Cara Cantarella: News/Journal

Last we left off, we were seeing things around here . . . like "angels" walking around dressed up as people, doing good deeds left and right. Some of those good deeds befell us, and now it’s safe to say that we are hearing things, and we hope you will be, too! After fifteen months of collaboration in the studio, we are pleased to bring you Letter to the World, a CD about what moves us to leave our unique mark on those whose lives we touch.

Join us on Saturday, May 3rd for a special evening to boost the momentum for YOUR inspirations! Many of us are experiencing things moving to a new level, and this concert is designed to celebrate all of our successes, in their various forms! Tickets are available online as well as in store locations throughout the city. We have missed you, we have missed you, we have missed you, Denver. We are so happy to be coming home to the warmest welcome that only you can give!

Hey beautiful people!

I believe there are Angels among us, and some of them walk by in
plain clothing. Some of them may touch our lives in ways we never
know.

A few of those Angels have visited recently, and one in particular to
whom we are especially grateful. Thank you, Angel, from the bottom of
our hearts. The band and crew and I so much appreciate your vision and
your support. We are boundlessly grateful to you for astounding us
with the hard, cold reality that anything is possible if you just set
your mind and heart to it.

CD Recording Underway!

It's official! Recording has started for my second CD release,
Letter to the World. This CD picks up where my first release,
Beautiful Heart, left off. It conveys the message that our lives can
hold as much happiness as we are willing to let in.

The title track, Letter to the World, recognizes that we are often
disappointed because of the grudges that we hold. Under their power,
we tend to direct our attention to things in life that let us down. If
we focus on what's working right instead, a whole new world of
fulfillment opens up to us. It's really just that simple.

Pete's Surgery A Success

We're taking a break from performing as we finish the CD and as Pete
recovers from surgery. Pete LeClaire, our lead guitarist, had surgery
on his shoulder in November. He was operated on by a surgeon named Dr.
Hotsie, who thankfully is as awesome as his name!

We're grateful that Pete's recovery has gone even better than
expected, and we look forward to playing for you again soon! We will
be updating the web site with new pictures this month, so please stay
tuned. In the meantime, here's hoping your new year is off to a great
start!

With love,

Cara

What can we say except THANK YOU, Denver, for your generous outpouring of support and enthusiasm! We were completely blown away by the phenomenal turnout at our Swallow Hill concert. Originally scheduled for Tuft Theater, the show had to be moved to another hall because we SOLD OUT! Fortunately, we were able to be moved to Daniels Hall because there were no other acts scheduled for that night. We loved spending the evening with all of you and were so glad that everyone could be accomodated. Mostly, we were just glad to know that you enjoyed yourselves and had a fantastic time. We sure did!

I heard it said that night that Tuft Theater has sold out only a handful of times in the past five years or so . . . so this accomplishment was a great honor for us. We are so grateful to you for making it happen.

Bounteous thanks especially to Jim Williams, Swallow Hill's Executive Director, for his generosity in agreeing to sponsor our show. Much appreciation goes to Tabetha Hastings and Jim Lingle of the Swallow Hill box office for their support with our ticket sales, and to the show volunteers for staffing the venue that night. Rodolofo Betancourt and Joanna Springer helped immeasurably with publicity and marketing. We are also super grateful to the amazingly talented Brian Hunter, who ran stellar sound and was just all around great to deal with -- wow.

Ed McIlvaine started it all with his energetic support of us through our performances at the Swallow Hill Cafe. And our sincerest gratitude goes out to Rhonda Smith and her intern Rosie, who booked the show and served as our contact persons extraordinaire. Rhonda and Rosie, we so much appreciate your help with every detail!

When I walked out on stage and discovered so many seats filled and folks extending back farther than I could see, something shifted in me. It is like the feeling of having guests who you love at your wedding, and you are so happy to have them all there with you, and you feel so supported -- never mind the fact that you don't actually even know some of them! And then the most thrilling thing is the true sense of fulfillment you get when your guests tell you how the whole experience moved them!

I have longed to share my music with the world for such a long time in my life that I can barely remember when that feeling wasn't part of me. I waited and waited for what seemed like a lifetime . . . and, well, I guess it was. It has been my lifetime. My lifetime finally led me to this point, and I'm only so glad that I chose to honor my longing and take the risk to pursue my passion.

The mission of my music is to inspire, encourage, and support others in their personal growth, to help raise the consciousness of the planet. You are showing me that my vision is making a difference in the world. Thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart.

Cara

Hey, beautiful people!

When was the last time you took your loved one out on a romantic date? To do something fun that you both love, like listening to good live music? We've got just the evening lined up for you! But first, we'd like to tell you a little story.

