Happy Solstice!
Today is the semi-anniversary of Let It Breathe, born with a mouse click on the cold, dark winter solstice of 2016. In celebration of summer and the balance of all that has changed and remains unchanged today I'm releasing Let It Breathe (Softly), a breezier, stripped-down, almost-acoustic version of the album.
When I arrived in Santa Cruz a couple nights ago I walked around the neighborhood listening to the mixes under a star-filled, jasmine-scented sky, marveling at how different I feel from six months ago.
I don't know what last year's funk was about. Maybe it was planetary, or seasonal affective disorder that hung on for a few extra seasons. Maybe it was "creative illness." Maybe it was Prince. Certain events definitely impacted my capacity to breathe... but for whatever reason after a long dark period I'm seeing the world in color again. Nothing has changed and yet everything has. Life is mysterious.
It's likely there will be more gray periods and that's okay... that's life. I'll ride it out. We go back and forth, back and forth, little sailboats tacking towards the light. Over time we realize we're getting there. Or better yet, we are here. 
It's hard to remember progress isn't a direct line towards what we (think we) want (from our current, changing perspective).
Traveling is so good for letting go. These past weeks of missed trains, hanger, sleep-deprivation, and beautiful chaos have been filled with opportunities to remember I can't control every outcome and alas, things tend to work out much better than if I could. Because I can only see what I can see. And there's a heck of a lot more out there to see.
On the internet my life often looks like this:
And it does... sometimes. But much more often it looks like this:
I generally only share the "positive" aspects of touring, not to brag or build up a false image but because inspiration likes being shared. And I love what I do.
And I have rose-colored eyeballs.
And I travel at such a rapid pace, with so much joy along the way, that the unsavory aspects of the road are fleeting.
YET it can also be really challenging... and the challenges, oddly enough, make me love this journey even more. It's as if each day another slice of whatever I'm holding onto is scooped out and each night when I stand before you on stage I'm filled with love to a greater degree. 
The greatest reward of doing what we love is more love.
Every step ----> deeper in love.
I had anxiety about this trip to Europe because I always have anxiety about hurtling through space, and thanks to the news the mind doesn't have to work very hard to concoct reasons to fear travel/people/anything/everything. But love is always stronger than fear. Proof? Humans.
We fear and we love. We fear and we love. On two feet, back and forth, we move forward. This is progress. Not a direct line, but an ebb and flow. A leap of faith (taken with many steps). Darkness and light. 
Sometimes we feel like nothing is changing or that everything is changing in the wrong direction.
But nature reminds us that opposites balance. We inhale and we exhale. Right when we feel we're about to fall a reflex kicks in. 
In the US I meet a lot of people who are afraid of traveling abroad. While abroad I meet a lot of people who are afraid of traveling to the US. Again, thanks to the news we can list many reasons to fear each other. And yet we desire to see, explore, learn, discover uncover recover more of whatever keeps us spinning in this magical universe.
Whether you're in a period of darkness or one of light something continues to support you.
We support each other, without even realizing it.
Last night in Palo Alto I walked by a mural of children cartwheeling beneath apple trees, some upright, some upside down, some in between. Above read "Play, Learn & Grow Together." I think that says it all.
