Hello Friends

I hope you are all doing well.  It’s supposed to be Spring…however Boise has been hit with snow storms and cold weather so, it feels like the winter wants to hang on and give us all extra time to hibernate.  Ugh! 

The good news about this is, the ski season is longer.  I didn’t really get a chance to ski much early this winter as I was down in Arizona but due to the “extended winter” I have gotten up to Bogus a few times AND we returned home earlier last week from a great trip to Grand Targee Ski Resort.  This is located on the West side of the Tetons.  Driggs is where we stayed, East Idaho and the Trap Bar is where we played music for the patrons there.

Part of the fun of playing here is it brings people from all over.  It’s like an annual get together with people from Salt Lake City, South Carolina, Michigan, Sun Valley, Wyoming, and now and again California.  These folks who have enjoyed our shows over the years, make it a point to come the weekend that we are playing!  It’s super-duper great to see, ski and spend time with our friends Andrew, Bob, Joyce, Carol, John and others.  Bringing community together is always fun and even MORE fun to see them become friends!  I think this is probably one of the single greatest gifts we’ve gotten to bear witness too.  Music brings people together and friendships are created!  This is what I love about music!

The snow was beautiful and we had an epic blue-bird day!  We could see the Tetons from the top of the slope and carving our turns seemed pretty effortless.  I needed the exercise, the trees, the sunshine and letting my mind unfurl with the beauty of nature and the sound of my skis. 

I use to snow board and I miss it, but this body doesn’t really miss the after math of a boarding day.  The sensation of snow-boarding is a lot like surfing they say, I’ve never surfed so I don’t really know. Surfing down a mountain is a pretty epic feeling and I can snowboard most ANY terrain, powder, steeps, trees etc.  Skiing however, I need to really stick to the groomers.  My independent legs don’t have the skills required to maneuver in powder, but…I am ok with this.   I find the comfort of getting on and off the lift easily over rides all the struggle it takes to tack my snow-board down.  Also, cat tracks are not fun on a board and neither is bonking my head if/when I fall.  I’m sure I have symptoms of whiplash from years of boarding.

One thing I have been noticing is my body aging and the effort things take.  I don’t mean for this to sound like a complaint at all.  I love skiing and sports; I love playing music and thank GOD I have been an athlete all my life because music requires one to be in good shape.  I go in and out of being in decent shape.  This long ass winter gives way to a few extra pounds, like a bear I am hoping spring will eventually come along and I will shed my un-needed layer.  But I noticed just loading the equipment during this trip took a lot of air. 

We are up at 8000 feet of course, so there is the thinner air.  I was panting at the top of the steps with carrying equipment up 4 sets of stairs.  Also playing fast rocking songs with little air really gets the ol’ thumper going!   I just wonder, at 55…how many years do I have of this?

This is a question I have skimmed over time, in my mind.  How long do I have at this, am I making the most of it?  I am in appreciation always for being able to live from something I love to do. 

Sometimes we lay the ground-work of our lives out and LIFE has a completely different plan.  I find when I let go and “flow” with life’s plan instead of trying to “force” MY plan, life seems more harmonious.  I haven’t had the conventional…anything in my life.  Sometimes that causes misunderstandings, hardship and feelings of loss, but most times I feel very blessed.  Deeply blessed!  To be able to play music and watch people enjoy or be moved by it, this is a wonderful feeling!

Mo and I are going to clip at a slower pace this year.  We always seem to SET this as a goal, but always wind up grinding out by the time the season is over.  Up until this last Nov. the “season” for music really wasn’t over the last 10 years!  It rolled right on through the winter. 

We are trying to find that “work-life” balance for ourselves, individually and as a team.  It is crazy how much preparation it takes to pull off a good performance.  Many hours of practicing and studying that people don’t realize.  Thus, the life and life-style of a musician is 24/7, yet it doesn’t appear this way.  I am fortunate not to have to wake up to an alarm.  This is my idea of success!  Ha ha!  I’ve NEVER liked waking to an alarm!  I respect those who can and do this to put food on their table.  I feel quite spoiled about this indeed, but I also know flip side of our lives too!  There is hardly ever a weekend that is free!  “Everything is a trade,” some obscure song-writer wrote.  LOL!

So….I hope you enjoy the flash drive with 21 songs for your downloading pleasure!!! Yes!  This is the doozey you’ve been waiting for!  A live show at the Sapphire last March of 2022.  We just released this in March of 2023! 

The Sapphire Room flash drive is a recording of Mo and I with Meghan Kelly Watters on percussion and our first concert with the lovely Debbie Sager on backup vocals and percussive accents!  The show was a powerful one and even though the recording is not PERFECT, it’s a very wonderful take on a beautiful evening!  I hope you all enjoy this!