For a long time, the band and I have dreamed of performing in an incredible music arena. In this place, awesome folks like you can come and hear a show that sets your heart on fire. You can feel comfortable in a listening room designed just for acoustic music lovers. You can be at home with other folks who adore live music, too. Then we discovered Swallow Hill, and we knew we'd found it. The quintessential place.

We also envisioned the ultimate concert. It's an enchanting night for couples and singles alike. If you're singles, you meet and become couples. If you're couples, you fall in love all over again. The evening is laid out with two special sets. Some old music, some new music. A little back-to-Woodstock groove music. Some tunes from the new CD that you've never heard before. Some gorgeous favorites. A night that will sink into your bones and leave you filled to the brim with passion. A night that reminds you of what you are doing here in this world . . . hopefully living to the fullest!

One day, the folks at Swallow Hill joined in to sponsor and host our concert. In their fabulous Tuft Theater! Lo and behold, the dream is a reality! And now we can share it with you!

For details and ticket information, please clickhere.

We look forward to seeing you at the show!

Cara

Thanks to you, our benefit concert for Table Mountain Animal Center was a success. We raised $864.00 for the shelter. Thank you for giving so generously to support Denver's animals!

Much appreciation goes to the D-Note, for providing such a great venue. Performer Ed Skibbe did a fabulous job running sound -- and entertaining! Our hats are off especially toThird Road Home, who hosted and organized the event. Most importantly, we're grateful to all of you, who helped make it happen!

-- Cara

THIRD ROAD HOME TO HOST "GIMME SHELTER" CONCERT TO BENEFIT TABLE MOUNTAIN ANIMAL CENTER

Arvada, CO, May 5, 2005 - Three of Colorado's finest
folk-rock acts will join forces on Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 pm at the
D Note in Arvada for a special concert to benefit the Table Mountain
Animal Center (TMAC). Americana duo Third Road Home will host the
"Gimme Shelter" concert, joined by singer/songwriters Cara Cantarella
and Ed Skibbe. There is a $10 cover charge which includes both the
"Gimme Shelter" concert and an additional fundraising event for cancer
research that follows at 10:00 pm featuring Blu Stu Kitchen and the
Three Amigos. The D Note is located at 7519 Grandview Avenue in
Arvada. (Call 303-GO-DNOTE for more venue
details.)

Finding musicians who are animal lovers isn't difficult, nor is it
hard to find any with a connection to Table Mountain Animal Center.
Trinity and Tom Demask organized the concert as a memorial for their
beloved Luna, an elderly Husky they adopted from TMAC. Ed Skibbe was
happy to sign on for the show, having recently adopted his dog, Chai,
from the shelter as well. "These animals have so much love to offer,
and when you bring one into your life and they become your best
friend, you feel so much gratitude toward the shelter for having cared
for your friend until you two could meet," explains Trinity. "Our dog,
Luna, came to TMAC as a stray. Who knows how long she'd been on the
street before she was brought to the shelter where they cared for her
until we came along. She brought such joy to our lives, we wanted to
honor her memory by giving back to the organization that brought us
together."

Table Mountain Animal Center is the largest shelter serving the west
Denver area which includes the communities of Arvada, Lakewood, Wheat
Ridge, Golden, Morrison, Mt. View, Edgewater, and Westminster. The
Center can provide care to 125 dogs and 80 cats, and annually cares
for over 10,000 animals. TMAC is one of the leading adoption
facilities and educational resources for animal care in the state of
Colorado with an 87 overall success rate of adopted or
returned-to-owner animals last year.

Following the "Gimme Shelter" concert, the D Note will host another
fundraising event featuring Blu Stu Kitchen and the Three Amigos. This
event, free to those who attended the first concert, is to raise money
for Kari Obernesser and Robyn Korkus, twin sisters from New York, who
will be participating in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC) bike
ride in August, 2006. Kari and Robyn, whose mother is a cancer
survivor, each have a fundraising commitment of $3,300 in order to
ride in the 2006 PMC which raises money for life-saving cancer
research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA
through its Jimmy Fund.

THIRD ROAD HOME
Third Road Home's appeal is multi-faceted, combining Trinity's
sparkling vocals and insightful songwriting with Tom's emotive guitar
playing and tight harmonies. The duo's signature Americana sound
resonates with folkies and rock fans alike, and their live shows are
made all the more engaging with their down-to-earth style and humorous
onstage banter. Third Road Home's debut CD "Venus In Retrograde" has
won numerous awards including being named one of the best CDs of 2004
by The Indie Acoustic Project. The song, "Whatever Is" was selected
for the 2004 New Song Showcase at the Walnut Valley Festival in
Winfield, Kansas, and was recently featured on mvyradio's Fresh
Produce #1 Sampler CD, a national compilation CD of rising independent
artists. "Forty years from now, when the world looks back on this new
age of folk, Third Road Home will be riding high on the list of
genre-defining artists. Call it the 'Colorado sound' if you will. I
just call it great music." Kenny Hart, Indie-Music.com.

