Two with Toubab Krewe

On Thursday and Friday Mad Tea Party had the good fortune of opening up for our friends Toubab Krewe in Charleston (at the Pour House) and in Charlotte (at the Neighborhood Theater). We are very happy they asked us to be on those bills, because we had SUCH a great time with them. The venues [...]

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Happy Halloween!

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Mad Tea & Classic Cars

My friend Lydia See took this fantastic photo of us at the Hellbilly Hootenanny…

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Hub-Bub

We had a wonderful time in on Friday night! Mad Tea Party performed at The Showroom at Hub-Bub, a super cool art/performance spot in Spartanburg. The show started out fun, but mellow, but evolved over the evening into a RAGING dance party. I can’t thank the fantastic crew of folks who were there enough for [...]

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Hey ya’ll!

Looks like I have some new visitors to this little blog via Boing Boing!
Welcome! Stick around – things are just starting to get really really interesting around here.
Don’t you want to watch a couple of earnest outsiders pursue their dream?
Misfit rockers we are, and we truly love you.

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Fall

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Saint Sadie

I will miss her fiercely.

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Thursday Hooray!

I truly think one of the best performance groups in Asheville is the Runaway Circus. I was SO happy to see them at LAAFF the other day. They blow me away every time. They are superb jugglers, acrobats, comedians, musicians. They are a bit elusive to catch, so when I get wind of one of [...]

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LAAFF ‘09

Mad Tea Party played at the Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Fest (LAAFF) yesterday. It was a big day full of music, magic, friends, and creative spectacles. Highlights for me were the Runaway Circus, the Blue Rags and Angi West. I didn’t really take any photos, since this very photogenic fest is usually thoroughly documented [...]

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Truth & Salvage

After the 23 Skidoo show Saturday afternoon Jason and I went home to re-group (a luxury of locals shows) and to pick up our night-time outfits (my evening dress was by Dismantled Fashions) before heading back to the Grey Eagle for our second show of the day. When we got there, Truth & Salvage Co. [...]

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Rain

My soul and my garden have loved the rainy summer.

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Wilds of Vermont

On Monday we stopped by Otter Creek Brewing, which happens to be in Middlebury. Their organic Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout is a Mad Tea Party favorite.
Then we disappeared into the wilds of Vermont for two days of the great outdoors, swimming, hiking, healthy food, inspiring people, and hours and hours of music.
Tuesday night we played a [...]

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Maine Magic

It’s been a whirlwind week since we woke in Maine last Friday, but I want to go back and record some of what happened there. Maine is the home of many of Jason’s dad Tim’s friends. Introduced to community in Hallowell and Rockwood by Abbott Vaughn Meader, Tim and his music are much beloved in [...]

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Singing in the Band

This is a video from June 14th of the last song Tim performed with his band TKO (and Jason), “State of Grace”. He played the same song acoustically a few days before he died. Powerful, sad, beautiful.

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Celebration of Tim’s Life

Fans honor passing of beloved musician
By Diane Heilenman 
From the Louisville Courier-Journal
Here’s a photo gallery.
The parade to mourn the passing of musician and songwriter Tim Krekel was a joy to see.
The marchers, some wearing Mardi Gras necklaces, carried colorful umbrellas, maracas, tambourines and helium balloons down Frankfort and Story avenues yesterday. They wore flip-flops and cowboy boots, [...]

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Cardinal

Today’s sunny spring afternoon still life at my house…

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Good Stuff

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Birthdays and a Wedding

On Saturday Mad Tea Party picked up a last minute afternoon show at MoDaddy’s in Asheville for our friend Tonia’s birthday party. We were joined by the Manic Pianic Jake Hollifield. Jake plays with Mad Tea sometimes, most recently at the Doo-Nanny. We always have fun together. Luckily, we had just practiced with him the [...]

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The Big House and The Church

We woke up on Thursday in a completely magical spot – “The Big House” in Jamaica, Vermont. Out our windows were trees and birds and the sound of rushing water. The part of the house we slept in was the original farmhouse from the 1760’s  – which is the oldest standing farmhouse in Vermont. We [...]

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Can’t Help Myself

I almost can’t believe Mad Tea Party is heading back out on tour tomorrow. The past week has been hectic. Right now I totally need to pack, but it’s so hard to motivate for that. This tour we’re going north – Virginia, New York City (3 shows), Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and Connecticut. The details are [...]

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And the winner is…

Thanks to everyone who entered the Ukulele Rockstar “One Year Anniversary” drawing. I wrote all your names on slips of paper, put them in a bowl, and picked out the winner. I was going to give you video evidence of this, but I am having a busy day, so you’ll just have to trust me.
I’m [...]

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Another Passion

Today I’m going to write about another passion/vocation of mine (besides music) - working at the YWCA of Asheville. I’m the Marketing Director, and I have been working there for twelve years. I’ve worked at the YWCA longer than I have been a musician, definitely longer than I’ve been a Rockstar.
The mission of the YWCA is eliminating [...]

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The Overtakers

The Overtakers (Ruben, Ruth and Leroy Brooks) are a wonderful mento band from Jamaica. I’ve known the Brooks for several years, and even had the eye-opening experience of visiting their “yard” in the ghetto in Jamaica. They are sweet, good people. Mad Tea Party has been on the same bill as the Overtakers at a [...]

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