Dear Friends, please forgive the duration since our last update - it’s been too long! We have been busy with many projects, many professional but, blessedly, mostly of a personal nature. Since January, my name has changed from Adrienne Young to Adrienne Young-Ramsey after marrying Luke Ramsey, a native Virginian who is not only a kind, honorable, and incredible Man, but also a learned, highly skilled Historic Preservationist who restores log cabins and historical structures. Our brand new baby boy arrived a little over a week ago and we have named him Elijah Willis Ramsey, after his Father and Grandfather.

So, this should sufficiently explain my variance of focus – even though all of our friends on Facebook have been able to keep up with all the goings-ons around the Ramsey household and we encourage you to get in touch via Facebook, either through our fan club (Adrienne Young), Backyard Revolution, or Adrienne Young-Ramsey, or better yet – ALL of THEM!

Now, what’s coming up music-wise, you ask? Well, in a word, LOTS. We are getting ready to head down to Floyd, Virginia for Floyd Festival, one of the finest festivals on the East Coast and are thrilled to be trying something brand new this year. I’ll be performing about 7 mainstage ‘tweener’ slots just with myself and a fantastic musician named Debbie Lyle from our region who plays violin, cello, bass, AND viola. I’ve never played without a full band before so this opportunity to offer the bare bones of a flock of new songs and traditional is both thrilling and, well, a bit scary…in a good way! As if this weren’t enough, we are grateful and exuberant to be orchestrating a full fledged Backyard Revolution at Floyd Fest! Four days of demonstrations, workshops, and opportunities to come together and learn from some of our region’s finest artisans, farmers, and craftspersons, all in the midst of Floyd Fest. Please visit www.backyardrevolution.com to find out more. We will post our final schedule there soon.

We journey to the U.K. in August, as well as return to one of our favorite stomping grounds, Purple Fiddle, and do hope to catch up with you at some point this summer.  As well, we will be staging another Backyard Revolution at Monticello for the glorious Heritage Harvest Festival, to be held on the West Lawn, Sept. 11^th, 2010, here in Charlottesville, Virginia.

There is, in case you’re wondering (as we understand many of you have been asking) a new cd brewing – the songs are better than ever and we will be performing them live as much as possible. They are all self-penned which is a somewhat new avenue for me to travel down as I’ve been quite privileged in the past to be able to compose with two extremely gifted writers, in particular, Will Kimbrough and Mark D. Sanders from Nashville, TN who I wrote many of the songs from the first three cds with. So, the next project will be a revelation on many levels…and I’ve never felt more ready to share the perspectives this stage of life has awarded me…Mother, Wife, Student, Artist…Humble Servant to the Cause…my hope is you will find the new songs to your liking…drop us a line and let us know how you are…good to be back in touch.

With love and kind regard,

Adrienne Young- Ramsey