Letter from
Tracey K.
Feb 9, 2016
Hi Friends,
Wow!! Does time ever fly!! It's been
20 months since I've last posted an update.
The Rockabilly Benefit we put together for Joyce
Mann (Carl Mann's wife) went very well. We raised a lot of money
for her medical bills and we even auctioned off an acoustic guitar
signed by all of the performers. That guitar alone was auctioned
off for $1,000.00!!!
2015 was not the best year. On Dec 30, 2014
my beloved little dog, Miss Kitty, passed away in my arms. She was
12-1/2 years old. She came down with a very aggressive form of cancer
and it took her very quickly. Needless to say I was a total mess
mentally and emotionally.
Several of my friends and acquaintances passed
away in 2015. A total of 18, most of them music biz people.
I spent far too much time attending funerals last year. Out of all those
who passed away, one was a dear friend... Grand Ole Opry Star, Jim Ed
Brown. His cancer returned from supposedly being in remission, and
it took him very quickly, in June. I miss him a great deal.
On a brighter note, in May I took a 12-day holiday
in Western Canada (BC and Alberta). Flew to Seattle, WA from
Nashville, TN, then drove a 2100-mile road trip to visit family on
Vancouver Island, Barriere, Kamloops, Prince George, BC... then drove to
Calgary, Alberta through the beautiful mountain scenery of Jasper
National Park and Banff National Park. I do miss the mountains
very much, and I miss Calgary as well. While on that trip I was
able to finally pick up my Elvis record collection (LPs, 45s, 78s) that
I bought from my mother back in 2013, but wasn't able to get up there
any sooner to bring them to Nashville. They're all home safe and
sound now. :)
A few days after I returned from Canada, on June
1st my pickup truck was rear-ended by a City Bus while I was stopped at
a stop sign waiting to turn left. Having sustained several
injuries I was transported to the hospital via Ambulance. I did
several weeks of Physiotherapy, which helped, but I'll probably never be
back at 100%. It's been over 8 months since the wreck and I still have
ongoing problems because of the injuries. It put a screeching halt to my
swing dancing. Anybody who knows me, knows I was a very active
swing dancer. It killed me not being able to dance, so I basically
stayed home and became a hermit for several months. Only very
recently have I started venturing out again and trying to dance some,
carefully testing out the right shoulder so as not to re-injure. I
have to rebuild my strength and stamina again. I'm slowly working on it.
I had to end up cancelling all my gigs in 2015
except for one in London, England at the O2 Arena on Aug 16, 2015.
I was the opening act (rockabilly) for Gordon Hendricks, a
world-renowned Elvis Tribute Artist. He put on a fantastic
recreation of Elvis' iconic "Aloha From Hawaii" show from 1972 to a
packed house, complete with a 20-piece band backing him. My backup
band was a young rockabilly band called The Runawayz, from England.
They were very talented and did me proud.
In August 2015 the Bear Family 40th Anniversary
Boxed Set edition was released containing TWO of my songs!! One was a
song I wrote in 2011 and recorded (in 2014) especially for the project
and is "Bear" themed. It's a rockabilly trucking song titled
"Smokey Bear. It's a tongue-in-cheek song about the love/hate
relationship of truckers and smokey bears (cops), and it's full of
trucker lingo. (For those who don't know... I used to be an OTR
long-haul truck driver... as in "18-wheeler.") My Dutch friend RJF
Mensies helped me write the lyrics while I was in the Netherlands, right
after I finished up my 2011 European tour.
I'm slowly getting back into the groove and am
starting to book some more gigs for 2016. So far I have a casino gig in
North Dakota in March with three other gals. It's a Queens of
Classic Country tribute show of Loretta, Dolly, Reba, Patsy.
In April I'm playing a rockabilly festival just east of Jackson, MS with
Jimmy Harrell's (of Alton & Jimmy) band backing me. I'll be going back
to England this summer to be one of the headliners on the Americana
International Festival in July, as well as a few more shows there, with
the Salt Creek band backing me. I'm really looking forward to
that.
Today (Feb 9th, 2016) I have a new single being
released to worldwide radio, "How Can I Face Tomorrow" on Hillcrest
Music, a single-release service based out of Canada. The last time I
released a single through them, I landed a #1 Hit on the European CMA
Charts (now defunct).
I think that's enough news for now. I'll try
to make it not nearly as long next time.
Until next time!!
Tracey K
Letter from
Tracey K.
June 26, 2014
Hi Friends,
Here's a quick update....
I've been extremely busy putting together a huge
Rockabilly Benefit Show coming up on Sun, August 3rd (4pm-10pm) at the
Nashville Palace. It's a benefit for the wife of Sun Records
rockabilly legend, Carl "Mona Lisa" Mann. Joyce Mann has been
diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, which involves extensive and expensive
medical treatment, including leading up to a bone marrow transplant.
Several Rockabilly Legends will be appearing. Check out the
Rockabilly Benefit
Show page for more details. It's open to all ages, so bring
the whole family. Tickets are now on sale! For those who
can't attend, please consider making a Donation which will go towards
her medical bills. The Donate link is on that Benefit page as
well.
On another note... appearances coming up...
-
I have an appearance coming
up on the Viva NashVegas radio/tv show with George Hamilton V, on
Sat, July 26th.
-
A couple shows in Memphis
during Elvis week.
-
Working on some new music.
Planning on going back into the studio in August, right after Elvis
week.
-
For the entire month of
November 2014, I will be appearing at the
Memories Theatre in Pigeon Forge, TN, doing my tribute to
Loretta Lynn. There will also be a tribute to Conway Twitty,
Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, along with Elvis and friends.
Be sure to catch the show! Check the calendar page for more
details.
