Mom's Home Cookin' News

June 2007,
OK we're embarrassed that it has been a year since we have updated our news! Lots has happened, mostly good...no, great!

Well this wasn't great...
In the past couple of weeks, our website has been down, taking with it our mailing list and any email enyone has sent us during that time. The cause of the crash was a weather related issue in Virginia where our host server is located. Everything is being restored, and the owner of our hosting company emailed to say that he thinks he has restored the mailing list, too! Gosh, even old-timey gals like us are so dependent on technology! We're grateful to have this medium with which to keep in touch with our listeners and fellow music lovers. We've got some fun shows coming up. Please remember to say "hi" if you see us out there. We love to meet our friends and supporters!

It's a good year for both of us, baseball-wise; Monica's Sox are on top, and Dale Robin's Mets are having a not-too-shabby year. But if you live in southern Maine and want some real basebal fun, catch a Sea Dogs game in Portland www.portlandseadogs.com ... OR a Sanford Mainers game at the lovely Goodall Park in Sanford. College League baseball is just delightful hometown fun for the whole family. www.sanfordmainers.com

June 2006
Several of our listeners have mentioned to me that our website needs an update, and boy are they right!
The new CD, "Pot Luck", is receiving praise from friends and strangers alike, and that sure does make us happy.

One question that we are asked from time to time is whether or not we will try to find another person to play fiddle with us now that Carolyn has moved on to other pursuits. Well, maybe. We have been putting the word out among our friends and acquaintances in the various folk music communities in the region, but we have been busy working on new material for our next recording, and having a fantastic time performing gigs as a duo. If there is someone out there who is a great match, we're surely to find him or her. Yes, Mom's Home Cookin' is NOT about US being Moms; it's about everyone HAVING a Mom. No gender exclusivity here!

But that being said, we have discovered that we each have some skills that have been "under-used" for a while. So, working diligently over these last months, we have re-arranged some of our existing material with new instrumentation, using the banjos, Monica's skills as a guitar flat-picker and Dale Robin's dulcimer as melody instruments. And, a number of new songs have jumped right into our repertoire, and we can't wait to play them for you.

We are having fun, challenging ourselves to learn and grow musically, and, to our delight, we are liking the results! We hope you do too!

July 2005

Thanks to all of you who visit this site. Although we do understand that many people land here because they are looking for food-related information (it's our name -- so we come up in recipe searches sometimes!) it is gratifying that a lot of the traffic here is actually related to music. Our music!

The big Mom's Home Cookin' news as of late is being accepted into the Maine Artists Access juried roster. This means that our work was judged by a panel of authorities in the visual and performing arts to be worthy of endorsement by the Maine Arts Commission. It is an honor to be listed among the talented artists and performers that are included there.

Our summer performance schedule is comfortably busy this year. Hope to see you at one of the fairs, concerts or festivals listed on the "catch us" page.

May your gardens bloom and your baseball team win a few!
Dale Robin for the gals of Mom's Home Cookin'

January 2005
~Happy 2005 to you! May this year bring peace and justice to this world, and sanity and compassion in the minds and hearts of our leaders.
~The phone has been ringing over at our World Headquarters (hah!) in West Kennebunk. This promises to be a busy spring and summer for Mom's Home Cookin' For that, we are grateful. If you know of venues near your hometown you think we should be in touch with, please drop us a line.
~Our big news is that "Give Me the Roses" is now being distributed by Wepecket Island Records, a brand new onlinemusic catalogue, owned and operated by Ragtime Jack Radcliffe, one of the nicest and most talented and knowledgeable musicians we know. We are pleased to be associated with his collection of fine artists. Look for a celebratory event to be planned shortly and announced here. FMI, visit Wepecket's site.
~We have not been out gigging much lately. We've been working in the studio on our next CD. Can't tell you much about it yet, but we are having fun, and can't wait to have our second CD in our hot little hands. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Studio work is slow and intense. We do all our own playing (no guests), and we work hard to get a natural acoustic sound. We'll post our progress here.
~It's getting awfully cold here in northern New England. We'll end this installment of news with a favorite lyric quote from songwriter Leo Kretzner, "Keep the winter at your door but kepe the summer in your heart..."
Best wishes from Mom's Home Cookin'
Dale Robin

January 2008
Ok, here at Mom's Home Cookin' it's time for a little updating. We're going to make it a team effort to try and keep this site more current for you, our friends and listeners. Many thanks to those who have offered help us out. Very sweet! This is something we really do need to do ourselves... it feels like a personal correspondence between us and you. We hope you feel that way, too.

