9-13 de Julio 2012, Costa Rica!
Headed to DC!
Hi friends. There is soooo much to catch up on as I’ve just returned from Costa Rica and Colombia. But I wanted to get the word out (and please help me!) that I’m headed to DC this week. I’ll be providing music and worship alongside an incredible artist named Joy Ike (www.joyike.com) at a Sojourners event and we just found out that our concert Wednesday night is FREE and open to the public! Sojourners also rented out the historic Tivoli theatre in Columbia Heights. I you can make it!
Guitar Slinging Storytelling Preacher
Friends, we are thrilled Hold On To Love is being so warmly received! We actually hope the music lights a kind of fire in people’s hearts and minds. Tracy just received an incredible write up from musician and producer Jim Henderson in Seattle:
“Tracy Howe Wispelwey is a guitar-slinging-storytelling-preacher. She’s Harvard educated and street wise. She’s a musician who loves to encourage others to play, think and do stuff for people who can’t do for themselves…” read more
Wild Geese are Sojourners to Costa Rica
Hello to you all! So much going on, and Summer isn’t even here yet (that’s certainly the case in Massachusetts – we’re still waiting for Spring)! Let’s jump right in to the fun and announcements.
The Restoration Project is playing the Wild Goose Festival!
What is the Wild Goose Festival? From their website: “The Wild Goose is a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit. We are followers of Jesus creating a festival of justice, spirituality, music and the arts.”
They also have a stellar collection of speakers, storytellers, theologians, activists and musicians lined up that we’re honored to be a part of. Please check it out HERE and think about coming if you can! Many of you are very well already attending, and we are beyond excited to spend time over this long weekend with so many good friends. See you in Shakori Hills, NC from June 23-26!
‘Hold On To Love’ reviewed on the God’s Politics blog
The Restoration Project’s new album received a very positive write-up this week on the God’s Politics blog of Sojourners Magazine. Click HERE to read the review – we are grateful!
If you still need and want to download the album, you may do so by clicking HERE. We hope you continue to enjoy it, and are thankful for your support, friends. If the album or even one particular song connects with you in a special way, we would love to hear how and share your reflection/review with others in the Restoration Village network (with your permission/anonymously, of course).
Pura Vida in Costa Rica!
As Tracy writes in a new blog post (below), her past three weeks (Seth joined for one) in Costa Rica were a time of rich reflection and dynamic conversation and planning with Fraternidad Teologica Latinoamerica. Many more thoughts to come! Suffice to say here, rejuvenating connections were had with Creation, to new and existing relationships, to new opportunities and to God that will prayerfully be planting seeds for many months and years to come. We are very grateful for our close relationships there. Read more and stay tuned here at the Restoration Village blog. This is just the beginning of a summer full of travel and possibility.
To best stay up to speed with The Restoration Project this summer – where we are and the projects we’re doing – join us on Facebook and Twitter! Click on the appropriate logos to ‘Like’ and/or ‘Follow’ below:
As always, warmest regards and God’s peace on your journey -
Seth
Assistant to the Regional Manager
Back From Costa Rica (for now)
Hello friends! I (Tracy) just returned from three weeks in Costa Rica and have much to share. This picture is a mosaic I tiled at Casa Adobe at the request of the family who is demonstrating sustainability, creativity and beauty. The broken pieces were rescued from the refuse and carefully organized. I worked alongside the family as well as Ricardo, a Nicaraguan migrant who seeks day labor work in Costa Rica. It was a beautiful and prophetic exercise that exemplifies much of what Seth and I hope to participate in through Restoration Village.
The primary reason I am spending so much time in Costa Rica this summer, though, is to work with the Fraternidad Tehológica Latinoamericana (Latin American Theological Fraternity). I am very honored to be helping to launch a Latin American network of artists, poets and musicians who are also committed to a holistic way of life, faith and community and who desire to resource communities and churches working to do the same. Yes, I am aware of my Gringa (from the US) status and indeed was the only artist from the US at the recent FTL international gathering. But as I have sought to build relationships and learn from my friends in Latin America and Latino/a communities in the US, I was invited into this exciting process! I am also excited to bring the very rich resources and relationships of the FTL to communities I work with, regardless of where they have come from!
The biggest culture shock coming back last night was arriving to 50 degree, rainy, foggy weather in Boston! But we have assurance the sun will come on the weekend. Seth has been great at giving regular updates on twitter so follow us if you are not already. We also got an incredible review this afternoon on God’s Politics we hope you will check out and share. Please remember you can share individual songs from Hold On To Love on your facebook profile too! I did share some of the new songs with people in Costa Rica. Amahoro was the favorite! Much more to come…
“Twitter…that’s a fish, right?” – Tracy Howe Wispelwey*
Happy Easter! We hope this finds you well.
Thank you to all of you who have already listened to and downloaded ‘Hold On To Love’.
We hope you are enjoying it and that there are songs on the album reaching you in a special way. We’ve been so excited to share this project – and the stories behind it – with you.
If you still need to get the album, you can do so by clicking HERE. It’s unlike anything put out by The Restoration Project before!
