Yesterday, a six year old came up to me and asked "What are you going to be on Halloween. I told him my kids were at least sixteen years old and didn't go out anymore. He looked at me like I was crazy, then he asked again, "But what are you going to be?" I looked at him, and then I whispered, "I'm going to be Bill Harley!" "Okay," he said, "good idea". I guess that was scary enough for him.

While I always enjoy being funny, I am very aware that my job on a day to day basis is to bring people together and remind them of our need to get along, resolving our differences without violence. I try to do this with gentleness and humor, trusting that deep down, we all have a sense that this is possible -- I still firmly believe that. The events of the past two years have only reaffirmed for me the need for me to keep doing this work. Mostly, I say it to children and those around them – that’s where it all starts. I hope you work in your own corner to help us find away through these complicated times. While things seem dark and confusing, it’s our care for others and the world around us that keeps the world turning.

Here's hoping you have a great holiday season. Take it slow. Don't eat too much. Walk outside a little (even when the weather's bad) Make your presents. Take some time to make sure those around you hear stories about their families and the web of life that surrounds them. Winter is the time for stories and songs.

Yours,

Bill

What you’ll find in this issue:

~WHASSSSNEW?

Come on Out and Play

Hear and Gone

Town Around the Bend

Camel’s Hump Radio – Vermont Public Radio

~What Are We Reading

~From the Office….

We Need You

Holiday Specia

The Bill Harley Store

Bill's concert schedule

~The results are in....(this is what you’ve been waiting for)

WHASSSSNEW?

Come on Out and Play

I am slowly reissuing my old recordings on CD, and am happy to finally have Come On Out and Play out on CD. It includes four pieces that eventually became picture books, so it’s a pretty special recording. It’s just me and a guitar and a bunch of talking, but I look back on it as the recording that really confirmed that I could tell stories and keep seven year olds entertained. You can buy it at my online store at http://www.billharley.com/ProductList.asp?CategoryID=1

Hear and Gone

A bunch of musicians joined forces to put together an album of one-minute songs for families. My song “Five Minutes More” is on it, as well as songs by Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer, Tom Paxton, Fred Penner, Ella Jenkins, and bunch of others. Find it here http://www.billharley.com/ProductList.asp?CategoryID=4.

The Town Around The Bend

It’s still new....a bedtime recording like no other. Songs and stories from the town I’d like to live in (if only it wasn’t imaginary.) http://www.billharley.com/ProductList.asp?CategoryID=1

Camel’s Hump Radio – Vermont Public Radio

This fall I begin my new role as host for a Vermont Public Radio Show, Camel’s Hump Radio, which features a great children’s book every week. I introduce the books and make some comments, and there’s a reading from the chosen book. We have hopes of going national eventually, and it has been fun to read a lot of great kid’s books and write about them. Books we’ve done for this season include Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by Avi, My Only May Amelia by Jennifer Holm, and The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. Even if you can’t get the program, you can check out what we’re doing by going to http://www.vpr.net/CHR4_Site/. And, let me know what books you’re reading – who knows – maybe we’ll put them on the program.

What Are We Reading

In addition to the books I mentioned above, I especially enjoyed Everything on A Waffle by Polly Horvath and Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. Adult-wise, I’ve just finished Bowling Alone by Steven Putnam – a very interesting and thought provoking book on community in America. I very much enjoyed two quirky, fascinating books by W. G. Sebald, The Emigrants and The Rings of Saturn. In addition to a bunch of Tony Hillerman books, I’ve also enjoyed two musical biographies, one about the Carter Family – Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?, and Can’t Be Satisfied about Muddy Waters.

Dylan, now sixteen, has recently read and loved The Call of the Wild by Jack London, and The Island of the Color Blind by Oliver Sachs and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. Noah, away from us at Columbia University liked, The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner and If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino. Debbie, in between quilts has enjoyed Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg, The Shelters of Stone (Earth’s Children, book 5) by Jean M. Auel (she liked the other 4 too!) and Interpreter of Maladies stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.

From the Office….

WE NEED YOU! (three ways to help us)

* In this era of junk mail and spam, we are always looking for creative and non-obtrusive ways to reach more families, teachers and librarians. We know there are still many people out there who have yet to discover Bill’s performances and recordings. If you have friends who would be fans (if they only knew) please send them our way. You can tell them that if they reference you we’ll give them a 10% discount on their first order! They can reach us by calling 800-682-9522 or by going to our website at http://www.billharley.com/ .

