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Tuesday, December 31, 2013 Wow. When I look back at this year, I am just amazed by it. We had so many incredible adventures and experiences. We formed a new line up, recorded new tunes to 1/2"tape, played many a festival, raised the funds for a tour to California and Scotland, won a song writing contest, released the new record North Winds, played with many amazingly talented folks, and witnessed beauty beyond words. We ended this year with as much fun as we started . This month hosted our Eastside CD Release Party at SoulFood Books and it was extraordinary. Our opener was very special. We had a few teens from the Northwest Junior Pipe Band join us for a rousing start of the show! Highland dancers, drummers and a sweet piper made the evening start off with a bang! The Northwest Junior Pipe Band is going to Glasgow in 2015. We felt that since folks supported us going to Scotland that we should bring awareness to this fine group of teens and help them get there too! We continued the evening with Haggis tasting and a great show with lots of audience participation. I think it was one of our best nights even if my voice wasn't in full form due to a terrible cold that stole it away for nearly 10 days. A humbling experience indeed. The following week, I had the great opportunity to play at Harissa's in Seattle with George Sadak. He and I put together a Middle Eastern Christmas album called Christmas Tapestry ~ East Meets West in 2010. We had a grand night with 3 glorious dancers. Captain and Falcone helped me out that evening with some back up. I believe that it got us all into the Christmas spirit! Tulsa was the next stop. I played at Foolish Things Coffeehouse with Mark Gibson. It was a great night of friends and family. I even got to play my new guitar that I got for Christmas! My new Taylor friend will be recorded on my upcoming solo album that will be coming in Spring. And now... it's the end of the year. In these last few hours of this wonderful year I sit here and reflect on how lucky we are to have such great fans, friends, and family. The music brings us together. It warms us from the inside out. How fortunate it is to beable to do this. Thank you. What's Next? 2014 will be about travel and new music. We wish you well in 2014. May all your dreams find light and hope. BigLOVE, -Fae |
Post by Fae Wiedenhoeft.
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Friday, November 29, 2013
Grace Happy Thanksgiving! When I look back at the last month I am rushed with emotions. Scotland was like a dream. We walked where the veil between daydream and reality was thin. When it comes to describing the immense beauty and magic that we felt. I am often at a loss for words. My heart is so full with gratitude. What an amazing journey! Perthshire Amber The Perthshire Amber was unlike any festival that we have been a part of. The festival is run by lots of family; blood or friendship, it doesn't matter. There is a closeness that the festival generates that has forever changed how I wish to share music. It seems that in Scotland, music begins at an early age and is a continued conversation over the years of development. One doesn't have to be musical to take part in the dialogue, as those who listen are just as important as those who create it. The pubs are filled with sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, sharing a musical conversation. Grans and Grand Fathers are also there sharing in the history, folklore, and adding the stories to be passed to the next generations. As part of the Festival we were able to play on a Song Bus, host a session at the Perth Arms, play the beautiful and prestigious Perth Concert Hall with Dougie MacLean and his mega talented friends (to a near sold out audience!), and perform at Scotland's smallest distillery, Edradour. In between the performances there was time to share songs and stories with the entire cast and crew after hours in the Royal Dunkeld Pub. Such beautiful moments! Gorgeous songs, glowing tunes.. moments that will burn in my heart for my lifetime. Thanks to the entire Perthshire Amber crew for the wonderful hospitality and opportunity (including Marty and Michael the sound GODS!). Thanks to the Royal Dunkeld for the beautiful place to lay our heads. Thanks to our new musical friends, Charlie McKerron, Buddy MacDonald, Gina MacLeod, Alan Jordan, Ewen Sutherland, Marc Clement, Ross Ainslie, Anderson McGuinty Webster Ward & Fisher, Calum Buchanan, Gordon, MacLean, Pete