Be well sweet friends.  I hope peace is easy for you all and each breath of life feels like a true gift!

Much love,

Niccole, Mo & Juno

Hello beauties!

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February rolled in quick and left me with a brand-new tattoo on my left fore-arm!  A little “ink” reminds me of my independent journey and journey with others.  Infinity represents our ever-lasting presence of Spirit, now and always.  There is no hurry, there is no rush, there is only right now.  Right now, is where the hummingbird of happiness and Joy sits.  The figure 8 marks where I begin and you end, where you end and I begin.  We can come together yet also be with ourselves in Joy.  Hummingbird has always been my mother’s totem and I would often see these magical energetic little birds in a flash and think of my little Mama!

A back story about this tattoo, I listen to instrumentals mostly.  There is an album on Spotify called “2002 Land of Forever”.  I have been listening to this music for the past 21 years (before Spotify)!  I first heard it in my friend Rhea’s office.  I nick-name my friend Rhea, “the Wizard”.  She has been friends with me since my 20’s.  She has seen me through divorce and disarray, to rising above, to creating my first album and she has been on this path of life with me as a friend, mentor and trusted confidant.

During my darkest hours Rhea has been someone who has never failed to reflect back to me, exactly what I’ve needed to see.  And let me tell you, that is sometimes a HARD truth!  She’s not a “mother figure”, not a “grandmother”, not a “sister”; she’s something, hard to explain…well, she’s my “wizard” friend!  Ha! And, she likes to “needle me”.  She was my acupuncturist from the 90’s until 2020 when she retired from her office in Sandpoint Idaho and then moved to Green Valley AZ.  She is the woman I stayed with for about a month this winter.  She is family.

During my divorce back in 2001, I remember being on her table while she poked me with needles, aiding in my healing always. I heard the first song come on and it always soothed me. I would hear this song JUST when I needed to and my feelings of hardness and being stuck would fade into more love and more light.

Rhea’s presence can do this for me as well, now without the needles…well, she still “needles” me with her words and insights ha ha, but not the pokey pins.  Her eyes typically pierce through any vail I am unaware of and she brings me to some  new awareness.  I don’t get to sit in denial around Rhea and I’m delighted to have that kind of friend illuminate me.  Sometimes hard but true and we enjoy each other’s company indeed!

During my stay in Green Valley AZ, we would talk and then be silent.  We would cook together.  Sit quietly in the Sun.  Meditate.  Drink coffee. Eat chocolate. Contemplate. Color mandalas. And I would play my shuffle and the album would come on and we would both smile.  Remembering how much growth we have seen each other through with this song being the “back track” of our lives.  

Last year when the album popped up on my meditative shuffle, playing the “Summer of 300 Years” from my TV ap, I went into my office and looked at the TV screen to find out what this song I’ve heard for the past 20 years was called.  Well…this hummingbird picture was on the Spotify screen!  I fell in love with it!  I was like, “Wow, that song!  That picture!  What were the odds?”

It was like part of Mom reaching out to me too!  I decided this was going to be my new tattoo someday (soon).  I loved the color, the meaning, the message and I wanted it on my left arm so I could reference it while playing guitar as well.

I absolutely LOVE it and I love the artist who did the ink, Ashly from Old Soul Tattoo.  She is a bad ass and so super sweet!  She has long dreads and a half-shaved head.  She had intricate tattoos everywhere and even one on her head (ouch!). She was a delight and honestly, it didn’t hurt a bit!  I have one other one from 2015 of my dog Osa, and the notation of music to “Life is Beautiful”.  But this hummingbird is the first ever in color!  This “rite of passage” tattoo reminds me to stand in my Joy and in my Power! We are infinitely connected and destiny is our divine right.

The end of February was a “sharpening of our axes” so to speak, to get ready for a SOLD-OUT show in Boise’s quintessential listening venue called, the Sapphire Room.  We haven’t played out together since Nov. 6th and we needed to practice.  I was surprised how most songs came super easily and effortlessly.  For me, I was needing to rehearse to handle all my emotions.

Coming together after this long break was and has been emotional for me.  There have been lots of changes and I relished in EVERY moment of rehearsal with Mo, Meghan and Deb.  I’ve written the songs so, I KNEW them yet, it’s been a while and songs have a way of piercing the heart unexpectedly.  Especially my songs it seems.  At least to me they do that…they do that “thing” and catch me off guard at times running down the corridor of my life they speak to me in such a way as I know the back story.

