TICKETS + A SIGNIFICANT ANNIVERSARY

VCA tickets on sale now! Plus, my pre-adoption birth record arrives in the mail!

Tickets for my 3/30/24 show at Vashon Center for the Arts are on sale now.

Here is the link: www.vashoncenterforthearts.org.

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As Love Songs Etc turns one this week, today marks another significant anniversary.

On January 19, 2010, Elaine called from the post office to tell me my pre-adoption birth record had arrived. It listed my birth mother as Barbara Ann Thomas. I Googled the name on the form and on the first page of results, an obituary. She had passed away just months before. I was devastated. I would never get to meet the woman who brought me into this world.

The space for the birth father was left blank, and to this day I’ve not had any luck finding any info on that front. All I know is that he, like Barb, was 20 years old and attending the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Barb’s obituary listed the names of surviving relatives, and that very night I was on the phone with my uncle and grandmother. And just a few days later I was sifting through family photos and holding her violin in my hands.

The forthcoming “Song for Barbara Ann” has a verse that speaks to this. (Note that I changed the title since I wrote about the making of the song HERE.) Here is a taste of those lyrics.

I’ve got your photographs
And your old violin
And that makes a difference
Giving me glimpses of who you had been

Barb’s violin.

Fast forward a few months and I was in southern Ohio singing songs for my newfound family beside a small campfire. They welcomed me with open arms as one of their own. The trip was a dream.

I’ll have more to say about all of this in future posts. And my next record will feature songs that speak to my adoption experiences. Stay tuned.

Peace & Love Songs,

Pete

PS: The amazing Eyvind Kang played Barb’s violin on the original version of “Wonder” from The Droge & Summers Blend Volume Two. Though the song was not written for Barb, I do wonder what she’d think of me now. I’ll save you a trip to your favorite streamer and post the track here.