on saturday, charlie will be with me at the black fox lounge. i'm happy about that. it's funny how life can turn on a dime and you wind up back where you started...albeit with brand new eyes and heading in a new direction. i had a fantabulous two months with james dudley on keyboard, but i'm excited about getting back to doing originals and other cool, guitar-driven stuff ;-)

hope all is well in your world. gotta go...bye!

hugslove,
d

1.23.11

happy birthday to me!!!! i survived another year...and what a year it has been. amen and hallelujah, lol. 

i had a fabulous birthday week...positive energy and love coming at me from every angle. my week started with charlie taking me to see mother's finest at the birchmere on monday. amazing show...even better than the last time i saw them in 2009. the level of energy they bring to the stage after all these years is absofuckinglutely amazing. we sat right in front of the stage and i was again blown away by the incredible passion and talent and power. i'm a long-time fan of mf...they are still the best band on the planet!

had a great night at the black fox lounge last night. i walk in that place and i feel so loved ;-) to all who were in the house, thank you for the love and hugs and kisses and happy birthday wishes. i'm blessed, yes!

so, it's me day and i'm going to brunch with charlie and then my daughter shaina is making me dinner and a cake! then, we're gonna watch the steelers game and after that...well, i have a bottle of champagne (thanks to jim, owner of the black fox lounge) to celebrate my journey. and i have so much to celebrate and be thankful for. cheers!

love2you,
d 

1.10.11

magic is in the air.  how sweet it is...how sweet it is.

happy 2011! one week down, 51 to go. a year from now, we'll be starting all over again. i'm thankful for new beginnings. sometimes, you need to empty out your mind and start from scratch. create a new recipe. even if you're working with the same basic ingredients, try a little more of this...a little less of that, you know ;-) shift your priorities, rearrange the set-up, make it brand new. and always, whatever you do, be true to you.

had a good night at the black fox lounge on saturday with the very talented james dudley on keys. he'll be with me every saturday this month, bringing that churchy-soul vibe to the mix. i'm diggin' the newness ;-)

lovehappiness2you,
d

12.28.10

we had a great show at middleton tavern on saturday. we sounded great. we had a good crowd. it was a most excellent christmas gift. to everyone who came out, thank you. we felt the love and gave it back. i have to say, performing with my band continues to be the highlight of my life...i feel like i wanna do the sanctified slide, hahaha! special thanks and love to my kick-ass power trio: charles wright, chuck carter, and ignatius mason. power to the nth degree, yes! ;-)

12.19.10

limbo...that's where i am right now. letting go of the past and unsure about the future, i'm living each day with no particular plan. this is a strange place for me because i've always been a driven, goal-oriented person...never happy unless i'm doing/accomplishing something. lately, i feel like i need to just sit still for awhile and focus within. i don't have a desire to "do" anything except what is absolutely necessary for my day-to-day survival. i'm ok with that.

what i want for christmas and the new year:  

on a lighter note, the dee stone band will be rockin' middleton tavern in annapolis on december 25, christmas night!

beginning january 1, i'll be at the black fox lounge every saturday.

love2you,
d 

12.9.10

i just had a really good conversation with my father. i love my daddy! he always has so much wisdom and experience to share. he's had quite a journey and i'm thankful for his presence in my life. he got married for the third time seven years ago, at 70, and he's happier and more at peace than he's ever been. go, daddy!

blessings and bliss,
d 

12.3.10

had a fun hit last night! yvonne johnson was with me on piano. it was a holiday party for the dc superior court staff. we had a ball! we ended with dr. feelgood by request. i flubbed the words, but they were still hoopin' and hollerin', "sing that song, girl" hahaha! me thinks they were just a wee bit past tipsy, uh huh ;-) but, i felt so blessed and thankful for the opportunity to spend a few hours with a room full of beautiful, happy people!

