Dear Sweet Friends: It’s been so long since I wrote you all.  My life continues to be a journey of deepening and opening, not always comfortable, but always waking me up a little more. I hope you enjoy reading this whole darn thing Thank you! I Love You!

I’ve just returned from an incredible wilderness retreat in the deserts of eastern Utah. I have always wanted to go to that area, so when my dear friend Chery suggested that we do just that, I heard YES!  One of the special things about this trip was that it would be led by Chery’s dear friend Junius who is an expert in that area and in the ancient Rock Art of the indigenous people who lived there 6-8000 years ago.

Even though I had a feeling that the trip would be great, I was completely unprepared for the impact the landscape would have on me. Junius’s knowledge of the place allowed us the opportunity to be the only people at most places we went. He led us in such a way that we felt like we were discovering everything for the first time.  In this way the land drew me in to it’s secrets, opened me up and emptied me out completely.  My mind became quiet and allowed insights to flood in that are otherwise lost in the torrent of city noise and stimulation.

I had some amazing experiences, some that would take a long time to tell.  I had ancient ones speak to me, I had the land itself speak to me.  I had inspiration fill me so deeply that I literally overflowed.  I felt the insignificance of my life in relationship to a desert landscape that was carved from a 65 million year-old ocean.  Simultaneously I felt the complete import of every thought and action I take as they ripple out energetically into the world.  In the quiet of the place these ripples were obvious, not subtle at all. They made me walk carefully, slow down, breathe in and exhale with more clarity.

In the face of these experiences, it is impossible to hold on to much.  I found myself letting go at a deeper level than I have known before. Ideas of who I am, where I came from, what I am doing, why I am here, shoulds, coulds, would haves, all melted away into the sandstone.  It became hard to speak at times.

During the trip I was given a clear message about my music — what it is, why I am playing it and what it is for in the world.  I have never thought of myself as a healer (and still don’t), yet it was clear in this mandate that my music is a healing.  I sing about the messy journey of the heart.  It is often hard to speak about our personal heart journeys and so we often hold our inner experiences to ourselves.  In Utah I heard that in singing about things that are hard to encompass in spoken words I will be helping all of us.  It is a fact that when we sing, a different part of our brain is active, than when we speak and it’s the same when we are listening to some one singing.  There are things which can be heard and understood in a song that can’t be heard or understood in speech.  When I sing about the heart’s journey I encourage that part in all of us that wants to wake up, doesn’t have a clue how to do it and is often scared to death at having to feel all of the feelings related to the loss of identity and disorientation that occurs along the way.

I had a beautiful opportunity to play a “Messy Journey of the Heart”  House Concerts in Albuquerque and found that people were deeply moved and left feeling connected to their own hearts, to one anther and to me.It was an awe-inspiring experience.  I want to create more opportunities for people to come together with their messy hearts!

Soon I am going to be sending a request for you to host a “Messy Journey of the Heart” House Concert for your friends and family.  I hope you will consider taking me up on this request.  It is really easy to do and will bring your community closer to one another.  If you don’t know what a House Concert is, no worries — it’s really just a gathering where the focus is music.  I’ll play for you right in your living room.

If you are already interested in hosting a “Messy Journey of the Heart” House Concert right now, just hit reply

I am sending you a breath of fresh desert air.  Air that was once an ocean.

I Love You.

Halelupe

SONGWRITING IS CRAZY BUSINESS (business?  Doesn’t that usually mean for profit? BUT I LOVE IT ANYWAY! Does that make me crazy?)

I have a little bottle on my desk labeled “Song Juice”. I take a bit of that tincture everyday and it works(!); I have started a lot of songs lately. Now I need another bottle called “Song Finishing Juice”. Does anyone have that? Please let me know and I will send you my address and a check. I would pay almost anything for that secret medicine .

TODAY’S FREEBIE

During the final days of recording The Heart of Things, as music production goes, I had to make the difficult decision to not include one song. For me, this track stands alone and did not quite fit into the album’s theme. Today, I want to give you this as one way of expressing my appreciation for your love and support. I enjoy singing Middle of the Earth with all of you at my concerts, so why not give you a copy? There are two ways to download it:

•  Go to Reverb Nation and become a fan, then download it as a fan exclusive track (click the little down arrow): HTTP://WWW.REVERBNATION.COM/HALELUPE

•  Follow this link where you can play and download it without a login:HTTP://WWW.BOX.NET/SHARED/FQG5HR2Z5Q

Enjoy the track and feel free to share with your friends too. Please let me know what you think of it on my FACEBOOK FAN PAGE by writing on my wall or commenting. Thanks!

Love to you,

Lupé

WWW.HALELUPE.COM

Hey there,

Life has been moving at such a rapid pace since my return from New Mexico and Kerrville that I’ve hardly had a chance to sit down and share what’s been going on. There’s definitely news.

Since I Returned from the Southwest…
A few of us (Eric McEuen, Paul Edward Sanchez, the wonderful Marianne and I) headed out to Astoria and played at the Red Hare – cool venue, beautiful people! I had the chance to explore a bit and met “Moishe” (an Astoria icon) at the Blue Scorcher — a place with awesome gluten free delights (pastries I can eat!). My sympathies go out to Scott Docherty, the owner of the Red Hare, who lost his father this month.

I moved! I’m sure you know what a momentous experience that is. It feels like I’ve been dismantling old ways of being after living in the same house for almost 20 (count ‘em, 20) years (big breath in and out). The Great Leap has me now in the lee of Rocky Butte where I hear birds singing at daybreak, and can ride my bike up and up (abs burner) for a view of Mt Hood to the east.

