#OFFICIALMUSICVIDEO - Only Way Home

IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!!!

Thank you first to God for making all things possible...

I am absolutely filled with gratitude and love for everyone whose support and encouragement made this song, this video, and this album possible; and to all of you who click, like, tweet, post, share and leave heartwarming comments. Your kindness and love make my heart sing! My deepest thanks to all of you. It is a most amazing Blessing to be able to do what I love - and feel so good about being an artist. Here's wishing all the positive energy you give out comes back to you tenfold and that all you do, in pursuit of your heart's dream, be touched with the magic, power and strength of love...
Namaste!
T

Official Music Video: Only Way Home

"Only Way Home"

On my own in New York City

Missing home for far too long

It ain't how I thought it would be

Still I keep on pressin' on

Longing for the days gone by

Times I lay down and I cry

Thinking back on how it used to be

But I ain't gettin' nowhere

Wishin' for what's not there

Now I think I finally see

**Chorus**

Keep on taking on a new day

Don't look back upon the old way

That old place is lost

It's gone, gone, gone

Next phase, bring it on, ya got me

Steep pace, only way that I see

Boldly forward is the way back home

It's the only way to get back home

Back home, back home

It's the only way to get back home

Back home, back home

It's the only way to get back home

Everybody's got a story

But everybody's all the same

Gotta get to where we're going

But don't nobody know the way

Home is where you just can be

Friends are true and you are free

Overflowing with a sense of peace

But we ain't gettin' nowhere

Actin' like we don't care

When home is where we wanna be

**Chorus**

Somewhere along the way I swear I lost my mind

Panic-stricken in my haste I tried and tried to find

(Only empty places, unfamiliar faces)

Can't catch my breath, look right to left

(Runnin', runnin', searchin', searchin', searchin', runnin')

'Til I'm frozen still in time

Home is where you just can be

Friends are true and you are free

Overflowing with a sense of peace

But we ain't gettin' nowhere

Actin' like we don't care

When home is where we wanna be

**Chorus**

From: Nothing To Prove... Something To Say
Written by: Tanya Diona (BMI) and Russell Graham (ASCAP) / Produced by Russell Graham and Tanya Diona for Red Queen Productions / Lead and background vocals: Tanya Diona / All instruments and programming: Russell Graham / Recorded by: Russell Graham at Red Queen Studios, NY and Audio Magic, Buffalo, NY / Mixed by: Russell Graham at Red Queen Studios, NY / Mastered by: Gary Tole for Chelsea Sound Labs

Special thanks:
To Russ: My best friend, love and partner in everything - we did it! :) To Vincent Buccitelli, Meg, Qina and the New York Global Marketing Solutions team: for your continual encouragement to make things better and then even better, and for your swift and reliable ability to get it done! To Jim Bush: for your keen eye, photographic talents and warm spirit. To Chris Tringali and Leon Studio One: for always doing such a great job (and landing me so many hair compliments) - you're the best. To my most amazing band of musicians, vocalists and dancers whose talents make the live shows positively magical... Kenny Hawkins, Big Mike Porter, Richii Valentino, Russell Graham, Joey Diggs, Sharon Banks, Shelly Hirsch, Jenna Beth Stockman, Meghan Hinton - love you all! To Joey Diggs (Unka Doey): for your incredible talent, tireless dedication, awesome humor and true friendship. To Robbie Konikoff: for your constant encouragement and kindness. To all my family and extended family of most incredible supporters: you truly do make my heart sing and inspire me to reach higher heights! My most sincere thanks to you all...

Love, T

The Incredible Shrinking World

Russ and I met on stage at the World Trade Center, on the 107th floor of the North Tower. It was during a gig with a band he had played with for years, and I first came in that night as a guest vocalist.

Last night (Sunday), Russ was on stage in London playing with Nile Rodgers and Chic. He received a text message from New Jersey that included a picture of himself, there on stage in London, and the words "We see you."

Russ on stage with Nile Rodgers & Chic
at the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park 

It was from the bandleader and entertainment company with whom he had worked for over a decade - the same band that first brought us together on stage years ago.

Someone who books that band in the UK and Europe was in the crowd at the London show, recognized Russ, and sent a picture to the bandleader in Jersey, who then forwarded it to Russ on stage in London. (Cool!)

Every week, I am pleased and honored to see that there are blog views from all over the world! I welcome all of the worldwide viewership and am so glad to be a part of this era in which we are more and more connected globally!

Nile Rodgers' We Are Family Foundation

Namaste global family!
xoxo
T

It's A Small World - Disneyland Paris

Turtle Talk

Last week, these pictures appeared on my phone:

Mom sent them. Apparently it is a snapper and over a foot long (that's a size 8 flip flop next to it). She found it crawling along the path near our house. She named it Pokey.