lovehappiness2you,
d 

11.25.10

thankful. i just put my turkey in the oven and i am enjoying a peaceful moment of gratitude. this has been a very good week/month for me. my creator and i are rebuilding my life...starting from scratch. change, new opportunities, and new people are coming into my world as i embrace the new me. it's scary and exciting and i am oh, so ready! giving thanks and sending love to all...happy turkey day ;-)

love2you,
d

11.11.10

i've deleted the original entry for this day because i said some things that caused someone pain. that wasn't my intent. i was trying to heal my own pain and find some kind of closure...a way forward. but what the fuck do i know? sigh...

love2you,
d

11.04.10

wow, i haven't written in a long time. so much has been happening. change, change, change. but then, that's the story of my life, lol! i really need to do better about updating...i don't think about it until someone says something to me ;-)  i've added a few new pics to the photo gallery, too. (thanks, speedy!)

we had three really good gigs this past weekend. rams head roadhouse was very cool. lookin' forward to going back...we have four dates in 2011. the halloween party in fredericksburg on saturday was nice! a lively bunch of folks that came in ready to party and danced all night. blues alley on monday night was special...it's such a great room and the vibe is so sweet. didn't have the turnout i had hoped for, but some good friends came out and we made some new friends from brazil and australia, yay!! it's amazing how people from other countries have a much greater appreciation for live music than people in the states. having an audience that is willing to go with you wherever you take them is such a major blessing. it was a great show. charlie, chuck, and ignatius were on fire and i was feelin' good, yes!! we even rocked a little mother's finest at the end of the last set ;-)

i am so thankful for everyone and everything in my life. i am blessed (doing the sanctified slide, hahaha!).

love2you,
d 

08.22.10

charlie and i had two great shows this weekend. we're breaking new ground...rising above the sea of mediocrity out there and people are responding. today i'm feeling the bliss and extra grateful for this magical journey.

we have a full band show friday! we'll be doing some new material. unfortunately, sean will not be with us. we have parted ways again after our brief six-month reunion, lol. even though sean is an incredible player and adds much to the chemistry of the band, other stuff gets in the way of the music. fortunately, ignatius mason has stepped in to hold down the back beat and we are rollin' on with a little more phatness in the bottom ;-) chuck and i have worked with ignatius before. he loves what we're doing and, most importantly, he is sans drama.

that's all for now, me and my boobear are gonna chill and watch a movie.

namaste,
d

07.22.10

been having some busy, colorful, intense dreams the past couple of weeks. people, parties, train station, subway station, bus station, moving to a new place, driving in my car...does this mean i'm going places, hahahaha! things are definitely moving and shifting in my daily life. i wake up every morning looking forward to the day. haven't felt like this in a long time. rise and shine...bring the new, yes!

namaste,
d 

06.30.10

booking...booking...booking ;-) i had a really good walk this morning. the weather is perfect and i've got my mojo workin', uh huh. now i'm gonna get on the phone. looking forward to a productive day...two new dates will be confirmed today. power to me!

06.08.10

charlie and i (stone/wright) have been getting a lot of internet radio play with our song right there. we are so thankful for the support. there's nothing like writing a song from your heart and having it touch someone else's ;-) it was almost a year ago when we recorded the song and the live...from the bedroom cd. time flies, uh huh! we had hoped to record a cd with the band this summer...not sure if that will come to be. but, we will record something soon; maybe a duo cd with a few full-band tracks. who knows? 

good news!!! i was just notified that right there will be featured on women of substance radio again. this time, it will be on their "women of substance sing the blues" show. they play some really talented artists and i'm happy to be in such company. the player is below. the show airs this friday 5-6 pm est and will broadcast every friday for three months. tune in and give us a "thumbs up" or send a shout!

that's all for now.

hugs and love,
d 

05.07.10

i am in a very happy place, right now. i took a big step last month...i left my day job to do music full-time. it's something i've wanted to do for so long, you know? now that my kids are grown, i'm ready to live the life i've always wanted. it's scary, but very necessary for me and my soul growth. and, i know with all my heart that it was the right choice. the pieces are coming together and everything is falling into place ;-) i have a wonderful husband who loves and supports me and we are both full-time musicians now. between the duo and the band, we are determined to sustain ourselves with our talent.

oh, and to the mommies reading this...have a beautiful, love-filled, happy mother's day!