You can sit with a song that I’ve written and find a truth in it for you.  Maybe something that touches your heart as well. I’ve LIVED these songs.  They all come from a truth and a deeper part of me, and in some ways, they call to me to become better and they give me grace when I’m NOT at my best, like an affirmation.

Well…the show was a HIT and boy was it ever an affirmation!  Playing early this month of March the crowd was truly good and hungry for some music and we were most delighted!  I thank my lucky stars I am able to have this talent and platform.  I have lofty goals of writing more and creating workshops and branching away from our usual to dig deeper and create fabulous and touching musical experiences for fellow listeners!

The latest song, “Between the Bitter and the Sweet”, posted earlier with the lyrics is a testament of growth.  I’ve been digging in the well-spring of my life’s journey. Ever grateful and blessed for every part of it, even the uglies, even the child-hood wounds that can leave me spinning in some moments.  I am daring to put those parts to music as well.  I want NO THING or NO PERSON or NO BELIEF to stop me from creating.  And I’m quite fired up about this!

I hope you can appreciate this song and all it’s rawness.  I had to sing it at least 30 times before I stopped crying, so…it’s a personal one for me indeed!

May you “Spring clean” your own coffers!  May you find the beauty and peace that lies underneath the journey of self-discovery!  May you sing your own song in your heart and may that song sooth your soul.

We appreciate you all so very much! Thanks for taking the time to check in and thank you for being the audience that helps set the “bar” for my creations!!! What gift and blessing!   

Much love to you all!  - Niccole

Between the Bitter & the Sweet

By Niccole Blaze ©

2/2023

I am an old fashion girl

Never knew I would be

Sometimes like my Mama

Years ago

My two little fingers

To measure out her bourbon nice and slow

She liked it on the rocks but sometimes neat

Oh my heart gets lost

Between the Bitter and the Sweet

Late night Johnny Carson

And warm summer nights

Oh it’s alright she never tucked me in

I’d dream about the fire flies with dog by my feet

Oh my heart gets lost

Between the Bitter and the Sweet

I see you now, with a smile as wide as the ocean

Is there a way, how

I can let my weary heart rest in your tide?

Rock in a glass, some bourbon and some bitters

Salty tears now running down your cheeks

Oh my heart gets lost

Between the Bitter and the Sweet (repeat) 

Re-entry from our Sabbaticle!

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Well howdy friends,

January brought Mo, Juno and I back to Boise but not till January mid-month.  I had some wonderful Sun time in Arizona.  I had put about 4500 miles on my car “Silvia” by the time I got home. I was reluctant to go from 70 degrees in sunny Arizona weather to 18 degrees of cold Boise Idaho weather…ugh!

The last of time spent with Rhea was enjoying sunsets and taking Juno to a dog park down in Green Valley where Rhea lives.  Juno made some puppy friends and found a wonderful puddle to “swim” in.  Boy, did she ever need a bath as she was super “ripe” for the ride home.  Phew!

I tried my hand at golf too with my friend Steve.  We did a par 3 course in the area. I have probably played golf maybe 4-5 times in my LIFE.  I am a total novice but can see the allure in it.  I think it’s just a fun thing to do while catching up with friends; a little exercise, something you both strive for and a nice walk.  Kind of like throwing a ball for a dog however, YOU retrieve your own ball and hit it again! Ha!

Anyway, I had beginners’ luck because I damn near shot a hole in one on the 9th hole.  My friend Steve thought it went in the hole (his eyes aren’t the greatest) but it just skimmed the hole and landed about 10 inches away.  So funny and complete beginners’ luck if it had!

I also taught a guitar lesson to a gal name Charlotte, just before leaving, who was “Nashville bound”.  She just turned 26 and has done some writing and is a good singer.  She saw me play at the Coyote Grill and wants to learn guitar.  I enjoyed the lesson and her eagerness to hit the music scene in Nashville, and “make it big”. A nostalgic dream I remember having yet I was completely intimidated by Nashville.  Hell, I still am! LOL!  (Maybe not as much though).

I look back and think when I was 26 years old.  I studied guitar for years but still wrestled with barre chords, rhythm patterns and theory.  I had grand aspirations and dreams also.  What a beautiful journey she was in for. Most of me was excited for her, and the wise side of me whispered, “hold on to your hat girl…keep facing the sun”.  The business of music is like getting on a wild bucking bull.   Stay on as long as you can, don’t get the “horn” and get jaded.  Remember WHY you’re doing it.  Keep your reasons close.  She’s a tiger of a personality so she just might make it big!  She said she felt like she was too old already.  Ha!  I remember feeling that way. I think I was 32 when I started to really take music more seriously (and played out) and I felt like I “missed the mark” and too old as well, yikes!  As if only the young can make it and 32 is old!  What did I know (I was young!)