Garnett and so many others! I am in awe of your talents! I bask in your glow! To Dolina MacLean for her beautiful smile, lovely stories, and raising a super amazing son, Dougie. And sincere thanks to Dougie and Jennifer MacLean and their incredible powerhouse team for organizing and executing such a fine tuned festival! ~ While we were in Scotland we had the opportunity to travel a bit and visited many beautiful places. We went and said hello to the Old Man of Stor on the Isle of Skye. I ran through the castle grounds and had a conversation with a robin friend at Eileen Donan Castle. We took a ferry to Stromness in the Orkney Islands to see the Neolithic chambered cairn called Maeshowe. The Orkney Islands blessed us with rainbows, selkies, stone circles and kind folks. We walked where the tides came together to see a Viking settlement while the sky turned raspberry gold. We ran through the gardens at Dunrobin Castle and whistled tunes to magpies. Scotland was a dream that I didn’t want to wake from. What's Next? Festival application season is in full force. I have applied to many festivals across the globe. We will see where the winds will take us! Solo CD for Fae. I have never done a full solo studio album. I think that it is time. I hope record this winter and have a new CD ready for you listening ears by the summers first light.. Stay tuned! Thank you for listening, following, and cheering us on. Have a glorious Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, St Andrew's Day and start of the last month of 2013. Love, Fae |
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Monday, October 28, 2013
Twas the night before Scotland... I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. My excitement about exploring bonnie Scotland is as great as the feeling I had as a child eagerly awaiting Santa's arrival. I am swooning over the ideas of selkies, Vikings, Celts, glens, lochs, castles, whisky, and tartan. My excitement can't be contained when I talk about the Perthshire Amber Festival! We are playing at the fest in sessions 31 Oct - 2 Nov. Our main concert will be the evening of 2 Nov at the Perth Concert Hall. wow! The last few weeks have been amazing and intense. My tour to LA was very successful. I had the privilege to play with Clint McCune for the week! I attended a wonderful conference called Far West, met new musical friends, and saw the sights in Southern California. Hollywood was a blast! Upon my return, SeaStar had its CD Release Party at Egan's Jam House in Ballard. It was a great night. All of our wonderful friends and family attended making the night warm and inviting. My voice was pretty tired from singing 8 days straight on tour. And I went back to teaching my 28 student roster on the next day after I returned home. I had to cancel my show up in Victoria BC due to vocal fatigue. I felt terrible for doing so, but I needed to. Thankfully I was able to reschedule for the spring. But now... I am ready! Engines on and roarin' to go! We will post occasionally on facebook while we are traveling. Hope you will follow us along the way! Thanks for all the support and love! We truly appreciate you! -love, love, love, -Fae |
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013
North Winds They are here!! Hooray!! LA, HOLLYWOOD, IRVINE Seriously a great time! My tour was a success and met many kind faces along the way! This has been a very exciting autumn!! -Fae |
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Thursday, September 19, 2013
Kickstarter Funded! Thank you!! We now have the funds to pay for mastering and duplication of our new CD AND... 40 DAYS until we leave for SCOTLAND! Dougie MacLean plays tonight at the Triple Door in Seattle. We are very excited about going! Fae has been a huge fan of Dougie's music. This whole adventure makes her burst with enthusiasm when speaking of it. North Winds Our CD Release party will be held at Egan's Jam House LA, Hollywood, Irvine Fae is headed off to LA to play in Brilliant Strings the guitar gathering @ ArtShare LA, created by Goh Kurosawa. This is a fresh music series that takes place on the first Sunday of each month in the Artist District of downtown Los Angeles. From there she heads to Acadia to play in JC Hykes Songwriters night, Hollywood is the next stop to play the LA Women in Music songwriting night at teh M-Bar, and finally she will play 3 night in Irvine playing at the Far West Conference! Sounds like a great adventures! We wish her will with her music and promotions!
