The Red Accordion Diaries

Must every blog post of mine begin with a "wow, it's been a while?" I have been so frustrated with the world of art, music, theatre, film, writing -- basically the business of creativity -- that it's been hard to find a point to anything. The world is in such dire straits. Kindness appears to have been lost. The educational system is falling apart. Nothing seems fair or right. I teeter between full nihilist and the intangible knowledge that something out there does matter, and that nihilism just makes it all worse.

Kids at Shakespeare house

So, yeah, that's why I haven't blogged in a while.

I've been posting regularly on my Patreon page, and I've been working hard to provide my kids with the best education possible. We just spent a month in England/Scotland, thanks to credit card points I'd been saving and the kindness of several friends who let us stay with them during our trip. When we weren't at people's flats, we stayed at several International Youth Hostels, which are ridiculously inexpensive and are always a refreshing lesson in the value of community.

We had a lot of magical moments on this trip -- who out there has studied the Roman Empire while walking along the top of Hadrian's Wall? My kids! Wildly fortunate, they are. A favorite moment was when we rolled into our first hostel of the trip about a week in. Jetlag had passed, and the boys were settling into the new routine of Mommy wakes up early and makes a plan and drags us all over whatever town we're in and to every museum or historic plaque possible and every time we pass a blue sign (e.g. "John Lennon lived here," we immediately go down a Google rabbit hole of learning.

This particular evening, we wanted to stay in Stratford-Upon-Avon. We booked a $60 room with four beds at a YHA hostel on the outskirts of town -- a three-acre property with a casual restaurant -- that had originally been a Georgian Manor. It sits on gardens of ancient yew and monkey puzzle trees. In a hidden space made of folded branches, there were a few other children happily playing. My boys immediately entered the enchanted playground, pausing only when they were asked the password. Not to be deterred, they boldly stated whatever word they felt would be appropriate (I was not privy to this information, given that IT IS A SECRET, MOM). Immediately, the branches bent, and the kids were welcomed into the fold. We did not end up wandering the streets of Stratford-Upon-Avon that evening, as the children were happy climbing trees, the sun was shining, and the restaurant/lounge/cafe area had shaded outdoor seating.

Also, in cool news, it turns out the family they were playing with had seen Angus's movie, Unsung Hero. He's not really been recognized in public (I'm thankful for that). But I am a little nervous for whenever his JonBenet Ramsey series comes out, and strangers recognize him.

Anyway ... I'm just here to check in. To acknowledge that the world changes. Content creation and apps change. But this blog has been holding steady for 20 years. It's here, it's searchable, and it's a nice outlet, mostly free of judgment.

I've been chasing YouTube monetization, so if you're able to stream any of my widescreen, long-form, regular YouTube videos (not the "shorts), that would be a HUGE help. I qualified for monetizatino MULTIPLE times over the years, but I never wanted ads on my channel. But now YouTube is putting ads on there anyway ... and not sharing the revenue until I reacah 4000 watch hours for the year. If you'd like to help me out, an easy way is to listen to my 1st album all the way through from this link or here: Or you can also just stream a long playlist of all my videos while you're at work ... they can all be on mute! I just need watch hours from different IP addresses before YouTube will share the dollars they're already making from my page. Grrrr.

I've also been making some proper music theory videos. My personal favorite, however, is a clap-back video I made for a cyberbully who was commenting on my body. It was a super fun mix of using my brains, my art skills, my comedy writing, and my intense desire to MAKE THE WORLD A POSITIVE PLACE. Watch that one here, please, and share it with someone who needs to see it. I can't even count the number of thank you messages I've gotten from moms of teens who are grateful their daughters watched the video.

Oh! If you're near Lexington, I'll be at the Kentucky Book Festival from 9-3 on Saturday ,November 1. Yes, I'm an author too! I'll be there (at Joseph-Beth Booksellers) signing my award-winning book, Lakeside.

FREE ways to support an indie artist: Follow me on all the social media: TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook. Follow me on Spotify.
Share my posts or music or art.
Very cheap ways to support an indie artist: Buy me a coffee, Join my Patreon page, Tip Jars!

... and that is Fahrenheit.

I really want to go for a long walk, but two things are stopping me. One: I am sole parent to wee Angus, who is upstairs in the room playing Minecraft with friends from home. A crew member happens to be in the adjoining hotel room, so they are taking over "grab-Angus-in-case-of-fire" duties now, which is allowing me 20 minutes of peace and writing in the coffeeshop on the ground floor.

