Showtime!

This... is why I have to focus and fall behind on my blogs sometimes.

What a great time! 

"Stone City Band won't you funk us on up..."

Yes. I believe they will. ;)

There are some amazing reviews that I will share as soon as I get the chance, but right now I have to fly because we're getting ready to do this again! 

Also... you will NOT BELIEVE what is coming up after that!!! Whew! Stay tuned y'all.

Love you!

T

Grateful

 It is still sinking in.  

I am officially in the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. I HAVE A BUFFALO Y'ALL!!!

 https://www.bmhof.org

"Those people who believe in you - who support you, encourage you, motivate you, inspire you, who are there for you to come home to... are priceless. This is a reflection of all the love and support that I got here from you all and I am eternally grateful."

"It takes a village and I am Buffalo raised."

There will never be enough thank you's. I'll be working on expressions of gratitude forever. 

Thank you Nancy Parisi for capturing these moments in photographs!

Love and thanks to you all...

XO,

T

Rehearsal Vibes

 What a blast!

Joey, Sharon, Me, Shelley

Getting ready for the big event!

With Leon

Click here for Buffalo Music Hall of Fame

Can't wait! Now if I can just figure out how to thank five million people and share an inspirational message - in under five minutes. #itcantbedone

Grateful beyond measure...

Love,

T

"Give It Up for Mr. Russell Graham"

 Madison Square Garden...

That's it. That's the blog.

Good week everyone! xo

Love,

T

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

The show was great! I always love rehearsals and being around the Stone City Band family. We rehearsed in Vegas before the Seattle show. I love this family. Randall and I had coordinated red tiger stripes (actually it may have been zebra).

Mark, Me, Randall

Me, Levi 

Danny, Me, Eddie

The traveling was a bit grueling. There were flight delays, flight changes, airport changes and long distance sprints to make it to new gates. When the show was over, I had the chance to sit and relax for a minute. Oscar and I made a few TikToks.

It wasn't until I finally packed up for the flight home and went to bed for the night that I realized my lion video had gone viral at a million views. When I woke up, it was over two million. Now, as I write this, it's at 4.8 million and counting. I'm going to have to do a follow up video. Also, who knew there was so much to learn about the mating habits of lions? LOL

The journey home was smooth until Chicago, where my final leg was delayed many times. When it went back as far as 7am the following morning and the airline was ready to send me to a hotel, I managed to race to another terminal to catch the last flight back to the NYC area. My luggage did not make it. That's alright. It should be delivered here to the house shortly and the COVID test was negative, so there's not that much to complain about in the grand scheme of things. Zachary was asleep with his favorite bear when I finally arrived back home. 

Here's wishing you a beautiful week. 

Love,

T

Surround Yourself

The neighborhood high school was having a marching band event. We went to check it out. We weren't there long and kept a safe distance from all others, but it had a profound impact.

When Zachary came home he immediately went to his instruments and began marching around. He found a mic and did announcing just as they had done on the field. He said he wanted to be in the band when he's a big kid and asked his dad what marching band was like. (Russ played several instruments with his marching band when he was in school.)

I was reminded how important it is to focus on and surround ourselves with the things we want to do. They lead our minds and Spirits in the direction we want to go. News stories about social media and algorithms drove the point home. We need to make a conscious effort to direct ourselves where we want to be, not just be guided by what we like to complain about. Zachary and I spent a little time watching some marching bands and it opened up a whole world of thoughts and actions. More of that please. 

Blessed week...

Love,

T

Grand Funk

I was in a grand funk. Russ was busy and school's out for summer. I have a mountain of tasks and I'm not going to lie - IT'S IMPOSSIBLE. I may have a panic attack just thinking about it. 

Full-on anxiety took hold for a couple of days and THEN, as if I wasn't busy enough, the phone rang. It was a gig. There was a last minute emergency and could I be 107 miles away by 6pm, fully glammed up - singing for someone's wedding? 

No. No I could not. I was on my way to the yard waste facility, with bags of mud, weeds, dirt, and potato bugs in the back of the car, along with Zachary. We were both a mess and attempting to clean up the driveway before we got some type of citation for junking up the neighborhood. Our bags of debris had been sitting so long in the rain that they broke, and we'd been shoveling their dusty remains in the sweltering heat. I also had no babysitter.

