Goodbye Danny Seals…

A few days ago, Country Music star Dan Seals  passed away from cancer.  Those of you not into Country Music may remember “England Dan and John Ford Coley” from back in the ‘70s and ‘80s.  What I remember is a gentle giant of a man of humble greatness.  Danny Waylon Seals was a great songwriter, musician, and Baha’i.  Yes, Dan Seals, like his brother Jimmy (of Seals and Crofts) shared my same Faith.  I had the pleasure of meeting Dan Seals (and John Ford Coley) on two occasions back in the late 1970s.  The first time their star was just beginning to rise, but the second time, it was at full zenith.  Both times however, I found them, and particularly Danny, to be the same.  Humble, appreciative, and truly caring about others.  I admired the man for the success he achieved on both the Pop and Country music charts, but even more so for the dignified, humble, loving, way he handled the fame.  Thank you Dan Seals for your music, and even more for your fine example of the Divine Art of Living.

Meanwhile, it has been another busy week here in Tucson.  We’ve been burning our candles at both ends it seems.  Deb and I are buying a house in Casa Grande, about 60 miles north of Tucson, half way to Phoenix.  The Baha’i community there is struggling to maintain their membership numbers, so we’re moving to help them out.  Besides, we’ll get a much bigger house in the deal with room for a separate studio!

And of course, there are the preparations for the Tucson Folk Festival (see earlier post).  Rick Heyman and I have decided to do a little “warm up” show and reserved the Baha’i Center on Kelso for 25 April 2009, at 7:30PM.  If you’re in Tucson, and can’t make the Folk Festival, stop by and catch our rehearsal show.  It should be fun.

///Darrell

Darrell Rodgers                                             

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com  

PS – Here’s a VIDEO about the BAHA’I FAITH by Dan Seals

Tucson Folk Festival 2009 – We’re ON!

Need I say more?

Thank you Marilyn, and the selection committee!  Rick and I are looking forward to performing this year and enjoying another great Festival. 

 ///Darrell

—– Original Message —–

From: Marilyn Stringer

Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 9:59 PM

Subject: 2009 FINAL Confirmation Letter.doc 

---

  

Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association

P.O.Box26531

Tucson,AZ85726

2009 Folk Festival

Notification & Confirmation Letter

 

Monday, March 16,2009

  

To: Darrell Rodgers

Congratulations!!!  Your group – Darrell Elmer Rodgers & Rick Heyman – has been selected to perform at the 2009 Tucson Folk Festival. You have been scheduled for the following location and time:

Day: SUN                                Date and Time:   2009-05-03 18:00:00

Stage: Museum                     All sets are 25 minutes unless otherwise noted

 Selection Committee Statement: All bands were rated using a blind listening by an impartial set of judges. No members of any applicant bands were on the committee. All bands were selected and scheduled based on the final score ranking, then the variety of band members to avoid redundancy, and then availability. No other criteria were used. Any submittals received past the posted deadline were not considered.

… Schedule finalization will be made on March 28^th, 2009…

…Each year our grand raffle prize is a full set of CDs from each performer at the festival.  We are requesting (not required – but appreciated!) that each performer donate one CD for the raffle…  

…KXCI-FM will broadcast the weekend performances from the Plaza Stage on a tape-delayed basis.  Those of you playing on the Plaza Stage will also be required to sign a broadcast release form for KXCI…

…TKMA will have photographers taking pictures throughout the festival. These photos will be used on websites both by the photographers and TKMA. All band members will be required to sign a photo release form…

Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to your performance and a great festival!

Sincerely,

TKMA Selection Committee

=======================================

Well friends, Mark your calendars for May 2 & 3, for the Tucson Folk Festival, but high-light 6PM on Sunday 3 May to be at the Museum Stage to see Me and Rick performing some of my original songs.

Now all we need do is finish the CD in time to sell a few!

 

///Darrell

Darrell Rodgers                                             

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com 

 

Re-adjusting to Real Life

The phone rings, the email dings, and the alarms awaken me from my day dreams of places sacred and beautiful.  I blink my eyes at the computer screen and the phone rings again.  I answer.  It’s a colleague asking for information. We talk and he asks “So, how was your trip?”  I know it’s really more of a rhetorical statement than a real desire to know.  So, I merely say “It was a great religious Pilgrimage” and “Israel is a fascinating country full of the History that binds us all”, “I recommend it to anyone who can make the trip”.  Satisfied, he says good-bye.

Now, here I am consciously pondering what had been but a day-dream before the call.  My words to him in no way describe the real greatness of my trip.  The words “religious Pilgrimage” sailed past his ears without causing so much as a ripple in his brainwaves.  But it was the purpose of the trip that made it great.

The religious purpose of the trip made the hassles of travel all part of the sacrifice of pilgrimage. But after a prolonged sojourn in the sacred places of our Faith, meditating upon the sublime, the return to daily routines is doubly difficult.  Not depressing, but uncomfortable – as though the world and its issues no longer fit me, or rather, that I don’t fit in it.  And that’s a good thing. 

The Shrine of Baha'u'llah (right) with The Mansion "Bahji" (left)

Path to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah

 

 Everything in this material world is a metaphor for some spiritual reality.  I have come to recognize Pilgrimage as a metaphor for our final journey to God, our passing from this world to the next, to reunite with our Lord in His Heavenly Home. 

No wonder I feel as though I don’t fit here anymore.

///Darrell

Darrell Rodgers                                             

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com  

Pilgrimage and Fasting

Deb and I just returned from our Baha’i Pilgrimage to Israel.  It was a long trip and physically taxing.  We decided to break it into sections to avoid long days on planes while travelling Eastward. We flew on Feb 10 to Washington-Dulles Airport and spent a couple days visiting my mother and other family and friends.  On the 13th, we flew to London and spent two nights near Heathrow.  That enabled us to take the long “tube” train ride to Arnos Grove on the north side of London where we visited and prayed at the grave of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith. 

Gravesite of Shoghi Effendi

I had not been there in 35 years.  Much had changed.  I had to ask for directions to the cemetery that was so easy to find in 1974.  The entrance had been moved resulting in an extra mile of walking that hadn’t anticipated. And it was chilly.  But the visit was pleasant and our prayers and meditations were inspiring.  Plus, we got to meet some other Baha’is in the little “office” there and warm up with some tea.

On the 15th, we flew to Tel Aviv and took a “Sherut” (a 10-passenger shuttle bus) to our hotel in Haifa.  The sherut was filled with Baha’is from Canada and Finland. We of course met many more upon check-in at the Pilgrim Reception Center on Monday. 

Deb at the PRC

I have good friends now in several places I’d like to visit one day: Austrailia, New Zealand, Canada, and Seychelles. Seychelles is an island nation in the Indian Ocean.  The “Prosper” family was delightful and among the singing members of our pilgrim group.  I will always remember these beloved people.

Among the dates offered to Deb and I for our Baha’i Pilgrimage was a slot falling within the period of the Baha’i Fast.  I chose instead to go on Pilgrimage BEFORE the Fast.  Now, as I have done every year, I will begin the Fast tomorrow morning (3/2) at sunrise, not eating or drinking anything until after sunset.  The Fast spans 19-days and ends with Naw-Ruz, the Baha’i new year on the evening of 20 March.  It has always been my favorite time of year when set aside my own will in obedience and hunger keeps me ever-mindful of what life is really all about.

The Shrine Of The Bab from the upper terraces

///Darrell

Darrell Rodgers                                             

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com