Independent aggressive folk artist Tret Fure’s career spans four decades.  From her early days at Michigan coffee houses to playing blues guitar to rock to punk to her long-lasting partnership in women’s music with Cris Williamson to her current work in aggressive folk, her music continues to evolve.  I had a chance to speak with her last week about that evolution, her life, her loves, and her new CD due out in May, The Horizon.

Fure started out in music playing piano at age 5.  By 20, she had hit LA and lived with June Millington of Fanny and through a connection in the band met Spencer Davis and worked with him for over a year ultimately writing a single on his album Mouse Trap called Rainy Season. That led to her first solo album in ’73 on MCA Records which was produced by the late legendary Lowell George of Little Feat fame.

Today, I would like to speak to you about a very serious matter.  Valentine’s Day.  I didn’t remember how Valentine’s Day got started.  I know they told us in grade school. All I remember was that in 1st grade we made a giant cardboard “post office” and as we each took turns as “postmaster” delivering those cheesy little Valentine’s Day cards with those little candy hearts with messages on them (and who knows what kinds of kid germs smeared all over them as kids pulled them out of their pockets to load up the little envelopes).

Truth IS stranger than fiction.  And, no, Pope Benedict did not HUG A GAY today on his visit to the UK.

Just a little while ago, our own Chris Hemming, stunning soothsayin’ writer that he is, told a story about his own imagined visit to ex-gay therapy, and then what happens?  Dr. Paul Miller, who runs the Abeo “umbrella” organization for therapists in the reparative therapy business in Northern Ireland hit the news.

Independent aggressive folk artist Tret Fure’s career spans four decades.  From her early days at Michigan coffee houses to playing blues guitar to rock to punk to her long-lasting partnership in women’s music with Cris Williamson to her current work in aggressive folk, her music continues to evolve.  I had a chance to speak with her last week about that evolution, her life, her loves, and her new CD due out in May, The Horizon.

Fure started out in music playing piano at age 5.  By 20, she had hit LA and lived with June Millington of Fanny and through a connection in the band met Spencer Davis and worked with him for over a year ultimately writing a single on his album Mouse Trap called Rainy Season. That led to her first solo album in ’73 on MCA Records which was produced by the late legendary Lowell George of Little Feat fame.

Truth IS stranger than fiction.  And, no, Pope Benedict did not HUG A GAY today on his visit to the UK.

Just a little while ago, our own Chris Hemming, stunning soothsayin’ writer that he is, told a story about his own imagined visit to ex-gay therapy, and then what happens?  Dr. Paul Miller, who runs the Abeo “umbrella” organization for therapists in the reparative therapy business in Northern Ireland hit the news.

Those of you who were long-time readers of my former blog will remember this post.  I hope you don’t mind reading it again…

World AIDS/HIV Awareness Day is today, December 1st.  I’ve seen some pretty eloquent blogs on the topic and felt a little inadequate to post anything particularly insightful.  Every single person afflicted has a story.  Today, that would make over 40 million stories.   But, I just want to tell you about one.

Those of you who were long-time readers of my former blog will remember this post.  I hope you don’t mind reading it again…

World AIDS/HIV Awareness Day is today, December 1st.  I’ve seen some pretty eloquent blogs on the topic and felt a little inadequate to post anything particularly insightful.  Every single person afflicted has a story.  Today, that would make over 40 million stories.   But, I just want to tell you about one.

I remember being terrified as I climbed warily into my recruiter’s car early that frigidly cold January morning in 1979.  I was just a week post-early high school graduation.

My motivation for leaving my working class town was to better myself, get an education, travel, and somehow find a place for myself outside of what was most assuredly going to be my future if I stayed.

I followed the reporting throughout the day on the state of the elections across the country.  Of particular interest to me personally were the attempts to repeal Same-Sex marriage in Maine and the domestic partnerships question on the Washington ballot.

I followed the reporting throughout the day on the state of the elections across the country.  Of particular interest to me personally were the attempts to repeal Same-Sex marriage in Maine and the domestic partnerships question on the Washington ballot.