Recently I have also become involved in a side
business as a Vacation Promoter for a VIP Invitation-Only Private Travel
Club. This comes in very handy for me with my extensive traveling
I do relating to my music. If you're interested in how you too can
travel at wholesale prices to 5-star resorts, where you're treated like
royalty, for 2-to 3-star prices, contact me. It's a FUN
thing to be involved in... "Making a Living.... LIVING!"
Until next time!
Tracey K
November 20, 2013
Hi Friends,
I thought I'd stop in here and drop a quick line
for a few little updates.
Tonight I have the honor of being one of the
performers for my dear friend Jerry Foster and Friends 78th Birthday
show at the Commodore Grille, Holiday Inn, West End, Nashville.
For those of you who don't know, Jerry is a hit songwriter who wrote
such hits as "The Easy Part's Over", "The Day The
World Stood Still" (Charley Pride), "39 &
Holding" (Jerry Lee Lewis), "I'll Think Of
Something" (Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams Jr., Mark Chesnutt), and
so many more. Since it's supposed to be a Writer's Night,
I'll be performing a rockabilly trucking song I wrote, with Nathan Belt
accompanying me on guitar. There will be a surprise special guest
also performing who first hit it big when she was just a little girl
back in the 1950s. She will be performing her famous hit, "Rockin'
Around The Christmas Tree."
Other plans are in the works for some other shows
and projects, which will be revealed at a later date.
Until next time,
Tracey K
June 30, 2013
Hi Friends,
Time flies, as usual. I've been taking
somewhat of a break from touring for the last several months (year and a
half), which is why there haven't been many updates on the site.
But I'm pleased to say that I just updated the calendar today, and there
will be more shows to be added soon. Have some pending for later
this year, and already have my first confirmed gig for next year.
In a few days I'll be heading over to England
again for a return engagement at the 33rd Annual Americana International
Festival. This year my supporting band will be The Fret Tones,
from Scotland. Always so wonderful to see all those wonderful
folks across the Big Pond again. I'm sure England was my home in
another life! haha! Except it scares the livin' daylights out of
me how FAST they drive, on the opposite side of the road, in those
multitudes of roundabouts! Those roundabouts going the opposite
way are just so confusing.... it nearly short-circuits my brain because
my natural instinct is to bear right... not bear left. Because of
that, I prefer to ride in the back seat instead of front passenger seat
(the left side)... which is like sitting in the driver's seat in
non-British vehicles, without the steering wheel.
Plans are also in the works for another European
tour for 2014, hopefully with my Nashville band. Once dates are
confirmed, they'll be posted on my Calendar as well as Facebook, Artist
Data/SonicBids and Myspace... yes, Myspace still has a user-friendly
Artist Itinerary.
Until next time,
Tracey K
November 11, 2011
Hi Friends,
Time flies, as usual. First I want to say
that it is with regret I announce the cancellation of the Eastern
Caribbean Rockabilly Cruise slated for Feb 12-19th, due to slow sales.
The economy isn't good enough yet for the rockabilly fans to be able to
afford this extra, so I'm thinking of rescheduling it for possibly next
year, depending on the economy.
Completed my 2-month European tour (July and
August). It was nice to avoid the insanely hot and humid summer
here in Nashville... and it was pretty cold in Europe for the most part
while I was there, although somehow I managed to get a nasty sunburn one
day. Had a blast, met lots of wonderful people. Covered six
countries starting in England, then Germany, Poland, Austria,
Netherlands and Belgium. When I wasn't playing on the stage, I was
travelling around Europe by train. That was an adventure,
especially in Germany trying to read German words on the train display
so I would know which stop to get off and which train to connect to!
Crash course in German. I found it was easier to read it than to
understand it verbally. Also found it was easiest to navigate in
Holland (Netherlands) because there is more English in public places.
The airport has English everywhere! :-) Wrote a rockabilly
trucking song with a friend while in the Netherlands, which will go on a
special project in the future. Been doing some other writing since
I got back home too. In England, I had Chris Casello (lead guitar
- Nashville, Lorne Rall (bass - Nashville), Andy Watson (drums - Wales)
and Pete Hutton (rhythm guitar - England supporting me at the Americana
Int'l Festival in Newark, England, organized by the fabulous Chris & Bev
Jackson, and their family. They are such awesome people!
Once I took the train to Germany the band East of Memphis, based out of
Germany was the support and backup band for the remainder of the tour.
The band included Uwe Pfennig (lead), Olaf Gross (standup bass), and
Kitty Reed (drums) with Rene Voss (Netherlands) filling in for Kitty on
a couple shows. After the first couple of shows I added my friend
Shawn Harvey (who also fronts his own band, The B57's) on rhythm guitar
who also traded off with Uwe on some lead licks. Special thanks go
to Tracey Lawless, Michael & Barbara Kettling, Uwe and Heidi Pfennig, Shawn & Silke
Harvey, Rene & Sylvia Voss, and Sandy Harris for
their gracious hospitality while I stayed in Germany and England. Have been
invited back to the Americana Int'l Festival in 2013.
Working on planning a small Canadian tour for
summer 2012. If you want me to play a show in your area in
Ontario, please send me a venue name, with contact info, and also ask
the venue to contact me as well, so we can make that happen. May
be heading back to Belgium too for a few dates in late summer as well.
As many of you know, I was a long-haul truck
driver (big rig) for several years. Lately I've been doing some
freelance driving again for some various companies. In mid-October
I was included in a video shoot of Lindsay Lawlor, who did a trucking
video for her single "Highway Angel." I'm the lady trucker in the
cool black Peterbilt, with my little dog, wearing my black leather
jacket. I was also on Marcia Campbell's All-Nighter Radio Show
(trucking show) on WSM Radio (650 AM WSM Nashville, TN) on Oct 21st,
2011. We go back to 1999 and we had a BLAST! Featured some
of my music, as well as of a few friends that I wanted to feature their
music (Tony Martin, Richard Mensies, James Intveld). Been doing
some occasional driving for the Beth Moore show (women's motivational
speaker). She's a really sweet lady and beautiful inside and out.