04.06.10

i just joined twitter (again, lol). people keep telling me i need to work the social-networking sites on the interwebs ;-) but, i'm not feeling facebook and myspace is not what it used to be...i tried twitter last year, but found it strangely inhibiting. i mean, i never knew what to say in 140 characters or less, so i killed the account. but i signed up again tonight and i've made a commitment to tweet and connect. i'll try to stick with it this time, lol. hell, maybe it'll grow on me. anyway, you can find me here.

04.02.10

we spent this week converting some old band footage to digital files.  what a time-consuming chore, lol.  anyway, the links are on the audio/video page...scroll down the page and you'll see them.  or you can watch on youtube.

03.27.10

right there is "video of the day" on pongid radio.  woohoo!

03.19.10

hey, it's lookin' like springtime is upon us.  yes!!!  sho' 'nuff glad to say goodbye to that hellawinter of 2010, lol.

now, if i can just lose this weight i gained in the last three months, i'll be good to go.  what is it about winter that makes our bodies store up that fat...feel like a big ol' bear coming out of hibernation, rrrooooaaarrr, hahaha!

02.16.10

we had a good band rehearsal yesterday. i'm really glad to be working with charlie, chuck, and sean again. there's a certain comfort level with them. it felt surreal to be in sean's basement again. brought back a lot of memories from another time, lol. the four of us haven't worked together in about 10 years...in that time, we've all grown, as musicians and as people. and, like charlie said, "we have some unfinished musical business." i'm optimistic! with the stone/wright duo and the dee stone band we're gonna make some noise in 2010, yes sir, hahaha!

i talked to my son derric today and yesterday. two days in a row...that's a record, hahaha!  he's in his second year down at virginia tech. he's doing a double major--physics and math--and he says he has so much homework he doesn't have time to do anything else! i had called him yesterday morning to say happy birthday. he's 20...wow! then, he called tonight to thank me for the b-day card and we talked about life and physics and snow, lol. he has a girlfriend and he's happy. i'm proud ;-)

next week, on tuesday the 23rd, wpfw (89.3) fm's dr. belle will be playing right there from the live...from the bedroom cd on the show with keanna faircloth. that's tuesday, february 23rd, between 1:00 and 3:00 pm. the station number is 202-588-0893. tune in, call in!

i think that's all. stay warm.

namaste,
d

02.08.10

i changed it again, lol ;-)

02.03.10

gave my web home a makeover. you like? we have our first full band rehearsal next week...i'm psyched!

01.10.10

wow, i can't believe we're heading into mid-january already. well, happy 2010 to you!  i hope your year is starting out with fierce abandon ;-)

so much is happening in my life. this past year has brought many changes...all good!  this is my birthday month, and i'm always in a looking-back mode this time of year.  i am truly thankful for the journey and the joyful dissonance that is my life, hahaha!  charlie and i will be celebrating our first anniversary in a couple of weeks, and i have to say, year number one has been major sweetness ;-)

in case you haven't heard, we were nominated for two wammie awards from the washington area music association!  it's an incredible honor to be acknowledged and we're keeping our fingers crossed for a win!

we had our first performance of the new year yesterday. we did a couple of songs at the young women's drumming empowerment project fundraiser at busboys and poets. the founder, kristen arant, is traveling to ghana to work with a children's drumming program (info here.)  she asked me if i'd contribute my voice/spirit to the event.  we had a great time and grooved to the rhythms of the bele bele bumbada women's drum collective. i wish kristen much success in her journey. she's a powerful lady on a mission! you can watch a short clip of our performance on the stone/wright site here.

i guess that's all for now.

peace and good things,
d

10.19.09

i met little richard tonight. he played the birchmere and i was blessed to be on the guest list. a little background: my oldest son's father, kenny walker, has been touring with richard for years (lead sax player). over the years, whenever they were in town he would call to see if i wanted to come to the show...i never made it. but this time, i decided to go. why? partly because it's the birchmere and it's my favorite place to see anybody; and, because richard is getting older and may not be touring for much longer. i'm getting older too and i just felt like i should see him...just for the experience.

