TattooYogaMommy

It is 3 a.m. on my birthday and I just finished crying through “Milk.” OK, I know I’m late in watching that movie, but I don’t have too much time for movies, please forgive me!

It just got me thinking… my biggest wish for my birthday this year is to help mankind move towards life without ego, therefore moving closer to God (however each individual defines this) by recognizing that our differences are truly a gift from the universe. Only through our differences can we truly see the divine manifest itself here in our earth plane. Not only through the acceptance of our differences mind you, but also the love and respect we need to have for them.

I am so blessed to be able to work full-time as a musician now and I plan to dedicate my musical journey to raising the energies of our souls by singing, performing and composing with and through the Light. (My way of defining God.) I truly believe that music can lift us, break down our self-imposed barriers, unite us and bring hope and love to us all. To help accomplish this will be my lifetime goal through music.

Not only do I want to selfishly do this (I want to live in a more beautiful world!), I also must do this for my daughter. I cannot tolerate for her most amazing soul to be living in a world that does not recognize what is kind, what is fair, and most importantly, what is nice.

I am encouraged to see the world sloughing off the old ways of thinking and ushering in the new cycle of hope, love and kindness. I see the changes in everyone around me and am very encouraged. I believe 2012 is just the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next, which will be about letting go of negativity and embracing love. Work is still needed to bring about this change, however; my birthday promise to myself is to live the change I want to see. I challenge you to do the same!

I wish you all peace this holiday season and I look forward to continuing my journey with you all in the New Year.

much love,
sahffi

Kudos to you if you get the Dr. Seuss reference, first of all.

Secondly, just wanted to give you a heads up of all the December happenings that I will be attending around Baltimore.  I know my shows this month are out of town, but there are plenty of opportunity to bump into me this month if you’re so inclined… plus, there are lots of fun opportunities to support local music!

Tuesday, December 1^st, 8 pm
Sarah Bowman at Cyclops

The first week in December, in fact the first day, one of my favorite musicians graces Cyclops, Sarah Bowman. Sarah lived in Baltimore about 8 years ago, she and I had many of the same gigs and became fast music friends. One summer day she decided she would leave teaching, sell her belongings and move to New York City. I so admire her determination and it sure has paid off for her and her sister in their duo,  The Bowmans. Hope you’ll join me to support her solo venture back into town.

Thursday, December 3rd, 8 pm
Open Mic at Peace and a Cup of Joe

Marc Evans hosts this WIDE open mic every Thursday and conjurs up some of the best vibes in Baltimore… whether you play classical, jazz, rock or folk or even do poetry, spoken word or slam, everyone is welcome on Marc’s stage.  And oh, did I mention the house band is amazing?  Marc, Kevin Johnson on guitar and Chuck the Madd Ox on vocal percussion… and they’ll play with you!  Seriously!!

Friday, December 4^th, 7 pm
Open Mic at The Wagon Shed

I know this is also out of town, so technically not a Baltimore thing, but this open mic at The Wagon Shed should not be missed! I have been encouraged to go for the better part of the year and finally my guitar teacher Kate Maguire is convincing me to go… hey, one of the smartest things I learned a long time ago is to always listen to good advice from my teachers! It’s only about an hour away, so if you’re interested in a Friday-night road trip to hear great music, come on up. Hey, call me, maybe we can even carpool!

PS- Don’t forget my gig on Sunday, December 6^th at the Frederick Coffee Company!

Wednesday, December 9^th, 8 pm
The IndieBookMan Radio Show

This event is great , you don’t even have to get out of your comfy pj’s for it! The IndieBookMan Radio show on Umbrella Radio is a great local radio show featuring Brad Grochowski (aka Mr. Sahffi) and his interesting take on all things regarding indie books. Lots of news on the indie publishing world and always interesting interviews with local authors. This week’s program is called “The Hustle,” and will talk to local authors about how they are able to get their books out there and selling… I think it also will translate well to any artist, so take a listen!

Thursday, December 10^th, 8 pm
ellen cherry’s CD Release Party at Micho’s

I’ve known ellen cherry for many years now and have been so inspired and impressed with her transition and success into full-time musician and superhero. Oh, crap, I shouldn’t have told you that part… Well, anyway, I’m looking forward to her big celebration to celebrate her new album, “(New) Years.” Only $20 at the door, come support local music!