One thing that living in a hotel for five months has reminded me is that there is so much beauty in living in community. I don't understand the backlash against building taller buildings in Louisville -- buildings that have restaurants and coffeeshops on the ground floor and great living spaces above them. It's a great way to spend a Saturday morning, even if it's kind of like living in a college dorm. If you went to college in Yakutsk, I guess.

Coffee shop in the hotel ... espresso and writing!

Speaking of Yakutsk. Have you heard of it? My friend Danny (from those college dorm days!) first told me about it and how he like sto track the weather there. It's the coldest inhabited city on the planet (or at least it was 20 years ago when I first heard of it). I keep the town on my weather app, so I can always feel a little better about whatever temperatures I'm currently enjoying/hating. Today, for example, it is -33F there. (Weirdly, in the summer, it can reach 100F. Why do people live there? Same reasons they live in the polarizing weather of Louisville, I suppose.)

Anyway: it's cold in Calgary, but not as cold as in Siberia. So there is that.

Angus had an amazing week of filming. This child is so good at...

READ MORE at www.patreon.com/brigidkaelin (there is a FREE tier if you're not able to support for $1/month, which I totally understand. I support multiple artists on Patreon, and as my own members fluctuate, i have to often withdraw financial support to them ... but i always go back when my bank account is doing better! And I ALWAYS remain on the FREE TIER!)

As I write this from my front porch, sienna leave are floating down to my laptop keys just as I'm trying to soak up the last rays of summer. It's been quite a year.

The last time I wrote, it was about a United Kingdom tour I was doing in January and February. The tour was magical, as always, and it flew by. The shows were magical, all of them house concerts or folk clubs. Those types of shows are my favorites. Intimate. Quiet. Eye contact. Gratitude all round -- me being grateful for an open-minded crowd there to linger onto every lyric; the audience being grateful to professional musicians who went out of their way to play their town/village/hamlet. Those shows remind me of what I love about folk music: human connection.

In April, my newly-minted-8-year-old whisked us away to an all-expenses paid trip to a swanky film premiere. He had to work -- the work being an hour on the red carpet talking to 15-20 media outlets, sitting front and center while his movie premiered, shaking hands with fans after, and staying at a rooftop after-party until midnight re-connecting with castmates and their families. I tend to smile a lot anyway, but that night was something for the memory books for sure. Wee Angus was so happy to see his film friends, and

My spring was focused on final details with my publisher for ... THE BOOK I WROTE.

How do I have this blog here, and I have failed to tell you that I wrote and published my first book??

I have kept it off of Amazon, at least until I recoup the advance and break even. (Updated: it's on Amazon now!) But it's a local bestseller, and I'm honestly shocked how many people have actually read it. I designed it with the intent to make a coffee table book -- one that people can flip through for photos, memories, and fun facts. I even wrote a little summary in the beginning of each chapter so people could skim it. But people have actually been reading! I was prepared for the comment section, which has existed, but hasn't been nearly as horrible as I thought.

It's a niche market: the book is a history of Lakeside Swim Club, a quirky and mysterious neighborhood swimming pool in the Highlands of Louisville, Kentucky. Its history is fascinating, and I wanted to document it for the future. The history also shows the bigger picture of what kind of magic we can create when we think bigger -- when we think community -- rather than individualism.

You can buy it online here: brigidkaelin.com/author. It's also available at Carmichael's.

Now that my big writing project is over, I'm thinking I need to get back to blogging. I love the practice and the outlet. I had been over being silly on Tiktok and stuff, but I think I prefer words.

Consider this dipping my toes back in and testing the waters...

As always, ways to support:

FREE ways to support an indie artist: Follow me on all the social media: TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook. Follow me on Spotify.
Share my posts or music or art.
Very cheap ways to support an indie artist: Buy me a coffee, Join my Patreon page, Tip Jars!

Goodness, it's been almost a year! I've been updating folks over on my Patreon page, which is not entirely behind a paywall now that Patreon is offering a FREE tier. Join me there if you don't mind, please:) But that's not why I come to you today ... today I'm just updating because I realized there is a whole crew of you who still get updates when I post here and that may be the only place you receive my updates. So!

I'm going on a music tour in England and Scotland beginning January 31.
Tour dates and ticket info click here
I'm playing a lot of smaller towns this time, so take a look at this map and see if I'll be anywhere near you.
If you can't be at a show, but you'd like to help out some indie musicians touring Kentucky music abroad, consider being a Tour Sponsor ... any amount buys us tour sustenance.