She's always flabbergasted to see me on the tour and "handling that big
rig", she's so funny.
I'm doing a few more shows in the Nashville area,
which is highly unusual! First, on Tues, Nov 29th at The Rutledge
on the Billy Block Show, I have the 9:30pm slot for about 30 minutes, so
if you want to catch me singing in Nashville, now is your chance.
Going to showcase my new album "Rockin' Little Angel." I call it
my "better-late-than-never" CD Release show. :-) I was just way
too busy preparing for the European tour this summer and organizing the
Rockabilly Cruise I didn't have time to plan an earlier CD Release show.
Then on Dec 3rd, I'm scheduled to perform at both Glenn Douglas Tubb's
annual Christmas Show and Cappo's Annual Humane Society Benefit
Christmas Show. Check my Calendar for details.
Ok, that's it for now! Gotta get crackin'
and get back to work!
Until next time,
Tracey K
June 14, 2011
Hi Friends,
Well, another Fan Fair (CMA Music Fest) is behind
us, and back to the grind. Did my annual show at Layla's Bluegrass
Inn on Broadway. Nice crowd. Tried out some new rockabilly
songs on them. I always like it when people get on the dance
floor, we entertainers know the crowd is liking the music then.
Every Fan Fair I have a houseguest (Margie) from
Massachusetts who has stayed with me for the last 10 years or so. She
has been coming to Fan Fair for the last 27 years and has made that
2-day drive (each way) each year!! She's addicted I'd say! LOL
This year my schedule allowed for she and I to actually hang out and do
some things together, which was a nice treat. Shortly after her
arrival on the Sunday, we went out to the Foobar to see Kenny Vaughn and
others. On Monday we went to the Zoo together... that was a first
for me. A couple spiders bit my ankles and I had a couple nasty
wounds. But it was wonderful to see the exotic animals. Took
several pictures, which I will upload later to my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/tkhoustonmusic).
Wander on over there if you would and "Like" it. On Tues evening
we went to a private party with a jam session, those are always good.
Then to Robert's Western World later that night to hear Harry Fontana
and the Tennessee Tone Boys play their fun rockabilly show, as they do
every Tues night.
Attended the R.O.P.E. Show on Wed featuring some
great duets this year, including Jim Ed Brown/Helen Cornelius, Bill
Anderson/Jan Howard, Jack Greene/Jeannie Seeley. Jean Shepard was
supposed to join her son Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jr,. but she had to cancel
due to a health issue. But Hawk Jr. did a great job on his own,
including singing one of his dad's famous songs, "Lonesome 7-7203."
It was a nice little reunion for us too, as I hadn't seen him in
probably around 10 years. Leona Williams, Bobby G. Rice and David
Frizzell also appeared, great as always. Others in the crowd
included Little David Wilkins, Milton Woolridge, Billy Henson, Jerry
Overcast (photographer), Terri and David Church, sat with my "little
brother" Troy Cook, Jr and his wife, Joslynn, and Jeannie C. Riley.
Wonderful to meet her, we had a nice chat. On Thurs I had my
show in the early afternoon, then attended a few other shows/parties
later including Moore & Moore's Fanclub party at the Nashville Palace
and Gene Watson/Rhonda Vincent's party at the Texas Troubadour Theatre
(ET Record Shop). I've been invited to play Moore & Moore's party
next year, on Thurs June 7th. So mark your calendars if you're
coming to Nashville for Fan Fair next year! :-)
On Saturday I braved the insane heat and humidity
to help out my friend and fellow artist, Sage Keffer, with a fan meet &
greet and a fan club lunch. Then hopped over to the Wildhorse
Saloon to catch part of that show (mainly to stay in the coolness),
before I braved the heat again at The Riverfront to see David Lee Murphy
and Billy Ray Cyrus. It had been several years since I saw DLM do
a full concert, with full band, and it had been a few years since I saw
him period, even just doing songwriter things. We had a nice chat,
got a good picture together, he still gives good hugs and he still looks
hot! LOL Didn't get to catch all of Billy Ray's show and didn't
get to chat with him later either. Another time. That night
we went to the Midnight Jamboree with Mel Tillis hosting, he put on a
superb show! Finally fell into bed around 4am.
Sunday was a little slower, as I only attended one
function, the Americana Carnival at Robert's Western World aired live on
WSM Radio with Tony Doolin as host. This month's headliner was
James Intveld. He always puts on a great show and this one was no
exception. Afterward there was a new act on the stage, 8-10pm,
Sarah Gayle Meech. She's a good singer and has a good stage
presence, and sings REAL country music with a very good band she put
together. I couldn't stay for her whole show but I sure plan on
catching her show again before I head out to Europe in three weeks for a
2-month tour.
My UK/European tour starts on July 6th and I'll be
gone until August 29th. Check out the updated calendar on my
website, my Facebook Events page and Myspace for the latest show dates.
And last, but not least... The Rockabilly Cruise!
www.rockabillycruise.com
Hurry to check it out and book now to receive a
$100 discount per person from our regular prices. Prices have gone
up by $200/room but we've locked in prices until July 10th. Call
today to lock in your price with only a $25 deposit per person.
Eastern Caribbean, 7-nights, on Celebrity Cruises. My motto for
them is: "Luxury without the price of luxury" and they liked it.
