1. You get music that no one’s ever heard before, delivered to your inbox on a semi-regular basis.

2. These are new songs that will grow and evolve before I commit them to a proper album. Think of these recordings as sketches: by listening to them and offering feedback, you have a hand in shaping the music I make.

3. If you like them, you can share them with your friends. If they like them, they can share them with their friends, but you still get bragging rights for “discovering” it.

4. Did I mention it’s free?

5. By listening/sharing/giving feedback, you are helping me a) create better music, and b) build an organic fan base of engaged listeners, and that’s just awesome.

If you’re not a part of the club already, send a message to carley [at] carleybaer [dot] com and tell me to add you to the list. **If you sign up by 12pm PDT on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11th, I will also send you all the mp3s you’ve missed so far!**

Enjoy!

It’s day three of five shows in four days. I’m listening to Utah Phillips and finishing my morning coffee while it’s still morning, which only happens about half the time. Woot!

Edgefield on Wednesday was a blast. I’m so glad that Elke Robitaille and I have become such good musical friends; it makes big shows that much more fun. And, together with JP Downer, we’ve been perfecting our three-part harmonies, à la CSN (and sometimes Y). We got a great response. I even got to see some people that I breakfasted with on my train trip; I told them about the show while we were somewhere in North Dakota, and they ended up coming to see it! That made me feel great. Then we ran into another fan while we were hanging out in the parking lot. He was so stoked to be hanging with “the band”, which made me giggle; it was my first-ever experience being “the band”.

Yesterday was the Portland Farmer’s Market, which was also a good show. I love farmer’s markets; there’s something very healing about playing amongst heaps of vegetables and fruits and other labors of love. The one drawback was that I needed to bring my own amplification, which involved schlepping my ginormous amp (along with a mic stand, a suitcase, and of course my guitar) on the bus. I ended up making it, thanks in part to help from a friend, but today I have very achy shoulders. But it was worth it.

Tonight is the PDX Unplugged Festival at the Hawthorne Theatre. I’ll be at the Lounge at 7:45pm. It’s a short set, about half an hour, for which I know my shoulders will thank me. Anyhow, it’ll be a good warm-up for tomorrow’s double-header (Cedar Mill Farmer’s Market at 9:30am and Corkscrew at 7pm, if you’re interested).

At several points in the last few days, it occurred to me that I am incredibly lucky to be doing what I do. I owe it all to you guys for making it so much fun. Thanks a million. See you out there!

Here’s the lineup:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 28th – Edgefield Little Red Shed, 6pm. I’ll be sharing the stage with my dear friend, Elke Robitaille. It’s an outdoor gig (and all ages!), so grab a picnic table and a beverage and let us entertain you!

THURSDAY, JULY 29th – NW 23rd Portland Farmer’s Market, 5:15pm. This is in the parking lot at NW 23rd and Savier. Listen to some tunes while you peruse the produce!

FRIDAY, JULY 30th – PDX Unplugged Festival, Hawthorne Theatre Lounge, 7:45pm. A celebration of Portland’s diverse music scene that lasts for 3 whole days and is completely free to the public. Don’t miss it!

SATURDAY, JULY 31st – A double header!! I’ll be at the Cedar Mill Farmer’s Market from 9:30am-1pm, and then at Corkscrew Wine & Beer Bar at 7pm. I’ve been missing Corkscrew for the last five weeks and I can’t wait to get back!

Hope to see you out there!

So I know all the social networkers have already declared Myspace to be dead, and I’ve known it for a while as well. However, I’ve still used it to update show dates– until recently. I’ll spare you the particulars of the debacle, but suffice to say it’s become too much of a time-suck to use Myspace for anything other than a flashy music player.

I’m going to continue to use Facebook and Twitter (unless someone updates those interfaces to be equally asinine), but above all, this website will have every show listing that I have confirmed. Or at least, I really want it to. I’m using Google Calendar to update it, but a long list of technical difficulties has me paranoid. I really want to be sure that accurate, up-to-date information is being conveyed.

If you want to give a girl a hand, just check the calendar and see when my next show is, and shoot an email to carley [at] carleybaer [dot] com with the info. That way, I can be sure that my website is keeping you 100% in touch with my goings-on.