* For those of you with I Tunes capability on your Mac computer please consider going to the request and feedback section of the I Tunes music store and put in a request for Bill Harley! Their selection of children’s music is very limited at this point and we’ve had several requests to put our music on there….the only way we can do that is with enough requests….!

* Amazon.com– as always, we encourage you to add your personal reviews of your favorite Bill Harley recordings. We love the input and so do they!

Holiday Special (good through December 10th)

Each year seems to pass faster than the year before and with the holidays coming before we’re ready, here are some specials for you.

Purchase any 2 CD’s or any 3 cassettes for $25.00 (a $5.00 savings)

Purchase any 4 CD’s or any 6 cassettes for $50.00 and we’ll also pay the shipping. We’ll cover ground shipping for any purchases over $50.00 and the discount may be taken for as many recordings as you would like. (6 CD’s or 9 cassettes for $75, 8 CD’s or 12 cassettes for $100.00 etc etc) We’ll cover the ground shipping to one address only.

To take advantage of the Holiday Special, type “2003 Holiday Special” in the special instructions field when ordering online or call 800-682-9522 to place your order and let us know that you received this email.

The Bill Harley Store

Find it over here

http://www.billharley.com/store.asp

Bill's concert schedule

Find it over there

http://www.billharley.com/calendar.asp

*for those of you in the New England area who missed Bill’s appearance at Trinity Rep last year with the WDUM Family Radio Hour....it’s back with a whole new show! May 15 and 22, 2004 with plenty of seats available – see the calendar for more details or call 401-351-4242 to purchase tickets! Great for ages 5 and up.

The results are in....

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the over 100 entries we received for our song title contest (every one of them was really thoughtful and/or funny). After narrowing it down once, and then twice and finally a third time, Bill declared a winner. The winning titles is....

“Barbie's Head is Missing”

from the Price family of New Jersey

Long time Bill Harley fans, the Price family: Dad Lee, Mom Lisa, son Terry (11) and daughter Laura (8) live in southern New Jersey have this to say about their song title:

“We enjoy word play in our family and often in the past we have remarked that something one of us said ‘sounded like a Bill Harley song.’ For the contest we started keeping a list of those ideas and then decided at the end which ones to submit. Although Lee gets credit for coming up with ‘Barbie’s Head is Missing,’ this was truly a family effort.

“The situation leading to the suggestion goes something like this: Laura has a rather substantial collection of Barbie dolls. Some of them are the victims of ‘being loved to death’ to the point where their heads have broken off. (We push them back on and call them ‘Frankenbarbies,’ but I guess that’s another story.) Occasionally, one of those heads gets misplaced, leaving us with -- you guessed it -- a Barbie whose head is missing. Of course, Terry detests anything having to do with Barbie, so it doesn’t upset him when one is decapitated. In fact, he liked this title idea so much that he composed his OWN lyrics for it. (We’ll be curious to see how they compare to Bill’s.)”

So now, as promised, Bill will write a song entitled “Barbie’s Head is Missing” and the Price family will get credit for their song title in the liner notes of future recordings that include that song.

We thank everyone who participated. We really enjoyed all your entries and, from the stack of emails I have collected on my desktop, I gather so did you. Like any contest, the results are completely subjective and the winning entries were chosen by Bill who had to ask himself if he actually thought he could write the song you suggested.

Funny thing — a couple of you suggested song titles that were very similar to a new song he just recorded called, “Five Minutes More” on the CD Hear and Gone that we mention above. One family wrote lyrics to go with their song title suggestion! We’ve included them below along with a list of some other song titles that made us laugh. We hope you laugh, too.

Enjoy! And thanks for your input and enthusiasm!

-- The Management

Help! I’m stuck on the roof of an outhouse <-------This sounds like the caption to a really funny picture.

You can make me stay, but you can’t make me come back

I will never take a bath with my baby brother again

Parents only listen when you don’t want them to

I like makin’ faces, now that I have braces

If it’s stuck to my shoe, can I keep it?

A perfect segue to my next tangent

Baby sister is going to stay!?!?!?

Turns out I like the taste of soap

Have you seen my tarantula?

No eating in my new car

Mom, he’s looking at me

Duct Tape is Your Friend

Bobble-head blues

Are we there yet?

“You’ve got some boogers in your nose”

By Casey and Jake T. from New York City

You’ve got some boogers in your nose

You’ve got some boogers on your toes

You’ve got some boogers in your eyes

I guess it comes to no surprise

That you’ve got boogers everywhere

You’ve even got them in your hair

Well if I were you

I know what I’d do

to make the boogers go away

You have to try real hard

In the middle of the yard

And blow your nose all day.