Dear Friends,
When I last wrote in early December, I said that I would be sending out a note the following week with more news to share. Well, the following week came and the shootings in Newtown CT came with it. I really had no words to share at that time except for: why, how and no. Since then, I haven’t had many words to share, until now. It is a new year and I feel ready to move forward with it, grateful for my many blessings and compelled to make them of service. And so I say to you now, Happy New Year!

Three days ago I was invited to sing at the One Million Moms for Gun Control rally in NYC. I will be there tomorrow morning and will sing “This Little Light of Mine” with my friend Dan Zanes. We hope many of you will be able to join us. The same group is organizing a march in Washington DC next weekend. And there is also a march next month in Hartford CT on Valentines Day that some of my friends are helping to organize called March for Change.

I am honored to be able to lend my voice in defense of children and to pay respect to the families who lost their loved ones in Newtown. I feel so much gratitude towards everyone who is working hard to make this country a safer place for our children and the people who care for them.

In touring news, next month will bring shows close to home and far away. We will play the first annual Winter Hoot at the breathtaking new facilities of the Ashokan Center right here in the Hudson Valley. It will be a weekend full of outstanding music, beautiful crafts and exciting winter sports (including ice skating, our favorite!) that you don’t want to miss! Then we head west to sunny California to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony. While we are there we will be playing a concert to benefit the Mr Hollands Opus foundation with the other completely wonderful Grammy nominees in the children’s category- my dear friends the Okee Dokee Brothers, longtime inspiration Bill Harley, new friends the up and coming Pop Ups and the fabulous team behind JumpinJazz Kids. Then we head to sunny Florida to play there for the very first time! We will be joining Dan Zanes for a concert at the Ponte Vedra Music Hall, near St Augustine. A sunny February for the mountain dwellers, a f
irst!

Finally, I will share with you the news we were going to share last month- we made a very sweet little video for our very sweet little coloring book. Narrated by my beloved six year old niece Penny, who many of you have had the joy of seeing perform with us this past year, this video tells you a little more about the book. If you have been curious about getting one, now you can know a little more about it! Illustrated by my mother and full of cool little stories, told by Storey, it really is a special project that we would love to share with you.

click to play!

Peace and Love in the New Year
Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower