Tom Mank and Sera Smolen: News

Working out the details to many new songs.  Finishied reworking guitar track and vocal for 'These Blues' - co-written with Marijn Wijnands.  Next step will have Marijn add her vocal.

Looking forward to performing with Sera and Kirsti Gholson at the Ithaca Festival June 3.

 

 

Lots going on at the moment.  Just performed in Woodstock, NY with our favorite singers - Kirsti Gholson and Julie Last.  Performing as a duo tomorrow night at the Black-Eyed Susan Cafe in Angelica, NY.  Then a Skype interview with Math Heijen from the Netherlands on Sunday.

Have been recording in Woodstock - and writing songs with Jennie Lowe Stearns (Ithaca) and Marijn Wijnands (Amsterdam).  Looking forward to more studio work soon!

We have been doing some recording in Woodstock NY on some new songs.  Always so much fun working on the new songs!  One new song - "Quiet of the Night" - will be featured on Gait Klein Kromhof's solo CD.

I have begun setting up venues for the new year.  Woodtsock NY in March, Angelica NY in April,  Rhode Island on the horizon.

On the greater horizon will be Europe 2012 - November - again in Nederlands, Begium, and Germany.

We are back from 6 weeks in Europe - The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.  Lots of fun, lots of music!  Thanks to all the great listeners!

We have uploaded 3 NEW songs recorded live - for FREE dpwnload.

Happy holidays to everyone...

I am in Hulst now stqying with Kristin and Gait - practicing for the Sunday night gig and for the studio recordings on Monday.

Made to Haarlem in The Netherlands. Practicing for the venues ...

I fly to Brussels tomorrow.  Rehearsing and gigging with Kathy Ziegler next week.  Also songwriting with Marijn Wijnands.  Then rehearsing and recording Gait Klein Kromhof ...

I head to Europe next Sunday.  Sera joins me 3 weeks later!  Yahoo!!!

Ithaca's Porchfest 2011 is just around the corner.  Sera and I will be performing at 314 Utica Street from 2:30 - 4:00 pm.  Hope you see you there!

I have worked up a song list - and am sending CDs to European musicians to preparing for the gigs - October 17-November 31...

Recently returned from Woodstock where I recorded 4 new songs at Julie Last's studio (Coldbrook) - guitar and vocals.  I will take the tracks for these songs to Europe in October to add other musicians on them. - Tom

Just performed at the Water Music Festival in Ithaca - performers on the shore, listeners on the water (boats, kayaks, canoes, etc).  Rick Manning (fiddle), Paul Fairbanks (banjo), Tom Hodgson (guitar), Tom Mank (guitar, vocal), and Sera Smolen (cello).  Lots of FUN!

We performed at the New Directions Cello Festival last weekend and it was FUN!  A Friday night performance and a Saturday morning workshop.  Thanks to Julie Last, Kirsti Gholson, Jorge Cuevas, and Susan Hoover for joining us!

Photos and videos will be posted soon.

The 2011 European performance schedule is developing - including performances in Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany - plus a Songwriting Workshop in Dreiborg NL and Cello mastercalsses in Koln GE.  It is only April - but we are looking forward to this already!

We have finally reached March so Spring is just around the corner?  Just submitted applications for summer festivals - hopefully they will happen.

We are confirmed to perform at the New Directions Cello Festival on June 10th in Ithaca.  Sera is in charge of the planning for this venue.  She wants to combine cello with poetry (Susan Hoover) and with original music (with Julie Last and Kirsti Gholson - Woodstock).

We are also working out the details for returning to Europe in November 2011 - Netherlands, Belgium, Germany - and possibly Prague.

Hope your year is full of great music and inspiration! I am writing some new songs - which is good for the soul ...

Sera and I got back to Ithaca on Sunday night - what a wonderful tour of music with attentive audiences throughout and many new friends.

Thanks to Theo for booking all the gigs, to Marcel and Michel for the beautiful photos, to Yvonne and Paul, Jan and Maria, Peter and Leni, Rik, Gait and Kristin, Henk, Amy and Sven, Caruna and Johan, Theo, and Marcel for the accomodations.

Thanks also to the fantantic musicians who joined us in different combinations at the venues: Julie Last (vocals), Kathy Ziegler (piano, vocals), Amy Merrill (violin), and Gait Klein Kromhof (harmonica).

NEW! Interview /Article by Frank Gutch, Jr:

http://www.rockandreprise.net/manksmolenithaca1.html
Frank spent an amazing amount of time on this article and we appreciate it!

We fly to Brussels on Sunday! Looking forward to all the venues - plus the TV and Radio appearances!

We arrive in Brussels on Monday the 15th and rehearse with Amy Merrill (violin, vocals) in Belgium on the 16th and with Kathy Ziegler (piano, vovals) in Haarlem on the 17th. First gig is in Antwerp on the 18th ...

Sera and I fly to Brussels 2 weeks from Sunday! We perform at 7 venues and Sera teaches 2 workshops. Kathy Ziegler from Haarlem NL (piano, vocals) and Amy Merrill from Olen BE (violin, vocals) will join us.

The CD Release for 'Paper Kisses' will be held in Woodstock, NY at the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum on Sunday, September 19 from 3-5 pm.

Woodstock musicians and singers who appeared on the CD will perform with us: Julie Last (vocal), Kirsti Gholson (vocal) and Manuel Quintana (percussion). Bass player Kyle Esposito will also join us. Julie Last also recorded and produced the CD.

We are really looking forward to this concert since there are a number of songs which are hard to perform 'live' without Kirsti and Julie - including 'Broke Again', 'Green Church', and 'Amsterdam'. Also, since Kirsti and Julie will be joining us in The Netherlands and Belgium later in the year - this will be a great snapshot of what we all sound like in November.

If you click on the 'Music' link and then click on the title of any of the songs - you will see who plays on which songs, the lyrics for the song AND links to live performances of the songs (when available).

Sera and I will we touring The Netherlands and Belgium starting on Novenmber 15th, 2010. We will be lucky enough to have Kathy Ziegler join us on harmony vocals and piano (at some gigs). Kathy is an ex-Ithaca musician (Donna the Buffalo) who nows lives in The Netherlands.

We are also excited to have Kirsti Gholson and Julie Last join us for 4 of the gigs. Kirsti and Julie have recorded with us on our last two albums (Julie, actually, also produced and recorded the CDs!).

Finally, at the Belgium venues, violinist Amy Merrill will join us!