The air was warm and also the reception for Maria Petersen’s outdoor performance at this year’s National Traditional Country Music Association annual festival in Le Mars, IA. I and a friend traveled up to Le Mars last Saturday to deliver an award certificate for studio time and catch what performances we could of clients and friends. Maria was scheduled at one of the outdoor stages while we were there and so we heard her sing and play zither. Bob (and later Bob & Sheila) Everhart have hosted this annual celebration of old time music for 38 years in various locations. It was good to meet several friends/clients that had traveled up to participate on one of several stages – both indoor and out during the week prior to Labor Day.

Maria Petersen’s “Zither Extravaganza” was awarded Traditional Folk Music CD of the Year in 2010 at the NTCMA Festival. That release was one of three Maria recorded that year – all well worth your listen and purchase. I’ll be glad to put you in touch with Maria to obtain yours, and you can hear a sample of all the discs in the audio gallery.

Well it’s hard to imagine sleigh rides and a cold night in Bethlehem right now, but DeJa Blu is doing their best to remind us. The duo of Diane Thomas and Pam Kragt came in to record vocals for their latest release – a Christmas compilation. The eight song recording focuses on memories of Christmas past to encourage our Christmas present. Duets and solos are interspersed in the flavor variety DeJa Blu is known for. I found a small Christmas ornament to hang in the studio to get us all in the mood during a hot summer day and the vocal tracks were recorded in a morning session. We’ll keep you updated again on the progress of this release from DeJa Blu.

Richie Love found his way to Tesco Productions this month to perform sax overlays.

Before getting into the session I had Richie do something much more important than play at the moment – lay down his signature next to his late father’s signing. Preston Love played here a number of years back (1999) for another client and while here he signed our “wall of fame”. I thought Richie would be very honored to put his pen next that name, and indeed he was.

The first song Richie recorded overflowed with emotion and gratitude to his family’s roots and we could all hear Preston’s influence. Richie recorded the instrumental version of three songs for Tom Tomoser. Tom has written and performed music for many years and at times has also released instrumentals of his material. Mixing will begin next week in preparation for a five-song compilation. Thank you Richie for sharing your heritage and talents with us all. Richie was in Omaha as part of a Love’s Jazz & Art’s Center event. Find out about the center and the history it preserves at www.lovesjazzartcenter.org.