I reminded her of Leonard Cohen and how at 67 years old he finally got recognized for his song “Halleluiah” so, there is HOPE at any age!  I like working with young people.  Words come out of their mouths and I listen. I laugh inside because it feels just like yesterday, I was in her shoes.  But she is taking herself seriously and going for it! Bravo!  It would be very difficult to be a youngster in this world.  When I was her age, it was around 1993!  So much has changed in the world, right?  CD’s were the big rave!  Record deals and hit songs were the direction of millions and at that time you could MAKE millions! There were no digital downloads.  Houses, rent and college tuition was also within financial reach.  I feel for our youth indeed and I found it refreshing to sit down with her and listen to her dreams and ideas.

I know this much; I like to be useful.  I have been deep in the trenches of self-exploration and discovery, which is so important.  Giving a lesson felt good. Coming home, I have kept up with a similar schedule I had in Arizona with my reading, writing, studying and taking in alone time.

To dig into self is hard but beautiful.  Not everyone is up for the task.  Though I annoy myself with the “no stone left unturned” personality, I feel that my happiness gets the chance to deepen with every tear I shed. It’s the letting go of emotions that clears us, heals us and brings us energy to expand.  I can feel this expansion when I sing now.  My voice and all the energy that goes into singing comes from a deeper place. This feeling is almost shocking and euphoric!

I am now in cold Boise town yet my heart is still warmed by the Arizona Sun!  This was such an invaluable trip and I feel super appreciative Mo and I both took our separate down time, learned a lot and nurtured our souls.

We are redefining everything!  Our music, our journey together, our relationship, our time and our lives.  Inertia can slip itself into our lives so easily.  Making us feel like we are doing the same things over and over again.  And for as much as I resist change (and boy let me tell you, I can be resistant) I know my Spirit needs it.

I hope you all have done well through the winter.  For those of you who are local and have missed the shows, we look forward to playing for you!  I know the Sapphire show will fill us all up!  For ALL of you, I hope you are reaching into yourselves and finding that “spark” that makes you get filled with wonder about this wild ride called life.  What sparks joy?  It can be hard to find in the dark, this I know…but the lightness always comes, even when we think it won’t.  Thank God and thank you for all your support!!!

Much love to you all!

Nicc

Dear Ones!

I am writing you from sunny Arizona!  I am parked just south of Tucson and arrived here in Green Valley about 3 weeks ago!  It’s crazy to think I have been here for 3 weeks!  In some ways it feels like 3 days and other ways 3 months! 

I landed in Ft. Collin’s Colorado on a journey of self-discovery and needing time for clarity.  There are events in my life causing cross-roads and I have been so entrenched with my busy life back in Boise that I really needed a change in pace and environment to give me some clarity & perspective. 

I loved my time in Ft. Collin’s.  I met with good friends and people who became good friends.  I got to play in the Wendy Woo band for a few shows and felt a great honor in doing so.  I plunked around the town and recognized it has a feeling very much like Boise.  Lots of sunshine, music, little boutique stores, night life, majestic Rocky Mtn. scenery.  It was truly a wonderful time.  I thought I would stay for more like a month but when I got there, I realized…it was more of the same, just in a different place. 

My refuge was not in finding the same in a different place, but finding MYSELF where ever I go.  You’ve heard tale of this.  “Where ever you go, there you are.” It’s true.  We take ourselves, our thoughts, ideas, beliefs systems with us.  We create from the well spring of what we vibrate, and I needed to go south.  So I did. 

Despite the amazing shows my friend Dana had lined up for me to join, I politely moved on and traveled with Juno down to Taos, New Mexico.  I met my artist friend Uma and her son and grand-daughter.  Taos is beautiful.  Rugged landscape and cold this time of year! The cold slapped my senses and made me grateful for a still warm beating heart inside my chest. 

Uma’s home is made of straw…yes, you read that correct!  A straw build home with stucco, mud and grass to cover the bails.  I stayed for 4 nights in a room that had the “truth” window.  I thought, “how appropriate is this?!”  You open the door and can see the bails of straw.  It was super cool!  All the windows looked like they boated into a marsh mellow puff. 

I was surrounded and held in Uma’s beautiful artwork, her loving family and clear loving energy.  I’ve learned that I am very adaptable.  I don’t require a lot.  I don’t need a lot and can blend easily with the “vibe” of others.  It takes about a day for me to acclimate, sometimes shorter sometimes longer, but I am pretty resilient and very grateful that I can live quite simply. 