The website link above has all the details. We've added a couple
more acts and one more is pending. Currently confirmed to appear
are: Rayburn Anthony (50s Sun Records pioneer); Andrej Rudolf
(front man of the Lucky Cupids - Slovenia); Me (insert your own title
here); The Chris Casello Trio, a great band in their own right and
backing up all the artists; Johnny G & The Cash Kings (Johnny Cash
Tribute Band). Check out the cruise webpage to hear some music
from all these artists.
Ok, that's it for now! Gotta get crackin'
and get back to work!
Until next time,
Tracey K
May 13, 2011
Hi Friends,
Today is my sister Melody's
birthday. Happy Birthday Melody! It's also country singer's
Lari White's birthday, they're exactly the same age. And it's also
Johnny Wright's 97th birthday today. He is one-half of the famous
duo Johnny & Jack from the 40s through 60s, and also he is the one
responsible for giving Kitty Wells (his wife) her start in country
music.
Plus it's Friday the 13th.
I just stayed inside and worked all day. With my luck lately it
wouldn't have been a very good day if I had gone anywhere.... with all
those superstitious people out there amongst us and causing accidents!
LOL
As usual, it's been a crazy few
months! I've been doing a bit of truck driving (big rig) lately,
which takes me away from home, plus on the side I'm also doing some Limo
Driving... so if you need any freight hauled somewhere in a
tractor-trailer or you need a Limo driver... or a tour bus driver, give
me a holler! :-)
In July I'll be performing in
the UK for the first time, starting with the highly acclaimed Americana
International Festival in Newark, England from July 7-10th. My
show date is Sat, July 9th from 2-3pm on the Main Stage. I'll have
Chris Casello (Mr. Guitar Extraordinaire) with me, as well as some band
members of James Intveld's backing me on that show. Any of my
friends and fans in England, please come by and see me, say Hi!
Would love to see you! In addition to that, I'm in the process of
trying to book several more dates on a UK/European tour for July &
August, So if you know of any reputable venues I should
contact, give me a shout with the information. :-) Have some show
dates in Germany (with The Lucky Cupids) backing me up, in Zwingenberg
and Ennis. Also some pending dates in Italy and Switzerland.
Another big project I'm
currently working on is organizing a
Valentine's Rockabilly Cruise for Feb 12-19th, 2012.
We'll have 7 glorious nights in the Eastern Caribbean! It's on
Celebrity Cruise Lines, with ports of call in San Juan, Puerto Rico; St.
Thomas, US Virgin Islands; Philipsburg, St. Maarten (my favorite), along
with private concerts, meet & greet session, special giveaways and many
other special perks. We're
hoping to get 50 couples to make it worthwhile to go. It's
not just for couples, there will be plenty of singles on the cruise too.
If you're travelling solo and need a roommate, and wish to room with
another Solo traveller in the group, please contact me directly to be put on a list so
we can assist you in finding a roommate for the Cruise and save yourself
the Single Supplement fee. Make new Rockabilly friends!
For the entertainment, so far
we have confirmed to appear:
1)
Rayburn Anthony - Sun
Records rockabilly pioneer from Jackson, TN;
2)
Andrej Rudolf -
Velvet Voice of The Lucky Cupids from Slovenia, Europe;
3) and me. Some people
call me "the rockabilly princess" and others call me "the rockin' little
angel", so you can take your pick! haha! Other acts are pending
and will be announced just as soon as they are confirmed. Check
out my new website I just created for the
Rockabilly Cruise.
Please join us for the
Rockabilly Cruise, it will be a blast in the sparkling Eastern Caribbean
and the prices are quite reasonable for a 7-night cruise.
There's a special going on right now until June 10 for discounted rates,
and a reduced deposit fee of only $25.00 per person versus the usual
$250.00 per person!!
I will be playing my annual Fan
Fair show again this year at Layla's Bluegrass Inn. Thurs, June
9th, 2011 at 12noon - 1:15pm. This will be the only time I will be
performing during Fan Fair. I will NOT be signing at any booth
this year, the Classic Country Booth that I had been signing at for the
last few years wasn't approved for a booth again this year by the CMA.
They have really altered their criteria to get a booth now. I quit
having my own individual artist booth after 2004 due to the expense and
loads of time it takes.
My plans to attend the school
reunion in B.C. prior to the UK/European tour have been scrapped.
The organizer cancelled it. But that's OK with me because it frees
up my time while preparing for the overseas tour. What a concept,
spending the summer touring in Europe. I'm excited! :-)
Oh yeah, how could I forget!!
My latest album, Rockin' Little Angel, released in January is doing
quite well for radio airplay. Please call your radio station and
request some songs. You can check them out on my Music page on
this site, or even my Facebook page. The songs getting airplay
are: Gotta Lot Of Rhythm In My Soul; Stupid Cupid; Knockin' On The
Backside of Your Heart; Cryin' Over You; Funnel of Love; and the latest
one sent to radio is Just A Little Too Much. Saw that latter song
on a tracking sheet today for the first time! Yeah!
Thank you all who have been coming to the shows and
buying my CDs. It means alot! Hopefully I'll
be doing more shows this year in more places! And please keep
calling and emailing your local radio stations and requesting my music!
Until next time,
Tracey K
February 7, 2011
Well Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to
everyone! Yes, I know I'm a little bit late! :-) Lots of
things been going on for me, and I can't believe that it's already
February!
First, I wanted to announce
that my rockabilly album, "Rockin' Little Angel"
has FINALLY been released to radio a couple weeks ago. We're
getting a few adds to radio stations across the country, including some
Americana Chart Reporters. The current single is "Cryin'
Over You" (with special guest James Intveld doing harmony
vocals), but the Americana stations basically play whatever they want
off the album, or what the listeners may request off the album, so if
you don't mind, please call your local station and request a song from
the album. :-) You can check out some of the songs on the General
Store page. Second, I
wanted to announce that I have recently signed on with a new agent to
exclusively represent my Loretta Lynn tribute, "Hey
Loretta, The Girl From Butcher Holler." Contact Wayne if
you want to book the Hey Loretta show only.