Friday, December 11^th, 8:00 pm
Open Mic at The Parkside

I just recently discovered this great restaurant on Harford Road… and then I quickly learned my good friend Bill Patrick ran an open mic there! A Friday open mic is a good thing to do when you’re not gigging, so come on out!

Saturday, December 19^th, 7 & 10 pm
Trixie Little’s 5^th Annual Holiday Spectac-U-Thon at The Creative Alliance

Not only will I be attending this awesomeness that goes hand-in-hand with it being Christmas-time, I am very excited to be playing in a horn trio in the show with my sister and bass player! (I bet you didn’t know we ALL play French horn, did you?!) Tickets are $18 ($16 for CA members) and if you’ve seen Trixie before, you know you need to see her again, and again, and again, and again…

PS- Don’t forget about my gig at The New Deal Café on Sunday, December 20^th with mOsno.

Then it’s the holidays and my birthday, always a fun time of year for me. I wish you all peace and blessings to you and yours this holiday season!

Much love,

sahffi

At the end of October, I will no longer be working my day job on a daily basis. Which means I get to spend more time working on my music… and more time worried about money.

I’m trying not to worry too much; after all, I do have a lot of support around me and I really feel like life is meeting me half way in my dream of pursuing my music career. I also have the biggest and most important reason I’m doing this and why I won’t lose focus… my family.

When my daughter was born 5 ½ years ago (time flies!), I really was in a “baby blues” funk. Most of my funk was depression from having just spent a year getting my first album out, having it arrive on my doorstep, starting to coordinate the CD release party, and, what’s this? Why am I sick everyday now? Great. Got knocked up. (Luckily by the guy I was already engaged to, anyway!)

Of course we were happy with our surprise, but I had a really rough pregnancy, which didn’t lend itself to making me feel better about the whole leaving-music-for-a-while thing. Added to that, I went back to work when Neema was 5 weeks old and I was working 10 – 11 hour days, Monday – Friday. Talk about exhaustion.

At the time, I really didn’t want to be doing what I was doing… Office Manager for a dental office? How did I get here… this is not my beautiful house! However, looking back at it, I see it was all for a reason… the dental office has now been most supportive of me while I have transitioned back into music these past few years and although I’m leaving a bit earlier than anticipated, I have nothing but love and gratitude for the office and the staff.

But let me back up about 4 years ago…. it was right before the holidays in 2005, and I had not picked up my guitar in almost 2 years. Neema was turning 2 in a few months. One day I woke up and just asked myself, what am I waiting for? I realized I felt a big responsibility to my daughter; I wanted her to grow up knowing you truly can be anything you put your mind to; if I always had the unfulfilled dream of living as a musician, she would grow up in that disappointment. Not good enough for my daughter!

So really, it was my daughter who pushed me to get going again. I set up a gig, got my band together (oh, yes, I do things the hard way sometimes), wrote more songs and got out my second album, “Turning Tides” last year. Now I’m working on two albums and leaving my day job to focus on music… wow!

If I got back into music for my daughter, then I’m getting to stay in it because of my husband. I cannot thank the universe enough for giving me such a patient, kind, loving and caring guy. He really believes in me and has changed career paths to help us have enough money to survive my feet-first jump into the uncharted waters of my music career. I also give him a lot of credit; I’ve known plenty of musician friends that have to deal with anger or jealousy at home (who wants their partner to leave every night, come home at 2 pm, leave for a tour, etc.?), but he has never shown that to me. He knows music makes me happy and that makes him happy, period. Good guy!

There are many other people also helping me make this happen; my friends and family have been incredibly supportive. My mom especially is always willing to watch my daughter when I have a show, rehearsal, writing session, etc. It’s wonderful to have that support.

The other very important piece of the puzzle is my band and all the wonderful musicians around me. My sister, Shelly, and my good friend, Sean, especially, have stuck with me through the past four years and continue to show up for gigs whether they get paid or not. We have now a comfortable unspoken vibe and when I bring in new songs it’s like they have already heard them.

I have to give a shout-out to my first drummer, Zach, who let us use his basement for practices and again never expected much back except good vibes. My current hand-drum player, mOsno, is such a sweet guy and is a really talented singer/songwriter himself; we’ve done well playing shows together and I hope to do more of that as his new album, “The Ungenre,” comes out early next year.

I’m also meeting so many new and wonderful people in this music world and I’m sure I will continue to do so. I’m focusing on the “one day at a time” mantra and really feeling the line from one of my songs, “New Orleans Woman”: “Dig your heels into the earth and open up your wings.”

