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July 21st-26th: Yazz Flutes and Jazz Hoops

We arrived in Ithaca late Monday night and were met by Sylvie who had cooked us Indian food in true Froncek fashion. The whirlwind week began the next day when we woke up in our basement bungalow and started to prepare for Grassroots, Jazz Hoops, Yazz Flutes, whatever you want to call it. Lydia and Maddy took the Leydies on a tour around the hometown that included a field trip to Mount Pleasant and nachos and Viva Taqueria.

On Wednesday, after a stint at the thrift stores, Kate, Emilie and Jessi hiked Taughannock while Lydia and Maddy helped set up at Grassroots and set up the tents that would be our home for the next few days. That night we played a show at Stonecat, a change of pace from our last few intimate shows in Massachusetts. We arrived back in Ithaca late after filling up on some delicious food and soon enough, it was time to head out to Grassroots.

Grassroots felt like a dream as usual, a synchronistic gathering of all the Ithacans we had met along our journey. We lived for four nights in a gypsy palace. Our disco ball and plethora of scarves finally came into use as we settled into the new and familiar Jazz Hoops life style. It’s hard to explain the magic and beauty of the festival so here are some reflections on our weekend:

Dirty feet and dusty lungs

Bagels and bagels and the night of too many sandwiches

The Cheeta Girls meet the Indigo Girls

Kate hears Sim Redmond and Donna the Buffalo for the first time

Trading CDs with Orlando Julius

Playing Tama on stage with Kinobe and the Wamu Spirits

Trumpet lessons, borrowed basses, jamming with the Ithaca Bottom Boys

Random encounters with childhood friends

Love and Justice and African dance class

Some of us don’t have a black belt in Zydeco...

But others do and we danced until the Sunday morning sunrise

And fell asleep to the sound of 6am kickball

Happiness parade, straw hats, Mexican Mezcal

Reuniting with our original Grassroots crew after 16 years of

Running barefoot around the fairgrounds

And now the Leydies are hooked

See you next year Jazz Hoops!

Today we swam at both first and second dam, ate at both Viva and Shortstop and nearly got arrested for chalking up the commons to advertise for our Thursday show at Casita de Polaris. Tonight we played for a Mighty Yoga class and then hustled up to Ithaca College for an hour-long interview on WICB. Now we’re lying around Kevin Kinsella’s living room listening to old Sugar in the Raw songs and reminiscing about that time we played at Grassroots back in 2006. If we could do it when we were 14 than I think we’ve got a shot at playing next year.

#grassroots2016 #orlando julius #indigo girls #wicb #sim redmond band #donna the buffalo

July 16th-17th: Safety First

As fate would have it, Maddy and Lydia’s cousin Seth happened to be in NYC during our show at Piano’s and offered us his Cambridge apartment for our stay in Boston! Good thing he lives 8 minutes from the venue because we realized shortly after arriving that we had to be at Club Passim... now. So we exploded our bags and threw on show time clothes in record speed and rushed out the door.

Club Passim made us feel legit. We were aided by a talented sound engineer before the doors opened, interviewed for a pod cast in the green before the show, and even introduced before filing onto the stage. We played on a real stage and the show was live streamed on Passim’s website.

The show was attended by our friend Juliano and his family visiting from Brazil. so later that night we went to Ju’s house for good food, wine and company, and stayed up late singing Brazilian folk songs.

On Sunday we took Beantown by storm. A childhood friend from Stockbridge took us on a VIP tour of Harpoon Brewery where we poured our own tastings and got pretty silly over the course of our stay. After the best pretzels of our lives, and some dumplings in Chinatown, we went to the Boston Common for the Outside the Box Festival. The sun and soft grass put some of us right to sleep, only to be roused by the funky rhythms of Red Baraat.

The alcohol wore off by dinnertime where we met cousin Seth and Marnie for some delicious vegetarian food in Cambridge. We curled up in Ley Line formation to get a good night’s sleep before the adventure continues.

#boston #beantown #club passim #harpoon brewery #otbboston #red baraat #vegetables

July 15th: We Saw Blue

The drive to Amherst was unexpectedly long and we showed up in the quaint town a little loopy from lack of sleep and food. We were graciously welcomed into the Pioneer Valley Co-Housing community center by Zoë and her family and were fast asleep soon after.

The next day was much needed nourishment for us all. We slept in, washed clothes, and drank tea. After hanging some posters in town, we biked around the winding green country roads and swam in the pond.

While Kate went to visit her cousins in North Hampton, the rest of the team transformed the octagonal room of the community dining space into an intimate concert hall. Before the show we feasted on a home grilled meal and before we knew it community members and locals began arriving for the show!

