SONiA disappearfear

September 10, 2023
I woke up this morning and was going to delete my Twitter (X) account because it is just so full of negativity and sometimes pure hate but then I decided if I did that I’m condoning it by my silence but I’m still torn.  Sonia deleted hers and I feel like as her manager I should stay on but it’s really hard some days to be on social media.  As most of you know I’ve been having some rough years medically so I’ve been on line more than usual as I have been home more and I’m starting to feel like that is the last place I should be when it’s already emotionally hard to deal with not being able to make things work the way I want them too. I’m trying my best to get healthy enough to go back on the road with Sonia and in the meantime trying to promote the new album as much as I can.  She has not wanted to be to far away from me while I’m going thru all this but the truth is that sooner or later she will need to get back out on the road.  We need her out there now more than ever.  To many people in this country are under attack and bringing people together is what Sonia does best.  While I started working with her directly 26 years ago I have known Sonia and her work since 1989 and know what a difference her music has made.  Thru the years I cannot tell you how many people have shared stories of what it meant for them to hear her music on the radio and be completely out in her music.  We have met with families who credit her music for their children being alive, fathers who bought the song “me too” to let their daughter know they knew she was gay and it was ok, people with aids that thanked her for speaking out against the non action of our government early on.  She wrote about breaking the law by being out, gay marriage and more and we celebrated as this country moved forward in protecting the LGBT and other marginalized communities.  But now the world seems to be spinning backwards and once again her voice needs to be amplified. And all of you help make that happen. Everytime you come to a show, buy a cd, a painting, a song it makes it possible for her to do this. THANK YOU!!

We are really excited about the new album and it’s getting great reviews by those that have heard it and we can’t wait to share it with you.  And the book is finished so just trying to find the right publisher, the publisher we had originally talked to retired but it hopefully will still come out in September 2024.  Right now though we are in Album 23 mode so join us for the upcoming radio shows on Sirius XM, Pandora, WXPN and WDVX. Check out the great cover story on Metro Weekly and please come join us at Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride October 7^th in Havre de Grace where we will be kicking off a whole year of Pride events and Loving Out Loud. 

https://magazine.metroweekly.com/books/fxxf/

I just looked at the devastation on Maui and my brain has me smelling the smoke as I remember the drive from Sydney up to the Woodford Folk Festival during the fires in Australia and the horrors we witnessed there.  Tuesday as the fires raged in Maui Sonia was in the Sirius XM studios in DC recording an album release concert with Mary Sue Twohy from the Village.  One of the songs she sang that day was Ghost of the Kangaroo which she wrote about the thousands of animals that were killed during the fires in Australia.  It is hard to not see how small the world is when things like this happen all the time in our lives.  It almost seems surreal to me that we would be recording for a show called the Village a song about fires while a village in Hawaii that I have loved is burned to the ground.  How many more historical sites around the world will be destroyed before we all stop and do more to try and reverse climate damage.  What will it take for us to invest in solar power cars instead of oil companies.  A few years ago a company out of Germany Sono Motors went public with what would be the first solar powered car.  Most of you heard me talk about this company as I sincerely thought it was amazing and could not wait to be able to pre order here in USA.  Last spring we landed in Germany and I immediately tried to see when I could go test drive one in Munich as it was due to start manufacturing in spring of 2023.  They actually made a stop in the USA for test drives in NY and LA and Boston but I was unable to get there, but Whoopi Goldberg got to drive one.  Jealous.  Unfortunately just a couple weeks after we landed Sono Motors pulled the plug on the Sion solar powered car because of lack of funds to start production.  This amazes me because we all know we need this.  Elon Musk can spend 44 billion dollars for a social media company and no one would step up and support a solar powered car.  What a world we live in. And what a world it won’t be if we don’t wake up.  

