Donna Beasley: Blog

I am handling my mother's business as she has been diagnosed with cancer and is back living in a nursing home. Dealing with doctors, insurance, nursing homes, Medicaid, etc. Exhausting. Trying to finish writing for this third record we're looking at making but not in too creative a space right now. And run too ragged to gig very much, although we did have a FANTASTIC gig at the Family Wash recently! So, thus is life for Donna Beasley right now. I am also looking at the possibility of sinus surgery and dental work. I may be out of commission for a little while. Thanks for checking in. I hope I have something, ANYTHING, more exciting & positive to report in the not-too-distant future.
Sometimes life is not sexy.

Another funeral - Tom's dad - the second immediate family member for us in less than a year. I sang "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art" under stained glass as Tom made beautiful music on the Martin. I seem to be writing a record partly based on life and death and aging themes. But I'd just as soon not have such fodder for songs. I'd rather just read about it in a book.

Holy moly! I'm not sure how this has happened but I have 8 1/2 songs written for my next record! If I recall, it tends to happen this way every time. I always think "I'll NEVER write enough good songs to make another record." And at some point I look up and there they are...like shining little diamonds in the stream. Re: the half song, I have a verse and a chorus but I'm not sure I'm going to finish it. It may just need to set the mood for the song it will lead into.
Whenever I get bogged down with the business end of music and suffering the beat down that Nashville tends to administer, I forget why I even do this in the first place. Why put out another record? What's the point? THEN I write new songs. And we start getting production ideas about those songs and start day dreaming about whose going to play on this one or sing on that one. My confidence starts to build when I think I've created something good and I want people to HEAR WHAT WE HAVE MADE! Then I think, "Oh yeah, I remember [...]

Sorry to hear of the passing of Mark Wehner. Elizabeth Cook and Chelle Rose convinced him to book me on Americana Tonight when I was a fresh, new little baby in town. It was the BIGGEST thing I had ever done!! I will always be grateful for that opportunity and his invaluable advice, which I follow to this day: "Always surround yourself with great players." RIP, Mark. I've no doubt you are surrounded by good players.

I was fortunate enough to see Alison Krauss & Union Station at the Ryman last night, courtesy of their Tech. A perfect marriage of band and venue, this was one of the best shows...if not THE best show...I've ever seen. For artists/musicians/singers in the audience, it was a master class. Put on any of their superbly made records and, if you see them live, this is pretty much what you will hear.
Despite mastery of their instruments (Alison's primary one being her voice), they did not rely solely upon their ability to make beautiful sounds. They kept it fluid throughout the night, with various band members coming on and off stage, instrumental solos as well as full band instrumental numbers, swapping out lead vocal duties between AK, Dan Tyminski, and Ron Block. The set list included new songs from "Paper Airplane" as well as old favorites including a couple of abbreviated versions of songs from the "O Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack and one song from "Raising Sand," AK's multi-Grammy [...]