The snow in Chicago

Heading through a Chicago snowstorm to do a school program. The show must go on!

Jeni & Billy are Featured Artists on UNKOVR today!

Normally, I would be grumpy about waking up at 4:30 am, but I wrote a new song and there’s a bunny rabbit being irresistibly picturesque in the fresh snow in our yard. Plus, this wonderful thing happened. We woke up to find that we’ve been FEATURED ON Unkovr Music​ as the ARTISTS OF THE DAY! We would be so GLAD and 

GRATEFUL if you would just simply CLICK over there and VOTE for us. You don’t even have to sign up! 

This is actually a big deal for a ROOTS duo . . . So GIVE ROOTS MUSIC a BOOST by VOTING and SHARING. I don’t think we get a prize like a homemade pie on account of the voting, but even if we get 100 votes, we’ll go WAY up on the unkovr site! How can we ever do that? If you SHARE this and VOTE, it just might happen or it will be fun trying. You all did great with sharing that whole Grammy chance that happened, so let’s do it again!

If you LEAVE A COMMENT or you share from the website, that makes our ranking go up up up! And then more people will find out about Jeni & Billy and we’ll be able to take our fans wherever we go, and start a utopian community on Jewell Ridge . . . wait a minute. That may be sleep deprivation talking :) But more people will find out about our music and that is GOOD.

Are you snowbound today and have you eaten all of the coffee cake you baked yesterday? Then make SHARING this post your sitting-around-in-pajamas-watching Silver Linings Playbook on Netflix project today. Am I in my pajamas? Yes, that’s what’s great about being a songwriter home from touring in a snowbound southern city with no plows or salt trucks :)

Also to improve our ranking, you can sign up on unkovr for free, make us a FAVORITE (if you are so inclined), and hear a whole bunch of other curated music. Hmm, I feel like I’m in a museum now that I’ve been curated. I hope it’s one of those fun museums with crocheted alligators and a frying pan collection.

Thanks to Dave Way​ for recommending us for this honor and for saying this nice thing, “Jeni Hankins has been called 'the new queen of Appalachia.' Her voice carries generations of joy and misery from her small town family life in mining country. And with the help of her true love, Billy Kemp, they tell vivid stories of these people, places, and time, always with a fine poetic flair and genuine heart.”

I am going to need a nap today, can you tell? Yep, I’m what Mawmaw Margie called slap happy. That’s what happens when you go to bed at 1:30 and wake up at 4:30. Thanks for humoring me and VOTING :)

Hugs and Love to all of our friends and fans!

http://unkovr.com/artist/jeni-billy/

Ice on the pagoda

We got home safely and woke up to snow on the ground and ice on the squirrel pagoda. Our incredible neighbors had groceries for us along with our mail, so it seems like we have a free pass to stay inside, go through our mail and unpack. I've just put biscuits in the oven. Thanks to MaryRita for the book in the mail and to Jen Lange and Susan for the cards. It's always great to get personal mail along with the bills and offers for gutter cleaning. I think hot cocoa, laundry, playing some songs, and a movie are on the agenda for later. Wishing warmth to our friends.

Hebejebes

Report from Burbank, California: You know you are writing a southern novel when you have to verify the spelling of hebejebe. And you feel you've arrived as a southerner, when you see that you've spelled it right.

This is a photo from my great-grandmother's photo box which furnished most of the pictures for our CD covers and booklets. I've always loved this lady, but her name is not on the back of the photo and no one in my family seems to know who she is. 

But for right now, she's standing in for Charlene, the mother in my novel. That's the great joy of making things up.

Time for bed!