Otherwise, you can still contact me directly for booking my honky tonk
country & rockabilly shows.
Exclusive Representation by:
Wayne Hunnicutt
(813) 610-8180
wayne@wolfmanjack.com
In July we're slated to appear
on the world-renowned Americana Festival in Newark, Nottingham, England
on Saturday, July 9th, 2011 from 2:00-3:00pm. Then afterward we're
heading to Germany and other parts of Europe. If you are
interested in securing a European show booking while I'm there, please
contact me ASAP. I will be appearing with a couple great European
bands, The Lenne Rockers (Germany) and The Lucky Cupids (Slovenia).
Plans are for me to be there through July and into August.
Just prior to heading over to Europe, I'm hoping
to attend a school reunion in British Columbia, in one of my old
hometowns. Looking forward to seeing several of my old classmates
from back then. :-) Was looking to do a small tour of B.C. at that
time, but at this point it doesn't look like it's going to happen.
In March we have a small tour planned in parts of
Texas and New Mexico. Once dates are firmed up, I'll post them on
the Calendar page, as well as my MySpace (link above). In May and
September other plans are in the works to open for a couple big name
country legends. Once the contracts are signed, then I'll post
that information too.
Been having some good shows lately, and meeting lots
of nice folks along the way! Thank you all who have been coming to
the shows and buying my CDs. It means alot! Hopefully I'll
be doing more shows this year in more places!
Until next time,
Tracey K
September 6, 2010
Happy Labour Day weekend everyone! Hope
you're enjoying this beautiful weather. This is my favourite time
of year down here in Nashville because the insane heat and humidity are
gone, they're beautiful days with bearable temperatures and low
humidity. I like it when I can turn off the air conditioner and
leave the windows open for fresh air, in both the house and the truck.
This summer has been hectic for me. After
Fan Fair I took a few days off and went to California, it was nice to
escape the oppressive heat here. Then back to work. Up until
Friday, August 13th, I had a day job as the Office Manager of an
Entertainment Law Firm, but they decided to cease business on July 30th,
and on July 31st the two remaining attorneys moved their individual
offices out. I had the deplorable task of "closing up shop"
getting rid of office furniture and equipment of two full floors worth
of office space, plus preparing tons of files for archiving (that's a
full time job in itself), plus handling all the administration duties
for closing a business. I put in over 120 hours in those two
weeks, packing up and doing a bunch of heavy lifting of boxes and
furniture. Thank goodness THAT is behind me! I was exhausted
for a week after that! For now I'm handling a few residual admin
duties for the firm from home, but that will be coming to an end very
soon.
This week in Nashville is the
Americana Music Association
Conference & Festival. I was hoping to attend the conference, but
that's not happening this year, but I will be attending the nightly
shows. If you've never heard of the AMA Festival and love real
country, rockabilly and roots music, you really need to check it out.
There are over 100 different artists doing shows over 4 nights at
several different venues throughout Nashville. Wristband passes
for the 4-nights of shows cost $50. These are just the
AMA-sanctioned shows, not even including the many different shows going
on throughout town at all the other clubs. I'm looking forward to
seeing Dale Watson, Wanda Jackson, Jason D. Williams, Charlie Louvin,
Raul Malo, Susan Cowsill, Shawn Camp, Tony Joe White, Fairfield Four,
and many others. I didn't get a showcase slot this year, so I'm
not performing (unless I'm called for a last-minute fill-in slot), so
I'll be enjoying attending the shows. For the lovers of roots
music, the AMA Festival is even better than Fan Fair (now known as CMA
Festival), because it sticks to roots-type music, not modern day
country-pop stuff. Plus the cost is much less expensive and the
shows are in more intimate settings allowing the fans to get up close,
and meet the artists as well in a more casual setting.
Until next time,
Tracey K
June 15, 2010
Yikes! I can't believe it's been since
September since I made my last update. This is crazy. Ok,
updates... in October I went into the studio to start recording my new
rockabilly album. The session players were killer! Singing
with them in the studio created such a great energy in the room giving
me more confidence and made me sing better than I expected! :-)
Chris Casello on lead guitar and lap steel, Rodger Morris on piano,
Steve Holland on drums, Joe Spivey on rhythm guitar and fiddle, Dave Roe
on upright bass, John Heinrich on saxophone. Backup vocalists
Darrell O'Donnell and Jennifer O'Brien (backup vocalist for Dolly
Parton). Special guest artists include Marti Brom and James
Intveld. James also played piano on one song. Teri Joyce
(writer of Blue Tattoo) joined Marti and me in the studio and hung out
with us. I recorded the album at Bayou Studios in
Nashville, Tennessee in the big room, the analog studio with 2-inch
tape. It was great! Such a warm sound. I produced the
album with George Clinton as Associate Producer lending me a hand, and
Jesse Poe as Engineer. We recorded, overdubbed, mixed... did everything
on the analog tape, and then once it was all done we dumped it to
digital only to put it to CD. This way we didn't lose any of that
warmth in any part of the recording and mixing process.
After some delays I finally have the finished product in my hand and it
is now available. The album is called "Rockin'
Little Angel." I should have it up on the site in a few
days. It will be available through CDBaby, the usual online
outlets (Amazon.com, iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.) shortly, plus directly
through me if you want it signed. There are 14 songs on it, and
the cost is $15.00. I need to update my General Store page, don't
I? I have a bunch of different pictures and other stuff available.