We had wonderful conversations, we painted, made art, did yoga, ate healthy home cooked food and played guitar.  We dreamed dreams together and tried on possibilities with our lives.  It was beautiful.  It was pure moments like this that make me feel so blessed for this time.

I knew I was going to make my way down south of Tucson to visit with my dear friend Rhea, yet in the interim, I yearned for solitude with myself. My thoughts, dreams,  contemplation and breath I craved, took me to Santa Fe.  This creative “art mecca” enriched my senses.   I felt ALIVE, whole, free…full of possibility!  I was surrounded by all this creative energy and this time that I so enjoyed was perfect. 

It was still butt cold but I had managed to get a warm room for Juno and I in close proximity to the main square.  Most everything was in walking distance.   There was quite a wind and at 8 degrees, it felt like 20 below! 

As the wind whipped, I strolled to a Chapel for morning meditation and then over to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum.  All the shops along the way were enticing.  I dipped into a few of them, but what I really wanted to do was go see what the Natives had to sell on their blankets at the square. 

I had such nostalgic moments of my mother and I cruising the little huts in Gallup NM back in 1975!  It was one place my mother and I “grooved” for lack of better word.  I felt like we resonated with turquoise and silver.  She and I would bop around the markets and check out the Native’s wears. 

I went and got Juno. We walked to the square and I looked at all the pretty shiny things on the native rugs.  There were some things that called me, for others and myself.  I had a very fun time and spoke with the artists before they rolled up their carpets and called it a day. 

I then made my way early next morning to Albuquerque to have coffee with my nephew.  He is my sister’s son and one of my favorite people on the planet.  He is wise beyond his years and we had only a 40-minute talk because I had to make tracks.  Green Valley is where Rhea lives and I wanted to be there before dark, which would be near 5:00 and it was supposed to take 7.5 hrs.   I left Santa Fe by 7:45, made it to Tyler’s by 9 and was out a squish before 10 am.  I drove with angel wings at my side…averaging 90 mph!!!  People were PASSING me!  I took it to 95 mph for about an hour!  It was crazy!  An open highway with everyone going 100 mph!  How FUN!!!  Ha!

I made it to Rhea’s a bit BEFORE 5pm.  It felt like coming home.  I have been here before a few times.  I knew I would have a chance to spread out, set up my equipment, meditate, contemplate, read, play, practice, study, do nothing, watch the sun, pet Juno, emote, drink tea, contemplate some more, take naps, rest, rest and more rest.  It’s been WONDERFUL.  I could stay for 3 months easy!

I am fascinated by silence which teaches me so many incredible things about myself.  With silence and no distraction, something I’ve never had for any extent of time, I find my mind will “whisper” these belief systems for me to investigate, question, peel back and disperse.  What a reckoning and what a gift!  It’s been amazing!!!

Having time for myself is a new wonder and I am indeed wanting more of this.  I have been writing and have a couple new songs.  I haven’t decided which one I will post yet.  There is a very cool song I wrote in Santa Fe that is Spiritual in nature and there is a fun little song I wrote while being lost in Dana’s neighborhood.  Ha!  I will most likely send the funny one first! 

I want to thank you all for your patience and grace through this sabbatical of ours too!  Your love and support I have felt through the miles.  You are so appreciated!

Also, I played my first solo gig on Friday! 1/6/23!!! It’s been exactly 2 months since Mo and I played together.  I played a bit in Colorado, but I haven’t played a solo show since I don’t know when!  Wow! And it was 3 hours! And they paid me! And the audience stuck around and put money in the jar!  Whoop whoop!  That felt really fun to do all onmy own!  I loved the sun and the back drop of the mountains!  I feel like I’m “skipping” winter!  Ha ha!!! 

I will turn tail here soon.  I have a date with Bogus Basin ski mountain back home and much rehearsal to do to get ready for the Sapphire Show March 4th.  I look forward to putting my “producer” cap back on, rolling up my sleeves and making some good creative things happen this year. 

2023 will be a year of balance for me.  I will give myself more time to   practice music and silence, do yoga and meditate, be more inward.  I know writing will flow this year, I just have this really cool feeling about it and I’m going to hold on to this, no matter what! 

Thank you all for your patience, kindness and love through these different days.  We will take the helm and steer the “ship” but I’m sailing to calmer, quieter waters, and sun shine, and purple fish!!! We will “walk in Fields of Gold” … love is really all there is. No matter what it’s dressed up as, no matter what label is put on it, and my life will become the very vessel for more of that love to come through! 

