4.5.23 Earthwork Music tour across Michigan this April 19-23! 

2 weeks from tonight we’ll be kicking off Earthwork Music Spring Tour 2023!

It’s been almost 5 years since the last tour and as my excitement and anticipation grows for these shows I can already start to feel the warmth, love and creativity that I know will be so fully present at these shows as songs, stories and special collaborations are shared by this wonderful crew of artists.

4/19 Earthwork Music Spring Tour 2023 - Kalamazoo
4/20 Earthwork Music Spring Tour 2023 - Lake Orion
4/21 Earthwork Music Spring Tour 2023 - Grand Rapids
4/22 Earthwork Music Spring Tour 2023 - Traverse City
4/23 Earthwork Music Spring Tour 2023 - Ludington

Hope to see a lot of friends out there as we travel Michigan! All shows are on sale now!
#earthworkmusic #earthworkmusictour

8.7.22 Website refresh, birthday vibes, upcoming shows! 

Here’s to 43! 

Thank you to all who sent over such kind birthday wishes. It means so much. I’m feeling the years and also feeling stronger and smarter than ever, because of/in spite of it all. 

I’m really looking forward to some big courage, creativity, and collaboration in this coming year. I’m working on a bunch of new tunes and hoping to do some recording and solo shows in the near future. Need an opener for your MI / N IN show?  I might know a friendly 43 yr old singer-songwriter.

AND, years overdue, but I finally updated and gave my website a total makeover. Thanks for visiting and I’d be honored if you check it out some of my more recent projects HOOPTONES, Sing Me Home, Title Track, and Friends with the Weather. Let me know what you think! 

Here’s a couple upcoming performances I’m really excited about - more shows playing bass & harmonizing with Joe Reilly and we’re getting Friends with the Weather back in action with a trip to VA and some shows in IN! Thanks again for the birthday love and hope to see many of you out there in-person in the next couple of months!

Aug 26-27  |  Sing Me High Festival (Friends with the Weather) 

Sept 16-18  |  Earthwork Harvest Gathering (Joe Reilly) 

Sept 24  |  The Ark (Joe Reilly) 

Oct 8  |  Sing Me Home Fall Festival (Friends with the Weather) 

Oct 22  |  Manchester University (Friends with the Weather) 

7.1.18 "On the Other Side" music video! 

The deeper the darkness the more the world needs your light. 

Today, my offering is a simple song of encouragement & commitment. A video expression of pure love between parent & child. I'm keenly aware of my own privilege, aching for those who deserve these precious moments of carefree joy & safety no less than I do but are targeted because of the color of their skin, their country of origin, or their religious belief. 

I've been keeping my daughter extra close these last few weeks. As if somehow my loving embrace can extend out across the miles to wrap up all of those parents and children so cruelly separated from one another. 

"Ain't no light like the light that shines from the darkness. 
Ain't no hope like the hope that sparks from despair. 
Ain't no flower like the flower that blooms in the desert. 
Ain't no love like the love that conquers fear." 

I've been rocking my daughter & singing these words, just as I did during her first precious days of life. She is my most brilliant light, radiating hope & wonder & challenging me every day to dig deeper into being the best person that I can be. She reminds me to return to the hope, the fight, the resilience, the commitment to being a part of the change, the growth, the healing. 

"WE are that spark, gonna light it up, shine through the dark." 

If not us, who? When our children ask us about this moment, will we be able to tell them that we showed up, spoke out? That we kept creating beauty & kept building beloved community? We must find the courage and the will to persist. Light it up!

2.16.18 "Blessed for the Journey" music video release! 

We live. We love. We belong. In times full of fear, conflict, and pain, it is so easy to forget one of life's first lessons...the power of holding hands with those beside us. Stepping with courage into the unknown with simple acts of strength, grace, & resilience reveals a different way...a way of healing and a way of hope in honoring our shared humanity. 

Out of the devastation of World War II, many stories of hope would emerge. Individuals & communities across the United States & Canada responded to the call to care for & transport livestock on an epic journey across the ocean, delivering the animals to the families & communities devastated by the war. This work continues more than 70 years later through the work of Heifer International, using this "give a cow, not a cup" philosophy to work with communities across the world to end hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. 

This project would not have been possible without the support & generosity of Peggy Reiff Miller, who has spent years archiving these inspiring stories of the "seagoing cowboys." Peggy, through her archivist work, her children's book, and her public presentations captures the many layers to these adventurous stories & has chronicled them for us to continue to learn from. Thank you so much, Peggy, for granting us permission to use these photo & video treasures from your collection.

2.14.18 FWTW Behind the Songs: "Tell me Stories" 

It all started in the backseat of a converted old ambulance 2,500 miles from home. I had never heard someone tell a story like you do, winding roads through moments that no one else seemed to notice. Each chapter of the story peeling back new layers of wit, insight, and curiosity. The laughter flowed easy in those early moments of falling in love. 

We were traveling home having spent a month in Chiapas, Mexico, learning about the resistance movements for justice and self-determination alongside about a dozen of our classmates and our beloved professor, Ken Brown. Our minds & hearts were on fire, wide open to the possibilities...full of big questions, big dreams, big passion. 

20 years later I still love dreaming with you. The stories still keep me on the edge of my seat, goofy grinned having lost all sense of composure. The invitation made in those first tender & electric days traveling through Mexico remains...tell me stories, tell me your dreams...I want to know everything. 

