Welcome to this spiffy journal where you’ll get a taste of the life of a successful working musician, without the Debbie Downer stuff. If you wonder what goes on before, during, and after gigs, and if you’re curious about what a professional harpist does in her spare time, you’ll feel comfy here. You may even find yourself expanding your musical horizons by delving into these posts.

Harp music is like the sun–It’s for anyone and everyone who wants to bask in its warmth, without regard to race, religion, and politics. So is this blog. It steers clear of controversy. You’ll only find thoughtful and offbeat musings of my experiences. And I have plenty of them to share.

Why take the time to peruse this blog?

It’s got more in-depth spice and insight than my Facebook and Twitter feeds, and you’ll discover what matters to a 30-year professional harpist who performed on a Grammy® Award winning album (not many of us out there).

Looking for my website? Want to check out my bio details? You’ll find a plethora of info, particularly on my site’s About Page. Go there and roam.

Some miscellaneous facts about me:

• I’ve been playing, teaching, performing on stage, TV, and radio, recording, and doing just about anything else that involves the harp for far too many years that I can count. Haven’t yet used the harp for shooting arrows in self-defense, but I suppose there’s always a first time for everything.

• I’ve encountered some of the craziest things you could imagine at weddings, music festivals, concerts, and elsewhere. But I haven’t experience everything. I’ll dish all the good happenings with you, complete with happy endings. And I’ll include your name, your photos, and your videos, if you like. (Read on…I’m enticing you with free downloads and CDs for doing so.)

• I promised my immediate family to keep them out of this blog, and all social media, and so I shall. My pet parrot has no say in the matter, however.

What’s in it for you?

• Post a relevant comment at the bottom of an article, and you may have the chance to receive a gift. The freebie may be a physical harp CD, an album or song download, tickets or coupons to one of my upcoming concerts or events, or some other token of thanks from me to you. Read the particular article to discover what’s up for grabs when you decide to enter the discussion.

• Email me questions to answer and topics to cover, and I may just use your queries as a springboard for a blog post. I’ll mention you (if you’re okay with that) and offer you one of my CDs or albums as a gift. This blog isn’t a “Dear Diary”–It’s an interactive journal. Please dip your toes in and get wet. I want to avoid boring you, so I dearly need your input.

• I have an insatiable appetite for new music and performance ideas. Even if your suggestions are out-of-the-box, send me your music requests, and I’ll consider working up an arrangement, just for you. I may record a snippet of the result and post it here, or I might include it in an upcoming performance or album. You’ll get mention, and a free CD or download as my thanks.

• Send me flattering photos and videos from my performances and public happenings, and you’ll have an additional opportunity to receive a free download or CD of your choice. Note that the operative word is “flattering”–Everyone that appears in your photos or videos wants to look absolutely lovely, dahling.

• As a real-life, working musician, I need to perform to pay the bills. Invite me to play at your upcoming event–a wedding, black tie function, concert, or other soiree–and get a discount off of my performance fee. All you need to do is mention this blog when requesting a quote from me over the phone.

• Offer a sizeable donation in my future projects, and I’ll think up an even grander way to thank you–Lunch on me, private concert via Skype, who knows? I’m open to suggestions. What constitutes a “sizeable” donation? There’s no hard-and-set rule. If I fall off my chair when I receive it, that’s large enough, and you’ll definitely hear from me, personally. As a working musician, it doesn’t take much to wow me.

What’s the Blog Commenting Policy?

I love receiving your comments and feedback! I appreciate the time you took to compose and submit your thoughts. Thank you!

I discovered that the most interesting comments are submitted within the first two weeks of posting an article. So, I’ll close the comment section when it appears the conversation has run its course.

Sometimes I include a contest within the blog article, but you’ve got to read the article and previous comments to be considered for the contest prize.

I moderate all comments before posting them, sifting out the junk so that only kind and helpful responses to articles appear. Please submit comments that have something to do with the article and prove in some way that you read it. Differing opinions are absolutely fine, as long as you are considerate to everyone who joins the discussion.

When you submit an absolutely phenomenal comment, I may quote your words on my website, social media, and elsewhere. I will not use your full name as the source of the quote, unless you give me permission to do so.

I may remove comments that I previously approved, and of course, I have the right to reject comments. This ensures my blog remains a safe haven for people of all ages, genders, beliefs, and ethnicities. To protect my readers and website visitors, I reserve the right to blacklist your email address and URL if you submit abhorrent remarks—statements containing naughty language, harassment, sales pitches, and links to strange realms of the internet.

Let me know if you have questions about my blog commenting policy.

How did this blog get started?

Not much history on it. I have a couple of ancient blogs that I abandoned long ago, and they are still floating around the Internet stratosphere. Haven’t figured out how to pull the plug on them. So this is my official blog, as of 2016.

I try to keep my articles short and conversational, unless I get riding on a long train of thought. If you are looking for tomes from my other website-writing ego, visit my YourWebWriter.com blog and my posts at the MooreThanSEO.com website.

I think that covers it…Thank you so much for reading and contributing to the discussion.

–Anne 🙂