Steve Cooley, Banjo Legend, will be joining me on this trip, and we're thrilled to bring my quirky tunes and Steve's banjo pickin' to folk clubs and house concerts and even a couple of theatres all around Yorkshire, Merseyside, and Edinburgh.

Other life updates!

I was commissioned by the Governor of Kentucky to create the official artwork for his inauguration. I'm pretty proud of my art here ... strange that it's not music, but I'm beyond honored. Prints are available on my Etsy shop. (Did you know I make art? I've always done it, but I only started doing it professionally during COVID because music was a bust.)

Graham's film, Monica, had a great theatre release and is now making all the awards blogs as the most-snubbed-film of the year it seems ... not exactly the accolades one wants, but Hollywood doesn't seem to be ready for a trans-lead just yet. Shame! He's proud to be part of a film that is opening doors, nonetheless.

Angus's film, Unsung Hero, produced by For King & Country and distributed by Lionsgate, will be out April 26 in theatres everywehre. It's going to be huge ... like, really, really a big deal. He's even got a line in the trailer:

That's me with quick updates and sending lots of love to you!

brigid

FREE ways to support an indie artist: Follow me on all the social media: TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook. Follow me on Spotify.
Share my posts or music or art.
Very cheap ways to support an indie artist: Buy me a coffee, Join my Patreon page, Tip Jars!

Before i had kids, before blogging felt a monumental task, back when i slept on couches, rented rooms of my house, worked in Nashville 3-4 days a week … oh, just writing about it makes me wonder what circles I was spinning in … anyway, the BEFORE me would be just oh-so-proud at the current me, and that alone feels like a win.

I’ve had all kinds of ups and downs, more trials than I care to ever talk about, and more people doubting me than I would ever have imagined. And they mostly doubted the same thing: that my life would become boring after children.

So I think today, having followed my brilliant almost-10-year-old’s path through Florence, Italy, chasing Machiavelli’s shadow and searching for Galileo’s finger, feels like a win.

I’m in Italy this week … it’s a work trip, but more about that later. And it’s also a work trip for GRAHAM, who will be 10 in a few weeks, and who has a film premiering at the Venice Film Festival soon.

We decided to make a homeschool field trip out of it, given that we’d been studying the Ancient ROman Empire and the Renaissance and art and science.

I’ve always wanted to be one of those obnoxious families (okay, they are only obnoxious because we are all envious!) who travels the world with their children, working remotely, gigging at night, painting during the day, homeschooling and teaching my kids that the world is so much bigger than they could ever imagine.

Today was one of those beautiful days where my dreams were realized, and we did the simplest things. Dinner was some cheese and veggies we picked up from a wee supermarket in the middle of Florence. We popped into the Galileo Museum after a friend noticed I was in dear Firenze and suggested it. Graham marveled at Archimedean Screws and Astrolabes and stumbled upon the third finger of Galileo’s right hand (for real: it’s in this museum … just … why?!), and told me all about Machiavelli and Cosimo and Lorenzo and Michaelangelo and of course, his favorite: da Vinci.

We didn’t even begin the day with plans. We stumbled out of our apartment in city centre, and popped around the corner to the Piazza Santa Trinita seeking a croissant and espresso … and stumbled upon the Florence Urban Sketchers, plopped down, sketching the column of Justice and the Santa Trinita Church. And of course i had my sketchbook on me, and Graham wanted to draw on Procreate on his iPad … so we joined them, met tons of locals, plenty more travelers who were also artists, and we were still for two hours just sketching and chatting and LOOKING.

I’m going to finish up some of my sketches, but for now just wanted to write and say hello and ponder the possibility of worldschooling full-time and express my gratitude … for what? My gratitude for gumption. I’m so grateful I’m able to just DO these things and figure out The How later. I’m still working my butt off at a zillion jobs, and do look for a new record to come as soon as my record label gives me the green light … but for now: shall we look for an art show? I’m hoping to find a way to get my sketches and bigger pieces an audience and pave the way for even more exciting future.

It’s cliche to talk about how you do the big things after you almost die … but also, some things are cliche because they are true. Take the trip: you’ve never promised a tomorrow.

Galileo’s Middle Finger

Graham’s drawing of a palazzo

My sketch of St. Trinita

Lots of artists drawing the world around them …
urban sketching in Florence

Thanks for following along here … I Post more often on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Join me there!

