebration.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer and taking time out to appreciate your life.

My love and appreciation,
Lynn

Indeed the beauty of our soul shines through when we are living our authentic life. I am so grateful to have the gift of music and of friends who embrace music in their lives. My Grandfather once told me he wouldn't want to live if he didn't have music in his life everyday; I get it.

Each time I listen to my and Michael's new live cd, I am in wonder of what we have created together. For so many years I have wanted to write and sing my own songs, and here we are. Within a year, Michael and I created this material and are continuing to let the music evolve as we go along. We have new songs being written, and yet, this first batch of material remains very close to our hearts.

So much of our hearts, our love, our experiences over the years and over this past year are woven into these songs. It is very personal music; in the "industry" this kind of writing is called "confessional" - so be it. I love to write about things that many of us have felt in our lives. Getting older has it's benefits, at least for me, I have come into my own.. I feel secure in who I am and what I am doing in my life. I ask myself whenever I am in question of what I am doing the following; if I knew I were going to die in a year or less would I be doing what I am doing?.. if the answer is no, then it's got to go, if it is yes then I relax into it and everything takes it's proper place in my life.. priorities are clear.

When my life coach Rich Fettke asked me years ago, if there were no chance of failure what would you do with your life? I said I would be a touring and recording artist. Michael and I are planning our first tour, I have recorded 2 cd's,  and I am going back East in May for 3 shows with Big Brother a couple of which are in my home state of MAINE! I am so grateful to be manifesting some of my sweetest dreams. Ask me again Rich and I would add; a house on the ocean, a wonderful man to share it with, and enough money to have a comfortable life with my friends and family enjoying the bounty with me!

It's on it's way... in the meantime I LOVE MY LIFE!  Thanks to all of my friends, family and Michael, my life is amazing just as it is, everything else is extra.

So dream big, shoot for the Moon, and let go of fear and fly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! keep EVOLVING, moving, growing. loving and staying positive.... your life is NOW....

Let the beauty of your soul shine through.

My love and appreciation,
Lynn

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL LAMACCHIA JAN 31st.
Love ya!

Dear Friends:

Here we are 2008, the first week in... feels good so far. Definitely feel like I have wrapped up a lot of 2007 in a nice big bow, blessed it and let go... almost... it takes a minute for the letting go to take hold ya know? However, the intention is there and thus the letting go begins to happen.

2007 was HUGE for me... It was a year to remember as it was a powerful exercise in stepping firmly into my deepest desires as an artist; writing, performing, and recording original music with Michael LaMacchia was the greatest blessing I could have asked for. We have our live cd coming out in a couple of weeks from our debut at Larkspur Cafe Theater on Oct 13, 2007. We decided that although many of the songs had never been performed, including one song I had  written the very week of the show, that we would record just in case we got something worth putting on a cd.

One of the many things I love about working with Michael is that he is willing to put things out there in various stages of development when it comes to our music. In the past, I would work things up until I felt they were "perfect" before performing, but with Michael, I feel a new sense of freedom in sharing our music as a work in progress. As a result, we have a wonderful live cd to share with you - We are excited about seeing our music evolve, indeed, many of these songs have already grown since our live debut. I am glad we decided to make a live cd and just get the music out there,,, we are planning to tour this Summer and will be writing more material in the coming weeks for our live show and for a studio cd down the road.

I also grew leaps and bounds in  2 very important relationships that were pivitol in my life in 2007. I am learning how to be grateful for the time I have with anyone, and not want for more than one can give at any moment in time. My mentor Mary says "if you only knew the angels who stand next to you, guiding you, sweeping people away from you that are "not for you", then you could relax and trust that all is in divine order."  Thanks Mare, I keep that in mind everytime I start to grip too  tightly.....patience, now there's a concept!

In reality, I do trust my life. I have had such a wonderful past 2 years of coming into my own as an artist.  I have a loving family, a bounty of amazing friends, my health, a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and the blessing of knowing what I want out of my life and being able to manifest that. No complaints, just a desire to do better, to be a better person, to challenge myself to continue to grow, raise the bar for myself, and live life to the fullest.

I give thanks to everyone who has showered me with their love and support. It means the world to me to have you all in my life. I look forward to sharing 2008 with you. Please stay in touch and know that I am here for you too!

My coach reminded me once to take time to reflect on my life, my wins and successes, that it is ok to look in the rear view mirror, to give thanks while still being in the present and moving forward. Thank you Rich, even after all these years, your words of wisdom remain vivid and help me to stay grounded and grateful.


Here's to 2008. May it be all that you dream, all that you deserve, all that and more....