I hung up the phone, defeated. "I can't" are not words in my vocabulary, but there was just no way. There is a show next month with the same entertainment group, so I called the sitter to confirm that date. I thought maybe that would give me some kind of hope for the future.

Not only did the Angel who is my babysitter confirm next month's show date, but she was available that day as well and could come over anytime! WHAT??!! There was help??? I quickly called back for the job I had just turned down, "A sitter just fell from the sky. Do you still need someone?" Yes. Yes they did.

I can't even completely remember the whirlwind that followed, but I think I have never cleaned up so fast in my life. I was like a tornado, but I was straightening and organizing, putting away toys and papers, packing alcohol wipes, snacks, gloves, shoes, throat spray, electronics and a mic stand, all while cleaning up, curling my hair, letting the dog out, watching Zachary and doing my makeup.

I reviewed songs in the car on the way. The next thing you know, I was parking on a hill next to a cow and running toward an outdoor pavilion from which I could hear the sound of an amplified guitar. The bandleader met me by the driveway and told me not to rush and that all was well.

Life is better while the music is playing and I am doing what I do. There were fine and talented musicians, happy smiling people, and beautiful countryside views. 

I am here to tell you that the impossible can be done! Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!!! Huge thanks to all the people who have stepped in to help when I've felt overwhelmed. Thinking back... there have been so many Earth Angels who carried me just when I thought I couldn't make it. When we can't do it on our own, we still CAN with a little help. My grand funk turned into some kind of wonderful.

It's a miracle to lose hope and find it again. May we see light just when we need it and be light when someone else needs - especially now in these days of extreme hardship for so many.

With Love and gratitude,

T

Wild Blue Yonder

 Is it Monday again? I've entered a whole new world.

I was that crazy lady spraying and wiping down everything I touched (even though I am fully vaccinated), but MAN was it good to be on stage once again!

And it was beyond beautiful to be with all these lovely people and fine talents!

With Mark

With Levi Ruffin, Nate Hughes

With Lanise Hughes

Lanise, Me, Nate, Cheri, Randall, Maxi, Tom, Eddie, Levi, Oscar

Two shows, three hotel rooms, and four planes later, I think I'm getting the hang of this new world of safety protocols. Hand sanitizer, wipes, spray and gloves are at the ready in various accessible pockets of my crossbody bag and I've got the use of public restrooms down to a science. 

SMH at how much of everything we took for granted, and how amazing it is that some of these kids coming up now will have never known a world before COVID.

May we all stay safe, healthy, happy and grateful.

Love you all, 

T

Taking Requests

We're just doing what we do.

If you have any song suggestions, please comment or message. 

I'll start posting these as single posts as well, so forgive me if you see these more than once. If you're on TikTok (oh please go on TikTok, it's so much fun!), we'd love to be friends there too! 

Here's wishing and praying for all of us to be a little better at kindness, understanding and Love in the weeks to come. People deal with stress and anxiety in so many different ways. A little compassion could go such a long way for others and might be there for us too, just when we need it the most. 

Blessings to you and yours... Stay well. xo

Love,

T

Ring Ring... Hello?

Whelp. It happened again. There was only one other time that I can recall, when it escaped my attention that it was Monday and therefore blog day. My apologies.
#TuesdayIsTheNewMonday - and NOW that it's after midnight - #WednesdayIsTheNewTuesday

This is a tough time for many of us. So often we find the strength and comfort that we need to get through, by helping each other and coming together. This time we must remain separated, and "alone together" is a thing. Then came this:

- because performers and entertainers connect with people. That's what we do. That's who we are. Now, I've got some more calls to make...

and some songs to sing.

LOL (this next one)

Here's wishing us all some beautiful moments, through it all.

Please keep safe.

Love you,
T

Gotta Go

Why? Because I've officially discovered TikTok and it's taken every bit of my time and energy trying to keep up with the kids and figure out how to use it.

It hasn't been easy...

Thankfully, Zachary's been helping out around the house...

There's always a learning curve when we first try something new...

but sooner or later, things start to sink in.