I went out to Southern
California for the first time over the Christmas Holidays and New
Year's. Did my rockabilly photoshoot out there the day after
Christmas, the weather was much warmer there for an outdoor shoot than
here in Nashville, where it was very cold! (Below freezing.)
Tim Hunter was the photographer, and his team mate Heaven was the
hair/makeup lady. They both did a fabulous job! That night
after the photoshoot, some friends and I headed over to Joe's Great Bar
in Burbank to catch James Intveld's show. It was great. He
shocked me though and got me up to sing with him, that had never
happened before so I was very nervous, I wasn't prepared mentally to get
up onstage and sing. Yes, I have to prepare myself mentally and
psych myself up in order to get on that stage without being shy and
nervous. Went out to
Los Angeles again in May and played the Rockabilly Showdown with The
Lone Gunmen, the rockabilly band I use on the West Coast. Check
them out! Other acts on the lineup included the Jackpot Club and
The Palaminos. I absolutely fell in love with The Palaminos'
music! They're not rockabilly but they're sure great honky tonk
music! Check them out on Myspace.
Just finished with Fan Fair 2010 last week.
Appeared on the Reunion of Professional Entertainers (R.O.P.E.) show on
Wed, June 9th. Other artists appearing included Crystal Gayle,
Lorrie Morgan, Leona Williams, W.S. Holland Band, Little David Wilkins,
David Frizzell, David Church, Tugboat Jerry, Jesse Lee Jones, John
Conlee... who am I missing? Oh yeah, me with my special guest
James Intveld. That reminds me, here's a nice review that Marty
Martel (President of ROPE) wrote, that was truly humbling and
overwhelming:
“When we first started
to put the show together I received an email from a young lady who I
have known for several years. I knew she was a great singer, but
never had the opportunity to really watch her perform until last
night. Keith Bilbrey knew her also, and when she was introduced she
came onstage in a beautiful outfit of Red and Silver and
rhinestones. She hit the stage and took the audience in the palm of
her hand and they loved her and her great performance. Instead of
only doing her music, she had invited recording artist James Intveld
to sing on her part of the show. To say that we were being treated
by two great artists would be the understatement of the evening.
James performed one song, but he is super, and together Tracey and
James made it worth waiting for them to be on the show. Tracey
should have been on a major record label a long time ago. She is
country and she takes pride in her music. Go to her website, get her
music and do the same for James. What a great shot in the arm they
were for our show, and if you want to know the meaning of being
professional, then it will start with Tracey K. Houston and James
Intveld.”
Then on Friday, June 11th I did
a Fan Fair show at Layla's Bluegrass Inn in the afternoon. The
place was packed. The Chris Casello Trio backed me up as I
featured songs from my brand new rockabilly album and my latest country
album (Just The Way I Am). They were
awesome, as usual. Check them out!
I've just been running insanely busy, taking care
of all this stuff, recording a new album, getting it ready for release,
trying to get show bookings, etc., so I'm going to take a little break
for a few days (what's that???) heading out to California and get away
from this insane heat in Nashville for a few days.
Until next time,
Tracey K
September 4, 2009
As usual, it's been super crazy busy and I haven't
updated this News page in a timely fashion. I like being busy, but
I don't like it this chaotic! I hope my schedule eases up a
little. The Canadian
tour in June/July 2009 with my tour-mate James Intveld went very well.
We had shows in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, and played
to some packed houses. It was very nice being back "home" and
seeing lots of my family members.
The benefit show in Nashville on April 1st for Ernie
Ashworth & Ray Griff went off without a hitch and we raised lots of
money for both of the beneficiaries. Except, unfortunately on
March 2nd, Ernie Ashworth passed away unexpectedly, so his share of the
proceeds went to Ernie's Estate. Several artists appeared: Crystal
Gayle, Jesse McReynolds, Jim Ed Brown (we did a duet), Troy Cook Jr (we
duetted too), Stu Phillips, Jack Greene, Lonzo & Oscar, James Intveld,
Stonewall Jackson, and David Ball. April 1st was also Jim Ed
Brown's 75th birthday! He's still singing great!
Since I returned from the tour, I've been fairly
busy with working with a rockabilly great, Carl Mann, and we've been
doing some shows together. I played on the main stage at the
International Rockabilly Festival in Jackson TN in August with Carl,
then on subsequent weekends I've been doing some shows with him too.
I'm trying to play "catch up" now that I'm back
home from tour and not having to deal with tour preparations, so I'm
only doing a few shows here and there the rest of this year.
However, I'm working on some dates in Europe for next year.
Hopefully that will pan out.
Somehow or another I have to
squeeze in the time to have a photo shoot done and start work on my new
album project. This one is going to be a rockabilly project, and
I'll have a surprise special guest doing a couple duets with me.
I'm VERY excited about that!! :-)
Until next time,
Tracey K
Feb 19, 2009
Well... I sure have been super busy since I
last posted a letter. Let me fill you in a little on what I've
been doing!
1) Booking a Canadian summer
tour. Tour stops include Shellbrook, Sask, Drayton Valley,
Alberta, and Calgary, Alberta;
James Intveld is my
tour mate. Check out his music, it's really great!