I don’t understand a lot of things lately though.  Because I believed that we lived in a country that despite political differences one thing we all agreed on was that this democracy was more important than one person.  We did not Want a king or dictator, it’s why we fought for independence and why many have died defending this country we call the United States of America.  But lately we seem to have lost the very core values that made this county the strong democracy it is.  When I was in school I believed that we had laws in place that would keep a President from benefitting off his office and that we had check systems in place to keep anyone from using their office to the detriment of the country.  What we found out during the Trump Administration is that they were suggestions not actual policy and that if a President chose to ignore these suggestions to separate their personal interest from the US interest and personally benefit financially we couldn’t really do anything.  And the peaceful transfer of power, well that too got tested and is still being tested.  I don’t care if you vote Republican or Democrat, I vote for both but only when the person I’m voting for is for the country and not themselves.  Anyone that took part in the events of January 6^th or tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power should never be able to hold office again and those still serving should have been removed from office.  Mike Pence and the cabinet members should have removed Trump from office immediately that day under the 25^th amendment.  If Pence had acted in the best interest of the country and done this he probably would be the leading candidate now.  While I have never been a Trump supporter I did at least understand the arguments that people had for voting for him the first time. Did not agree but understood the frustration of many people with the system and a want for change.  But after what we saw during his 4 years in office I truly cannot understand how anyone has anything but disgust for this man.  He disrespected the very office he represented and in doing so disrespected all Americans.  He financially benefitted from his office and continues to do so today by running again and using campaign donations for legal fees to fight the many lawsuits against him both criminal and civil.  He was instrumental in getting the Saudi government involved in golf here so he could benefit at his clubs, we are allowing a foreign entity with questionable human rights to take over an American pastime.  Where does it stop.  When is it enough to make people realize that we are losing our democracy piece by piece?  I had hoped that Covid had showed us the need for us to bring manufacturing back the USA and the Biden Administration and the Bi Partisan infrastructure bill has made a good start but it needs to be more than physical things.  We need to bring back our sense of Unity. We need to stand up like we did after 911 together.  No party just Americans who understood that we needed to work together to save a country that we love.  The very people that fueled that attack are the ones that we are now supporting every time you watch one of their golf events.

  If we want a country and a world where fires are not burning down our landmarks then we need to take our votes seriously.  We cannot vote for one issue or get caught up in the hype.  We have to truly look at the not only what the person says but what they do.  Will they work with others to move things forward for all of us or will they do what is best for their personal objectives.  Biden might be older than I would like but for that matter half of the senate is too, but he knows how to work with others and he has shown that.  But the President is just one of the offices that will be on the ballot if we truly want to address climate change and continue to move this country in the right direction we need to remove several other people from office starting with anyone that did not stand up after January 6^th and do the right thing.  And anyone that continues to worry about their own political agenda instead of the good of the county this is on the right and the left.  We have spent way to much money and time on hearings instead of working on efforts to stop climate damage and mass shootings, LGBT attacks and teen suicide.  

It takes all of us. It takes a Village if we want to have any villages left to enjoy.

It’s been awhile since I posted anything and a lot has happened since I last wrote.  The world seems to be spinning out of control with anti LGBT sentiment front and center.  In 1996 I spoke at the International Pride Coordinators conference and talked about how we needed to make sure we included and represented all aspects of our community.  We strived to book as many types of performers as we could and included recycling and interpreters and truly strived to be inclusive. When Gay marriage finally passed in this country I truly felt like we had achieved something and almost felt like we could finally breath. I listened to SONiA disappear fear songs about AIDS and Breaking the law to be out as if they were history lessons.  Maybe we all got to complacent, I don’t know. What I do know is that kids are dying again by suicide because of the hate being directed at our LGBT youth and gay bashing is at an all time high. Laws are being passed in States and countries around the world that will strip us of our human rights and even cause our death.  I Proudly gave up my career to go to work with Sonia 26 years ago because I believed the work she was doing for the world was important.  I’m proud of the many prides I helped produce and very proud of the many many events SONiA and disappear fear performed at around the globe.  I was ready to hand over the work to the next generation and celebrate their being able to be out and proud and part of a world that no longer segregated anyone based on their sexuality but now is not the time. We must all join in and work together to make sure that all the work we have done is not undone by a few bigots with loud platforms.  We must not cancel Pride events or shrink to the shadows, now is the time to Love Out Loud and Proud and come together as a community to say we are your brothers and sisters, your sons and daughters, your parents, your neighbors.  We try our best to mentor young people and support young artist but they need us now more than ever so if you can please take the time to share what you know with someone, time , a hug or words of advice. It all matters. This weekend as Sonia does every year she performed at an event started by Vets and performed “Me’Too” and the line in the song says it all “its not about Oil and it’s not about guns, it’s not about rainbows, it’s about daughters and sons”.