Singing Travelogue | An American Songline

At long last, it’s finally here! I am proud to announce that the American Songline book is now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle versions!

Click here to pick up your copy: http://www.amazon.com/American-Songline-Musical-Journey-Lincoln/dp/1514317826/.

I hope all of you out there have also been enjoying the CD too! If you have bought or downloaded the American Songline album and like it, can you leave a quick review at one of the sites below to let other buyers know what you think of the music? If you haven’t bought it yet, you can now buy the music at the following links:

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/american-songline-musical/id979747974

CD Baby (both physical and download versions are available through this link): https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ceceliaotto2

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/American-Songline-Musical-Journey-Lincoln/dp/B00V6BU9H6/

I’ll be making appearances all over the country this year, and am taking bookings for concerts and speaking engagements for 2015 and 2016. If you know of an organization that would want to hear me and my story, please let me know – I’d love to bring American Songline to the world! I’m also happy to speak about crowdfunding to groups as well.

I’m keeping this post short as I’ll be heading to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Lincoln Highway Conference today, and I’ll be there all week attending the conference and performing. I’ll post a follow up post on the conference next week when it’s all over. Until then, safe travels everyone!

One year ago, a journey started with a concert in New York City. The cabaret room and crowd were small on this April afternoon, but they knew they were witnessing something that had never happened before – a birth of a historic singing travelogue that would months later finally make its way across the country.

My mind today is still reeling from the fact that I was able to accomplish this. I can tell you that the woman standing on a stage in New York City one year ago was both nervous and excited for what would be coming. While I sang that first concert in New York, so many thoughts raced through my head, including:

1) “Holy crap, I’m performing this first show, and that show is in New York City!!”

2) “What will everyone think of these songs?” (Answer: They were very well-received. In NYC, “Second Hand Rose” and “Nobody Makes a Pass at Me” were the crowd favorites.)

3) “There’s still no accompanist for my performance in Indiana … there HAS to be someone in South Bend who can play it.” (Answer: There was someone, and he was confirmed less than two weeks before the show.)

4) “I hope this car holds out!” (Answer: It had to make a couple trips to a mechanic for various things along the way, but all in all I made it all the way across the country without getting into any major car wrecks.)

5) “Will I get sick of singing these songs?” (Answer: Nope. Not once.)

There were physical, emotional, spiritual, and literal “bumps in the road” along the way, but I knew I had to keep going. I had to see what was around the next corner, what was in the next town, what was in the next state. But doing this project wasn’t about what I saw, it was something more.

It was what I felt. Sure, there are some easy ways to tell visually if you’re on the various Lincoln Alignments (street names, telephone poles, and architecture always help give clues), but it was how the road felt as you are driving it. Within a few weeks of my tour, I could tell when I wasn’t on the Lincoln anymore by how it felt. It sounds weird, but it’s true.

The Lincoln Highway is a road, but it’s also a state of mind. What is that state of mind? Here’s hoping I can convey to you what that state of mind means to me in my upcoming book.

Thank you all for your support these last 365 days, and I can’t wait to share what lies ahead!

The American Songline Book is Here!

One Year Ago Today…