CARA CANTARELLA
Alternative folk-rock artist Cara Cantarella brings to the D-Note
stage a trio performance steeped in acoustic roots. With influences by
Sarah McLachlan, The Indigo Girls, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morrissette,
and Ani DiFranco, Cara's music is passionate and lyrical, carried by
lilting vocals and driving guitar rhythms. Rounding out the sound are
complex and intricate bass grooves performed by bassist Clarence
Johnsen, and sultry, earthy vocals sung by harmony vocalist Cinthia
Cable. Having had eight dogs and cats between their households in
recent years, the trio members are delighted to participate in this
benefit to help TMAC provide critical shelter and care for Denver's
neediest animals.

ED SKIBBE
Ed is a singer, songwriter, publisher, performer, producer and
teacher. Currently a staff songwriter for Ash Street Publishing in
Nashville and performing indie singer-songwriter, his music resonates
with roots and honesty. He has shared stages with Los Lobos, The
Amazing Rhythm Aces, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, The Lost Gonzo
Band and too many more to list. Ed has been called "the most
underappreciated songwriter in America," a "lyrical whirling dervish"
and "a timeless American voice." In addition to near-constant
performing and writing, his 30-year music career includes stints as
President of nationally renowned music workshop facilitators BEAMS, VP
of Ash Street Publishing, and founder of Out of the Box Music (a
seminal indie download website). He recently co-founded CAMP4Kids, a
nonprofit in which local music pros mentor at-risk kids.

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All we can say is . . . WOW. Thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm at our March 3rd show at Cameron Church! We had an absolute blast. We are SO GRATEFUL to you for your exhuberance and beautiful presence. It was a sheer delight to perform for you all. We hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did!

So many folks were involved in the production of this event. We truly appreciate the work you all put in to making it happen. Thanks go out first and foremost to our friends, The Human Beams, for co-producing the show with us. Marcella Skogen and Wayne Massi, founders of the Human Beams, thank you both enormously! You guys are the best!

Thanks to Fred Stufft and Aaron Ainbinder, who played drums and bass for the Human Beams. My deepest gratitude goes out to our band members: Clarence Johnsen on bass, Cinthia Cable on harmony vocals, Gregory Spencer on drums, and Pete LeClaire on lead guitar. Clarence, Cindy, Greg, and Pete, I don't know where to begin to thank you all for the work that you put into making this show a huge success. Your talent and dedication are such precious gifts. A big thank you also to Mike Cadigan, who did a fabulous job for us on sound!

Enormous appreciation goes to Kay Johnsen, who photographed the show for us and helped with front-of-the house managing in her usual expert fashion. Thanks to Ginny Duffy for help with ticket and CD sales, Dulcie Benson for help with setting up the house, Kim Sterzbach for running lights, Kurt Bocim for serving as our impromptu emcee, and Lisa Biro of Capital Tea for delicious refreshments! Bill Kirton and the Cameron community were so gracious in sharing their amazing venue -- we are truly grateful for your generosity in making this a night to remember!

Sandy Goodrich provided invaluable help with show promotions and publicity, and just general all-around moral support! Thanks to Roberta Holmes for promotional help as well, and to Brenna Nichols, Barb Khler, and Amanda Klehr for loading help and for being the best band "extended family" that we could hope for! Meticulous alterations were provided in a pinch by Susan Matthews, who also rolled up her sleeves and was a total trooper helping us tear down at the end of the night. Finally, my personal thanks go to Lauri Lundie for being a true inspiration that evening and continually reminding us of why our music matters so much!

I think our feelings about the event were best summed up by our lead guitarist, Pete LeClaire, at rehearsal following the show, when he said: "Again! Let's do it again!" And that we will!

Greetings, all! Hope your February is good so far. We have been practicing away preparing for our next very special event . . . a show like none other. Here is a snippet from a recent exchange between me and the band:

CARA: Hey, everybody! Thanks for all your great work at practice. We have learned so much material from the new CD. Our next show at Cameron Church is going to be awesome! I know our fans will have a blast!

BAND: Oh, yes – our fans! We love our fans!!! Have you invited them to the show yet?