Dale Robin, webmistress, has been busy with so many commitments, so Monica, who has plenty of time available, will take over those duties as needed. We'll try to be a little more up to the minute.

Mom's Home Cookin' has continued to perform; we had some wonderful gigs over the summer and fall, and we have a couple coming up as well.

So put these dates on your calendar and come join us!!

We'll be at the York Library on Sunday, February 17th, from 3 to 5 p.m., and we'll be sharing the bill with Cormac McCarthy which is a real treat for us. Cormac (http://www.cormac-mccarthy.com/) recently released his first new recording in a number of years and it did not disappoint those who have been waiting for it! "Curious Thing" has received the praise of the national press and local critics as well. Check it out at his website, then make plans to come and see us all at the Library!

And we'll be performing at the Saco Coffeehouse on March 15th at 8 p.m. This is a wonderful little jewel of a venue. It has been operated for over 10 years by a volunteer crew and has really stayed true to its mission of giving local/regional talent a chance to shine in an intimate, comfortable setting. Saco Coffeehouse is one of those hidden gems that you wish more people would know about, but you also love how intimate and friendly it is so you don't want it to get too big. The treats are excellent, too… and the folks there are just as nice as can be. The night begins with an open mic at 7 pm, and then Mom's Home Cookin' will take the stage at 8. So bring your own songs and instrument and open the night for us! WE'd love to hear YOU for a change!!

All this info is also posted in the "Catch Us" section of this site.

Monica has been busy this fall with the release of her first solo CD, Continental Village. There were two very successful CD release concerts in Kennebunk and Portland to celebrate. Monica had an impressive gang of her musical collaborators on stage with her to perform live the songs they recorded in the studio, as well as some musical surprises from her extensive repertoire. You can visit Monica and learn more about her solo and educational work at monicagrabin.com.

Dale Robin is now in the process of putting together her own solo work, through Wepecket Island Records. She is putting together her crew of side players and they are rehearsing for some February recording dates with Erik Lindgren at Sound Interesting Studios in Middleboro, MA. Visit Dale Robin and read her ramblings and musings at dalerobin.com

We've also been gathering new material for Mom's Home Cookin' and we plan to get started on the studio work for a third CD of our own this summer. We have so many great songs either recently added to our repertoire, or in preparation, we're very excited to get them out there.

Please keep in touch, we always love hearing from our friends.

April 5, 2008
Dale Robin and Monica here, saying hi to you…. and saying a loud thank you to the world for even the small signs of spring we see today. Baseball Season is under way, and that always makes us happy!
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We have had some excellent gigs lately, in York and Saco. First, we were delighted to play at the York Library coffeehouse series on February 17 with Cormac McCarthy. It was a full house and we saw some old friends there, and made some new ones! Thanks to everyone who hosted us and all of you who came out.

Then we visited our old friends at the Saco Coffeehouse in March, and were delighted to be there. The open mic was a cascade of great tunes by very talented people, including Curt Bessette (www.curtbessette.com) and Neal Zweig who played some of Curt's most amazing songs, and our friend Delilah Poupore sang two wonderful songs, including her hilarious ode to love and happiness, "I'm Nice". Check out Delilah at http://www.myspace.com/antdeli; she'll be at the Saco Coffeehouse on May 17! . This is a great room, and people should feel encouraged to come and perform at the open mic -- the audience is very appreciative. We had a great time. It's nice to be able to do two full sets and dig out some of the material we don't get to do that often. Don't miss Delilah in May; she is a talented singer and songwriter and a delightful person!

Both Dale Robin and Monica are busy with other projects; Dale Robin www.dalerobin.com is just finishing up the studio work on her upcoming CD, entitled (for the time being) "Sweet and Salty" and is busy with her work at WMPG Community Radio; and Monica www.monicagrabin.com has been using her skills as a recording engineer to help other folks get their sound down on CD. Her little basement studio has become a hotbed of creativity in southern Maine!

We're both rubbing our eyes and peering out to see that winter seems to finally be breaking up around here. We'll be posting our upcoming gigs soon… thanks for visiting us online. Drop us a line at info@momshomecookin.com

Happy Spring,
Monica and Dale Robin