Go Back To The Garden with Ginger Sands

Something’s Cooking…

This coming Wednesday, May 16, I am pleased to be a part of the weekly event “A Place at the Table” sponsored by local chef Martha Stamps.  Every week at West End United Methodist Church, Martha invites the public to attend a local, seasonal and sustainably cooked meal paired with thematic programming that might include a food-themed film or speaker.  This Wednesday, I will be performing some garden-themed songs from Back to the Garden and showing a brief presentation about the “school garden to cafeteria” Fresh Fridays program piloted at local middle school JTMoore.  The event starts at 6:00 and is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children. Reservations, call 321-8500.

On Friday, May 18th, I’ll be attending a school “garden party” at Carter Lawrence Magnet Elementary school, where students will be celebrating their recently planted garden beds in their newly expanded school garden, a.k.a. “outdoor learning lab.”  I was tickled to help my friend and master educator Michelle Allison instruct the students on how to raise plants from seed and set out seedlings of squash and beans and a variety of other veggies.  The highlight for me was when the students started digging for, and finding WORMS!   When the students come back in August, they will be sure to explore all of the changes that have taken place in their garden over the summer.

On Saturday, May 19th, I’ll be performing at the Franklin Whole Foods 1st year Anniversary celebration.  Family-friendly music and celebration begins at 10:00 a.m.

Looking forward to the summer months, I am excited to be back performing with friends at the West Nashville Farmer’s Market on June 2 at 10:00.  Till then, our family will be at the market as shoppers, enjoying the basil lemonade, fresh produce, goat cheese, local meats and great music.  Hope to see you soon!

Next time: “Outlaw Chickens…”

A Bit of Perspective

Isn’t this a great photo? Mythologist and philosopher Joseph Campbell wrote that when the Apollo astronauts took the first picture of Earth from the moon, our human perspective was changed forever. In this single image, it became clear that all of humanity is inextricably linked together.

I was so excited when my daughter showed me this link that she found via her 6th grade science teacher during their astronomy unit. When I was her age, the only images available of our solar system were the two-dimensional kind, spread out on the pages of a science book, complemented by the requisite Styrofoam ball models. But these computer-enhanced graphics really put our solar system and planet into perspective (“a bit too much perspective” Nigel from “Spinal Tap” might say…)

And what a beautiful planet it is, this water-filled bounty of beauty, mystery and diversity, teeming with life.

This Earth Day weekend is a busy one for me. On Friday, I will be playing out with band “Big Love Medicine” at Two Old Hippies in the Gulch from 6:00-8:00. Then, on Saturday, from 11:00 – 2:00, I’ll be at the Earth Day festival in Centennial Park, working a family seed-planting activity booth sponsored by the Nashville School Garden Coalition.

When I was gathering songs for my CD “Back to the Garden,” songwriter Rachel Newman’s tune EarthGirl hit the mark. I have fond memories of sitting on her front porch, gazing out at “her” fields, talking about songs, family, Jesus, cats and nature. EarthGirl perfectly expresses my sentiment: that this beautiful planet is my home which I love and want to protect and even defend, should those mean ugly aliens in the sci-fi movies ever try to colonize it, a la “Independence Day.”

This planet is worth protecting. Just look at it! We are so very blessed.

Happy Earth Day to you.

Body and Soul

“If music be the food of love, play on.”

William Shakespeare

Food/music fans enjoying the good life at JazzFest, NOLA

There is a connection between good food and good music.  It’s simple: good food feeds the body - good music feeds the soul.  Both contribute to our health and well-being, mentally, physically and spiritually.  Isn’t it notable that we say we have certain “tastes” for music, art, and style?

Good food can be plain or gourmet, all-American, or international – an infinite variety of combinations, cultures and traditions.  It’s the same with music.  Music can be simple, or fancy, all-American or international, reflecting those very same traditional and cultures that we discover through food.  When playing music, I often feel like the band works together like a restaurant kitchen staff, create a gumbo of rhythm, melody, tempo and texture.

We all like the music that feeds our soul and gives us what we need on an emotional level.  Food and music both help us to touch the sublime.  When we are eating a great meal or listening to great music (better yet, simultaneously), for a brief time we are perfectly present in the moment.