Links are all here: www.brigidkaelin.com/links

Sitting at a coffeeshop (masked) in Louisville with my laptop for the first time in literally years, and whoah does it feel good/strange to be here writing. It has frustrated me that people seem to have given up on COVID precautions and just resigned themselves to, "Oh, but my family will probably be fine if we get it." While I understand that on some level, that phrase just feels wildly selfish to me, and it's been devastating to my faith in humanity. I like to think that people are generally good. That we care about each other. That if our neighbor needed help, we could gather all forces and swoop in. The past 2.5 years have shown me otherwise.

We care about people as long as they are not disabled, immuno-compromised, or old.

And so I sit here, masked, trying to hammer out emails, writing, accounting, thank you notes, blogs, posts, responses, tiktoks, reels, lists, etc ... but I'm nervous to even post this blog, knowing full well the eye rolls I'll get in the comments. (Thank you for refraining - thank you for just letting me whinge into the ether.)

My UK tour was a total success, and I am SHOCKED that I cam back healthy. I masked except when singing, and despite several exposures, I escaped unscathed. It was glorious to sing to people again.

I recognize that dichotomy between wanting to stick to all COVID precautions and also wanting to perform again in public.

I also know that I will never perform again as I used to. I've become very picky about what jobs I accept. I need to only accept gigs that are either a) great for my career or b) pay a lot of money. There is no room for in between, especially not in a country where one hospital stay could bankrupt any family.

It's been a while since I blogged, and I miss this space. I miss the wee community I built. I never get more than a few thousand views, but it's nice to know someone is reading. And let's face it: if a few thousand people turned up to hear me sing, that would be INCREDIBLE. So thank you for reading my words.

Releasing new music has been great ... I'm looking to plan another UK tour for 2023, and I'm ready to go ahead and get that on the calendar. If I missed your town this time, please get in touch. No town is too small ... I adore London, but I prefer being the main event in a small town, rather than being one of a thousand events in London.

I'm also trying to plan an album release, but my record label seems to not be prioritizing me. I get it. I'm no Jack Harlow, but I also can't shake this need to create and release and repeat.

So look out for an album release and, I hope, an art show to sell some of the paintings and illustrations I've been working on. I'm opening up some house-portrait commissions. If you'd like to order one, please get in touch. Sizing and prices are here.

Here are some of the quick sketches from my UK tour. It was fun to keep a sketchbook rather than a journal this time:

Ways to support an indie artist besides buying merch.

Follow & listen on Spotify.

Or follow me on: Twitter. TikTok. Instagram. Facebook.

Financial support. Patreon, Venmo, Paypal.

My new single came out at midnight - i didn't set my alarm to wake and midnight and check the iTunes charts, which meant by the time I saw the charts it was at #180. I'll never know how high it started, but I don't care ... because honestly i didn't expect to break onto the charts at all. I pushed the pre-save campaign on this one, but i didn't ask people to buy the iTunes song. Bandcamp is more of a help to artists, but it's still pretty cool that enough of y'all (I assume it was y'all?) bought the song that I squeezed into the charts at all!

Unexpected victories making me feel great - thanks.

If you haven't heard the song, here are all the streaming ways to hear it: https://onerpm.link/211160667299
Here's a BandCamp download if you prefer. https://brigidkaelin.bandcamp.com/track/kentucky-with-you
Here's the official YouTube Music Video:

I'm busy packing and freaking out ahead of my UK Tour. I leave on Tuesday, and I'm SLAMMED with To Do Lists. But I got my taxes filed, my recording files completed (i do a lot of recording for other musicians and film composers), and am now packing my merch and compiling detailed homeschooling tasks for my children for when I'm gone.

Today I delivered Matzoh Ball Soup to a dear friend with COVID and after that porch drop-off, Graham and I stopped by the secret graveyard where my ancestors are buried. We talked about genealogy and Russian armies and the persecution of Jewish people and all kinds of history. Hands-on schooling is the best schooling.

Thanks for the love and support! I'm so thrilled to be back to doing what I love. The last time I was on tour, my dad was dying, but he joined me for 3 weeks of shows in Scotland. Since then I've had cancer treatment myself and somehow managed to survive a pandemic (so far), so believe me when I say I take nothing for granted.

Here are my tour dates:

If you'd like to sponsor any leg of our tour, you can venmo me a donation @brigidkaelin or:

buy us a gallon of gas!
buy us a dram of whisky!
buy us a full English Breakfast!
buy us a dinner!
buy us hotel rooms!
FREE ways to support an indie artist: Follow me on all the social media: TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook. Follow me on Spotify.
Share my posts or music or art.
Very cheap ways to support an indie artist: Buy me a coffee, Join my Patreon page, Tip Jars!

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