they cut the lights and the band cranked up. "ladies and gentlemen, little richard!" they rolled him to the stage in a wheelchair, lifted him onto the bench at the piano, and he turned and smiled that crazy smile, lol. everyone went wild! the first thing he said was, "i'm 76 and i have to have hip replacement surgery." he said, "i'm so glad to see y'all, thank you for coming." "are you glad to see me?" he's so funny! every time someone would yell something from the audience, he'd say, "shut up!"

the show was incredible! two drummers holding down a serious back beat. two guitar players, four horns, a keyboard player, a bad-ass bass player (richard introduced him as his son, charles). richard sat pretty still at the piano, but there was constant movement on the stage, choreographed uber show-style! they played all the big hits and the ride was over in about an hour and 15 minutes.

bryan, my son, came in after the show was over. we waited at the bar for kenny to take us backstage. kenny came out and we went back to the dressing rooms and they were all packing up in a rush to get on their bus to go to the hotel. richard was not feeling well and was in a hurry to leave, so kenny took us on the bus to meet him. he already knew bryan...when he saw him he said, "look at you, you got so tall, and look at those big shoulders!" then kenny said, "he has his mother with him this time." i came from behind bryan and richard said, "hey pretty, y'all look like twins." hahaha! then he said, "come, give me a hug." i gave him a good hug and told him how much i enjoyed the show and how happy i was to finally meet him. he had his leg propped up, and he said, "i'm in so much pain, i have to have surgery, keep me in your prayers." i told him i would (and i will!) and that he would be fine. even though he is a small man, his energy is so powerful...and he's full of fire!

it was an amazing night. i feel blessed. here's a pic:

9.03.09

what a ride this year has been! we came back from paris a few days ago.  it was a beautiful five days!  i swear i didn't want to leave, but i'm glad to be home. ;-)  i put some pics on facebook. click here to check them out. 

i've been spending more time updating our new site, stonewrightmusic.com, but i figured i better keep in touch here, too. there's a lot happening these days. our new cd "live...from the bedroom" is finished and you can download the digital on amazon.com. it was recorded, mixed, and mastered in the bedroom, lol.  we're kind of proud of it. check it out when you have a minute, ok.  and email me to let me know what you think.

we're heading up to potsdam, ny this weekend for a show at la casbah.  we're really looking forward to the trip to north country.  and, we did an interview on a radio station up there.  you can listen here.

we have four songs from the new cd in rotation on jango.com and there's an internet station in france called kanaljazz that will be adding "right there" to rotation.  i'll have more info on that soon.

on september 14, we have an interview on april sims a and e radio, 7-8pm check it here.

i think that's all the news for now. we have a couple of festival gigs coming up next month. come see us!

namaste,
d

7.23.09

 today, at work, i was out taking my daily walk/break, contemplating life and such, when a car pulled up and two ladies jumped out and said, "we're from channel 7 news, can we talk to you?" the first woman said her name was rebecca cooper and she wanted my thoughts on obama's speech last night (i told her i didn't watch it) and on obama saying the officers "acted stupidly." i said, "cops do stupid things all the time." i stood there and talked to her for about 10 minutes with the camera rolling. i had to bite my tongue and not go into a rant about my own experiences with racist cops.  she thanked me and said it would be on the news between 5:00 and 7:00 tonight.  well, it was!!  they cut out a lot of what i said (of course!), but here's a clip:

7.10.09

thanks for stopping by.  i hope life is treating you real good.  i'm in chill mode right now, so i'm taking the time to say a few words here.

we had a great time at artomatic last weekend with the liberated muse crew!  it was a good show.  positive energy from the performers and the incredibly loving crowd.  i made a few new friends and got to meet a couple of folks that i only knew online.  we did three songs, two new ones and "sweet."  charlie (with the looper at his feet, lol) played with his usual power and finesse.  shanta monroe shot some great pics of the whole event.  if you're on facebook, find me there and check 'em out.