***** 

I've written other love songs but the song "Tell me Stories" holds a special place in my heart. It definitely took it's time in becoming fully realized, having gone through many starts & stops & new versions & newer versions. From those first moments of inspiration to the studio session with some of the finest humans/musicians/friends around, the creation of this track has been one of my most moving & memorable musical experiences. So much love & gratitude to Seth Hendricks, Lindsay Lou, Seth Bernard, Brennan Andes, Abby Alwin, Jim Roll, David Hupp, Grace Rother, and Nate Shull for your beautiful participation in this creation.  

9.29.17 FWTW Behind the Songs: "Loveliness" 

Fleeting yet timeless. Fate-full while full of intention. Intimate amidst the wide open. Contagious in its generosity. Grounding in its steadfastness. Love. 

I remember being deeply moved during my Aunt Belinda Good's memorial service how amidst a grief-stricken family & community, love could resonate so profoundly, in gratitude and lasting, living legacy. One life, although way too short in years, continues to ripple out in infinite ways simple & profound. In the sharing of the stories, a collective challenge & accountability was birthed to live into that love in all of it's loveliness. 

This was our charge as lyricists & musicians as we set to bring "Loveliness" to life...to capture a drive and sense of urgency but also to relax into a groove, as if falling into a long, unconditional loving embrace. 

My wish for us all in these times of fear is to live with hearts courageously wide open, to seek & embrace the loveliness in ourselves and each other. 

Special thanks to my dear cousin, Adam Good, for sharing this beautiful photograph.

9.22.17 FWTW Behind the Songs: "Light Awakes" 

Friends with the Weather is currently going behind the songs in honor of the 1 year anniversary of their debut album release. Here are Chris' reflections on the song, "Light Awakes."

If you haven’t held the “Friends with the Weather” CD in your hand & studied the liner notes, you probably don’t know that the album is divided into 3 movements, “The Light Awakes,” “From the Darkness,” and “Over the Horizon.” As individual songs began to settle into an arch of an album, a story began to emerge exploring how we make sense of and find some peace, hope, and light within the very human experiences of fear, grief, disillusionment, and injustice. How do we allow the light to awaken? How do we sit & learn from the times of darkness? How do we channel that cocktail of insight & experience into energy & nourishment for the road ahead? Energy we will most definitely need as we strive to be a part of building a brighter future. 

For me, the song “Light Awakes” is the heart and soul of the album. A song born from the space of deep loss, sorrow, and grief where each day seems to reveal new layers of heartache. In this space, with heart raw & cracked wide open, vulnerable & unfiltered, the light can sometimes awaken & burst threw...becoming a song of hope & transformation. I suspect many of us can think of a time where light awakened surprisingly, straight out of the darkness. Perhaps a moment of gratitude steeped in a loving memory. Perhaps a young person with an exuberance & love for life that shifts your perspective. Perhaps a stirring and restlessness inside of you to engage the world more deeply. 

“The spark remains in the space within...the traveler remains in your soul. So let go.”

1.20.17 Five life-affirming songs to listen to on inauguration day 

From the Friends with the Weather blog:

This is our humble offering…a scattering of a few musical seeds of creative & loving energy into the world on this day. Reflections on beauty, gratitude, perseverance, justice, simplicity, and finding the light within the darkness. 

We'd love to hear what seeds you're sowing today, as well. May they find fertile ground. 

1. "Ezra's Song." A blessing for the children as we commit to honoring the next generations. "You don't have to be anything more than you already are." 

2. "Light Awakes." Within the darkness may we find courage. "So leave & do not be afraid. The traveler still remains in your soul." 

3. "One Foot." A song of encouragement, one foot, one step at a time. "Let the walking bring you peace of mind." 

4. "Brave Man from Ohio." May we remember & be inspired by the courage, vision, and conviction of those who have come before. "If I die, I'll die making something instead of tearing something down." 

5. "Beautiful." (from our own Chris Good) May we never doubt our beauty & our power. Sing it loud. Sing it proud. "You are BEAUTIFUL!"

12.10.16 "Live from Johnny's" EP / Holiday FWTW sales 

VIDEO PREMIERE: 
"One Foot" is the third song released from Friends with the Weather's "Live from Johnny's Speakeasy" session, a soulful song of encouragement written by David Hupp. 

ALBUM RELEASE: 
Our "Live from Johnny's Speakeasy" EP is now available for download. The EP includes previously unreleased original songs "One Foot" & "Our Love" along with covers of Andy Murray's "Brave Man from Ohio" & Seth Bernard's "My Family." The 4 song collection showcases an acoustic vibe & speaks to a spirit of compassion, encouragement, and interconnectedness. Seth Hendricks, David Hupp, and Chris Good are again joined by bassist Brennan Andes along with Erin Zindle (fiddle/vocals) and Randall Moore (percussion) of The Ragbirds, Jacob Crouse (banjo/cello/percussion/vocals) of Mutual Kumquat, and Jacob Jolliff (mandolin) of Yonder Mountain String Band. 

SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: 
The new EP is available for pay-what-you-choose with all proceeds going to theSouthern Poverty Law Center. 20% of sales of all other FWTW merchandise through our website will also be donated to SPLC through the end of the year. The Southern Poverty Law Center is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality. 

Order before 12/18 to ensure delivery by 12/23. 

We are so grateful for the tremendous support we have received this year and look forward to an exciting 2017.

9.22.16 "Friends with the Weather" album release!! 

Our debut, self-titled album Friends with the Weather is online now! 
Website
Bandcamp
Earthwork Music

We are also very excited to release a lyric video for our lead single, "Light Awakes." 

We hope this music befriends you on your journey and we invite you to share this video with your friends & family. Perhaps with a friend who has helped awaken the light within you, or a friend who could use a little extra encouragement along their way. You are strong, you will find your way. Together, we are stronger, we will find our way.