Cheers my friends!  Happy New Year!!!

Nicc & Juno

Slam Poetry

Hello Dear Ones,

I am writing to you from sunny Ft. Collin’s Colorado!!! I left last week with musical gear and warm clothes. One of my best friends Kim has joined me for this leg of my journey. She has been a “super trooper” and we have had plenty of talks and walks and reflection.

Our first day took us to Jackson Hole where one of my oldest and dearest friend lives. Robbin Levy lives in a little town called Wilson just as you get over Teton Pass. Kim and I made great time however it was still dark by the time we rolled into Swan Valley. That meant the last hour and a half was in the dark and snow was abound on the pass. I knew I would have the opportunity to get my game face on in “snow drive mode” …ick!

We rolled in to a few feet of snow and unpacked what we needed. I brought my guitar in and we had a wonderful dinner and catch up with Robbin and her husband Chris.

A soft feather bed was waiting for me upstairs and I slept hard! Kim had a downstairs bedroom and slept like a log too! It was so quiet and the snow fell like a beautiful blanket.

The next day was Robbins birthday. We’ve been friends since I was 12 years old! She is my oldest longtime friend and I’ve never celebrated her birthday with her! When we were kids, we met in camp. We both looked like little boys and were a bit ostracized from the other girls BECAUSE we looked like little boys! Ha! We found each other and have been friends ever since. Her big goofy smile made her easy to love and she and I would go fishing and laugh for hours. Teton Valley Ranch Camp at that time was set up 15 miles from Jackson Hole so the Tetons made a perfect backdrop to all of our adventures. Those were beautiful innocent times that I sing about with the song called, “Sweet Wyoming”.

Kim and I stayed through her birthday and watched the snow fall in delight. We also binge watched 1883 and holy cow, lots of tears and feelings from that beautiful film which I found so poetic and eerily mirroring my life in some ways. Having only horses to travel across such a rugged terrain to follow their dreams, I ask myself, “What are my dreams” as I grip the steering wheel and face into the 75 mile hour winds hitting my car between Rock Springs to Rawlings?

These are transitional times for us indeed. Blaze and Kelly have never taken a sabbatical before, so I am striking out in new territory. A bit lost and yet, feeling like I will find a bit MORE of myself IN the lostness. Perhaps I am over hopeful. Perhaps the stories are the same everywhere and where ever I go…there I am…with all of my thinking to follow.

I took comfort in being at my oldest friend’s house to celebrate her beautiful life. All the phases and stages we’ve watched each other through.

Robbin’s husband Chris is an avid hunter and knows inexplicitly how to prepare the game he hunts. Robbin and Chris had a small gathering of close friends that Wednesday night and Chris prepared Coues deer. He told me that these deer are a bit smaller but so tasty because they eat the tops of the sage and dessert flowers. Three words “Oh. My. God!!!” this was the BEST meat I think I ever had in my LIFE!!! Seriously. I was loving it and kind of pigging out! Kim really enjoyed it too and as the night seemed to soften and folks ran out of words to speak to each other, I broke out my guitar. No amp, not wires, no microphone.

I played for Robbin and her friends. Full on deer meat and wonderful cheeses, I pecked the chords to Sweet Wyoming and watch a tear fall from my friend’s face. The “Sun Runs” made its way out along with

many others I haven’t played in quite some time. It felt healing for everyone. They weren’t expecting this at a small gathering on a Wednesday night. I was honored to be there.

Robbin reminded me that SHE was part of my VERY FIRST AUDIENCE back in 1980 when I had NO idea I would ever become a musician! I played the GAMBLER for a skit at camp. I dressed myself up like Kenny Rogers with western wear and a fake cigarette paired with a fake bottle of whiskey. My friend Gwynne played the part of the one asking the Gambler for advice and I was the singer. I’ll never forget it!

No guitars, 12 years old, looking like a boy, New Jersey girl, first year away from parents, friends, thousands of miles from home, 125 other girls and counselors listening… and…they loved it! They were gob smacked! They stood up and clapped, tears came out some of their eyes, and they clapped for what felt like an hour!

It was right then and there; the applause of these new friends filled EVERY aching hole that ever went neglected in my childhood. I felt their love shining back at me! That moment stretches out in time in my mind. This was my first audience and I had forgotten until Robbin reminded me on her birthday. I never understood then, my little 12 year old self made an impact on others…all I knew is that I loved this feeling. I tucked it away and secretly wanted more of that feeling…someday.