The crowd was small but attentive and so appreciative. Our music could be heard drifting through the screened porch and out across the gardens and groupings of homes. We played for the setting sun, the bird in the rafters, the distant lightening and the young girl that danced gracefully in the center of the room and took a bow after every song. We prefaced Chuva by warning the audience that more often than not this song brings rain to the places we visit. Sure enough, in the middle of the song, the light drizzle outside turned into a downpour that sounded as if the sky was applauding.

We ended the set singing “We Saw Blue,” and when we opened our eyes at the end we saw tears streaming down Zoë’s face. She told us our music is a gift and we were happy to offer it to her family and community.

#amherst ma #lightening #chuva

July 10th- 14th: Sleepless in the City

It turns out Sunday is the one day a week that New York slows down. While Lydia and Maddy shared a late brunch with their Ithaca family, Kate and Emilie relived their past, singing and playing pandeiro on the subway like they did in Brazil. We all reunited in McCarren park in Williamsburg where we shared some tunes with new and old friends, passersbys, and even a hawk that landed in a nearby tree. Our music attracted strangers who would come take a seat, listen and chat before heading on their way. We sang Salaam and out of nowhere popped two Israeli kids on a razor scooter and a bicycle, thrilled to hear us singing in Hebrew. We sang happy birthday to the younger sister Mia, and agreed that was a perfect way to finish our concert in the park. For dinner, Kate, Emilie and Victor had their very first New York Bagel and we went to sleep early in preparation for the days to come.

Monday night was our first show at Shrine World Music Venue. We were warmly welcomed by the staff and the place quickly filled up with our friends and some unexpected guests we had met through various travels and along our journey here. After soundcheck, we huddled together on stage to take a breath and carry out our tradition of dedicating our show. That night the show was for the people and community of Harlem.

Shortly after drinking piña coladas, it was time to drive down to a second impromptu show at Silvana, but we did manage to catch a few minutes of thirteen-year-old Gibson Malone shredding it on guitar. We caravanned with friends to the venue where we played a whole new set, and ended the night with an epic and much needed dance party until the wee hours of the morning.

Tuesday was our quintessential New York day. I have to admit, it started a little rough when Lydia realized Emilie and Maddy had made an executive decision to leave her beloved purple chair behind in the gutter the night before. But we all cheered up once we hit the streets on a mission to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We started from St. Marks Pl and Victor led us through China town and little Italy where we ate fruits we’d never seen before and Lydia found a new and improved chair that she strapped to her back for the rest of the day. We stopped to watch some break dancers near the bridge and Victor and Jessi got dragged into the show where a sexy shirtless man did a flip right over their heads. Kate wrote our name on the Brooklyn Bridge and with tired feet we rode the train back to the east village to prepare for our show.

We dedicated the show at Piano’s to Emilie’s brother Matthew, commemorating the eleventh anniversary of his passing. Once again, we were pleasantly surprised by the friends and family that appeared in the upstairs lounge to share the evening with us. Ithacans, Pitzer kids, a long lost cousin and many more. After the show and some more piña coladas, Maddy, Lydia, and Emilie headed to the upper west side to spend a night with a childhood friend. We made a pit stop in Times Square and drove through the glittery flashing streets with the mini van doors open and Emilie in awe at the iconic scene.

On our last day in New York, we all convened in Little Senegal to share a big Senegalese meal of Thiebujien, Mafé and Yassa. We shared communal plates and saturated our taste buds with flavors until we were almost too full to walk Victor down the street to the subway where a heartfelt goodbye marked the beginning of the next leg of his journey– back to Brazil for the first time in a year and a half!

We spent the afternoon recording at Shrine Studios (our dear friend and epic host Jesse Starr’s basement). We stripped down to minimal amounts of clothing in the heat of the windowless basement to record Texas Rain and All That I See, a new song sung in French by Lydia.

That night, we returned to Silvana for our last hoorah. We were blessed to be joined by Katie Westmoreland, the talented artist that designed the cover art of our album! We dedicated this show to ourselves, and during our two hour set had the chance to share the stories and memories that brought the songs into being. Then came some more piña coladas and epic dance party number two. We could have stayed all night, and some of us nearly did, but morning eventually came and we had to pack up two houses of our scattered things and make it out of the city and into the green hills of Western Massachesetts before the traffic.

New York made us feel at home amid the chaos and energy. We made new fans and had the chance to meet each other’s friends and loved ones. We had too much fun and not enough piña coladas. We wished we had more time, but deep down we all knew it was time to get out of the city that never sleeps, knowing that we’ll always be welcomed back.