Thank you for helping me on my journey- yes, YOU reading this now, because you are a huge part of it. Give as much energy as you can to your favorite local musicians, artists, actors, etc… we really do thrive on your support!

Here we go… I’m ready to fly!

Some of you may know that I work at a dental office part-time in downtown Baltimore. I have been working at Dr. G’s office for 4 out of the last 6 years, and have been working with him on and off for most of the other 2. Dr. G is a great dentist (he was named “Best Dentist” by the City Paper this year, woot!), but insurance companies have stomped all over his business model and have made it very difficult for him to practice. Luckily he refuses to let the insurance companies win or dictate his care, so I can keep my job and my conscience intact.

I never meant to get into the healthcare industry… just like I never meant to become a music therapist, bus driver, prison librarian, or any other number of random careers I have tried out during the day over my lifetime to supplement my music addiction.

However, now that I’m in there, this whole healthcare reform debate is really confusing me. I again find myself running away screaming from an industry that is completely mismanaged and misunderstood by the public.

When I was a music therapist, I worked with mentally handicapped adults who absolutely loved their time in music class. I found the job to be incredibly rewarding and equally difficult, especially watching the organization I worked for struggle for funding to keep the quality of care at the level they were striving to meet. When a gentleman who was brain-damaged from a car accident became a part of the community, things became clear to me that they were quickly losing the battle.

The prison system is another system where the public is completely misinformed. I was a substitute librarian for two years for the City Prison, Women’s Prison and Medium and Maximum State Prisons in Jessup. I was absolutely astonished at the amount of corruption I saw and heard about in the prisons. Drugs were rampant, gangs ran the show (even the guards), and at least monthly an inmate was killed. Yes, killed! But you probably haven’t heard about any of the killings, have you? I remember the media only reported on the one where the guy got killed on the bus… but I had a clerk stabbed, a patron killed, and heard many more stories of this guy getting beat to death, that guy getting stabbed with a pen in the throat… unbelievable.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there were good people in these industries, just like Dr. G is a great healthcare worker in a time of healthcare crisis.

But to many people, criminals can rot in prison for all they care. (They fail to realize most of the inmates absolutely will return to their communities, but that’s a different story for another time.) Also, mentally handicapped people and their struggles as they get older is not a “cool” topic right now… the hip thing to talk about these days is autistic kids. (Which is of course important, but just a small tip of a larger and grander conversation.)

However, healthcare affects us all. And what do we do? We accept it.

Not only do we accept it, we fight for it! We argue, “The government is trying to take over our lives!” We scream from the rooftops that WE WANT CHOICES!

Are you kidding me?

Maybe it’s because I work in the healthcare field everyday, but let me tell you… there is VERY LITTLE choice for you.

Even if you are one of the lucky ones to have good insurance, you probably get it through your employer. The only choice there is that you get what the employer can afford for you… where is your choice in picking your plan? Oh, yeah, right, you usually can pick between a ‘high option’ and a ‘low option’. Hm.

Then, the only choice that you have (after you accept the insurance that is spoon fed to you), is picking your doctor, right? Wrong! You have to find a doctor that not only accepts your insurance, but is “in network” with your insurance and who is taking new patients.

Let’s say you’re one of the luckiest ones who has the greatest insurance, got to choose the doctor they wanted, and got an appointment next week. Great. Let’s hope you don’t get sick.

Because now, the INSURANCE COMPANY gets to make the choices. Did you ever see the small print at the bottom of your Explanation of Benefit forms? (Do you even pay attention to them?!) It will ALWAYS say, “Benefits are not a guarantee of payment.” THINK about that! Benefits are not a guarantee of payment?? WHY NOT?

Because the insurance company can do whatever the hell they want to, that’s why not. Just because you have worked for the same company for 30 years and

paid your premium for your entire life, does not mean that the insurance company will pay for your chemotherapy when you turn 55.

And let’s not even talk about when you lose your job at 56 because of your illness, then lose your health insurance, then you can’t get health insurance because of a pre-existing condition.

WAKE UP, AMERICA! Capitalism works because of GREED. Do you really want someone to be greedy when it comes to your health?!

My best hope for it all is that President Obama can get at least ONE thing passed. Just one! It can even be the no brainer that takes away the insurance company’s right to deny insurance because of pre-existing conditions. At least it will be a first step to ensure that one day healthcare will be a RIGHT for all Americans, not just the most wealthy.