This new home gives me a space to reflect more on change, one of the hardest things for us all to embrace, but sometimes the only path. The universe is teaching me that as I take a step it will be there to catch me. The trick is to take the leap first! Luckily, being a songwriter, I get to use all of this as grist for the song mill and it’s been working. I have been writing a lot of music. Stay tuned.

I embarked upon this musical journey to connect with myself and I have found that many of you are moved in such a way by my music that you’ve jumped on the self journey bandwagon too, and are finding your own ways to reflect and change. I am honored to have your support and participation as we fumble through this life together. Keep listening!

I’ll see you out there soon, and please say hello.

Lupé
www.halelupe.com

PS. I’m on Facebook now. Come be a fan.

Taking a tour break near the Sangre di Cristo Mountains

New Mexico Concert and Radio Tour

First I went to Albuquerque, NM where I played a truly magical house concert at the Source, a Healing Center, alternative living community, and performance venue. I performed with Eric McEuen and Pax, an amazing percussionist. Daniel Boling, another incredible singer/songwriter ran sound for us and played a few songs. I met Daniel at a gig we shared at Airplay Café last winter. The cross-pollination between Albuquerque continues as there were some friends of Kate Mann’s at the concert who will be in Portland in June.

From Albuquerque, Eric and I headed to Sante Fe for an on-air radio interview at KBAC where we received a warm welcome and played a sweet show. Up in Taos, we interviewed at KTAO, a solar-powered radio station.

The Taos experience began with a stop at a great lunch place in a tiny town called Embudo, where you can literally wade in the Rio Grande while you wait for your food. It was beautiful and delicious! We played that night at The Old Blinking Light, to a great audience, thanks to KTAO and some good friends who came in from Angel Fire. When we arrived at the venue there was no sound system (PA), but the desk person at our wild hotel, the Abominable Snow Mansion, graciously sought one out for us. An outfit called The Mandala Project (themandalaproject.ning.com) delivered the PA to the Old Blinking Light, set it up for us, ran a sound check and then returned after the gig to take it down and cart it away. The whole thing seemed like more magic to us.

Being a KerrVirgin at the Kerrville Folk Festival

For those of you who don’t know, the Kerrville Folk Festival is one of the longest running Folk Festivals in the U.S. I had the pleasure of being a KerrVirgin (a newcomer) under the watchful and caring eye of Christopher Yarrow (Peter Yarrow’s son — Peter Yarrow is one of the founding fathers of the festival) and Matt and Nancy Meighan. They were so sweet, making sure I didn’t get too overwhelmed, introducing me to the most amazing musicians and taking me to the Medina River to cool off in the heat.

The highlight of the festival for me was sitting in a round of songwriters at Brian QTN’s fire circle up at Crow’s Nest. It was a complete honor and pleasure to be so warmly welcomed into a circle of such talented and fine singer-songwriters and musicians from around the entire country. We literally played until the sun came up. I found my tribe!

I could go on and on about the quality of music that is happening at the Kerrville Folk Festival, but mostly you just have to go if you want o experience it. Next year I will go for longer!

I hope you are all enjoying your late spring and we’ll see you out there,

-Lupé

A few weeks have passed since the Lola’s Room CD release show for my new album The Heart of Things and the joy of that experience still resonates within me. It was a pleasure and affirmation to have such an appreciative audience of nearly 250(!). THANK YOU! Playing with the “One Night Stand Band”, Tim Ellis, Arthur Parker, Rob Stroup and Jean Pierre Garau was a complete joy; singing with the angelic Jocela Mae was, as usual, sublime; and Eric Park was fantastic on the beautiful accordion given him by the late, great Dave Carter. Ever since the release, I have dreamt of putting together a permanent, and as talented, band – which I am now pursuing.

I recently returned from an incredible experience in Santa Cruz where I performed for a women’s retreat. Many women I met want to help me on my journey. I sold out of CDs there and came home with orders for many more and invitations to do Halélupé House Concerts in Northern & Southern Califormia.  The universe just keeps bringing me more than I could have imagined myself.

I look forward to seeing you at the shows coming up in Portland, Albuquerque and Tacoma.  See you out there.

HaléLupé

JOIN US at the release celebration and performance of HaléLupé’s latest album  “The Heart of Things”, at Lola’s Room in Portland, OR on March 28th, 2009.  For tickets, click here.
 

HaléLupé’s latest album, “The Heart of Things”, was skillfully produced by leading Portland producer Rob Stroup of 8-Ball Studios. Stroup has taken HaléLupé’s songs and woven a rich complex sound that swoons, swings and rocks. With an outstanding cast of musicians from the cream of Portland’s music scene, including the talented musicianship of Tim Ellis (lead guitar), Jean Pierre Garau (keyboards), Arthur Parker & Matt Voth (bass), Drew Shoals (drums), Ezra Holbrook (drums), Gretchen Mitchell (backup vocals), Chris Robley (guitar and accordion) and Rob Stroup (back up vocals and percussion), this album rocks!
Sharing the release will be Paula Sinclair, who is releasing her album “Steady Girl” and opening act Sara Hensel.

HaléLupé plays inspired contemporary folk that speaks to the heart of things. With songwriting influences like Patty Larkin, Shawn Colvin, Jonatha Brooke and Bob Dylan, and with vocal influences like Eva Cassidy, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Nicks & Aretha Franklin, HaléLupé’s music is filled with lyrics, rhythms & melodies that draw from deep musical roots.

A finalist for the 2008 Portland Songwriters Association Performing Artist of the Year, her original music is known for engaging melodies, hooks and grooves that command the listener’s attention. With her lyrics, Halelupe takes listeners into the quiet places of the heart and the joy of rocking out and singing together.