Back From the Future – Part 3 (With John Rolfe and Pocahontas)

I wish to thank my dear friend, retired College Lecturer, and fellow Pocahontas research enthusiast, Christine Dean, for her ongoing updates about happenings in and around her hometown of  Heacham, Norfolk, England.  From her undaunting energy and perseverance, while delving into local legends about Pocahontas and John Rolfe, I am able to bring you new posts …

From Harp to Heart to Banjo Plucking Fingers

Our Family's Gifted and Talented Musicians  John Doan - Harp Guitarist I have written a few times in past posts about our family's gifted and talented, especially our musicians--past and present.  In particular, I have mentioned maternal cousin John (through my grandmother Loretta Lathrop (nee) branch and my 8th great grandfather Samuel Lathrop, Esquire (1623-1700) …

Revisiting Lottie’s Cardboard Box of Momentos

Sometimes when searching for one thing you come across something entirely different, but the smell of old relics opens your senses, the aged paper catches your eye, and the written words touch deep into your heart; You're caught in the moment and it causes you to wonder once again what her life must have been …

Oldest-Known Holocaust Survivor Dies; Pianist Was 110

This blog would be incomplete if I failed to include references to the good, the bad, and the uglies of this world. So when I came upon this story of Alice Herz-Sommer, I realized it had all of those features and many more. Alice's spirit, in only moments, touched my heart. I believe she survived …

Tim McGraw’s “If You’re Reading This”

While driving from my home to my parents this morning, I heard a song on a country radio station that affected me so deeply that I had to pull off the side of the road until it had ended and I had composed myself again.  The music, lyrics, and singing were great, but its sentiment …

ISO Ancestral Gifts and Talents: I’ve Got the Music In Me, Part 7

This post continues a discussion I began on FaceBook about three months ago, "Has anyone documented gifts and talents, especially musicality of Bolling ancestors?"  The post received about 100 views and several responses from a dozen or so descendants of the Bolling family.  So, I thought I would summarize the anecdotal information below and include a …

I’ve Got the Music In Me – Part 6

Bach's Jesu' Joy of Man's Desiring My Beautiful and talented GREAT Niece - Alyssa Nicole LaLone on Saturday, June 1, 2013, granddaughter of my brother Frank and his wife Diane, and daughter of their daughter, Jessica and Todd LaLone,  celebrates her 8th birthday. I've Got The Music In Me (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, or Part 5) …

Patriots Day, Boston 2013: Another Indelible Memory

Reflecting Upon Everyday Moments that became Precious and Often Indelible Memories April 15, 2013--marked the 117th running of the Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon. The popular event is held annually on Patriots' Day, to commemorate the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord that kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783).  Events in Boston …

Pipers Piping, Ladies Dancing, and Lords a Leaping

And we’re off to Scotland in our ‘Reflections of the past and mirrors to the future…’ It’s a wee country, full of contradictions and BIG surprises!  In Scotland, you can… See tiny, stone cottages nestled at the foot of huge, rugged mountains Watch ominous steel-grey clouds part suddenly to reveal vivid blue skies and bright sunshine Look …

It’s a Small World…

A Follow-On to I’ve Got the Music in Me–and Oh, How it Moves Me! – Part 3 On February 25, 2013, I published a blog I’ve Got the Music in Me–and Oh, How it Moves Me! – Part 3.  It included a song with lyrics sung by C. Daniel Boling, who shares the surname,talents and heritage of the Boling family. …

I’ve Got the Music In Me…Part 4

Claude Bolling:  Renowned French jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor. Claude Bolling, a pianist,  composer, arranger, and a conductor of jazz, entertainment and film music, is certainly one of the world's most famous French musicians of his generation--known as the "Father of Modern Jazz". His musical heritage stretches back to the reign of Napoleon …

I’ve Got the Music in Me–and Oh, How it Moves Me! – Part 3.

Daily Prompt: Buffalo Nickel. This is just one of several videos I'll be sharing with you over time by people who share the talents and heritage of the Boling family and surname. http://youtu.be/Tu-IiUy1LFs Published on Jun 6, 2012 TIM HENDERSON, one of America's greatest songwriters, died in Austin, Texas on November 1st, 2011. Tim was a …

…I’ve Got the Music In Me, and Oh How it Moves Me: Part 1

Musical Dynasties: It (Genetically) Runs in the Family "Genetics may account for musical predisposition and ability." The following article by Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D. originally appeared December 31, 2011, in Psychology Today's Here, There, and Everywhere Blog. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and former Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder discovered in his teens that his true biological father …

When the Pastor’s Away – Oh, Do We Play!

Culture & Identity/Arts and Artists:   February 4, 2013 And this is my other family...Chesapeake Church, Huntingtown, MD For more of Chesapeake Church visit: You Tube

56 Years Ago–The Day the Music Died

The Arts & Artists The Day Music Died Monument Erected in 1988, this memorial stands at the site where musicians Buddy Holly (23), Ritchie Valens (17), J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson (28), and pilot Roger Peterson's (21), plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa. On February 2, 1959, Holly and his tour mates were on …