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Hey Everyone.

It is crazy how much things can change in a month. The last time I emailed, I was getting ready to play a show at the East Room. Within 15 hours of sending that email, Nashville got hit with a devastating tornado and no more than 10 days after that, shows were getting cancelled, we were social distancing, then quarantining and living life in self isolation. All of that in a little over a month. I hope you are all hanging in there with the lifestyle changes and are feeling healthy both physically and emotionally. I know everyone is battling their own series of difficulties right now. My sanity rests somewhere between catching up with friends and family both near and far via FaceTime, Zoom, Houseparty etc, watching my talented musician friends play shows online, teaching Eliza something new everyday in a fun way, and crafting anything I can get my hands on.

MUSIC HAPPENINGS

Prior to all of this madness I had been busy in the studio working on “Matriarch,” learning music for the band, Fame and Fiction, that I joined, and trying to book out more shows. That has, obviously, come to a screeching halt.
Admittedly when all of this started happening, I had a tough time getting back to music. I felt overwhelmed by news, life and all of the general racket and noise on social media. I really didn’t feel the space for it, but I am coming around now. The song that kept coming back to me was “Smile.” It’s my favorite song in the whole world. Grandmom taught it to me when I was young and it’s a song I have sung to Eliza hundreds of times over her almost 4 years of life. So I decided to do a video of it for YouTube. Now, just as I finished my semi-professional musician version of it, Eliza came in and decided she wanted to do it with me. I wasn’t going to say "no" to that or miss an opportunity to film it. What happened was magical for me, so I posted it too. You can watch either or both here.

I plan to keep doing videos moving forward and connect with old friends while we are in this quarantine so be on the lookout for those.
Just in the past two days I have booked two online hangs that you are more than welcome to join. First is an interview and quick performance with Break the Business Podcast on April 26th. They are doing a CreatorsRise COVID-19 Digital Telethon to raise money for Sweet Relief (fund for musicians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic). My scheduled time is 1:30pm Central Time for that interview and song session. I will also be performing in the Stay Home Music Festival Online set up by the wonderful Aubryn on May 3rd at 4pm Central Time. For that, just go to my Mary Jennings Facebook Fan Page and I will be singing some tunes for about 30 minutes or so!

April 26- 1:30pm Central
CreatorsRise Covide-19 Digital Telethon

May 3- 4pm Central
Stay Home Music Festival

I am finally feeling ready to do these online shows and I can safely say it's because I have had the PURE joy to reconnect with my Caffe Vivaldi home. I used to frequent the open mic in NYC almost every Monday from about 2008-2012. It was magical! The host, Tracy Thorne, decided to start it up online last week and even though there were only 11 of us, it was heavenly! We sang, laughed, cried, and reminisced! Even the original host, Kate Sland, popped on from work (nurse in L.A. now) for a few minutes just to say “hi”!

No Sass Creations: Bolos and More
One thing I will say for all of this isolation is that it has been a good time to craft and create! With all of crazy dreams I started having, I was driven to start working on dreamcatchers and throw blankets. I went on a sort of sewing and weaving bender there for a bit!

I have already sold two of the dreamcatchers and the first blanket to a nurse (aka hero) down in Jacksonville but the middle dreamcatcher is still available and I have several throw blankets as well. Everything is on my Etsy.
I am also still working those bolos! I have be so honored to have several musicians really rocking my bolos on their social media and online shows! You should check them out as well!

If you message me through social media or email, I am happy to give discounts for multiple purchases, to those who have been furloughed or laid off, or to any essential worker putting their lives at risk to help everyone else survive this time.

Random Stories, Thoughts, Ideas
It's probably obvious but the majority of the past month has been, as I am sure it has been for most of you, about maintaining sanity. For me, it's not just maintaining my own sanity but that of my child too. It has been especially hard for her to be away from all of her friends and family. She is such a social butterfly and all of the Facetimes and Zoom dance parties don't make up for the hugs and high fives of her faves. But we have continued to make it fun nonetheless. She continues to make me laugh on a daily basis. If you need a little bit of kid humor, here are some of my faves for this month. The one in the middle is especially hilarious. She was only about 1.5 years old. I have no explanation for what Phoebe and I were doing, but all I will say is keep your eye on the baby...keep your eye on the baby.

Wrap It Up, Mary
I can't stress this enough, I hope you all stay well. Please stay in touch. I am just an email or social media message away (website, facebook, instagram). As always, I appreciate your support so much more than you know. Hopefully these weird times will be over soon and we will be able to see some of the beauty that comes from it. Reach out to me anytime!

Love, Mary Jennings

Mary Jennings

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