R E B A H A S K O: Word

Hey there,
Just a quick note to let you know that I made it back home alive. It's pretty wild to be back in the US after three years in Germany. (kultur schok!) Thanks so much to those of you thoughtful souls who sent.. actual.. mail! and little goodbye surprises and notes to me here. I have amazing memories...there is no way possible that I will ever forget Berlin or the experience of living and making music there...
While the nets are being cast wide for a new album, I'm collaborating with some talented modern dancers at UNM. (Have I ever mentioned that one of my favorite things to do on this very earth is make music for modern dancers?) It is. Wildly so. The pieces are in the spirit of "Shoofly" (my brother Jess gave up his kit for a few hours, so thats audible...) and the second is a bit of a computer-music piece. Let's call it a "sine-chorale"... yessss....... (wringing hands, looking over glasses, nerding out...)
Let me know if you have any interest in seeing a video of our finished piece and I'll post it where you can see; performance time is drawing near...
I'm sending love and inspiration from this dusty place-- more witchery and new sounds to come soon...!
[.]>

For Berliners and all friends in Europe, “Seeds From the Twisted Pear” is being offered at a special price!

Reg. Price: 14 EUR
Sale Price: ONLY 7 EUR!
Includes Shipping.

Buy one for yourself and for all of those on your holiday list.

Hurry! This is a limited offer and will only be available until
Dec. 15th.

Send a message here for details: orders@rebahasko.com or visit Reba on Myspace

Best Wishes,
The Art Camp Crew

PS. For those outside of Europe, for a limited time, when you purchase more than one copy of 'Seeds' you receive 50% off of your order! This offer is available until Dec. 31st. Visit our online shop here at CDBaby!

New on the Press Page: Check out Andreas Neitzel's review of Reba's performance at Kaiserkeller in Detmold. Thanks to Andreas and the Rockzoom Crew for the great writing and pics!

We're proud to announce that "Here's How" is being featured this week on NPR's "Open Mic;" (focusing on work by self-produced artists). You can listen in online to hear Reba give a bit of insight into the song and it's production.

Thanks NPR!

Click Here to check out Here's How on NPR

Yours,
The Art Camp Crew.

Hannover is friendlier than I imagined it would be; warmer than Berlin. Not as edgy, more charming.
When I first arrived, I was exhausted and went to the bar across from the venue. The bartender at Wolf’s let me hang out even though they weren’t open. Seventies soul songs about love played over the speakers while he put ashtrays around. Unusually warm for spring in Germany, I worked on my set list and downed drinks until I felt human. We wanted to talk, but didn’t.
Pahli and Arne must be the sweetest humans on earth. They work for a theatre, run their own club, Feinkost Lampe together and DJ at Radio Flora.
Before the show, Pahli and I took bikes through the city to meet Ralf and get me settled at his place.
They put me up at what should be called “Ralf’s Rockin Hostel.’ This is where bands on tour stay when they pass through town. Ralf is an older guy who loves music and talking politics. He had an open face and wild hair. I liked him right away. The day after the show, he spent a good part of the afternoon telling me stories of getting between East and West Germany back in the day. He kept a collection of the CD’s and LP’s from bands that passed through his place and a guestbook to remember them by.

Arne, Pahli and I sat in the clubs kitchen like we had all the time in the world. Turns out that Hanover had it’s fair share of revolt. I liked listening to Pahli talk about the punks and the police, change, waves of revolution.
Arne, I have decided, is a butterfly in disguise. He felt a bit holy. He wasn’t feeling well; outside sources have a hold on his body. I thought of him before I played. Thinking that if I felt free, maybe he would too.
The guests at Feinkost made for a great audience. Professional listeners. And who would have guessed that the ultimate keyboard stand, is an old school ironing board? I’m hoping some photos will surface of this. It felt like a mini post-feminist statement…
After the show, Pahli and Arne managed to spin some of the most refreshing music I have heard in a long time. I kept saying to myself, “Who is *this*? Chances are if you like what I do, you will find some neat discoveries in the play lists at Radio Flora.
When I woke up at Ralf’s, I leafed through the guestbook in search of bands I knew. Great pictures. One band even took the time to make some crazy 3-d pop up picture. Hilarious. I slept like a rock at that place and felt completely content. Everything about his place made me want to dream and meditate and stretch and revel. So I did.
Practiced in Feinkost and had Pahli join me on cello for a few homespun duets. After a while, I started secretly recording her through my gear. Her first demo is born! Looking forward to getting home and geeking out on it. Such beautiful low tones. She shocked me by passing over the bow. “Ok, your turn…” She told me to put it against my chest when I play so that I could feel the vibrations move through me. Such a powerful feeling. I think this is where we as humans get the idea of instruments like these having souls: the passing of sound from their bodies to ours. Ah, midi, I’m sorry, but you fail us here. I was surprised and honestly charmed to learn that Arne was also learning to play. I loved to think of these two lovers practicing cello together into the night. He sat down next and made her sing.

We made our way to café Glockensee to catch the Client show. And sorry but, if you weren’t there, you didn’t miss a goddamn thing.
I woke up at Ralf’s with electronic duo Joystick Experiment in the next room. I was curious about them. It would’ve been cool to have coffee and chat. Ralf turned out to be a great breakfast companion. He divuldged that I slept on a horse hair futon and under a painted silk of lucky birds from Thailand. (I admit to feeling extremely lucky). Talking with Ralf was always nice; I didn’t have to do any talking.

Time was running out, so I signed Ralf’s guest book and left him some music. I hugged him goodbye and told him until next time. Hope it’s true.