on saturday, we went to my family reunion.  it was so good to see everybody.  we hugged, laughed, talked smack, and rushed out cause we had to do the extra virgin gig that night.  it was a pretty slow night there.  a few more people came in late, after the fireworks, so the night ended pretty cool.

after such a beautiful weekend, going to work monday was a sho nuf drag, lol.  but, i made it through the week and it's friday night...just got paid...money in my pocket...hahaha!  i know you remember that song, lol.

anyway, we're recording this weekend.  the plan is to have our little ep finished by the time we go up to new york at the end of this month.  we've got six songs ready, so we should be good. it's just the two of us, and things are flowing magnificently... 

and...i'm sooooo excited. we're going to paris in august!!!  i'll tell you more about that later ;-)

namaste,
d

5.24.09

my new rose bush bloomed it's first rose...beautiful!  i planted it almost a month ago.   i have two tomato plants in pots and they've doubled in size and look real healthy.  as for my backyard garden, well, that's another story.  after digging up (again!) a nice rectangular plot, pulling out weeds (careful not to hurt the worms), working in the new soil mix...i said, 'this time, it's gonna work!"  three weeks later, i sashayed on out there to plant my little broccoli, carrot, and kale seedlings, and the whole space is covered in weeds!  this is the second time.  i'm trying to do this without using chemicals.  don't want to do battle with nature.  but the superpower weeds are determined to live and thrive and, hey, who am i to invade their space, lol.  i'll just grow my little veggies in some nice big containers.  sigh...

namaste,
d

5.10.09

ooooh, what a magical weekend. me and charlie had a photo shoot saturday and got some new promo pics for stone/wright, the duo. thank you, bryan haynes, my absolute fav photographer.

my mother’s day was beautiful...my daughter made breakfast. yum! she can hold her own in the kitchen, lol. she made waffles, sausage, and a frittata that was delish! i enjoyed the early part of my day with my kids and then me and charlie went to see mother’s finest at the birchmere!

it was an amazing show. joyce kennedy looked great and sounded fabulous! she’s got to be at least 60 and she’s still a firecracker on the mic. she’s one of my favorite singers...i’ve loved mother’s finest since i was a teenager...and to finally see them live and feel the energy of her presence was an incredibly blessed experience. we got there early and had really good seats...right up close. there was a new guitar player and drummer, but they had mo on guitar, wyzard on bass and of course, murdock. they cranked...the show was phenomenal and fierce.

it was the perfect ending to my weekend! happy mother’s day to all the mama’s out there.

namaste,
d

4.14.09

hey, thanks for stopping by.  i hope you are well and enjoying this quasi-spring weather. it's a little chilly for my taste, but hopefully the warm sunny days will settle in soon.

my baby girl, shaina, turned 18 in february and she told me she's getting a hotel room on prom night.  i said, "oh, hell no, we're not there yet."  she said, "i'm 18. i can do what i want."  i said, again," no, no, no!"  she's a smart girl, and she's bullheaded like her mama, lol.  and truth be told, when i was her age, i was out there in the world. but it's a different world now.  my uncle asked me, "you got your shotgun ready?  lol, that might not be a bad idea. i can just see me standing in the doorway with a shotgun..."what you comin' round here fo, boy?" hahaha!  oh lord, i am so not ready for this!

in other news, i've been writing like crazy lately.  words and melodies are flowing through me like water.   me and charlie (the husband, lol) are putting together an acoustic set to perform and we're working on some new stuff, too.  i posted one new song on the player.  it's called "get back to the love." check it.

that's all for now...be well.

namaste,
d

2.2.09

happy 2009!  happy birthday to me (1/23)...and, by the way, i got married last monday (1/26).

yes, me and charlie finally did the damned thing. if you know me/us, you know what's up, lol...after 13 years of battling our combined fear of commitment, we locked it on down.  with the new moon, solar eclipse, chinese new year, and a serious don't fight the feelin' vibe, i pledged all that i am and all that i have.  i am now and forever mrs. charles wright.

i feel so blessed and thankful and loved.  hmmmm, there's a song in there...stay tuned...hahahaha!

this year is sho nuff startin' off with a big ol' bang, woo hoo!

namaste,
d