2) Organizing a fundraiser Benefit/tribute show
for Ray Griff (recovering
from throat cancer) in Calgary, Alberta, Tues, June 30th, 2009 at the
Stetson Saloon. Several Canadian artists are confirmed to appear,
including Monika with a "K", Gene Gebo, Blaine McKenzie, Mary Resek,
Toni Lynne, Doug Jones, Peter Pshyk, Shane Chisholm, plus three
headliners from Nashville, myself, James Intveld and Grand Ole Opry
Star, George Hamilton
IV; 3) Putting
together a dual Benefit show for Grand Ole Opry Star, Ernie Ashworth,
and Ray Griff here in Nashville. Ernie lost his wife to cancer in
Nov 2007 after a long battle with cancer, and he recently had triple
bypass surgery. (Added: Mar 4, 2009: We just lost Ernie on March
2, 2009 due to a heart attack. He will be missed! The show
is still proceeding.) Confirmed to appear are: Crystal Gayle, George
Hamilton IV, Jim Ed Brown, Stonewall Jackson, Stu Phillips, Jesse
McReynolds, James Intveld and David Ball. That's being held here
in Nashville on Wed, April 1st, 2009 at The Texas Troubadour Theatre (Ernest
Tubb Record Shop) on Music Valley Drive;
4) Putting together a new production called "Icons
In Concert" which has many of the finest tribute acts and professional
impersonators in the world. Check out the
Icons In Concert
myspace for details. See my Calendar page for details.
Hope to see you at some of the shows!
Until next time...
Tracey K
Dec 8, 2008
Today marks a sad day in history. On
this day in 1982 we lost Marty Robbins. I'll never forget that.
I always loved Marty's music, but never got to meet him. I'll
never forget when I heard the news that he passed away after his bypass
surgery.... I cried. His hit on the charts around that time was
"Some Mem'ries Just Won't Die"... boy, isn't that the truth?
Also on this day in 1980 the world lost John Lennon.
Several things going on with my music. As of
Nov 24, 2008 my new album, Just The Way I Am, was in the "Top 5 Most
Added" on the Americana Music charts here in Nashville. At the
time of this writing it hasn't made it to the Top 40 on the chart yet,
but with any luck and requests and nice Music Directors, hopefully I'll
get lots of airplay! :-) The current single is "Just The Way I Am"
although some Americana stations, Public Radio and Triple A stations
play whatever they want off the album.... kinda sorta like what DJ's did
in the old days. So start calling your radio stations to request
whatever song you like off the album! :-) The new single reached
#12 in September in Europe. Yeah! Thank you DJ's and listeners.
:-)
I'm working with a couple business partners in a
new music venture, which will also involve booking other artists into
shows. I believe we'll be starting out doing some shows in Ohio in
the Spring. I'll keep you posted on that more as things evolve.
I was recently contacted by the manager of a
Conway Twitty tribute artist, Dave Parsons, asking if I'd be interested
in joining forces and combining our respective Conway and Loretta
tribute shows. After much discussion we decided to put a show
together, so we're working on bookings for that show right now.
The show is called, "Hey Loretta, Hello Darlin'" and we should start
touring with that in the Spring. It's more of a Legends-type show
instead of my usual "Hey Loretta, The Girl From Butcher Holler" tribute
show, which is a story & song format. If you want to see this show
brought to your area, contact me.
I've had a few changes in my
band since I last posted. I bid Manda Lou farewell and encouraged
her to spread her wings with her own band and brand of music. She
had her first two gigs on Thurs & Fri, Dec 4th & 5th, 2008. Nice
to see the young 'uns spreading their wings. :-) My drummer, Keely,
has basically quit the longer road gigs to go back to school, so I wish
him luck with that, but it still means me having to find another
drummer.
I'm in the process of going
through rockabilly songs for my next album project I'll be starting on
next year. I used to sing rockabilly and country when I lived in
Calgary, but since I moved to Nashville 13 years ago, I mainly focused
on country, so I need to get my chops up on rockabilly again before I go
into the studio for this project, which is why I added a rockabilly
element to my regular show. Now I do country and rockabilly. :-)
Going to Canada next summer to
do some gigs. So far we have a couple shows in Shellbrook, SK
confirmed for the Shellbrook 100 Year Homecoming which runs from June 27
through July 1st. Our show dates are Fri & Sat, June 26 & 27th.
Other acts include Canadians Leah Durelle, Brian Sklar (& The Tex
Pistols), me, and another act to be announced. So now I'm working
on booking some other dates in other western Canadian cities while we're
up there. :-)
There are other things in the
works right now, which will be announced at a later date.
That's all I can think of for
now!
Until next time....
Tracey K
Aug 1, 2008
Well, I've been a busy little bee
trying to get everything done!
In mid-July my brand new album,
"Just the Way I
Am" became available.
I haven't "officially" released it yet (ie., had a CD release party)
because I've been busy working on the behind-the-scenes stuff that has
kept me busy. I'm hoping to get that put up on my Music page soon.
But in the meantime you can go to
CDBaby and listen to
clips there, as well as purchase it. We are working on some gig
dates, so if you want us to come to your area, please
contact us and we will do our best to accommodate you.
I have just put a brand new band
together, still doing the classic/traditional country, but I've also
added a rockabilly element to it.
We present classic country
from the 50s/60s, fresh traditional country music, and rockabilly music
from the 50s. I've asked
Harry Fontana to join the band and lend his rockabilly talents to the
group. He is a bundle of energy on stage and he wears me out just
watching him! I can't help but dance when I hear his music.
If you can sit still watching him perform, you must be deaf or dead !
LOL Both Tracey
K. and Harry have recorded albums, and their own music is performed as
well. We are available for "non-smoking" venues, including clubs,
cabarets, casinos, theatres, house parties, etc.
If you would like to hire the band
for a private party or other venue, please feel free to contact us.
I'm still doing my "Hey Loretta"
tribute show, but that's suitable for theatres, cabarets, casinos, etc.