This week, I was driving from one gig to another when I got a phone call from some relatives who will be visiting me shortly and they were all excited about the possibility of seeing a turtle that size during their stay. About a half hour after that, I stopped at a roadside furniture store that looked interesting and a man with a chainsaw came running across the parking lot to tell me that they had four showrooms inside, and if I needed him, he was on the side of the building carving a turtle. When I conveyed the story to mom, she said she had seen another turtle just before I called.

Click here for article on chainsaw sculptor

So.... WHAT'S UP WITH THE TURTLES?

"IF A TURTLE HAS CROSSED YOUR PATH: 

He is usually giving you the message that ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ 

Pay attention to details in your current project and take your time with it. 

Don’t be tempted to skip steps or take shortcuts. You will get there! 

Just trust in the process and stay in the moment. 

Bigger, stronger, faster are not always the best way to reach your goals."

- Spirit-animals.com

(Alright then. Makes sense to me.)

It was a very busy weekend with a gig in Vermont...

L to R: Harvey, John, Me and Trevor

and then a gig in New Jersey...

L to R: Frank, Matt, Jim, Joey, Joe, Me, Eddy and Junior

Apollo Joe and Me

Instead of rushing back home in between gigs, I drove straight to Jersey from Vermont. I was glad to have enough time to be able to stop and take some pictures when I saw something interesting along the way. When my navigator declined to tell me where to go, I just asked the nice kid at the gas station to point me in the direction of the moose on the back of a truck... (true story). He said, "I know exactly where you mean." LOL! I had remembered that moose from the drive up and wanted to head back that same way.

Click here for BigMooseGifts.com

This week, I will remember the message of the turtle and not race around too much. There are so many cool things I might miss if I'm moving too fast. ;)

The Big Moose Deli and Country Store, Hoosick, NY

LaFlammes Inc, Bennington, VT

Outside the Bennington Museum, Bennington, VT

Carpenter's Touch LLC, Johnsonville, NY

Carpenter's Touch LLC, Johnsonville, NY

Carpenter's Touch LLC, Johnsonville, NY

Flower Bed - Creative Custom Woodcraft, Hoosick Falls, NY

Creative Custom Woodcraft, Hoosick Falls, NY

Who wouldn't stop and take a picture of THIS street sign?

Have a great week!

Namaste,

T

Flying High

It was an AWESOME week!

There was circus training...

Wall Running

Harness Bungee

Silks

OMG! AWESOME!!! If you're in the NYC area, you HAVE to go there and try it! #SoMuchFun

Click here for The Muse, Brooklyn, NY

The facility is fantastic, the instructors are amazing, everyone there is exceptionally friendly and the workout is outstanding. I knew these activities would not be easy, but WOW! People who have mastered these circus arts are incredible athletes. It was an absolute blast! One of the other students told me it was her "happy place." I can see why. :)

Then there was a super fun band rehearsal for upcoming shows later this month. I love these guys...

Front: Me and Junior (my friend Hune);
Back: Joey (my friend Hoey),
Alan (my new friend), and Frank (my friend Fronk)

Me and Frank (Fronk)

Then there was a fantastic gig with another group - a twenty piece orchestra and five vocalists! I love these guys too...

Eight piece string section 

Me and Neal (Trumpet)

Front: Me and Jay, Joe, and Prim (Vocals); Back: Robert (Guitar)

With Tony B. (Vocalist)

With Jay and Prim (Vocalists)

It was such a happy week! On Sunday, just as I was wondering how to hold on to that feeling of joy and keep it going this week too, the minister at church said we have to "somehow" plug into that space of love and stay connected. (I thought, "Yeah, but HOW?" because I had been thinking that gratitude would be the way.) She continued on to say that awareness was a good place to start and that we should start to recognize when we slip into a place of fear or worry. Then we can say a prayer, meditate, take a walk in nature or do something that might lift our spirits and get us back to the love space.

Something sounded familiar. My instructor at The Muse had me close my eyes and practice twisting my leg around the fabric to get the feel for it in Silks class. Eventually, the movement will become instinctual and I will be able to do it in the air, without looking. (THAT'S important because it's an essential part of how you support your body weight as you climb. If you lose your footing, you'll want to regain it quickly, without thinking.)