I welcome all comments on this subject, and if you’d like to talk with me personally about what I witness every day, please email me at sahffi@sahffi.com.

Peace and health to you all.

It was a long time ago when I decided music was what I needed to do with my life. It took me a while to figure out how in music I would live, and this year I am finally starting to get a clear picture of what I that will be.

As some of you may know, I started out in the classical world, playing French horn. I decided I wanted to be a horn player, sitting in the back of an orchestra, when I was in 9^th grade. However, I should have had a clue that particular direction for me in music was not quite going to fit when I played the Mozart Horn Concerto with the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra as a senior in high school… I remember having the sense of immediate addiction to the spotlight and audience clapping. (Don’t get too much of that at the back of the orchestra!)

I did go to college and grad school still with the intention of playing horn… until a master class at Julliard shredded any hope of me continuing to pursue the false dream. (Harsh!)

I then pursued teaching the horn (too few students to make a living), classroom music teaching (too many students to stay sane), and music therapy (actually rewarding but too heart-wrenching).

During my stint as a music therapist I picked up the guitar, and after about three years of playing the thing, I wrote my first song. BLING! That was it! Singer/Songwriter! I was 24, and although I had spent the last 10 years of my life dedicated to a curly and quirky piece of metal, I decided to join a band. (Made my parents quite happy, let me tell you…)

Now for the past 13 years I have honed a craft that I can say without hesitation that I am proud of (so can my parents!), and I continue to learn from and through the gift. Not only that, I really enjoy singing, performing, writing and creating. That’s what makes it really worthwhile… the horn was always a chore to me.

Now, if only I could get paid doing it?

This year I decided I would take stock of what I liked best about music; singing and songwriting; and start expanding on those elements. I am now collaborating with some fantastic and diverse musicians and just starting to get my feet wet as a ‘singer-for-hire’ in the studio world.

I am ultimately trying to make my living as a musician… playing gigs, selling CDs, selling rights to songs, singing for hire, along those lines. Making money is something I used to be able to do in the classical world (they get paid much better!), and something I know I can do as I expand into my musical enjoyment.

As with anything in life, when you’re starting something new, it’s scary and a bit overwhelming. Of course, none of this could happen without the amazing support of my husband. I was able to go to part-time in my day job last year, and I’m hoping to let it go completely next year, and just do what I love for work. Wouldn’t that be a trip?

I’ll be honest, there are times when I think to myself, “Seriously? You think you can do this?” Well, in those moments, I just have to think back… “YES!”

It helps to find some great quotes, too, like these:

You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.

– Jimmy Carter

Your past is not your potential. In any hour you can choose to liberate the future.

– Marilyn Ferguson

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.

– Leo Buscaglia

So, here I am, trying to juggle a family, a new career and a part-time yet challenging job while trying to stay creative and sane. Wish me luck!

- sahffi

I love my daughter
So very much
But the havoc that she wreaked
Has left my vessel cracked and worn

Luckily I have a loving husband
Who loves my shape more now than ever
Of course if he didn’t
He’d be known as a brute and a boar

We have a happy life
On our happy street in Baltimore
Although we do enjoy once a year
To leave behind the drudgery and chore

This year was no different
We left gleefully to the mountains
Excited for the hiking, swimming and fun
That awaited us on the lake shore

The drive was long
But we didn’t mind
The week was going to be longer
We would endure the bore

Only a few days into our journey
Just a few short days of glory
Mama leaned over in the shower
And felt the snap in her core

How painful!  How cruel!
The reminder of that birth day
Why does it keep coming to bite her?
This is not what she bargained for.

But here it was and there was nothing left to do
Grab a good book on the couch
And if she needed to go to the loo
You’d see her crawling on the floor

Her family continued with their plans
Of course she wouldn’t wish anything less
Climbing their favorite mountain,
Fishing, swimming and so much more

Poor Mama, stuck on the couch
At least with some good meds
This year’s vacation was ruined for her
But she really had all she ever asked for.

Wonderful family.
Beautiful mountain air.
Lots of rest and reading.
And strong meds galore!

☺ sahffi

I want everyone to be extremely careful when walking his or her pets in Patterson Park, or any park in the city for that matter.  Even when your dogs are on leash, an attack may happen, like it did to us tonight.

My family was walking with our dog, Star, on her leash, to the duck pond.  We were crossing the footbridge to get to the other side of the pond to feed the ducks.  We passed the part of the bridge where the bench is and everything seemed peaceful… one kid was fishing, a couple of people were standing talking, and another little girl was sitting on the bench with her dad and their two dogs, one pit bull and one little dog.