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Tuesday, August 13, 2013
The New CD from SeaStar Drenched in Celtic undertones It's exactly one month till my birthday. Please check out our KickStarter Campaign! We are so proud and excited to bring this music to you! I really believe that this is our strongest album to date! "North Winds" was recorded on 1/2" tape at Green Arbor Studio by our very own Kelly Blanchard. Thanks for everything you do and are! |
Thanks for looking! Big love! |
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Sunday, August 11, 2013
First Place in the Bob Kotta Memorial Songwriting Contest! Fae received her first ever award for songwriting at the Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival in Port Gamble Washington. Her song "Sailor" was well received by the panel judges. Her imagery in the tune was highly noted. She and Captain performed "Sailor" at the festival with Mike Freeman on percussion. The song will be released on our new "North Winds" due out early September 2013. Thanks to the Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival for the great honour, to the judges, and to the fans. August 16th Concert!! Join us at Soul Food Books on Friday, August 16 for an evening of new music, laughs, and surprises! We will be hosting a little auction, some silly raffles, and other SeaStar games to get our fans involved! We are so excited to be touring in Scotland and we hope to share as much as we can with you! NEW CD!!! It's coming! North Winds will be released very soon! If you attend our show on the 16th you will have the opportunity to pre-purchase the new record with some special perks! Those of you who cannot make the show you can purchase the pre-release deal for $15 via paypal. fae13 at jetbutterfly dot com Also the concert on Friday August 16th will be streamed live for those who cannot attend in person. Index Arts Fest! We had a grand time at the Index Arts Festival this month! Thanks to Pat Sample for the glorious sound on his stage! The folks of Index, WA made our hearts full with all the love and bravos that we received. The Index Arts Festival is SeaStar's favorite festival by far. Dont forget that we have our Tshirts available at Bandcamp now. Such a sweet life. Thank you for everything! -Fae |
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Wednesday, July 31, 2013
North Winds Our new CD is almost finished! We are in the mixing process and will have the CD available for sale at the end of the month! With that being said we will have some great package deals to help us get to Scotland! Festivals! Index Arts Fest is coming up this weekend! We love this festival and you will too. We play at 5:15pm. Bring the family! Hope to see you! There is a rumor that SeaStar will be making an appearance at the Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival on Saturday, August 10. We heard it on the wind and it sounded like applause.. it will be a grand day indeed! Fundraising Night! Join us at Soul Food Books on Friday, August 16 for an evening of new music, laughs, and surprises! We will be hosting a little auction, some silly raffles, and other SeaStar games to get our fans involved! We are so excited to be touring in Scotland and we hope to share as much as we can with you! Past Shows We played Yakima Folklife on July 19 at Kana Winery and Bill's Place in Yakima. Thanks to all the kind folks who came out and supported this long running event. Yakima Folklife is a little gem in Eastern Washington, twas a great time to be a part of it! Thanks! We have our Tshirts available at Bandcamp now. Wow! What a summer!! Thanks StarHeads! Love, thanks, and sparkles, -Fae |
SeaStar plays at Bill's Place as part of the Yakima Folklife Festival |
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
'..Oh the North winds are blowin'..' Over the Solstice weekend, we began recording a new CD at Green Arbor Studios under the skilled hand of our very own Kelly Blanchard. We worked on 7 songs the first day and celebrated under the glorious super full moon! It occurred to us that our first studio recording, 'Home', was also started on a full moon. Bella Luna! We have a little more to go on the CD. It will be an EP with 8 songs... but one never knows! You will have to stay tuned to find out if we record more *big grin* New Band Shots As you may have noticed we have some new band pics! We rehearse at this little caboose every week and it just seemed fitting to document it in our musical life. Syren's Voice is Fae's studio where she teaches voice, guitar, uke, and other things. It's a magical environment to make music! So grateful to have the space. We have more pics coming from other places too! And we are looking for really great ideas for more band shots. If you have any, let us know! We would love to hear from you! seastar(at)jetbutterfly.com Festivals, Concerts, Merch! We are ready to play a few festivals this summer! We are heading over to Yakima on the third weekend of July to participate in Yakima FolkLife. Always a treat to visit Yakima. Kind folks with big hearts, just like us. Then we are playing Call To Africa, a fundraising music festival for one of Fae's students who is heading off to Africa to teach music for a little while. Sound be a great event! And then, our favorite festival of summer, Index Arts Fest! First weekend in August, in the heart of downtown Index, Washington, is the best little festival we know. Under the direction and music expertise of Pat Sample from Paradise Sound (where we recorded Home), we will sing to the mountain and the amazing folks of Index, Gold Bar, Sultan, and neighboring communities. It is always a great day with beautiful artwork (live painting all day), poetry, dance, and of course, the gorgeous surroundings. We can't wait! Summer is such a sweet time to play music! And we will play any chance we have! Please check out our Shows page for our full summer lineup! We have our Tshirts available at Bandcamp now. We also have SeaStar necklaces and other groovy merch at our shows! So dont forget to check the table at every concert. New stuff coming! We are "On The Road To Scotland!' so by buying something 'SeaStar' you are helping us get there! Thank you for that!!! Stay tuned.. Life is a whirl! Summer is letting down her hair! It's all magic! We love you, -Fae |