CARA: I was planning to do it, but it looks like I don’t have to! We’ve got celebrity endorsement! See for yourselves!

Cara Cantarella Band in Concert!



CAMERON SHOW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs):

Q. Why is this night different from all other nights?

A. A few reasons. First of all, costumes. Yes, folks, we will be wearing bonafide costumes at this show. Well, at least Cara will. She is featuring her cool floor-length-with-kind-of-a-trainLoreena McKennitt knock off dress that it should be very funny to see her dance around in when Pete starts ripping it up with his leads. That alone is worth the admission price . . . not funny, she’s already had to have the thing repaired for tears once!

Reason #2: We will be featuring loads of new material, including 3 rockin’ covers and at least 3 originals from the new CD. We have been working for three months on this material and will have a phenomenal brand spankin’ new show for you!

Reason #3: Cameron Church is the bomb! You gotta see this place! And hear it! You walk in there and you feel like the Gregorian chants should be starting up any minute. Which explains the rationale behind the Loreena McKennitt Goth-dress get-up. Speaking of chants, that leads us to our next question . . .


Q. You’re having a show in a church. Is this religious?

A. Cameron Church is a non-denominational church but the show is secular. Just to give you a sense, we are asking for permission to cover up the cross. (No disrespect or anything, but we thought it might be more appropriate to blast Wilma Like a Maniac in a more . . . well, more “neutral” setting.) We are very grateful to Cameron for its generosity in letting us hold our concert there!


Q. I can’t wait! How do we get tickets?

A. Tickets are $10 in advance / $12 at the door. Advance tickets are available onlinehere.

You can also purchase tickets in person through these fine locations: Isis Books, West Side Books, and Twist & Shout Records. See the Calendar page for details. Advance tickets will be available until 5 pm on Thursday, March 2, 2006.

Heartfelt thanks to all of you from me and the band for your birthday wishes and help in celebrating at our Birthday Bash Concert on December 3rd. Thanks also to Judith Martinez and Trina Hoefling of Tennyson Gallery for the perfect venue and a fabulous night. Please check out our pictures from the evening, just added to the photo gallery page. Photos courtesy of Frank Duchaine -- thanks, Frank, for the memories!

Congratulations to Howie Baumgarten and Edward Kosinski, winners of our CD giveaway raffle. And a special congrats to Pam Post, who won our newest giveaway: a massage by Cindy Cable, nationally certified massage therapist and owner of The Well Being, a holistic massage therapy practice. We're delighted to welcome The Well Being as our first official band sponsor. We'll be raffling off more of Cindy's wondrous massages at future performances, so you'll have plenty of chances to win. Come for the music . . . leave with gifts!

Love,
-- Cara

In this profession, you're contantly throwing parties. I guess the hosting gene must run in my family, because my parents used to throw a New Year's Eve "ball" for what seemed like the entire city every year. I remember staying up late and running through the house with my sister in our little gold booties . . .

Now we both have considerably larger booties, and I have decided to carry on our family's party-throwing tradition by performing the first annual Birthday Bash concert! Three of us in the band are having birthdays the first week of December. Our bass palyer, Clarence, and I are both born on November 30th (go figure!), and our lead guitarist, Pete, is a December 10th baby. We're celebrating by giving a show right in-between those dates, on Saturday, December 3rd.

Mark your calendars! Bring your friends! Get your partying shoes on (booties encouraged)! Join us in making this birthday an event to remember!

Love to you all and a very Happy Thanksgiving --
Cara

Thanks so much to those of you who came out and supported the Rock Me on the Water benefit concert for Living Water Unity this weekend. We had a phenomenal time and are so pleased with the success of the show. Together we raised over $2,185.00, thanks to the 75 folks who took part in the event.

The video footage and sound quality were strong enough to merit a DVD of the event, so you may still be able to catch the show -- even if you missed it! Stay tuned for details!

with much love and gratitude,
Cara

It seems like this year has been a year of dreams coming true. Thank you so much for your support in helping make it all happen.

I'm not sure how much of a coincidence it is that my site is going live right as hurricane Wilma is making her own debut. Suddenly my song "Wilma Like a Maniac" seems very a propos! In one of the verses, a couple of people get shut inside during a hurricane and decide to make the best of it through the storm. I wrote the song years ago and never had any premonition that such a hurricane would actually strike!

A shortened version of Wilma Like a Maniac is available for free download on the Music section of the site. To find it, click "Music," then "Band Demo," and scroll down to the bottom of the list. A special shout out to those of you who’ve gone through the real Wilma this week: I sure hope the tune helps make the days a little lighter. Much love to you all.

Cara