My love and appreciation,
Lynnie

My dear, dear friend, mentor, and brother Narada Michael Walden, is one of the world's greatest musician's and without a doubt one of the most generous people I know. Narada is a loyal friend who gives of his time, talent, resources and money to many worthy causes including most recently a benefit concert for singer/songwriter extraordinaire, Miss Angela Bofill.

I had the honor of performing in the choir assembled for the event held at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral last night, Saturday, December 8th. Angela suffered 2 strokes this year and is fighting hard to recover. Narada who has been a friend and music producer to Angela for 25 years, brought many of his closest  musician friends together to pay tribute and raise money for Angela.

Bonnie Raitt, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Hayes, Jimmy Dillon, Karma Moffett, Jeanie Tracy, Tina Malia. Naomi Striemer, Jose Neto, Frank Martin, Chester Thompson, Ricky Fataar, Troy Lampkins, Carl Peraza, Destiny Mohamed and more, graced the stage with their phenominal talent and even bigger hearts. It was one of the most magical musical experiences of my career. As I stood on the stage with the rest of the choir looking out at the sea of people who came to pay tribute to Angela, I felt completely elated. The sound of all of our voices and the beautiful music, was truly a gift of love,  pouring out, washing over everyone.

As  Angela sat taking in the music, she wiped away tears of appreciation as her peers, and friends Narada,  Bonnie Raitt, Mary Wilson and Jeanie Tracy all sang their hearts out to Angela, wishing her well, letting her know that she was loved as a sister. It doesn't get any better than that. A highlight of the night was when Angela spoke, and though her speech was at times difficult, she was able to sing Happy Birthday and let Narada know he was a sexy man, saying "hey, not dead yet" about herself! She had us all laughing and cheering for her -

And so in the Spirit of Giving, we gave freely, with open hearts, with love, with hope and prayers that Angela will be healed, fully recovered to continue making beautiful music for all of us to enjoy.

May God bless you and keep you.
My love and appreciation,
Lynn

I just got back two days ago from my very first gig with the legendary BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY in Rockville, Maryland. The show was at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center at Montgomery College just outside of Washington, D.C.

I can't really begin to express the feelings of playing with Janis Jopln's first band BBHC. Janis is my idol, an artist who I have long respected. There is NO replacing Janis, or even coming close. But I had a great time singing and performing with Big Brother's original members; Dave Getz on drums, Sam Andrews on guitar and vocals, and Peter Albin on bass and vocals. We also had a phenominal guitar player Ben Nieves based out of Ohio.

We did 2, 1 hour sets with a 15 minute break.

SET 1

DOWN ON ME
SAVE YOUR LOVE
CALL ON ME
BYE BYE BABY
CATERPILLAR
SUMMERTIME
BO'S BIO
TURTLE BLUES
WOMEN IS LOSERS
BALL & CHAIN

SET 2

COMBINATION OF THE TWO
I NEED A MAN TO LOVE
BOBBY MCGEE
HOLD ME
BLINDMAN
IT'S COOL
DO WHAT YOU LOVE
PIECE OF MY HEART

ENCORE
MERCEDES BENZ - LYNN ACAPELLA

At the end of the first set, Barry McGuire and Terry Talbot came out and sang "Eve Of Destruction" and I sat in with them on "California Dreamin'" that was a highlight of the night. Barry & Terry are two legendary artists who are outstanding musicians/performers and two of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. I am honored to have shared the stage with them!

How did this all come about is something folks have been asking so here goes. The seed was planted two years ago for me to perform with BBHC when I sat in with Dave Getz and his wife Joan at The Two Bird Cafe in West Marin. I was there for a friends b-day dinner and she told me, that's Dave Getz on drums, he was Janis Joplin's drummer in BBHC. My heart leapt a little when my friend said, I know them, I bet they would let you sit in... so later in the night on a break I went up to Dave, introduced myself and asked about sitting in , he said sure, what do you want to sing?, and I replied "Get It While You Can", he got a big smile on his face and said. Well I know it, but these guys don't how about Bobby McGee, So I sat in and sang and after gave Dave my cd titled GET IT WHILE YOU CAN...and said, if you ever need a rock singer, give me a call. Well, it took 2 years, but Dave did call and we became friends over the course of the year, and I contracted him to do a couple of gigs with my band Asher & Paige. We had a blast and discovered that we knew a lot of the same people. And, just 3 short months ago, I received an e-mail from Sam Andrews asking if I would like to do a gig with BBHC in Maryland, the rest is history! Isn't that wild?