Thanks in advance for your help. Hope to see you out there!

I just had a birthday. My 27th. I’ve been trying to think of a way to celebrate that goes beyond having parties and drinking a little too much (although, believe me, that did happen in abundance)… and I came up with the idea to give away one copy of my CD for every year I’ve now graced this beautiful planet.

So here’s the deal: if you know someone who might have a need for some new music, send an email to carley [at] carleybaer [dot] com with their name and address, and I’ll send them a copy FOR FREE. I’ll even include a note about who requested it on their behalf.

We started out with 27 copies, 7 of which have now been spoken for. That means you have until 12 NOON PDT on FRIDAY, JUNE 4TH, to get your names in to me and get a brand-spanking-new copy of You Can’t Control The Weather.

Help spread the word, the love, and the music. And as always, thanks a million!

xo
carley

Not so long ago, I was presented with an opportunity to drive around the country in an old car, with nothing but my guitar by my side. It’s been a dream of mine to live the dirty, hard road life ever since I first laid eyes on BookYourOwnF[*]ckingLife.com; suddenly, thanks to an awesomely generous relative, I had the chance to turn it into a dream come true.

I started thinking about logistics, where I might go first, etc. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that this particular dream didn’t exactly fit the way it used to. I’ve been living car-free in Portland, OR for the last four years; in that time, I’ve realized that oil dependence is a travesty for so many reasons, pollution and politics not least of all. I don’t mean to be preachy– everyone can make their own choices. But for me, driving 10,000+ miles around the country, dream though it may be, suddenly didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. And flying… well, don’t get me started.

On the other hand, I love trains. Love them. I used to ride the Amtrak’s Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago almost every weekend after high school, and since I’ve lived in Oregon I’ve crossed the country on the Empire Builder a half dozen times. Train travel is a unique animal. It forces us to relax. It lets us do some great people-watching in the Observation Car, and maybe meet some new friends. It reacquaints us with the country. (It lets us carry twice as many bags as airlines do, for free! And bikes too!) And it’s a lot more sustainable than flying or driving. So I rethought my dream. Instead of driving from city to city, why not take the train? I could use the travel time to sleep, tune or practice, instead of pounding gas station coffee, driving and trying to remember directions.

That’s why today, National Train Day, I am announcing my plans for a West Coast Train Tour. I plan to be traveling for a month between Vancouver, BC and L.A., by train. (I hope to eventually tour the whole country by train, using what I learn on this trip, but that’s a little further into the future.) Within each city, I’m going to travel by mass transportation, and I’m going to keep a video diary of my experiences. By doing this, I hope that I’m able to inspire more people to abandon their cars and plane tickets, and go by train.

**To celebrate, I’m offering a free download of the Train Song, from my album Still Life!!**

There will be more details as this develops, including a DVD of the video diary (and how you can get one!) and a petition for an assistant, not to mention shows in cities I’ve never heard of, and my very first show in Canada (!!). There’s going to be a Bake Sale on May 21st to help raise funds for this tour, and if you’d like to know more, email me and I’ll tell you everything.

Thank you so much for everything you do. Your support means the world to me, and I feel truly fortunate that I am able to do something like this. Now go learn something about trains! (Or just gaze lustfully at Taye Diggs’ beautiful face on the National Train Day website for a little while, and THEN go learn something about trains!)

xocb

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my new website! I had a fun time at Bandcamp, but I figured it’s about time I go back to having one single destination for shows, news, and all that fun stuff. (Bandcamp’s still around, though; you might notice that the Store looks vaguely familiar…)

In addition to the musical content, I’ve included a few extras that I hope you enjoy. For one thing, I’ve started really appreciating community these days, and so one new feature of the site is the list of all my musical friends along the sidebar. They’re all fantastic, and I’m so honored to know (and occasionally play with) every one of them, so check them out whenever you’ve a mind to.

I’ve also included a page of links to things I love, like trains and homemade cleaning supplies and non-profits that tear up old parking lots. The list of links will probably change and grow, depending on who I meet and what they teach me, so check back when you can and see what else is new.

If you have any feedback, good or bad, don’t hesitate to send it my way. And if you want to talk about something else, you can email me with that, too. I always like a good conversation.