As we passed, the dogs seemed friendly and interested in sniffing our friendly dog and the owner gave us no warning about his pit bull.   We had no warning; in a split second, the pit bull lunged at my dog and grabbed her neck with her mouth.  She did not let go for several minutes and I was afraid she was going to kill her.

Luckily, no one was hurt, and Star survived.  She is having a drain placed next to a deep puncture wound and will be in a cone for several days, but her spirits are still high and she’s as friendly as ever, licking the vets and wagging her tail as I left her for surgery.

The weirdest part was while the dogs were locked in this position, several other people with their pit bulls started standing around watching.  No one was helping us; my husband had our dog, and the other owner was holding his dog, and I had the little dog and the kids on the bench; but all the other guys were just standing around watching.

It was surreal; my husband was asking for help and no one stepped in.  Now I wouldn’t expect just anyone to just rush in and try to help when two dogs are fighting, but I should think big guys with dogs of their own should at least be able to ask a man asking for help, “How can I help you?”  It seems common courtesy and human nature to help, doesn’t it??

Finally after 2 or 3 minutes (which seemed like an eternity), the pit bull let go and we were able to get our dog away from the area.  The owner said to me, “You shouldn’t have let your dog get near my dog,” to which I replied, “I didn’t know your dog was going to attack!  You should have warned us!”  He of course said nothing.   I was so amazed at the uncaring nature of everyone around me, I was truthfully just furious.

Because we had our 5-year-old daughter with us any many people were gathering around with their pit bulls, we decided to leave.  Our dog was also very injured, and although I really wanted to file a police report right then and have this man held responsible for our vet bill (which will be over $600), I just felt unsafe in that moment.  (I am filing a police report now, waiting for the officer to arrive as I write this.)

If that wasn’t enough, as we were leaving the bridge, more pit bulls and owners were coming onto the bridge.  I basically freaked out and told them to go back to the other side, as I didn’t want my dog to attack out of fear or anything happen to my daughter.  Unbelievably, they didn’t turn around and in fact made it extremely difficult for us to cross the bridge by not moving to one side.  It was very frightening.

I have a feeling that this was some kind of training or exercise for this dog, and perhaps an evening out for dog fighters includes a trip to the park.  I have seen other postings on the Patterson Park Yahoo Groups Listserve where dogs are getting attacked and the owner just stands there and watches.

We are a peaceful family that loves the city and does not judge anyone by what kind of dog they have or what they look like.  However, after this incident tonight, if I see a pit bull in the park I will definitely be going the other way.

Please be careful when walking your pets and when passing other dogs.  I am definitely going to be asking people I don’t know from now on if their dog is friendly, which of course is what we should be doing anyway.

I love Patterson Park and I refuse to give up on my neighborhood due to the small population of people who have lost their way.   I’m sending prayers to them tonight and also to their dogs!

Peace, love and blessings,
sahffi

Star

This month Zach, our drummer for 3 ½ years, let us know he will be leaving the band to pursue the great adventures of Daddy-hood and his other music project, Magnet South.  (http://www.myspace.com/magnetsouth)

Although I was ready for his announcement (he has been writing some great tunes with Magnet South and I was aware of his wife’s growing belly for several months), I was not ready for how sad it made me.

When Neema was almost two, I decided I needed a band.  I booked our first show before I found one.  I trusted the universe to help me; after all, it always has come through for me before.

I first called my sister, Shelly.  She & I had been singing on and off for many years, and plus, she is one of my best friends, so really her immediate ‘yes’ was a given… unless she wanted a wet willie from her big sister.

Next I called up my friend Sean.  I actually went to Peaboy with Sean and we were horn players together back in the day… his band had recently broken up (Great Mutant Skywheel), which was too bad, because they were awesome, but I thought I had a shot of getting him involved with my band.  He’s also a great engineer and recorded my first album, and I had sights on doing another album with him.  Luckily, he had an enthusiastic ‘yes’ for me as well.

Lastly, I needed a drummer.  I knew I wanted a very versatile drummer, someone with a jazz background, but who also could rock out when needed; the only problem was I knew no one with that skill set.

I work in a dental office, now part-time but at the time full-time, so I met a lot of people throughout the day.  One of our hygienists also plays bass in a band (you know him, you love him, Regan!) and always talks about music to his patients. Luckily I overheard him talking to this one new patient about music and… lo and behold… drums!  So I excitedly asked this new patient, ‘Are you a drummer??’