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Thursday, May 9, 2013
SCOTLAND! We just got the official word that we will be traveling to bonnie Scotland at the end of October! We will be playing in the Perthshire Amber Festival in Perthshire! The Perthshire Amber Festival brings together many musicians and entertainers from different parts of the world who have been involved with Dougie MacLean over the years. I had the honour of sharing a pint with Dougie a few years back when he was in Seattle touring. We are very excited and honoured to be apart of this festival and will have to work hard to gather the funds to get us there. So look forward to more merch and exciting fun ways to get involved and help us on our journey! Stay Tuned!! April! Two great shows! The other was at Black Dog in Snoqualmie on April 27. We shared the stage once again with the Molasses Theory! Such Fun!! What a grand crowd! Thanks to the beautiful community for coming out that night and supporting us and our music! We loved the vibe, the hugs, and the food! Thank you! SeaStar Wars! We are working on the new EP that we will have ready by summer's end! Lots of new shows being booked! Stay tuned! Lots happening! and Thank you! |
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
A Very Busy Spring! Greetings! And thank you for continuing to follow us and our crazy musical adventures! We have had a very busy spring with finishing personal projects, work, and just "stuff". Funny how that can take all the time! We had a great start the year playing our first show at the Urban Coffee Lounge on January 4. We played to a full house! What a wonderful way to start a new year of shows! Thank you to all who attended! In February, I began working on my yearly songwriting project called the RPM. You have to write a full length album, 10 songs or 35 mins of music, record it all yourself, and make a cover. I was under the wire this year due to a chest cold that I just could not shake. But SUCCESS!! I finished the album. You can hear it as well as all my other RPM writing challenges HERE In February we also started performing with We played the Jewel Box theatre in the Rendezvous Club on March 6 with Clearly Beloved, Blue Star Creeper, and the lovely ladies of Samaya Tribe! What a fun evening! Very tiny theatre and we had lots of folks who came out to support so it was packed! We loved it! We unveiled a old Hebrides tunes that I have known for years. I remembered it the day before the show and taught it to the boys that night! The crowd loved it! One of my bodhran students, Kym, joined us! If you missed it, don't worry, we will do it again! On the Ides of March we were back at the Urban Coffee Lounge for another full audience! We had a wonderful night rich with musical community as Wynne C Blue and her Troublefakers came out to support us! Gotta love a city where other musicians support one another! Don't Forget we have a DVD for sale at our shows, or just email us and we can send you one. They are $10. It's our adventure in Ireland! The movie is just over an hour long and it documents some of the historical place we visited, our performance in Carlow, as well as interviews and craziness! Falcone edited and did most of the filming. We are very lucky to have such talent in this band. It makes many things possible for us. What's up next... Black Dog in Snoqualmie, Mirkwood, Index Arts Festival and MORE! Thanks for all your support! love, |
 Playing Flying Apron ~ Photo by Ron Allen  King StarHead - TieDye John and his Groovy Tshirt
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Beginnings, Endings, & Scotch I often say that I am on the verge of something, and then something beyond my dreams happens. I find myself with that same feeling again. I have been overly busy at my studio. While my job is hardly a chore to be at and I love what I do, I am a bit burned out. I have downsized my studio to a much more moderate 23 students. Hosting a student roster of 30 was becoming a little more than I could handle. Not the work load, mind you, but, my creative side seemed to evaporate. No space between the music. A good composition needs to have rests. And so do I. In my constant drive to stay in the moment, I am writing more and doing yoga. While I have hoped to do this everyday, I am pretty close. I have new songs that have sprouted and I am looking forward to the RPM challenge this year. I am still working on the movie, but perhaps not as diligently as I should. I am giving myself some time to process and breathe. Tomorrow I leave for Victoria for a well-deserved weekend with friends as well as a little music with my dear sister, Melody. We will celebrate Robert Burns day in full Syren style. My things are gathered and my heart is so happy! I cant wait to be on the ferry, taste the salt air on my lips, and see Victoria unfold through the mist. Oh, to trip down the streets to Dallas Road, with the arms of arbutus high above me, dreams of Emily Carr swirling in my mind, echoes of Robert Service hanging on the cedar limbs while Joni songs whisper in my ear.. to stop and gaze at the water, and in that moment, nothing more yet everything too. and then off for a pint with dear friends to share stories, hugs, and howyabeens ... Oh Victoria, how I miss you. It will be good to be back. A few days ago I woke up from a wave and shook a song from my brain. It dripped onto the page. Tiny beads of shining words, mixed with tears and sand, reflected pictures of shipwrecks, seaweed, and bottles of long forgotten memories ... another stormy seaside love song….. This is how my January has been. Hope all is well with you and yours. Thank you for following me. Do good deeds, -Fae |
 from our show at Urban Coffee Lounge, 04 Jan 2013. a little video I did in December. Tune is "Falling" from my album "the Branch Above"
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