Let me introduce my new band
members to you:
BAND MEMBERS:
Tracey K. Houston - vocals
Harry Fontana -
guitar/vocals
Chris Casello - guitar/steel
Scott Icenogle - Upright
Bass
Keely Lane - Drums
Manda Lou - Keyboard/Sax
If you are on Myspace, please add me
as a friend,
www.myspace.com/traceykhouston or by clicking
HERE, and add a
blurb in the friend request that you found me on Myspace through my
website. :-)
Also, I'm just about to start a
promotional campaign for my first single I'm going to release off my new
album, and I need your help on that. Please visit my Myspace page
and click on the "Listener Poll" blog to view the choices for singles.
Then listen to the FIVE songs from the new album that are posted, and
post a BLOG comment as to what your choice is. This will help me a
great deal in deciding which songs the fans prefer and getting your
opinion heard!! :-)
In early July I made a special trip
up to Calgary, Alberta to spend time with my "Uncle" Ray Griff, who has
throat cancer, as I reported in my last letter. I'm happy to
report that he's been showing some progress. He has completed his
radiation treatments and it's been a very rough road with excruciating
pain for him. The feeding tube has been removed, he is finally
starting to speak a bit (he had lost his voice), but he still cannot eat
solid food yet. He still needs your prayers for his continued
recovery, as he's getting better, but he's still not well. A
benefit/fundraiser show in Calgary is in the works, of which I will be a
part of, date TBA.
I guess that's it for now!
Until next time,
Tracey K
June 13, 2008
Fan Fair (CMA Music Fest) is behind us now for
another year, whew! Had a great time, although I wore myself out
completely. Did a couple shows during the week, plus two days of
signing at the Classic Country Fan Fair booth. And.... I actually
took time out to have fun and not be the Artist, so I attended some
shows of other artists. On the Thurs after my afternoon show, I
went to the Moore & Moore fanclub party with my buddy Rollie Stevens.
Rollie performed on my afternoon show, and since he works with Lynn
Anderson he wanted me to go to the Moore & Moore party since Lynn was
supposed to be there and he wanted me to meet her. We cut out of
the Moore & Moore party a little early and headed to the ROPE (Reunion
of Professional Entertainers) Show, where Stonewall Jackson, Jim Glaser,
Roni Stoneman and others were playing. I hadn't seen Stonewall in
a long time so I wanted to see him again. After that we cut out
and headed back downtown to Robert's on Broadway. A friend of
mine, David Tanner, and his band were playing that night. He
invited me up to sing a few songs, which I did.... some Merle Haggard
and Tammy Wynette songs. It was fun jamming. Friday night I
went to the show of James Intveld at The Basement. Now let me tell
you something.... if you want to be entertained, this guy will do it!
Awesome talent! Great voice, great choice of songs, great writer,
very versatile. He does his own style of old country sounding
songs and also rockabilly. All around a very nice guy.
Saturday afternoon I took the day off from being an Artist and melted in
the hot sun enjoying the entertainment at the Chevy Plaza.... Michael
Peterson, Deborah Allen, Jedd Hughes, Trent Summar and James Intveld
again. Sunday afternoon I was back in Artist mode and signing at
the Fan Fair booth, along with Rollie Stevens, Todd Sullivan, and James
Intveld. We all had fun meeting and visiting with the fans and
each other. Mel Tillis' booth was right next to ours so we had a
nice little chat and I had a good picture taken with him.
I plan on putting some pictures
up on this website soon, but until I get them up here, please check out
my Myspace page for LOTS of pictures!
www.myspace.com/traceykhouston
Now I'm trying to play "catch up" now that Fan Fair
is over. Working on getting some more bookings for the summer.
I'm wanting to get back up to Calgary, Alberta (one of my old hometowns)
and see my dear friend, "Uncle" Ray Griff, who is not in the best of
health right now. Hoping to get up there this summer with or
without a show booking.
I've finished recording my latest album, "Just The
Way I Am", we're just mixing and mastering it right now, and working on
the graphics. It's VERY country... classic country... and
bluegrass. :-) It should be ready for shipping by the end of
this month. It is available for pre-sales. $14 USD including
shipping. Just mail a USD money order or check to me and I'll send
it out as soon as I get the CD from the pressing plant. If you
wish to pay via credit card, you may pay via PayPal.
May 30, 2008
Well, it's that time of year again!!! Fan
Fair (now known as the CMA Music Fest) is upon us!! I've been a really
busy time of year for me, with preparing for finishing recording my new
album, preparing for Fan Fair, getting the band all organized, doing all
the pre-production stuff for the album, including the behind the scenes
stuff of what pics to choose for the graphics, the theme, etc., etc.
The recording of the final songs for the album
went really well this past weekend (Memorial Day weekend). We are
currently mixing and mastering it, and working on the graphics.
Hopefully it'll be ready to ship by mid-June, or July 1st at the latest.
I'm really busy this coming week for Fan Fair.
Have a couple shows I'm doing, plus signing at the Classic Country Fan
Fair booth (booth #800) a couple days. Shows: Tues, June 3rd, 8pm,
Texas Troubadour Theatre (Ernest Tubb Record Shop), Music Valley Drive,
Nashville, TN; Thurs, June 5th, 2-4pm; Layla's Bluegrass Inn, 418
Broadway, Nashville TN (next to Roberts). See my calendar for more
information. Booth signings: Fri, June 6th, 1:30-3:30pm, with my
friends Rollie Stevens and Lonzo & Oscar; Sun, June 8th, 12:00pm until
whenever, with Rollie Stevens (he does a mean Marty Robbins tribute).
Every day and evening this coming week is booked solid. Wow, I can
just imagining how I'll be collapsing with exhaustion by next Sunday
night! LOL ======
Please look
around Tracey K.'s web site...
learn what she is currently doing... read her bio... listen
to sound clips... view photos... sign her guestbook... join her internet fan
club... shop for her merchandise.
We hope
that you enjoy
your visit and will return here frequently.
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