The new patient kind of looked surprised and said yes.  I then rushed to get my first CD for him and explained my situation.  I could tell he was not ready for this; he just wanted to get his teeth cleaned!  But he was polite and told me that he was new to town, his wife worked in the building, he has Delta Dental… well, let me tell you, I was NOT going to let this opportunity pass; I know the universe’s ways when I see them!

The next day, his wife dropped by his demo CD, and that was that!  I had found my versatile drummer, and we started rehearsing right away… I think we had three rehearsals before our first show.

For the next three years we rehearsed in Zach’s basement, played shows, did photo shoots and recorded my second album, “Turning Tides.”  Zach has become a new member of the family and although he’s 10 years my junior and always was up against the ‘inside’ jokes of family and people who’ve known each other for decades, he was never intimidated and kept right up with our jabs.

He’s been a great support, collaborator, and a fantastic musician to work with.  I wish him the best in the future and look forward to seeing where his music and life takes him.

Now, universe, what do you have in store for me next?

Zach with his wife and new baby

I have been asked a lot lately about my name, “sahffi.”  I think partly because I’m meeting a lot of new people and partly because I’m meeting a lot of people from my past.

People from my past know me Carrie Work, the French horn player.  I’m meeting a lot of these people recently as I approach my 20-year (gulp!) high school reunion.   It is really neat reconnecting with these old friends through the help of technology that we couldn’t even dream of 20 years ago.  It’s also teaching me a lot about the person I was back then and how surprisingly that young woman was not so far away from who I am today.  (In a good way!)

About 10 years ago, after being a classical musician for all my life and then playing in cover bands for about 4 years, I decided to “go solo” and be an all-original musician.  I had an intense need to try and get out all of the music I started hearing in the wind, in my dreams, in my mind.  The horn no longer was satisfying my musical desires and I let it fall away.  It was a tough transition in my life, but I felt like this music inside of me was bigger than me and was not originating from me; I still don’t feel like it’s mine.  I therefore wanted a name that would better represent this person I found myself in; a vessel for music that needed to come out, no longer just a vessel for playing other people’s music.

I was, and still am, very much into yoga, past lives, the magic of crystals, and all of that new-agey stuff, and really wanted a name derived from the Hindu or Buddhist tradition.  After searching on the internet (it was around by then, but still unaffordable to me at the time; I was sitting at a computer at the Baltimore County Library in Towson!), I found two Hindu names I liked, one meaning “awake” and one meaning “light.”  Somehow it came to me to combine the names together and create the name “sahffi,” which I interpreted to mean “awakening to the light.”

I really liked the sound and meaning of the name and immediately took to it.  I took a moment to search different spellings (back then it was all about Yahoo!) and found this particular spelling to be available.  I unfortunately do not remember the original names, so it doesn’t make a very good interview answer… I just now usually tell people the meaning of the name and leave it at that.  If they ask what language it is, I’ll say “soul language.”  Usually gets me a few weird looks, but hey, I’m used to it.

Since I am very humbled by this music and want no ego to be involved, “sahffi” is lowercase.   Whenever I see the name in uppercase it makes me very uncomfortable; although I am sahffi, sahffi lives in me.   Carrie is the name my parents gave me, and sahffi is the name that was given to me by somewhere else… God, angels, spirit guides, or whatever you want to call it… I don’t presume to know the answers, I just know it’s there.

Funny thing is, I feel comfortable answering to either name.  I am blessed now to be answering to a third name; Mommy.  All of my names fit me just fine.  And who knows?  Maybe in another 20 years I’ll have a few more.

- sahffi/Carrie/Mommy

I am sooooo excited about our first show in New York this weekend!!

One of my goals when moving back to Baltimore was to use B-more as a home base and tour up and down the east coast to jump start my music career.  My first album came out and… I got pregnant.  Bad timing for music, but good timing for Neema!

Now that Neema is older and my second album is out, I’m trying again to make my plan work!  I’m excited to go to NYC with my sister this weekend and play our first show in the Big Apple.

If you are in New York or know someone who lives there, I hope you can make it out and/or share info on our show…  THANKS!

Googie’s Lounge

Saturday, April 11, 7:30 p.m.
154 Ludlow St. (between Stanton and Rivington)
New York, NY 10002

http://www.livingroomny.com/googies.html

Hope to see you there!