This small tiny “whisper” that followed me through all of my jobs in my 20’s, through a marriage, a divorce, the death of myself over and over again and into a birth by playing guitar and writing “Despite the Dents”. It whispered to me through the sage brush, it called me to press my achy fingers to the strings hoping for a clear chord sound. Music gave my life meaning and I was born new when I sang the Gambler that night, and I chased that dream…across my own “frontier”. I have been

shot by the arrows of love indeed. Bitten by the rattle snakes of change. I have endured my own scalping of the mind. I have gone hungry and doubted, I have witnessed beauty in the simple things and have been touched by people’s open hearts. I have made my way to the “Oregon territories” and have gone further than I thought I would.

What’s mine to do…now that I am taking a breath, taking a rest? What is it that this soul needs to find, to shine, to dance with the divine? I’ll know it when I feel it. It will come in a whisper like it has so many times. I’ve tried to be courageous and answer to its call, regardless of the “hobbles” that may have kept me in place. People want to hold you in the light that they see you. They want you to stay in the pasture that they are familiar. And it is only YOU that can undo the hobbles and travel in other pastures and valleys, if you choose. Life is a journey, and I am the song…and so are you!

Enjoy the pictures, and the movie of the slam poetry I did in downtown Ft. Collins. My song-writing friend Dana took us to an open mic poetry night. I had nothing prepared and always wondered if I could go make stuff up..so, in a new town, why not try it. Everyone else aside from Dana and I had notebooks they read from or a phone screen they read from. We completely ad-libbed. It was fun. Got my heart pattering.

poetry 1

poetry 2

I hope your holiday season is a beautiful one! Keep warm and be well. Thanks for being aboard this journey with us, we appreciate you!

Nic, Mo & Juno

Hello Dear Ones

Hello Dear Ones,

I hope this finds you well and warm.  We are starting to go into our winter modes aren’t we?  We had our leaves raked in piles and what does nature do?  Snows on them to see how quickly we can expedite bagging them up!  And ya know, sometimes we are just not ready to “bag” things up no matter what the forces of nature are…so, there they sit with a crisp white “sugar coating” on them waiting for the sun to melt away the “snow caps” from our piles.  Life is like that isn’t it?  We try so desperately to do the right thing, meanwhile, no matter our efforts, the world or life has other plans.  

Many of you already know that Mo and I are taking a break for a while.  We’ve had 20 good years of music, and we intend to redefine ourselves and our journey in music after much contemplation.  We’ve had a lot of soul searching this past year.  We still get so much meaning from creating and performing, so please hear me when I say…our intention is not to end this journey, but to enrich it with more awareness, more learning, more room in our hearts and an even GREATER perspective of authenticity.  

This decision has not come easily for either of us.  There is the thinking logical mind that says, “Hey, this is your lively hood!” there is also the ego that gets to claim its purpose with being “folk-stars” (ha!) But there is something growing even deeper.  The soul is whispering for something that is not quite “tangible”.  There are forces at play and I find myself stepping off the ledge into the unknown.  It’s a scary but exciting place to be.  All of my senses are awakened and I don’t know if I will fly or drown but I am counting on spreading my wings and doing the best I can.  

I will be visiting good friends in Fort Collins Colorado for a bit this winter.  There will be a new music scene to muse with and musical friends to learn from and teach.  I will be taking some healing courses and time to myself.  A much needed break for both Mo and I.  I am hopeful to do an even BETTER job with blogs and VIP entries.  I would like to write, and play and do yoga and meditation too!  I feel super blessed that we GET to take this little sabbatical.  I’ve worked for over 20 years performing and before that as a teacher, so I am very comfortable with “out sourcing” my energy.  I am not so comfortable “sitting with self”, “in-sourcing” giving BACK to myself, but… I am getting better at it! 

Mo and I love each other dearly and we appreciate ALL of you supporting us with your smiles and love.  There will be MORE music, and perhaps better than it was before!  So…no one panic, change is hard and it’s bitter-sweet and I certainly have NOT had my fill of music!  I actually don’t even think I’ve hit my true potential yet and I’m am praying that this journey opens up so many treasures that I get to bring back and share with you all.  So…stay tune!  I hope to bring you all along with me! 

They say that we come here to learn ultimately how to “love ourselves”.  The key to a happy life is loving yourself deeply so that you can then love another.  I have been empathic and super sensitive to others needs and wants my whole life.  It’s been a survival mechanism to some degree.  Taking this time will not take me away from you, it will draw me closer to my art and you will get to know me more completely as I get to know myself more completely.  I am hoping and praying that Mo’s journey will bring her closer to her own self love and she in turn will create something beautiful as well.  The song she is working on is amazing! I feel there will be LOTS that unfolds for both of us and I have my eye on that “prize”!  