This spring, I’m looking forward to serving up a various musical cuisines for a variety of audiences.  When I perform for children and families, at Whole Foods in Franklin on April 14, or at the Nashville Public Main Library March 27 & 28, I plan to cook up material that is palatable to the younger set and their parents a – musical equivalent of a grilled cheese sandwich.

Playing out with folk/rock cover band Big Love Medicine at the Two Old Hippies store this coming April 20 (6:00 – 8:00pm), we’ll be offering traditional roots rock that will satisfy a more seasoned palate, those with a taste for “old school” songs and riffs from “back in the day.” This musical evening could be likened to California cuisine (that’s Luke and I) with a side of red beans and rice (drummer Rob Guidry’s from Louisiana) with an Avocado Sundae for dessert (courtesy of guitarist Rich Mahan).

On Thursday, April 5th at 6pm, the flavors will be decidedly French. I’ll be singing a selection of French jazz songs at a student performance at the Nashville Jazz Workshop.  Exploring the work of Yves Montand and Edith Piaf has been inspiring, demanding and “fantastique!”

Each of these musical cuisines feed my soul in a different way, and I’d love to share them with you.  If you are a parent with young kids, a fan of live rock & roll or a jazz aficionado, I hope you will come out to the show and get your fill.

Until then, Bon Appetite!

Bein’ Green

I’ve been a fan of Kermit the Frog ever since I first saw him perform “Bein’ Green’” on the first season of Sesame Street.  Jim Henson’s touching performance offered us a gentle reminder us that we are all the same under our skin.  Joe Raposo’s lyrics are a message of self-acceptance, but also invite compassion for those who might look different from ourselves.

Recently, while studying jazz vocals with the Nashville Jazz  Workshop, it occurred to me that “Bein’ Green” is a darn good jazz song.  Melody, lyrics, message – a perfect choice for my collection of covers for “Back to the Garden.”

Since Kermit’s first performance back in 1970, the term “being green” has evolved into a new meaning.  As our population grows and our planet’s resources shrink, being “green” now more often refers to environmental awareness, and the case for making lifestyle and policy choices that reflect a shift toward sustainability.

Its not easy “being green.”  Collectively, our society is dependent on outdated energy sources.   Our leaders get bogged down in politics and policies which make it difficult to make needed changes.  We live in a consumer culture that makes it so much easier to throw away and buy new rather than reduce, reuse and recycle.   Bringing bags to the grocery store, composting kitchen waste, separating the cardboard from the glass from the newspapers from the metal from the plastic isn’t really hard, its just not convenient.  And we are so used to convenience.

Its not easy, but it is worth it.  By taking even small steps to living more sustainably, we work towards making sure that we will always have a place for little green frogs and other earthlings.

Check out this fun video of my live performance of “Bein’ Green,” accompanied by the talented Will Barrow and featuring some “celebrated jumping frogs” operated by puppeteers Mary Tanner Baily and Adrien Leonard Rose.

Please take a moment to “like” my facebook music page at facebook.com/gingersandsmusic.

Looking Forward, Looking Back

Back in the day...

Maybe it was all of those years touring across the country in a van with crazy drummers belching in the back seat.  Maybe it was the electric live shows we played for skiers in ski resorts and college kids in college towns.  Maybe it was the rush of that mysterious moment when when a band comprised of bass, drums, keys, guitars and vocals is suddenly greater than the sum of its parts.

Perhaps it was all of the above, but the fact remains that my husband Luke and I have devoted a great portion of our adult lives to playing music together. Due to our extensive history, to this day we finish each others’ sentences when quoting the movie, Spinal Tap.  Hard knocks and tough tours aside, we are fortunate in the fact that we have an unspoken understanding that music connects us emotionally to ourselves and to each other.

In 1995 Luke and I moved to Nashville determined to pursue our music.  16 years, two kids, and a career change later, Music City is our home. Ironically, in seeking stability for ourselves and our family, the responsibilities of adulthood became our priority, leaving us little time to create and play music.

Perhaps it was inevitable that a few years ago, in the throes of raising our daughters and slogging my way through the laundry baskets, my dear husband noticed that I seemed to be a bit, well, sad.  That year, a few days after Christmas, I found an envelope on my pillow. It contained a blank check and a note that read:  “This is for your album.  You need to record again.”