In the weeks ahead, we have some *fun* ideas for how to continue sharing ‘Hold On To Love’...but to make that momentum possible, we first want to expand and update our connections with our original friends and supporters!
Tracy also has some tremendous opportunities in the next several months to connect and partner with new audiences and communities in the U.S. and through Latin America.
As such, we’d love for that many more people to be plugged in to her songs, work, and where she is.
We invite you to connect more directly to the music and movements of The Restoration Project:
Are you on Twitter? Please follow The Restoration Project @BorderWatcher!
Are you fan of The Restoration Project on Facebook? If not, please ‘Like’ us at the ‘Tracy Howe/The Restoration Project‘ fan page!
We might be headed your way, or Tracy might be playing a festival (winkie face) that you’ll be attending. Or, perhaps you pass on word to a friend where we’re headed about the new album, and we get the privilege of a new relationship. Whatever the case, we hope you accept our invitation to plug in and stay tuned for encouragements and upcoming announcements in the weeks and months ahead. We’d be totally bummed to miss out on connecting!
Thank you, friends! So many of you have been energizing and committed supporters and fans of The Restoration Project for a long time. As our little bus chugs up new and very promising mountains in 2011, we are so grateful for your enthusiasm and invite you to hitch a ride!
Any questions or want some conversation and/or prayer? Reply to this email or write seth@restorationvillage.com. Otherwise, see you on TwitterFace and stay tuned!
Warmest regards and peace your way -
Seth
Assistant to the Regional Manager
* Tracy did not actually say this, nor does she think Twitter is a fish.**
P.S. Tracy is currently in Costa Rica for a few weeks, immersed in rich fellowship and planning with an amazing array of people through La Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamericana (The Latin American Theological Fraternity). She’s on retreat at the moment with an “amazing Bolivian jazz singer” for a roommate. Expect updates soon!
**She thinks it’s a type of foot fungus.
Music Videos and Another Single!
Friends, leading up to the digital release THIS THURSDAY we are busy, busy getting ready to celebrate and share the music. Two weeks ago we released the single “Border Watcher” alongside the scratch tracks to share some of the collaborative process with you. Now we have uploaded a second single, “Hold On To Love.” There is also a music video for “Hold On To Love.”
We are so excited, but we need help! You can help spread the word and the music by sharing this promo music video through facebook:
You can also share one of the two singles we have released at restorationvillage.com:
Finally, we put together a fun video with footage Seth and I took on a writing retreat over two years ago. We cannot wait to share the finished product but you get a little teaser at the end!
More to come!
First Reveiws and Listening Party in Cambridge!
I know most of you are outside the Boston/Cambridge area, but please mark your calendars! You will be able to listen and download Hold On To Love in just one week!
I don’t know how to quite describe this album because it is so different than anything I have ever produced. Some of my friends have been previewing the project to help me refine and describe it. Brian McLaren, who has continued to encourage my work and music since we co-produced Songs For a Revolution of Hope together wrote this:
With this release, Tracy Wispelwey joins an elite group of musicians that includes Anais Mitchell, Ben Harper, Michael Franti, Bruce Cockburn, Ani Difranco, and Tracy Chapman: singer-songwriters who address social and spiritual issues with prophetic insight. What sets this collection apart even from that august group is the rich, sometimes-big and sometimes-frail mixture of electronica, trance, anthem, and hymn. Think of the musical love-child of Sarah McLachlan and Sigur Ros. One hopes these songs will help create a new genre.
Much, much more to come!
Border Watcher, single release from Hold On To Love!
Alright friends… as promised, here is the first single from the upcoming album “Hold On To Love” which is coming April 15! This album has been a year in the making, with people from all over the world submitting tracks and recordings to weave together into the final project.
This track, Border Watcher, holds a very special place as it was the original title track to the project. The landscape it describes and the story it tells, could be the backdrop against which all of the other songs come to life.
I have left the first two scratch tracks and the recording notes up on the bandcamp website if you want to see how this track developed.
I very much hope you enjoy (and will share!) this song with your friends. And stay tuned because much, much more is coming!
Upcoming Shows and CD RELEASE!
I’m happy to announce some opportunities to connect friends. Please spread the word!
Sunday, March 27, Fair Haven, NJ
Tracy playing at 10 am at Christ Church United Methodist
300 Ridge Road | Fair Haven. NJ. 07704 | 732.741.0234
Friday, April 1, Williamsport, PA
The Pajama Factory, First Fridays, 8pm
Sponsored by Valley Mosaic
Thursday, April 14, Cambridge, MA
Harvard Divinity School, Andover Chapel, 3:30pm
DIGITAL RELEASE PARTY!
Come for refreshments, stories and listening!
I’m also excited to be spending May in Costa Rica meeting and collaborating with some wonderful Latin American artists in preparation for a gathering happening summer 2012. AND, Seth and I are headed to the Wild Goose Festival this summer in Shakori Hills, NC. We will pass along specific music slots as it get’s closer, but we hope to see some of you there as well as we join friends like Agents of Future out of Portland and Aaron Strumpel!
May your life be full of good music and friends!
-Tracy