Sometimes we can all get a little shy...

but we might realize that we're not alone - because everyone is kind of weird in their own way.

:)

Click here for "What Is TikTok" from Hootsuite.com

If you're on there, please come find me! 

Click here for Tanya Diona on TikTok 

Wishing you a fun week! xo

Love,

T

Onward

Well that was fun.

With the new furnace and hot water heater installed at home, we said goodbye to the hotel room and picked up the dogs from the kennel.

Like Zachary says: "Keep it moving."

Russ joined in on the action.

I'm reminded of how quickly life keeps on chugging along. In the blink of an eye, years seem to pass. One of the secrets is probably to enjoy it and make the most of every step in the process. Every moment is an opportunity to choose optimism, happiness, and gratitude - or their opposites. With the power of our mind, we can make change be something to fear or something to look forward to. So I'm saying, "Onward! Good things are on the way!"

It's like a rite of passage to get to the point where you get your bike seat raised up.

It doesn't look like time is going to slow down. So here's wishing we all spend it wisely. Let's go!

Love,

T

Thank you, Amen.

Well, I am alive. We all are.

Click here for carbon monoxide safety from The National Safety Council

I had been cleaning all day and preparing for a gig. The babysitter was coming at 6pm. It was probably 3:30-ish when I was starting to wrap things up and go pick up Zach. The house had a kind of sulphur smell that I thought was from me cleaning out the drains. I had windows open to vent and it was cold outside, so the heat was probably kicking in more than usual.

Then there was a beeping sound. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from at first. Russ was on the phone. When I said I thought it was coming from the basement, he said it could be the carbon monoxide detector. I went down to find what seemed like smoke. I couldn't see any source.

I hung up and called 911. ("The whole house smells like sulphur and the carbon monoxide alarm is going off.")

First they asked who was in the house (just me and the dogs), then they said to get the dogs and get out of the house. The Fire Department was on the way. I gazed up at the dining room as I opened the door. There was an eerie haze covering the lower half of the room. I didn't even take the time to grab my purse.

After they arrived, the captain confirmed dangerous levels of CO in the house. It was traced to a malfunctioning furnace. It was not safe to go inside. They cleared out the house and shut off the furnace and hot water heater.

There was no time to waste. I had to pick up Zach, get the dogs to a kennel, collect overnight clothes for me and Zach and get to the gig. The babysitter would have to come to the gig and stay at the hotel with Zach (hotel gig). The neighbors would keep an eye on things until the fire people managed to get the garage doors shut again, and they would also keep the babysitter warm at their house in the event she got there before I was back. Russ was calling family, the kennel, and furnace repair people from Abbey Road Studios in London. It was complete chaos - and way more than usual.

Even now, as I write this late Monday night, we are in a second hotel, the dogs still at the kennel. The new furnace comes tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, I can feel like I have some semblance of normalcy this coming week.

The gig was great. I made it on stage in the nick of time without nails or lipstick. Zachary and the babysitter were right behind me and they stayed for a few songs before he went up to bed. Everyone was very kind and I am especially grateful for the help and support of friends, neighbors and even complete strangers who went above and beyond to make our lives easier this week.

With Charlie, Gregory, Kristina #DancinMachine

Zach is having a fine adventure...

I asked for a sign and saw this.

Here's the thing. If the timing had been different... if that alarm would've gone off in the middle of the night, I would never have heard it. As crazy and as stressful as this has all been, I'm reminded that we are incredibly Blessed in ways we don't always even comprehend.

Grateful for that. Yes.

Also, for the record, we should all have carbon monoxide detectors on every level of our home. I'd like a system where they are all connected, so if one goes off they all will sound.

Love,
T

Jam-packed

There was a gig,

With Gregory, Kristina #DancinMachine

With Gregory, Rob, Kristina #DancingMachine

an airport,

a fashion fair,

and my very first purchase for the new website boutique!

With Rafael #AlfredLane

There were awesome friends and dueling pianos!

With Kim #TheTwinsDuelingPianos

There were casinos, good times and basketball watching with some of my favorite people!

With Nate and Lanise #OriginalStoneCityBand

There were signs,

and more - much more. Now maybe there can be some sleep (as soon as I get done with these emails).

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! xoxo

Love,
T