AHA! So the spiritual training mirrors the physical training! It's just like practicing a physical movement. You get to know the feeling of it in the body as you practice. You become aware of the motion. It's like rehearsing a song too! While practicing, you get to know how the notes feel in your instrument; in your voice as you sing or in your hands as you play. In a similar way, we can pay attention to how we feel spiritually in a more specific way - fine tune our awareness. By paying attention to ourselves, our emotions, our instincts, we can notice if we begin to shift from a place of love... and practice ways to recover. What an incredibly important skill to learn! As we soar higher and higher, this spiritual practice will become our safety net. We'll be able to return to the love space instinctually!

I love it when everything all ties together! Here's to flying high!

xoxo!

Namaste,

T

Hot Flashes... Can You Blame the Dog?

Yes.  Here's how...

Bentley

Step 1: Leave a roll of packing tape on the floor, well within reach of your dog who sometimes has separation anxiety.
Step 2: Go to church.
Step 3: Come home to find that dog has eaten much of the roll of tape.
Step 4: Travel by car for eight hours with said dog in the back seat.
Step 5: When dog throws up in back seat, stop at an exit ramp to let him out and clean up the car.
Step 6: Arrive at destination several hours later to discover that you've been bitten up by mosquitos while walking around on a strange exit ramp with dog. Apply Hydrocortisone cream and deal with it.
Step 7: When symptoms don't go away four days later, go to a clinic where you discover that you do not have mosquito bites, but poison ivy (from the dog tramping through it on that exit ramp and transferring it to you).
Step 8: Go to the pharmacy and fill the prescription they gave you for Prednisone.
Step 9: Accept the fact that a potential side effect of the steroid medication is hot flashes.

Did this actually happen?  Yes, except I didn't want to start the oral medication until I arrived back home from the gig in West Virginia, where the clinic diagnosed me.  So, I have the hot flashes to look forward to this week.  :)

The week prior had been a long one - with rehearsals, meetings and a flat tire incident that had me wandering through Jersey looking for a gas station with a working air pump.  Then there was VERY EARLY morning travel and a serious lack of sleep.  By the time I arrived at the airport, got on and off two planes, ran (about five miles) from one end of the airport to the other to make the connecting flight, and rode two hours in the van to the hotel (where the room wasn't ready yet, so we went to eat lunch before finally checking in), the last thing I wanted to deal with was bright red itchy spots on my arms when I took off my sweatshirt to take a much needed nap.

Classic band shot - en route to hotel

As I looked down at my arms and said, "This doesn't look right," I could hear the voice of my friend Paul Anthony echoing (from his TV episode of "Unsung") in my head.  He said, "You MUST be proactive.  You don't wait."  I considered waiting until Monday when I would be back in NY and could see my own doctor.  "You MUST be proactive.  You don't wait."  OK FINE!  I looked up health care facilities and spoke to a lovely hospital nurse who guided me to a clinic that was less than a mile from the hotel, and walked there.  Poison ivy.  I'm glad I listened.  Thanks Paul Anthony.

I laughed out loud at the pharmacy counter wondering if life could get more ridiculous.  I should've known not to ask that question.  As soon as I did, the pharmacist told me my prescription coverage had expired.  I laughed harder, waited while they looked up my coverage another way, and eventually bought the medicine.  I walked back through the rain to the hotel, applied the topical cream they gave me, wondered if makeup would conceal the red marks on my arms, thanked God that I'd thrown a long-sleeved dress in my suitcase as an option for the gig, and tried not to scratch.

The gig was great and the band was awesome!  I was one of five singers on the bandstand and they are all amazing performers!  I wore my long-sleeved dress and put a little makeup on my splotchy arms.

with the super-talented singers:  Brian, Chevonne, John and Charles

I recalled the chain of events and realized the humor in the fact that because Bentley had eaten a roll of packing tape, I had poison ivy and was facing hot flashes.  When I rewind the tape of my memory further though, I remember that I was the one who had left that roll of tape on the floor.  There was that brief moment when I saw it there and thought of picking it up, but I had been in a rush to get out the door and left it there instead.  If I had made a different choice in THAT moment, poison ivy may never have entered my life.

It looked like Heaven outside my airplane window on the way home

On the way home, when people asked how I was doing with regard to the poison ivy, I responded that it was a real exercise in mental discipline not to scratch like crazy.  (It really is too!)  It reminds me of the "blame game."  Oftentimes it's easy to place blame.  We do it all the time.  Sometimes it's hilarious!  Sometimes it's not.  While it might be funny to blame hot flashes on the dog, sometimes it's a real "exercise in mental discipline" to take responsibility for our own actions, consequences, happiness or unhappiness.

I'll remember that this week.  I may play the blame game from time to time (we're all human) and sometimes it's all just too funny, but I'll take responsibility for my own happiness and create my own destiny accordingly.

Today's calendar page from Louise Hay

Let's make it a GREAT week!

Namaste
T