That was the beginning of my latest CD project Back to the Garden.  With Luke’s blessing and the unique resources that this city has to offer, I was able to go back into the studio and explore the amazing new frontier of digital recording.

Looking back, I am especially grateful to my husband for his gesture that told me so plainly that music was, is, and will continue to be, a powerful force in our lives.  Looking forward, I am excited to continue my work as a musician, mom, teaching artist, school garden advocate and oh yes, JAM with my husband as much as possible.

Here’s my version of Joni’ Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” from Back to the Garden. In this brand new year, my hope is that this song might remind you that even on long, cold winter nights, each one of us holds within a beautiful, creative, mysterious spark of light and life to be honored and cherished.  “We are stardust, we are golden…”

Peace,

Ginger

(Just for fun, here’s a video of Joni playing her version in Big Sur, 1969.)

My Father’s Gift

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. – Helen Keller

In this season of buying and selling, I find myself reflecting on the nature of gifts.  Some gifts, of course, are presents wrapped in colorful shiny paper with a bow on top.  Other gifts, the ones that remain unseen, untouched, but felt with the heart, are the most powerful and transformative.

My dad was a gardener. Some of my earliest memories revolve around time we spent together in our family’s backyard, tending dad’s vegetable garden.

In late spring, I would drop corn kernels into the holes he made with the handle of his shovel while he would lecture me on the many and various virtues of sweet corn. I would cover the seeds, the earth cool and sweet smelling beneath my hands. He would follow behind and step the loose soil down with his big dad-shoes.  Then we would water, watch and wait.

Dad thrilled when the baby corn sprouted, unfurling its sharp, grassy, impossibly green primal leaves.  He told me that the corn needed to be “knee-high by the fourth of July” to be ready to eat in late summer. As the weeks went by and the corn grew, he would brag that the corn was “as high as an elephant’s eye” which would elicit a rousing chorus of “Oh what a Beautiful Mooooooornin!” from the musical “Oklahoma!”

When the corn was ripe, we would pick, shuck, and toss it into water that was already boiling on the stove.  Though the ears were never as big as the ones you could by at the store, Dad always swore it was the best sweet corn he ever tasted.

Although I didn’t know it then, those moments in the garden, my father was giving me gifts.  The gifts of time and attention, a passion for growing things and an appreciation of the wonders of nature are just a few of the endowments he gave to me.  These gifts continue to bless and deepen my life today, even though my dad passed over 20 years ago.

In taking the time to teach his young daughter the joys of gardening, my dad gave the greatest gift of all – the gift of love.  And, of course, a highly developed appreciation for the taste of fresh sweet corn.

Autumn in Nashville – A Harvest of Food and Music

Looking forward to playing the West Nashville Farmer’s Market this Saturday, 9/24 at 11:00.  We had a great time at 12 South Farmer’s Market last week, with Jason and Ryan Dunaway adding their family talents on guitar and violin, with Luke Sands holding down the bass.  There were so many families out enjoying the food, music and great fall weather – little kids dancing to the music, and big kids of all ages hanging out on blankets and enjoying Sevier Park.  I bravely pulled out the autoharp to  do some traditional tunes I had been working on, including “Wildwood Flower” and “Ridin’ in a Buggy”! Great to see Susie Monick and some other local Nashville traditional pickers hanging out.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new site!

MUSIC: It’s all here! You can check out the albums, and purchase hard or digital copies at the STORE, and link to Itunes for singles.  In the JUKEBOX, you can preview my brand new CD “Back to the Garden” give a listen to my digital release “Best Wishes From Nashville” and check out songs from ’evergreen’ family album “The Gift of Make-Believe.” (hit the >> button to proceed to the next song)

Check the CALENDAR to see when the
next shows are as well as upcoming community events.

COMMUNITY GARDEN Here you’ll find links to people and organizations creating great music, working on sustainable food issues, gardening, health and nutrition education, and more.

ARTS IN EDUCATION has info on TPAC’s arts in education programs. For parents, teachers and arts advocates. This will eventually have info, sources and resources for incorporating arts into your child’s school, home and community learning environments.
If you have a link, article, story or other information about any or all of 
the above, let me know.

LET’S GET GROWING…