In the meantime, check in on this blog and the B&K fan flare page.  We’ll keep you close through social media and feel free to drop an email to us any time.  

The mp3 this month is something new I’ve been embarking upon.  A beautiful Native American Flute I’ve been dreaming of, worked its way into my life and it brings such a peace to my heart.  You will hear my “beginnings” (as I really don’t know quite how to play the thing) as you tune into “Morning Melody”.  And hopefully you get to chuckle at Juno’s version of “morning melody” as she chimes in with her fury and veracious growl/bark at the mail person! 

River trip friends, I hope this takes you back to our mornings on the river.  I played this same flute each morning on the river trip to wake folks from their tents.  Enjoy! 

Keep Facing the Sun during the darker months friends!  And know how deeply loved and appreciated you are! 

Namaste’

Nicc & Mo (and barky Juno!) 

Well hello beautiful friends!

There is so much to tell you…where to begin?  August rolled in and out, so many shows and preparing for the river trip for September made me preoccupied.  Needless to say, my creativity has been limited to my drive by songs, such as, “Whatcha gonna do when your stuck in the sugar shack what cha gonna do???”  LOL!  

We just rolled home from our epic trip down the Main Salmon River with 23 of our very favorite folks!  Holy cow!  It’s hard to put it all in words.  My little “jingle” that I wrote about the “sugar shack” comes from a bee getting stuck in the coffee sugar jar on the trip.  As it was caught in the jar, I sang the line above once and a fellow river rafter Joni sang a beautiful harmony line that matched the phrasing EXACTLY upon the next repeat!  I was super impressed and we sang that little ditty for the next 5 minutes and laughed our asses off.  

If I have only ONE thing to say about the river trip, I would definitely use the word “Laughter”.  I heard laughter on the whole trip!  The people who joined us were all joyful and it was such a gift to hear them laugh and get to know each other.  I was proud that we could bring such a wonderful group together in the name of “music” and celebrate this wonderful journey down the river for the week.  

I have had my own inner struggles and was hoping the river would help take it down current and bring some peace to my over active mind.  It did! As nature ALWAYS does, it set me square in my “center”.  It reminded me of who I am, away from everything, away from home, away from “things I have to do”, and it gave me the knowingness that I really can love myself through some tough life circumstances.   And what a blessing!  I couldn’t always say that when I was younger. 

Being on the river with everyone solidified that I am super proud of the village we’ve created! The opportunity that music has given us is something to always be cherished!   Friendship, how we treat others, how we treat ourselves, what we tolerate and don’t tolerate, boundaries, how we spend our time, WHO we spend our time with, what state of mind we walk with, what we share with others…it’s all so vital.  

The lessons of forgiveness, acceptance, compassion all lead to our growth and take us down our “own river of life”.  We sometimes get caught up in our own “eddie’s”.  Spinning in circles, caught in the inertia of our lives, until we get the lesson and are released to go down river again.  Only to be nearly drowned by the next circumstance only to come out more appreciative for the air we breathe and the life we are living.  The adventure of the rapids and the peace of the lulls carry us through until we eventually are released from our bodies and dump out into the “ocean”.  The river is our lives in so many ways and it keeps rolling along.  How amazing this is!!!  

On another note, this is the second day that I’ve been wearing hearing aides. Like, really GOOD hearing aides!!! Oh. My. God!  This is going to be life changing!  I can already tell.  As I clack the keys on this computer I can hear everything!  It’s pretty surreal!  I can look in people’s eyes now without having to watch their mouths as much.  Mind blowing indeed!!!

My Apple Computer has been getting worked on so I  am not at liberty to post a song or pictures right now, but I will make up for it when the computer is finally fixed.  Meanwhile, enjoy the changing leaves and know, we love you all very much and hope you are well!  

Niccole, Mo & Juno

Angels sing their songs

By Niccole Blaze

Sometimes without warning

A warm feeling comes along

It’s like an angel in your ear

And she sings to you this song

Her song is sweet and pure

And fills your very soul

It radiates a confidence 

Makes you feel in control

Feelings of JOY and GRATITUDE

For every single thing

For the ups, the downs, the turn arounds

And the “ALL” life brings

It’s a song that pierces the heart

And makes you want to cry

It makes your heart take flight

As if you could truly fly

The feeling comes over you 

As if in a dream

It doesn’t happen when you plan it

It happens in between.

In between all the things

You are doing in a day

It sneaks into a moment

And can quickly go away.

So when that moment comes

Do yourself a favor

Angels sing their songs always

It’s up to us to savor!