#whythehotel #mccarrenpark #thebagelsmith #shrine world music #pina colada #silvananyc #pianosnyc #pitzer #shrinestudio #little senegal #harlem #timesquare #nyc #the city that never sleeps

New York it's been real. Thank you for your warmth and welcoming @shrinestudiosnyc @leylinesound #fieldnoteslp #summerlove

#summerlove #fieldnoteslp

Adiós Spanish Harlem!

From Austin to Harlem. RIP Blaze. #claypigeons #johnprine #harlem #leylinesound #silvanas @leylinesound (at Silvana)

#johnprine #claypigeons #leylinesound #silvanas #harlem

Check out "Cinnamon Fingers" from Ley Line's first album Field Notes - out now! #leylinesound #silvanas #harlem #cinnamon #nyc #fieldnoteslp @leylinesound (at Silvana)

#fieldnoteslp #leylinesound #silvanas #cinnamon #nyc #harlem

July 6-10th: From DC to Apt 1B

Three major east coast cities in three days. We planned to take a break from performing to explore our nation’s capital and spent the day walking from the White House to the Smithsonian, eating falafel with Kate’s first travel buddy Lauren and climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. But low and behold, the music called and we found ourselves persuaded to play an impromptu open mic at a coffee shop before hitting the road for Philadelphia.

We arrived at Zoe’s house in the city of brotherly love in the middle of the night. Despite our mutual exhaustion we found the time to catch up before curling up in Ley line formation on the air mattress. In the morning we shared breakfast at the Redding Market and found some gems at a thrift store on east South Street. At this point, the Leydies parted ways for the very first time in our entire trip! Kate and Lydia drove to New York and the other three stayed behind to pick up 500 CDs hot off the press from the manufacturing company. They also had the chance to swim in dirty Phili water, drink some cheap beer, and see some old/new friends. By the time they made it to New York, Kate and Lydia were fast asleep. Kate was happily reunited with her boo in the lower east side and Lydia was curled up in a cozy Bed-Stuy apartment with her best friend in the whole world.

Our New York adventure began with an initiation into parking mayhem. While moving the car on Friday morning, Emilie found Goldie blocked in by an ambulance, police car and fire truck and was ushered to freedom via the sidewalk by a friendly fireman. We all reunited at Jesse Starr’s house in Spanish Harlem for band practice and worked on some love songs to play for a rehearsal dinner party that would be attending the Queen’s Night Market. That night, we went out to a fancy shmancy burlesque show at Duane Park and got a sneak peek into the hustle and bustle of St. Mark’s place.

On Saturday, we arrived early to The Queen’s International Night Market to sample the array of world food. Before the show, the five of us took a moment to connect and set an intention. We went to set up and quickly realized we had left all our microphones back in Harlem... uh oh.

Luckily we were able to reach the lovely Jeleine just in time for her to grab our mic bag in Harlem on her way to the show. By the second half of our set, post hip hop dancers, we had our act together. We were joined by a plethora of friends and family, adorable dancers and a soon to be married couple. The rain held off until the moment we finished playing, when a torrential downpour brought us all close as we ran equipment to the car and huddled under umbrellas. The Leydies and friends squeezed into Goldie and shivered in wet clothes on the subway and eventually met up in Harlem for beer and laughs at the Harlem Tavern.

Three more shows to come and the NYC adventure continues.

#queens international night market #st. mark's place #duane park #burlseque #philidelphia #wedding party #rain #harlem tavern

Living large in DC

#washington monument #washington dc #ducks

Maddy mends the mini van, and look at Pepé as a young man!

July 4th and 5th: Home away from Home

Our visit to Greensboro, NC to visit Emilie’s grandparents, Memé and Pepé was nourishing for all five of us. Memé had her scrumptious crispy chicken enchiladas waiting for us when we arrived and we were greeted with open arms as Pepé played his first of many rounds of “Name that Lady of Ley Line.” He never could remember but it only became an issue when he mistakenly thought it was Lydia who fixed the car window instead of Maddy.

Pepé, who is 90 years old, prompted and re prompted us to retell our stories and travel plans more times than we could count. We found that the chance to share with him again and again affirmed our goals of traveling the world, continuing our music project and sharing our stories with friends and loved ones. We planned to stay only one night, but the slow rhythm of abuelos house was rubbing off on us and we still had a window to repair and many family photos to dive into. We gave a heartfelt private concert to the abuelos and auntie Maria Elena in the backyard garden and later made our way to downtown Greensboro to see the fireworks. We watched the show from the crowded streets and sang along to 90’s throwbacks all the way home.