Thank you for playing, learning, and growing with me. I'm so sleep-deprived and jet-lagged (is that a verb?) I'm rambling here but these past few weeks have been the happiest of my life. My heart feels as full as the sun today. And... I get to do it again! Here are summer tour dates :D
WEST COAST
Jun 21 / SANTA CRUZ, CA // Discretion Brewing, 6pm
Jun 23 / MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA // Computer History Museum, 6:30pm
Jun 24 / MENLO PARK, CA // Cafe Zoë, 7pm
Jun 25 / REDWOOD CITY, CA // Center for Spiritual Living, 10am
Jun 25 / LOS GATOS, CA // Byington, 2pm
Jun 26 / HAYWARD, CA // Off the Grid, 6:30pm
Jun 28 / FOSTER CITY, CA // Off the Grid, 6:30pm
Jul 01 / MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA // Red Rock, 8pm
Jul 04 / DAVENPORT, CA // Davenport Roadhouse, 6pm
Jul 06 / HAYWARD, CA // The Bistro, 5pm
Jul 07 / SALEM, OR // Taproot, 8pm
Jul 08 / BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WA // Eleven, 1pm
Jul 09 / TACOMA, WA // Unity of South Sound, 10am
Jul 09 / SEATTLE, WA // C & P Coffee, 3pm
Jul 13 / SNOQUALMIE, WA // The Black Dog, 7:30pm
Jul 15 / SNOQUALMIE, WA // Sigillo, 6:30pm
Jul 16 / SEATTLE, WA // Center for Spiritual Living, 9am
EUROPE
Aug 04 / PORTO, PT // Casa da Horta
Aug 08 / A CORUÑA, ES // Festival Noroeste Estrella Galicia
Aug 10 / LUGO, ES // Ho! Graf
Aug 11 / FERROL, ES // Malo Será - San Jorge
Aug 12 / SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, ES // Festival Feito a Man
Aug 15 / TALLINN, EE // Texas Honky Tonk & Cantina
Aug 16 / MÄRJAMAA, EE // Vana Bussikas
Aug 17 / KURESSAARE, EE // Kuressaare Kultuurikeskus
Aug 18 / ANIJA, EE // Vana-Tõlla Peomaja
Aug 19 / PÄRNU, EE // Villa Ammende
Aug 20 / HAAPSALU, EE // Viieristi Kultuuriklubi
Aug 23 / TALLINN, EE // Hell Hunt
Aug 24 / VALGA, LV // Hotel Metsis
Aug 25 / OANDU, EE // Oanduaia
Aug 26 / NEEME, EE // Open Air
Aug 27 / ALTJA, EE // Toomarahva turismitalu
Aug 29 / TŪJA, LV // Savvaļa
Aug 30 / RIGA, LV // Kino Bize
Sep 01 / WARSAW, PL // TBA
Sep 03 / TYCHY, PL // Dzika Plaża Paprocany
Sep 09 / ZAKOPANE, PL // STRH Cafe & Gallery
Sep 13 / GDAŃSK, PL // Bruderschaft
Sep 16 / KIEL, DE // Prinz Willy
Sep 19 / HAMBURG, DE // Freundlich+Kompetent
Sep 20 / KÖLN, DE // Kulturcafe Lichtung
Sep 22 / MANNHEIM, DE // Altes Volksbad
Sep 24 / LEIPZIG, DE // Kulturfabrik
Sep 25 / BONISWIL, CH // with Reto Burrell (TBA)
Sep 26 / BERN, CH // FabrikBistro
Sep 28 / BADEN, CH // with Reto Burrell (TBA)
Sep 30 / ALTDORF, CH // House Concert
Oct 01 / BASEL, CH // Offene Bühne
Oct 04 / BASEL, CH // Autumn Sessions @ Markthalle Basel
Oct 05 / SOLOTHURN, CH // Red John Irish Pub
Oct 06 / MONTREUX, CH // Ancienne Poste des Planches
Oct 07 / BIEL, CH // Literaturcafé Biel
photo courtesy of LanaLive
Please let me know if you'd like to host a concert (or a swan), or if you can connect me with someone who would. I'm also hoping to make it back to other regions of the US in late 2017/early 2018... but I'm having a hard time keeping on top of emails/scheduling. :-O
I owe a bunch of you replies... limited wifi + smashed phone + tired swan = extra slow response time. I love hearing from you!! Thank you for writing!!!
I have some days off on the horizon so I look forward to catching up with you soon. In the meantime thank you for keeping in touch on instagram and Facebook. There are new covers on patreon, too. Also - t-shirts and tanks are back in stock! and endorsed by Swiss rockstars :D
Thank you for reading and have a great summer! Let it breathe... softly. :)
Love,
Cygne