I must say, this has been one of the most exciting years of my career. I formed a partnership with my friend and music partner Michael LaMacchia, began writing original material with Michael and am now mixing our first live CD, then the Big Brother gig, and so many other wonderful things, but these two are definitely the highlights of 2007!

I am learning to trust more and more the synchronicity of life. I have seen how my life unfolds miraculously when I surrender and have faith that all is in divine order. We are just a few short weeks away from our new year 2008. What it will bring?  I have no idea. But I do know that I am going to continue to embrace my life, to trust that I am on the "right" path, and that whatever is meant to be will be. And that's just fine wtih me, because based on results, I have nothing to fear and everything to be thankful for,

Here's to loving your life, to trusting the order of things and  believing that dreams really can come true.

My love and appreciation,
Lynnie

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday all year. Why? Because it is the time when friends and family truly come together. We cook together, sit down to food made with love and just enjoy each other. It's simple, uncomplicated, pure. I am not saying that every Thanksgiving I ever had with my family was something out of a Norman Rockwell painting, but I do have fond memories, and since my Mother passed away 3 years ago this Christmas, I'd like to take time to give thanks for all the years she got up at 5AM in the cold, in Maine, and got the turkey ready to put in the oven, make her famous stuffing, and have all the fresh winter vegetables peeled anbd cut and already in their pans by the time we were all rolling out of bed. My Dad always helped my Mom and sometimes we did too, but most times she did it all - she was always worried that she didn't cook enough even though there was always enough food for days after, and she had a hard time sitting down to eat wanting to make sure everyone had what they needed. I guess this is a tribute to my beloved Mother. Thanks Mom, I know you are listening. I am also thankful for all of my friends who are really my family, here in California, who have fed me at Thanksgiving and throughout the year for that matter. I am blessed. I will never go hungry, or be alone during the holidays with the family I have here in California. It will be 14 years in Feb of 2008 that I moved to California from Maine. I have so many fond memories of holidays, birthdays, and just the blessings that are part of my life every day. My love and appreciaton to all of you. Yvonne, Gabe, Gianna, Tom, Michaela, Randal, Amy C, Amy H, Jennnn, Martine, Chris, Becky, Thom, Hanne, Tanya, Katie, Hans, Larry, Smiley, Mary, Donna, Trish, Elizabeth, Letizia, Elena, Michael, James, Raz, Pamela, Allison, Stacie, Wael, Kamiran, Ally, Narada, Laura, Stefan, Amber, Stefano, Tasty, Rob, Jimi O, Carlyne, Marian, Joan and Dave, Grant, Terry, Elliott, Jen, Renee, Kate, and so many other dear, dear friends who have loved me, fed me, taken care of me when I was sick or sad, happy, lonely, struggling or celebrating! I am grateful. Truly grateful. Looking back on 2007 has me feeling blessed. It was a huge, transformational year for me and for many of my friends. We move forward together, with love and with the knowledge that with friends, we can do anything. Happy Thanksgiving. My love and appreciation always, Lynn

Saturday, Oct 13 marked the debut of my original music project with my songwriting partner, Michael LaMacchia at the Larkspur Cafe Theater. This was a very special night as Michael and I began writing together at the beginning of this year and have found a special magic in the process of creating music.

Our original music project is titled EV-O-LU-TION  which is defined as "A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form." This is such a fitting name for our music because since we have been collaborating, we have truly evolved!

We put the night together hand picking the people we wanted to make this music come alive with - Andy Dillard on drums. Daniel Fusco on bass, Dan Zinn on sax, Matt Huelitt on guitar, David E on piano, and Raz Kennedy on vocals. I sat on a stool most of the night, sharing stories about our songs and our songwriting process. It was a very intimate evening. We all laughed, many people cried, and everyone of us felt the magic in the room. It is such a beautiful thing to open up so completely and to be a channel for the music. It didn't feel like a performance, just sharing... being real, open, defenseless, and free!!

Our songs titled; Waiting, So You Know, Mercy, 2 as One, Ain't Love Grand, Round and Round, Beyond Words, Now That You're Gone, Undone, Ocean. and Only You, were recorded that night and we hope to have a live cd to share with all of you by the end of the year latest. Michael and I are also going to put a website together for this project and are planning to tour during the Summer of 2008!  We are looking at dates in the US and Europe. We will keep you posted.

A special thank you to you Michael for taking this journey with me. I am eternally grateful. You are a gift in my life!!


It is really hard to put the experience of that debut show into words... a few quotes from the night...........

