New music and Clear Blue Tuesday, topped with non-chunky salsa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BROOKE!

Big love to one of my best friends in the world, Brooke Ferris- woman, friend, and performer extraordinaire- even though you don't crave cake like I do, I still love you.

Speaking of Brooke, I was in San Antonio with her over the weekend- and man, it did make me want to explore Texas more. I've never been to Austin, not even for SXSW, but I'll make it there. Texas was...big. There are so many saying, cliches, presumptions about Texas that I had, and have, from thoughts about oil to NASA to the people... I remember hearing the Miranda Lambert lyric from "New Strings":

"The Texas sky's the biggest one I've seen..."

Since then, for some reason, that's stuck with me, and I've wanted to check out that sky for myself.

Well, it wasn't overly big, I guess. I mean, not bigger than the sky I've seen on open ocean, or at the top of a mountain in Tennessee, or even on the beach in Rhode Island...but yes, it was big. And the wildflowers growing along I-10 were gorgeous. And scaling a massive granite landmass called Enchanted Rock was nerve wracking, physically demanding, and ultimately freeing and inspiring when we made it to the highest point without slipping off the rock or pulling any muscles. Go, us. There is nothing like the great outdoors, to me, whether it's the dry heat of the southwest, or the smell of low tide and the salt that sticks in my hair when I'm on the ocean, or the cicadas buzzing through the smell of freshly cut grass right outside my own front door in the neighborhood I grew up in, in Enfield CT. I NEED that, every now and then, more often than I think, always. Not that I don't absolutely love my concrete jungle, or find God as much in the art and architecture and people of New York City as I do in dissipating clouds and sparkling white and pink pebbles washing in and out of the surf. But that "big-ness" in nature, in the sky and otherwise, so reminds me how small I am, and how much all this stuff that I'm probably worrying about right now doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Now, let us just talk about the food in Texas, since, I am a foodie and I love the sensuality and the art and the fun of it all, and wherever I go, it is absolutely essential that I explore the food culture there, usually via asking the locals where the do-not-miss spot is. R-I-B-S. I had pork, Brooke had beef. There is no spectacle on earth like Brooke Ferris killing a (already dead, of course) cow rib. Gristle doesn't stand a chance. No really. Those bones are cleaner than if a dog had gotten a hold of them. I was very, very proud. THAT'S my friend, ladies and gentlemen. Be nice to me, or she'll attack. The BBQ sauce, aaaaaaah, yum, yum yum. And, of course, what would a visit to San Antonio be without the MEXICAN FOOD! Brooke and I disagree on the finer points of salsa, me being the damn Yankee that I am- I actually love chunky salsa, with tomato and onion and sometimes even (gasp!) mango or pineapple or peach... but Brooke is super Texas old school, preferring the non-onion, thin sauce-type salsa that (admittedly) is more Mexican-authentic. Regardless, I ate enough chips and salsa to last me the entire year, not that I care, since I'm most definitely bringing some to the Cinco de Mayo recording session next week.

Speaking of recording, I'm working on 4 new songs with the rockstar talented composer and producer Edd Kalehoff and his killer team, between New York, Nashville, and FL. The songs, which some of you have heard at the shows so far this year, are:
First Kiss
Avalanche
Just Being Myself
Windblown Girl

And we keep on coming up with amazing ideas for other tunes, including "New York, I'm Home" and the one I wrote on a 5 hour layover between Nassau, Bahamas and Great Harbour, entitled...wait for it... "Layover." Again, very subtle.

Good people playing on this stuff, too. Big cats, as Edd puts it. Meeeoooow. Stay tuned here and on the website for more information on just who...don't wanna say til we got the trax cut ;-)

Meanwhile, I just updated www.CassandraDemoSinger.com , the site I started to focus specifically on my session singing work on demos, jingles, and voice-overs. It's kinda neat, and, although it focuses on my singing work for OTHER people and projects, it has some fun stuff on it, like examples of me sounding like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. Check it out.

FINALLY, I have to share some news on the rock movie musical CLEAR BLUE TUESDAY that I am SO STOKED about! Direct from director Elizabeth Lucas:

-We screened in two festivals, Geneva Film Fest in Ohio and Worldfest in Houston, and we won two awards, both gold awards for first feature.

- We will be screening at the Connecticut Film Festival on May 5th & May 8th. Info is here: http://www.ctfilmfest.com/site/node/350

- We are officially going to be screening at the Quad in New York City from September 3-16. This will be a regular theatrical run with multiple screenings per day.

- Because we have so much going on in September, and because the venue situation this spring appears very crowded, we are not going to do a CD event on May 24th. We are still working on getting the album out sooner rather than later, but are going to save any major events for the two weeks we are screening in NYC.

- Swansea Film Fest in Wales is giving us an award, Vineyard (Cyprus) Film Fest will be screening "CBT", New Filmmakers will be screening us at The Anthology in June, Thailand Film Fest is screening "CBT" in July, and Ft. Lauderdale Film Fest is screening us in October!

It hasn't even hit me yet that this is all really happening- that this little low budget rock movie musical we made is making waves all over the world. You're going to want to go to www.ClearBlueTuesday.com to SIGN UP FOR UPDATES on the screenings and success of the film, for sure. See you at the CT Film Fest, CT!

With love, love, love, I am off to work with Edd. Have a great day, everyone!