Chins up my dears. Hard things come for us all, but we’ve got each other to help us survive. Dear friends have come to me with physical, financial and social ailments & offers while I can help some of it, I also need to spread it across multiple helpers’ resources so no one person gets overwhelmed.

Same

I have always been told I have to compromise on core values in order to be liked. And so, I have practice choosing not to have the friends that would require that choice of me. Much to previous partners’ consternation. I have made peace with being my own uncool kid and liking myself instead. You?

The world can feel lonely when you are working your damnedest to make real, immediate connections through social media. And the Internet is not the kind of human interaction that a heart needs to replenish with. It doesn’t feed the depletion of the attention economy. Real community does it better.

Today, Wednesday June 17, 2026 at Golden Gate Park’s Music concourse Drive bandshell. It’s Amhránaithe (AwRawNee) with Illuminate Live and SF Parks and Rec, free concert!!!!… and one of the only ones this year. 4:00-5:00 PM with Skyler and Jimmy. Come say hi, and sing along! Very excited.

A new category of Grammy award has now been announced. Which is right in my wheelhouse. It’s been re-introduced by Folk Alliance International. It’s: Best Traditional Folk Album of the Year category. And the current award is for best Contemporary folk album. Very exciting to trad singers everywhere.

Because I’m feeling spicy. fb.watch/HN5hIA1LBa/?...

We were given a bench with birds wrought in iron, painted crimson for our wedding. It’s rusted right through, and can’t bear weight. The salt air of our town took its toll on the pretty thing, but we took the ribbons from our day and wove them into a wreath of rosemary to bless our partnership.

Today’s win: we’re getting out on the bicycles for errands in the city. First stop: groceries. Thanks Mick! for getting us kitted up both for saving gas AND for moving our bodies. And I found a cheap discman cd player to take to Limerick. Wahoo! I’ll be able to play audio CDs! What’s your win today?

Gardening, we’d left it for too long. It’s nice to be back to chaos gardening again. And now that the little carpenter bees have stopped being mad about the renewed attention, we’re friends again. We have a toooon of ground to reclaim again from the ivy beastie

On rough days… I look for things that are beautiful even if I have to make them myself or with a friend. Thanks Steve O’ Neil at Foxtail, for helping me out of my funk.

Is it over? Has the machine won yet? Am I now a servant to capitalists? Is my existence FOR that? Nope, I just checked. My heart still beats, And I still like and love you.

What’s good in your world today?

I have been moving everything off of meta and wondered if anyone has a good method of downloading friends’ contact information. Do you know? I find the more llms are shoved down my throat, the more angry I am. I haaaate being told what I should want &’ve never wanted to treat my friends like things.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/ame... Am crazy excited to see what comes. We’re 95% of the way there. Just got back from a rehearsal with one of my backbone musicians. For guitar. 4 days left and I’m hoping that not only can we reach the minimum goal to make the album happen, but… stretch goals.

We’re inching up toward the 2/3s point. If you’ve been thinking about it, and haven’t yet kicked in to make “Saoirse” songs of freedom and resilience on Kickstarter.com come to life, don’t wait. Only 2 weeks left. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ame... If you know people who love Celtic music, do it

Have you done it yet? Pledged to kick in for Saoirse? My new campaign to crowdfund, a new studio album for our times, Songs of freedom and resilience on Kickstarter. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ame... we’re more than halfway through and every bit helps. Get advance copies and awesome rewards too.

Resiliency is a birthright for everyone alive. You get to be here on earth, because you ARE. I was hit by the despair machine yesterday. But empires crumbling power structure are not the end of the whole world, only the way of doing things before.

The Kickstarter campaign for Saoirse: (seer-sha): songs of freedom and Resilience is set to launch next Tuesday May 5. So go there, and type in the name Saoirse to look for the campaign page and the button that says notify me on launch. I will be posting incessantly in the next month. <3 thanks!

Interview conversations begun for UL dept head. And, I’m going to launch another Kickstarter to complete some songs I started with Ray, before I would even go. Funding big emotional and tangible work, is going to be a bit of a bitch. But, I need good songs as morale boosts to keep on keeping on.

Submitted the application for the university of Limerick Community Music Post Graduate program in the hopes that I’ll gain some more effective tools to do the work of promoting a love of traditional song and singing. Now the nail biting begins, and the struggle to figure out how to pay for it.…

The saga continues, I’ve edited my Cv, I’ve paid for copies of my transcript, and I’ve got a number of official recommenders who are interested in my academic goals, and who have seen me in action for a long time. Each can speak to one or more aspects of my work. Fingers crossed, personal statement.

Do I know anyone with professional and/ or academic clout that would be willing to write me a kind/ honest recommendation for a grad school application in community music? I have a BA in studio arts, but I need to support that the application makes sense from other parts of my life. Help?!?!?

Went to the Pelican Inn yesterday, and mapped out next weekend’s sold out Burns supper that I’m performing in. And in the wake of endings and losses I was surrounded by reminders of very old things that still exist. So, what makes relationships and your memories of them, enduring?

And Ray’s gone to make the Angel Band, great. I feel hollow and bereft.

Too many friends feeling lonely and afraid, but if everyone’s doing that, no one gets the hugs they need. See if you can gather your courage to come out of your hidey hole and be the friend you most need right now. It might be really important for you AND the other person. Showing up is vital.