Pahli is a special spirit, so before I met her for our goodbyes I bought her some tulips at the fleamarket. (I love giving girls flowers.)
We packed my gear and waited for the taxi. “You guys are wonderful.” She hugged me goodbye and said, “I hope you meet many more people as nice as us…” It made me laugh out loud. Such a perfect thing to say.

Thanks to Arne, Pahli, Ralf and the professional listeners at Feinkost Lampe. Playing for you was a treat.

www.radioflora.de “Hallo Wach” das morgen magazin.

Hello from Detmold, Germany!

I am writing to you from the house where my hosts Jana, Andi and diva host-cat Minky have been wonderfully gracious.

Detmold is such a quaint place. And the people and wonderful. Believe it or not, I think the show the other night at the Kaiserkeller, was one of my favourites ever. Incredible audience. There were moments during the songs where I really heard the quiet they were giving the music.

The show day started in the best possible way—Steve, the club owner, ended up having the same piano I first rented in san Francisco when I started writing songs for piano. God, what a blast from the past. My host Jana also happens to be a amazing photographer. I’ll post some of the pictures she took of me playing the upright that night—she got some cool reflection shots….

I ended up spending most of the day in the bar just playing that old piano. What a gift. Hanging out in a cellar bar with an upright all to myself… so I worked out a few acoustic versions of electro-tunes waiting for beats, and ended up playing them in the second set. We’ll see if I’m this brave in Hannover tonight. ;)

Yesterday was a free day spent with tour guide extraordinaire Eiche and crew. We met at the show the night before, a musician himself, we talked shop a bit and then and he offered to show me around Detmold. (Ok, normally, I am to shy for this, but feeling very ‘what the hell? I’m on tour’ I thought this was not to be missed…)

So… we ended up cruising through the city center the next day with his friend Daniella. She hipped me to a weird 30-in-detmold custom: apparently when a guy turns 30, if he is unmarried, his friends trash the steps of city hall, put him in some weird costume (think ski goggles and army gear), give him a broom and force him to sweep the steps. Apparently a virgin has to give him a kiss in order to ‘save’ him. She claimed a lot of guys ‘just kind of go away’ for their 30th birthday. Insane. I still don’t know what to make of it… apparently the women have a similar deal but have to clean doorknobs. (?!) Hm.

So we three met two other fun friends of theirs for the best ice cream in Detmold (I did it up eis café style) and then visited one of the coolest things I have yet to experience in Germany: the Externstein in lippe. A must see. A wonderfully, witchy place. I’ll try to find a picture to attach. Mysterious, gigantic rocks protruding from the earth. They look ridiculous and majestic at the same time. Apparently, monks used to live there, suiciders go to jump there, pagans go to party there, and Goths make use of the ‘felden grabe.’ To think I might have stayed home! Jesus Christ….
Side highlight: the lake surrounding the rocks contained a wild spring-like abundance of frogs. We all instantly became kindergarteners again, ‘look! There’s another one! They’re swimming double-decker! They’re mating!’ it got a little bit ‘magnolia’ in the end. They were everywhere. Ah, I never tire of nature. Ever. And apparently nor do the residents of Lippe. There are actually multiple ‘frog crossing’ signs. 
We passed the vogelpark (next time, next time…) and made a last minute dash to see the monument of ‘Herman the German.’ The car ride question was: ‘Is it more human to sing or play drums?’ as a group we were pretty equally divided. (What do you think?)

So Daniella was right, we couldn’t see up Herman’s skirt. But, it was incredibly impressive. He was a key player in defeating the Romans way back when. Apparently he gave the roman emperor nightmares for life: ‘Warus! Where are my legions!?’ How Eiche managed to remember half of this story is beyond me. It was a great day. Nothing like a bit of caffeine, nature, new friends and car ride philosophy to make your heart full…

The perfect conclusion to the Detmold experience: the photoshoot. After a great meal made by chef Andi and equally fulfilling chat over music and life, Jana ‘the eye’ Legler, was in top form, brimming with ideas. I made a dash to the loo and struck up a costume while she managed to turn her attic into a photo studio. After some technical drama, and a bit more wine she was ready to roll. We shot for hours and had a ball. It’s amazing what she can get me to do. I’ll post some of those shots too…

Well, I have to head out. I almost missed from train leaving Berlin, so now I have a bit of train angst.

More later,
Reba
x

PS. Tonight: Hannover!

“Nominee for 'Best Album of 2006'" -Epinions Music Source

March, 1 2007 at SCHOKOLADEN M:Soundtrack Presents REBA HASKO * PLATEAU REPAS * AVA & HAWKLINEMONSTER PLUS! the amazing SUE DENIM of R.I.D. DJ's!
Ackerstr. 169/170, Mitte, Berlin, 10115

For all you Ipod addicts, Reba's new album, Seeds from the Twisted Pear, is finally up on ITunes for your downloading bliss.

Enjoy!
-The ACR Crew

"Seeds from the Twisted Pear" is available now! Reba's powerful vocals and haunting writing combine to make this a truly inspired disc.

To find out more and see a special interview with Reba on the creation of this album, visit: www.myspace.com/rebahasko .

This collection of recordings was inspired by Reba's move to Berlin, Germany in the Spring of 2004. Though some selections are known from her piano chanteuse days in San Francisco, such as Gardenia and Ricci, many of these will be new to most listeners. Of special note is the lushly produced Kitten, as well as her haunting Here's How.

Reba will sign copies of this CD after her performance, in Berlin at Privatklub on December 10, beginning 9 pm.

Visit www.cdbaby.com/cd/rebahasko2 to order your copy today!

Yours truly,
Art Camp Records