My Dear and Fondest Friends,

 

It’s been a brief but distant time since I’ve shared the long and short of things with you.  Time has dragged on and flown by like a sparrow with a wheelbarrow.  Many great and tiny events have happened, are happening or, presumably, will happen in the past near future in and around my current and projected surroundings or elsewhere as the case may be.

It’s now 2012 and some say that augurs the end of the world, while others point to it as an election year.  Some might venture the opinion that it’s pretty much a six pack of one and a half dozen lagers of the other.  In any case or two I have many things for which I am entirely and humbly thankful for.  And for each of you I and grateful every day.

 

As you know, I had the incredible honor of serving on the staff at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters this past November and it was an enormously satisfying and thrilling experience being surrounded by astounding songwriters.

 

My play, Tumbledown Town has continued to thrive, recently performing in Northwest Ohio and up in the Thumb of good old Michigan. 

 

I’ve had the joyful experience of being a sideman trumpet player in Joel Palmer’s Doctor Swing band on several occasions with more in the works.  It’s a revolving group of musicians including the talented Annie Capps, the lovely Rod Capps, and the charming Jeff Royer.

 

A song I wrote was a semi-finalist in the Great Lakes Songwriting Contest, which puts it in the top 6% of entries for this year. 

 

I finalized a recording project which I produced for Tom Saunders called “Moonlight Becomes You”, which was his 20th anniversary gift to his lovely wife Terry.

 

I’m currently producing recording projects for Judy Insley, John Rinn and Joel Palmer.

 

I’ve assembled an incredible line-up of fantastic musicians who add their beautiful talents to my own upcoming CD.  It will mark my 9th full length release.  Although some people seem to think I am constantly releasing CDs, the truth is this will be my first fully produced studio CD since 2004.  That’s a long time between projects but I think you’ll agree it was worth the wait.  I’m convinced this is by far the best thing I’ve done and I’m going to be proud of it after we’re done with the spit and polish.  The gifted guests are doing the polishing.  I’ll be featured on the spitting. So keep your ears open and you’ll be hearing the final project soon, I promise you.

 

 

In late July and early August I’ll be teaming up with the incredibly talented writers Whit Hill and Erin Zindle under the direction of Dick Siegel to teach songwriting to a select group of talented High School students at

the INTERLOCHEN ARTS ACADEMY .  I am so honored to be asked to be a part of this program and my intention is to help provide a great learning moment in the lives of these very talented young people.

 

I’ll also be headed back to Madison Wisconsin in September to perform at the Brink Lounge for the Mad Toast Live concert series.  The show is recorded and posted as a full hour video podcast so please tune in for that.  It’s a moment to which I am forward looking with anticipation joyful.  Am I why backwards talking?

Dan Hazlett
PO Box 300332
Waterford, MI 48330

I’m proud to announce that four of the songs found on the CD have received songwriting awards including 2nd and 3rd place in the Great Lakes Songwriting Contest http://www.greatlakessongs.com/ and finalist in the Big Top Chatauqua Songwriting Contest http://www.bigtop.org/.

Judy Insley’s fine CD, “Leaving Home” on which I acted as co-producer, etc. was nominated for a Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Acoustic/Folk Recording.  Yeah Judy!  http://www.judyinsley.com/

A number of other recording projects were completed here at Home Street Studio this year including Bob Marshall’s CD “As Good As My Dog Thinks I Am” which I was proud to produce  http://www.bobmarshallmusic.com/, four songs on Tom and Robin Moore’s CD http://www.mooretunes.net/contact.html, and a version of “Tide and the River Rising” performed by Foxfire (Maggie Ferguson and Denise Marie Stein) that will be included on an important compilation to raise money for cancer research.  I’m currently working on projects for Alan Sturt, and Art Cameron who’s CD project is nearly complete.

In other studio news, I’ve upgraded my equipment to include a massive computer and a pro tools set up which will make it possible to email files back and forth to anywhere the internet can reach.  There will soon be an informational page about the studio on my updated website.

If you’ve had the occasion to visit my website you may have noticed that it has not been updated in a very long time.  This is because the lovely and talented Annie Capps and her equally lovely and talented spouse Rod are in the process of completely redesigning it from front to back.  It should be up and visible in a very short time and will be visually appealing, more easily navigated and full of more useful and informative features.  And I’ll finally be able to disconnect the two tin cans joined together with string.

I’d like to send out a special thanks to my very dear friend Rob Kneisler who so patiently and generously volunteered to keep my website going all these long years.   Without your help I would not have achieved a single thing and I owe more than I can ever repay.  You have my deep gratitude.

I just learned that one of my songs has been included in yet another radio muse program that can be found by visiting the following link: http://www.musesmuse.com/radiomuse-19.html

e I’ve written a musical play called Tumbledown Town which will be presented in a concert format which we hope to take on the road beginning sometime in the spring of next year.  I’m working with my friend Bob Marshall.  There will eventually be more information available about this on my website.

e I’ve got a few more gigs lined up for this year and then it’s onward into the vast and mystifying future of 2009.   Hope to see your lovely faces down the trail.

May your days be full of meaningful moments, your evenings sweet as a spring rain, your nights as tender as a newly opened blossom.  May you run naked and screaming through your house with all the curtains open and have a good excuse when the local law enforcement officers arrive.  May your chili turn out as spicy as your romances and your coffee be as bold as your dreams.  Remember to hold each other in the highest esteem, honor your visions and those of your neighbors, become the person you’ve always wanted to be, kiss your kids, pet your pets unless they are fish . . .  and please, please attend live musical performances whenever possible.  Real art is all that stands between us and the flatscreens of the world.