My oldest friend, musical compatriot, and person who saw me first as human received a terminal cancer diagnosis. He’s 80 and fine with an end to the chronic pain, but I’m not. Hospice is a godsend for his family though. He reminds me that seeing and being seen clearly, aren’t for everyone. Bereft.

Winterdance 2025 is a wrap. Here are some photos of one of last performances.

Humbug. Why be a schmuck to service workers in any capacity. Especially now? Lashing out at the people helping you, is just asinine. I was helping someone yesterday and he lit into me! About something I am not able to affect, and made it personal.

Thank you to everyone who came out for our show in Inverness, CA at St Columba’s Church. And especially to our hosts. It was a concert of connection I most needed. I Am honored to have made magic with you. Put Dec 13, 2026 on your calendars for next year & tell friends. We can’t wait. <3

Show on Sunday, Dec 7, 2:30 PM at stcolumbasinverness.org with the lads of Amhránaithe and rehearsal tonight to play the beautiful space as a welcome in to winter. Finding our feet, excited to discover new North-Bay trad music enthusiasts. I would love to see you there for this rare opportunity. <3

Next up: Sunday, Dec 7, 2:30 PM at St Columbas church in Inverness, CA rehearsal this evening with the lads. Come on out for cute pics, with the Christmas celebrity couple (the Clauses), warm and inviting Celtic and seasonal songs, and some toe tapping in the redwoods! You coming?

Someone horribly abusive to me and mine, and a buuunch of other community died last week, in a house fire with his 60 pet & rescue snakes. Mostly I feel relief. The revisionist story in the local rag is gross, but I’m sad for his wife who now has to defend it all. I have a lot of anger to let go of.

I just read that in a war, the psychological impact of yelling helps people feel continue fighting. Every week, even if you don’t think you have anything else you can do, do that, but also, call the political donors corporate offices and rail at the folks working for the companies paying Satan.

I’ve returned from the kingdom of Hawai’i and my heart is full of history. Tales of resilience and survival, and I realized I have a bunch of songs about that theme. So, like some kind of madwoman, I’m gonna dive back in and make another album about it. I need it, and it might be good for you too.

Next up: sessions in Berkeley and Oahu, and show in: Inverness, CA at a beautiful redwood church called St Columba’s Sunday, Dec 7, 4:00 PM in western Marin with Skyler and Jimmy. It really is pretty music with the lads. Flute, guitar, whistles, harmonica, voices, bodhrán, and shruti box. Come play!

HTTPS://pasadenafolkmusicsociety.org/event/amelia-hogab-and-flight-crew/ If you’re in so-Cal in January, (the 10th) I’ll be playing with some of my favorite musicians. Jimmy Murphy, Skyler Blakeslee, & Christa Burch for a spectacular show. 7:30 PM at Knox Presbyterian Church. A rare thing, ya comin?

I feel I should talk about upcoming shows and all, but today I mostly want to be soft and easy in my body. Maybe take a restorative yoga class. I made a giant pot of vegetables and lentils soup. And it feels good in my body to down the warmth and comfort. What’s bringing you ease today?

If you’re a voting member of NARAS, please consider voting for Burnished, for the Traditional Folk Album of the Year Grammy category. And: thanks to every person involved in helping me launch a successful recording into the world. May it move and lift you.

I just read that my album, Burnished made it to the list to be considered for a trad folk album of of the year Grammy. So if you’re a voting member of NARAS member, I’d love for you to give it a listen and consider voting for it for the short list. Thank you.

What do you do to recharge and remember what’s important in these mad times? Today I’m feeling emotionally exhausted

Hosting a benefit concert for World Central kitchen on Wednesday Oct 1, at 6 PM PT w/ my artist colleagues: Mike Berman, Julie Henigan, me, Luca-Mai Ris and Cormac Gannon- let’s help provide humanitarian aid to families in G@za, go to the QR code in the corner to donate any $ and get the zoom link!

I participated in daily antidote of song for European folk music day today, with a Polish woman singing of resistance fighters and a Ukrainian woman who literally had to be moved deeper into her house’s basement while her home was under attack and being bombed. You could hear the munitions. Humbled.

Ridiculously, over the moon excited to host a benefit concert with some stellar performers on Zoom, Oct 1, 6PM PT for WCK. Feeding people in places of turmoil, message me to get the link. I’ll put the performer line-up below.

Cool cool, cancelling everything affiliated with ABC, cause capitulation with actual fascia-ists is bad for everybody. The corruption flows strong, but not stronger than all of us. Everything is built on stories. Must get good at using our voices to tell our stories so they don’t get told for us.

Feeling deeply grateful today. I am okay ATM. Feeling safe-ish and loved and I’m spending a lot of time gathering in and reconnecting to my communities so more people can be okay when the sh!t hits. Checking the edges for the most vulnerable of all. Together is the only way any of us survives. <3

It was fun! Weird but fun to sing with @lightholder.com and @skylerblakeslee.bsky.social for the Essnay theatre in Niles, CA today at an event with the Eugene o’Neill festival and play as backing music for silent films. Made a go of the experiment and with more practice, would do it again. Thx erbdy

What are your best tips for making Instagram videos that pop and are memorable and shareable ? I’m working to up my game and learn how to do this better.

What’s up Ashland?!?!?

New videos from Winterdance 2024 available on my YT channel with the weeds, Paul Kotapish, and Marisa Gilman. Thank you to Wendy Leyden for capturing the fun of it! Yaaay seasonal joy among friends. <3