All The Latest....All The Time

“’Tis the Season” Holiday CD set for release in Wilmington December 11th. Tis the Season indeed.  Wilmington’s finest musicians have come together to record their favorite holiday tunes to raise money for The Megan Foundation.  Featuring traditional and original music and representing the broadest spectrum of Port City musicians, “’Tis the Season” is a great gift for the holidays and the perfect accompaniment to a Coastal Carolina Christmas.  All of the proceeds will benefit The Megan Foundation.  

 The project boasts the talents of Singer/Songwriter Hugo Duarte; jazz greats Benny Hill, Marc Siegel, Wahl Project and David Tyson and Friends; Folk rockers, Tom Rhodes and the Rhodes Squallers and The Daniel Parrish Band;  Local favorites with their unique Hawaiian sound,  Da Howlies;  Renowned Flamenco guitarist, William “Paco” Strickland; Bluegrass banjo from Derwin Hinson; Island style steel drums from Pantastic Steel; and World music from The Travelers. 

The CD cover was illustrated by the preschool class of the Children’s Schoolhouse in Wilmington and graphic design work was done by Jason Haker Designs. The CD will be available at Barnes and Noble in Mayfaire, The Cheesecake House-Gordon Road, I am Salon-Monkey Junction, K-Mart, Siena Trattoria-Masonboro Loop Road, Modern Music-17^th Street and Passion II Salon-Racine Drive.  The CD will also be available through the foundation’s website www.megancajigasfoundation.org or by calling 910.799.9424.  Cost for the CD is $12.

OK… So, we’ve gotten a huge amount of email from many of you in response to the ever-busy-rumor-mill wondering whether or not we were going to be in Key West performing at the Hog’s Breath Saloon for “Meeting of the Minds” again this year. Let me just say…

OF COURSE WE ARE!

I spoke with Tom at the HOG and he is as excited as we are about the upcoming festivities. We talked about all of the details of the week and it looks like we have it all covered.

The “Fan Appreciation Party” will be upstairs at the Hog’s Breath as usual, on Friday October 31st,from 5 until 7pm. If you feel that you should wear your Halloween Costume…so much the better. Invitations for the party will be going out soon. Be on the lookout for yours. We are planning some surprises for this year’s party along with some other special events. I’ll be looking forward to having a moment of undivided attention from each of you and I have to say that I’m already getting excited at the prospect of seeing so many friends that we seldom get to see.

 As for the show each night, we’ll again have the pleasure of “Fingers” Taylor’s company onstage alongside our own Tom Conger, Emily Hutchison, Woody Jenkins, and Randy Morrow. I also have a surprise (surprises) up my sleeve for the nightly shows, but I ain’t tellin’! You know how it is when artists show up and well, … we just can’t resist.

So again, if you’re worried about the festivities at the Hog changing this year, FAHGETABOUTIT!

Also, for you folks who aren’t planning to attend “MOTM”, we do expect to see you each night on the “HOG CAM”! We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.

Thanks!

 Best Wishes,

Hugo

I thought that I would share a portion of a message that Emily sent in response to a query for support for one of the charity activities that are always a part of “The Meeting of the Minds” each year. We have a large number of folks who have made the transition from fans-out-there to personal friends, as many of you have done over the years.  We (Emily, and I & the band) have enjoyed the good fortune of meeting so many of you in person and getting to know you on a personal level, and with that fact in mind, we face the ongoing dilemma of being asked to participate in support of one or more of you, often at the same time and often for the same position. This is a very difficult position to be in, so we made a decision long ago that we deemed our best option.

I think Emily said it very well when she wrote: Hugo and I have a "policy" of not supporting any one particular 'candidate' over another in elections, contests, or charity events which need endorsement. Here's why - we have met so many people throughout our travels and many of those folks have become real friends.  We have found that often times, in situations such as this one, more than one of our friends is, (are), competing for the same thing.  That's the case here.  

We have several friends that are in the running for this honor.  Unfortunately, Hugo and I have not yet been blessed with unlimited resources, so we can't support (financially) all of our friends that are in this competition. (If we could, we would!) All of the charities represented by our friends deserve every dollar contributed, and we wholeheartedly support this process.  However, we made a "corporate decision" a few years back that we just can't, in fairness, support one person over another - either publicly or privately. As Hugo is in the public eye; particularly within this group, and I, by association, am there both as his representative and as an entity in and of myself, we believe that we owe it to everyone involved to be neutral towards any one candidate while at the same time being supportive of the process that produces a benefit to charity.

I really hope you all understand, and know that both Hugo and I wish you all the VERY BEST!!!  We applaud your commitment to your charity and to doing your utmost for the ultimate benefit of that concern.  It takes a special person to work this hard and to care so much.  We send kudos from both of us to all of you that have been blessed with these special characteristics. (Well said, Emily!) Last, but not least, let me add that we have a couple of entities that we do actively support that also need funding. First, as many of you know, my percussionist Big G, passed away last December. Friends started a scholarship fund at the Key West High School to benefit students who are pursuing education in the percussion area of music. It is a memorial to a man whose great love was playing and performing and who was an asset to my organization for many, many years.  We hope to raise some money to support this organization during our performances and activities during MOTM. Equally important, we are actively sharing our support for the LAM Foundation whose mission is to educate the public about and to find a cure for Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (which is why they call it LAM!). It is a disease that affects only women of childbearing age by diminishing their ability to breathe, often with deadly consequences. If you can manage to send a dollar or two our way, we’ll see that it gets to your preference of either one of these two worthy non-profit charities. Thanks a million in advance. 

Best Wishes, Hugo

Hi Friends, I thought that I'd take a moment to share some of the things we've discovered in Wyoming. I hope you'll enjoy the images. You'll have to visit http://hugoduarte.wordpress.com/ to see the additions. Enjoy!

Best Wishes, Hugo