It is so: released today online

My new album, It is so, is available online today. You can find it here or here.

The San Francisco album release show is on Friday, September 23rd at the Community Music Center in the mission. All the details can be found here. If you're in the bay area, I hope you can make it.

This album is a tribute to the life and spirit of my mother, Karen Imparato Cotton, who passed away in 2009. It is also a tribute to all lives that have been taken too soon.

My hope is that this album will be of service to those who are grieving a loss of some kind in their own lives. In this spirit of service, It is so is being offered for donation rather than for sale, and half of what is raised will be donated to the organization that my mother worked for: The American Bird Conservancy, whose goal is to conserve native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. The "suggested donation" for the album is $12, but please donate whatever amount you feel most comfortable with.

I am deeply grateful for the generosity of all of the people who funded this project via Kickstarter, whose names are listed in my previous posting.

If you hear the album, and you have any thoughts or reflections to share, I'd love to hear, so please be in touch.

Thank you donors!

Because of your generosity, we were able to make a 9 song album that we are very proud of, and go on tour in the east where we raised over $300 for The American Bird Conservancy, and over $200 for the New England Anti-Vivisection Society! Also, because of you, I will be donating 40 hours of my time to walking dogs at Family Dog Rescue, and singing for patients at the UCSF Medical Center. Thank you:

Maria Imparato, Donna LoBiondo, Matt Gonzalez, Todd Haemmerle, Cathy Greek, Elaine Hathaway, John Cotton, Alexis Byrne, Marissa Vahlsing, Sarah Luick, Mary Ellen Kiehne, Blanche Vilade, Max Scher, Kathy Rose, Sushila & Robert Ravard, Jennifer Hayden, Sarah Ramey, Barbara Vahlsing, Kaitlyn Parsons, Shannon & Ross Evans, Lauren Sanders, JP Jesperson, Kira Dominguez-Hultgren, Jamie Fordyce, Sarah Foster, Candace Lundgren, Ali Budner, Bennett & Kjenstad, Gailen & Les Zody, Dan Sterenchuk, Rachel Golden, Janusz Leszczynski, Cherie Campbell, Vanessa Ta, Mary Jane Kiehne, Matt Trowbridge, Nancy Roth Remington, Blake Henderson, John Lower, Alan Vollweiler, Helene Roos, John Petrocelli, Joan LaCasse Ritz, Paula Zollner, Sarah Glazer Khedouri, Tiffany Cooper, Chris Maher, Greg Kemerer, Becca von Behren, Carolann Kinzel & Ezra Lipp, Chris Maceira, Michael Sieglen, Ako & Ed Swabb, Paul Ferney, Meredith Michaels, Briony Skerjance, Talis Apud, Grant Hultgren, Becca Frank, George Wallace, Tara Blau, Jane Fitzgerald, Megan Kelly, Amy Lee, Jonathan Kirchner & Kelly McFarling, Seth Endo, Francoise Teitelbaum, Jim Powell, India Penney, Alice Nissen, Jacob Berns, Kayte Brown, Kara von Behren, Alexis Brayton, Claire McConnell, Chloe Roth, Annie Bacon, Anne Kaufman, Nate Williams, Matthew Brudner, Tina Benson, Kristen Policy, Jessie Woletz, Liann Seiter, Judy Szczepaniak, Scott McDowell, Barbara Shamblin, Chris Kiehne, Zoe Clara Dutka, Bill Wetzel, Mat Strickland, Evelyn Boyd Schmidt, Anna Perlmutter, Laura Maguire, Kate Sherwood, Jake Friedman, Thom Wong, Staci DeGagne, Stephanie Orion, Jon Brody, Jean Pieper, Jefferson Linck, Heather Beatty Spring, Evan Rutledge, Levi Nies, Eve Hadley, Joshua Stacy, Sophie Pickens, Marlee Sayen, Ben Henretig, Bizzy Bender, Lindsay Clark, Barbara Murphy, Kristi Moos, Taylor King, LA Underground, Jennifer Yamanuha, Alana Stewart, Danny Alexander, Sianna Plavin, Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, Matt Miley, Alexis Barbalinardo, Jessica Geranium, Joey Chang, Christine Rabbath, Amber Feener, David Butler, Camille Robles, Emily Frost, Aaron Wieler, Zoe Rossing, Josey Baker, Neema Moraveji, Aire Redtree, Marietta Skeen, Jonathan DeCoste, Suzie Rose, Paul Freedman, Jonathan Axtell, Chris Sheppard, Jared Keane Feldman, Dave Snyder, Harriet Clark, Amy Benziger, Willa Mamet, Dick Perlmutter, Diane Crowley, Dust City Diner, Molly Bauckham, Kate, Zaria Forman, Lea Grant, Jennifer Day, Allison Cook, Nick Baker, Jess McNally, Ashley Hbert, Sarah Beh,, Patrice Williamson, Jill Kupferberg, Cathy, Deborah Carr, Laura Constantino, Nicholas McElroy, Andrew Brennan, Ayla Nereo, Daniel Steinbock, Rahmin Sarabi, Margaret Gallagher, StickLips, Kimtai, Nathan Blaz, Catherine Goldschmidt, Brian Berberich, Emily Boulton, Debbie & Drew Brennan, Michal Waldfogel, Joe Kille, Alison Hathaway, Natalya Podgorny, Ben Ewen-Campen, JJ Schultz, Anna Soloway, Sandy Sanders, Maria Budner, Lila Cruikshank, Thomas Curry, The Johal-Dominguez family, Elaine Wilson, Beth Fletcher Walden, Dorothea Palsho, Raj & Nina Johal, Howard & Nancy Alter, Dennis Coyle, Anthony Imparato.

Solace

This morning I woke with the familiar ache of missing.

A line from a Hank Williams song brought me some comfort: "When my life here is over I'm going home."

That line was fresh in my mind because I've been listening to Chris Kiehne's new album, A Widower's Kind which is a collection of slightly-to-significantly modified Hank Williams songs. It's beautiful, and you can download it here, for free.

If you are missing someone, it may bring you some solace.