There were countless take-away moments; Memé pulling Kate aside to give her advice on long-lasting marriage, Pepé dancing tango in the living room, reading every piece of text on our album, and the constant affirmation that we should always stay together and never abandon the special and unique relationship that we have. We left in tears of joy, filled with the sweetness only 60 years of unconditional love can create.

#freedom #fireworks #food

Blog-friendly blog

#grandparents leylinesound digitaldiary

Ringing Bellz

Southern hospitality had really rubbed off on Lucas, a native Ithacan, who welcomed us with open arms at 3 AM. We fell asleep in Ley Line formation, all 5 of us lined up on the floor next to Lucas’s bed and his Bae (snarly and sweet pit bull) had finally warmed up to our caravan. The Charleston Farmer’s Market felt like we were back at home, slightly hysterical from the blend of exhaustion and heat, but especially magical with the sweet southern crowd and the distant sound of church bells harmonizing with our rhythm. Apparently Charleston has more churches per capita than any other city in the U.S. We needed not be reminded of the coming Independence Day because we experienced our habitual twin dog sighting, this time in matching American flag outfits. After 5 shows in 5 days, Maddy was on the crazy mission to fix our driver’s side window, which unfortunately didn’t reach completion before our gig at the Elliotborough Mini Bar later that night (it’s just like, a mini, bar, oh yeah!). Mini t’was, with a capacity of about 20 people, it was on of this places where everyone’s head turns as you walk in out of curiosity as to where you and your party will sit! A slight commotion resulted from our attempt to Tetris all of the amplification gear on the stage where the four of us and our instruments could hardly fit. We ended up playing a short acoustic set for some sweet fans we made earlier in the day even though Emilie had totally lost her voice. Luckily, Maddy and Lydia could hold down the fort with their seemingly endless repertoire of acoustic 90’s throwbacks. As they winded down their set with Destiny’s Child, “Say My Name”, featuring the bartender on lead vocals, a surprising arrival of 8 new fans pulled us back onto our tiny stage to finish the set. The next day, we did our best to rally the troops and get out pay a visit to the ocean before heading on to Greensboro.

Lydia likes drinking apple juice on the beach and sun hats #leylinesound #charlestonsc #fieldnoteslp #hardwork

#hardwork #charlestonsc #fieldnoteslp #leylinesound

Maddy loves playing Farmer's Markets and eating peaches. @leylinesound @charlestonfarms

July 1st: Georgia on my mind

We are leaving the Hostel in the Forest at 12am on the 2nd of July. We play a farmer’s market in Charleston South Carolina in the morning. We left the dense Georgian forest in the same way we arrived, weaving Goldie through the dark puddle ridden road into the abyss. The Hostel was a truly magical place. Before heading to the hostel on Thursday, we stopped in Savanna GA. Within 15 min we had unanimously decided that Savanna was the place for us. We visited SCAD and spoke with a tour guide about master’s programs and the cost of living, seeing as we were all convinced we would be moving there. From Savanna, we drove west towards Brunswick. From the hi-way, the Hostel appears as a humble sign in the woods. It took keen eyes to see the subtle dirt road of the entrance. The trees rise around us, covered in moss and lichen. Ferns, palm leaves and a dark earth cover the forest floor. The sky is a pattern of blue in the spaces between the leaves of the canopy of the jungle. Everything else is a vibrant green.

When we first arrived at the Hostel, we all took a nap. I awoke, feeling like I entered into a dream. The humidity, my exhaustion and the kind-hearted people of the Hostel all mixed into a stew I swam through for our time there. We swam in the pond, waded in the ocean and danced in the rain.

The Hostel is 90 acres of forest teaming with life. Chickens and ducks wander around the geodesic domes and tree houses. Raised wooden trails meander through the pines. There is no silence with the constant chatter of frogs, cicadas, crickets and birds. We played two shows at the Hostel in the Forest. Both nights we settled into the library, a wooden dome filled with books, blankets and an array of instruments. Both nights we sat together before the show and tuned in with each other. We set an intention with each other and then with our audience. We played acoustically, telling stories between the songs and sitting in silence at the end of the set. Both shows we finished with an accapella song, We Saw Blue.

Early in the day, we went to a driftwood beach and played in the sea. Thunder and lightning came and we stood on the shore and watched. Dark blues and grays filled the clouds. They grew and their edges blurred like watercolors until the sky bled into the sea. We realized it has rained every day that we have sung. We sing rain songs, Chuva, Agua do Mar, Texas Flood. At the end of our final show, one listener said, “you are a full cloud waiting to rain.” We made it rain.

The Hostel in the Forest was an amazing experience for us and we are so grateful for its sanctuary. Thank you everyone who creates that oasis in the jungle of southern Georgia. We cant wait to go back!

#hostelintheforest #savannah

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