"If you were doing a show tomorrow night I would come again" - Donna D
"This was the best night of my life" - Michaela
"It was like watching a movie, I laughed, I cried - Suzanne E.
"You never could have described this to me, I am so glad I came". Mary

I am looking forward to writing more songs, to our new original cd, and to continuing to open my heart and let my defenses down...when I let into that place with my music, all there is is LOVE.

My love and appreciation,
Lynn

As my Italian friends say Thanks God! I have a lot to be thankful for - first I am thrilled to announce that Sweetwater has found a new home and we are under construction as we speak!! PHEW!!! a collective sigh of relief... a big exhale..... we moved out of our home of 37 years on the last day of September. There is not a crumb left of Sweetwater at 153 Throckmorton Ave, just the ghosts and I would be willing to bet they checked out when we took the final boards off the walls... we took EVERYTHING...including the vibe!!

Sweetwater's new home is just around the corner at 32 Miller Ave! It's nestled nicely between D'angelo's and the new Balboa Cafe (formerly Jennie Low's location)... Our new space is going to be beautiful, I can't wait to see it when it is finished. In the meantime, we are looking for people who are interested in investing money in the remodel...please visit www.sweetwatersaloon.com for more info... min investment is $25,000.

In the meantime, we are blessed to have the Larkspur Cafe Theater at 500 Magnolia Ave in downtown Larkspur also owned by Becky & Thom Steere, and we have had some amazing shows there - Friday night we had the Rebecca Riots for the first time to a full house kicking off their NorthWest tour which I have been blessed to help them book and promote... I have known Eve, Andrea & Lisa for 12 years and for those of you who haven't see them, they will be back in the New Year at LCT and I encourage you to come out and see them. In the meantime, you can catch them in December at The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley Dec 14 & 14 - they sell out every time they play the Freight so get your tix now!

I am thankful for my friends, for our music community, for my family, my health and all of the wonderful blessings that show up in my life everyday. My health, friends and family are my greatest blessing, then my music - without my health, friends and family, there would be no music.

There was so much pain around losing Sweetwater...we were all crushed, we didn't think we could let go of 153 Throckmorton, it had come to mean so much to us, so much love. And when the place was gutted, I stood where the stage once stood and put my arms out and said THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU over and over and cried.

But alas, just when we think we have experienced more heartache than we can stand, a wonderful thing happens; we are shown that we have not lost anything. When we give, fully give our hearts, we have gained the knowledge that WE KNOW WHAT LOVE IS.. and for me, that is all that matters in the end. I know what love is and I choose love...even if it hurts like hell, even if the adjustment takes time and means suffering, I know I am alive and that I have the gift of knowing what love is...Love is wrapped up in everything we do, every experience we have, if we choose love, we will be OK.

If your heart aches, if you are afraid of losing everything... relax into the feeling and as you feel the pain, the wrench of change, of letting go, I promise, something beautiful will be revealed to you and you will heal and love again...because we are never given more than we can handle... we are blessed in immesurable ways. Thanks God!

My love and appreciation, Lynnie

Well, here we are, together again, me and my thoughts, straight from my heart to you. My beloved music venue Sweetwater, despite all of our efforts, will be closing it's doors on Monday, September 24th. I never thought I would see the day come when we couldn't stop this from happening, but despite over 5000 signatures, letters and pleas to the landlords, the time has indeed come that we must say goodbye to the old and embrace whatever comes next.

Throughout the past 13 years, I have had the honor and delight of performing at Sweetwater. There is just no other place like it. And despite all the quirks, it is truly a place with a soul, a pulse, a heart beat. If those walls could talk, they would tell tales of great joy, magical musical moments, love, heart ache, laughter, marriage proposals. lovers spats, dancing, passionate music making and so much that makes Sweetwater a place I will always keep a special place in my heart for as long as I live. This may sound dramatic to some, but for me, it's real for me, my life, my passion, my dreams - so many of which came true here. I have played with the best of the best, created friendships that will last a lifetime and seen and heard legends as well as future legends perform here. I sang on stage with the man I loved for 11 years and felt a deep connection to everyone as we shared our love and our music. Raz Thank you for believing in me, Becky & Thom, for opening your hearts and creating a loving, supportive environment for me to perform. Your encouragement and belief in me is something I am deeply grateful for.

As we travel this road of life, many things will come and go. And in their place new things will arrive, full of new hope and promise. I hope to always remember to trust this. To not fear change, or push it away, but to embrace it and give it a chance. Throughout my life, it has been my experience that although change is hard at first, once I let go and trust, I have always been delighted to find that in the end it was a good thing, something that needed to shift in order for me to grow. So I will trust again, knowing that in the end, there is light, love and growth. Thanks for taking the journey with me.

My appreciaton and love,
Lynn