Happy New Year!

Jus' sayin hi

Hello, friends. I've been lamenting how I never update my site just for fun, and I thought I'd let y'all know how great the shows have been lately and wanted to say thanks to all those involved. The birthday gig in Karlsruhe, which I didn't announce because I thought it was a closed party, was a lot of fun. Jonah Matranga also played and is truly one of the sweetest guy in the indie scene. I was pleasantly surprised at what a spirited show he gave.

A big shout-out to all who braved the rain in Marburg for the Stadtfest, but it really wasn't so bad, right? My brain was a bit preoccupied with thoughts of my impending vacation (we left that evening for France!), so I was a bit sillier than usual. Sorry about that. Or not. I was sad, though, that I couldn't hang around for the singer after me (Matthew James White I believe was his name?). Everyone on the acoustic stage was outta sight. Nice job booking the acts, Stefan!

The day after we got back from our vacation in France, which was great by the way, I had a show in Pinneberg. It was an outdoors show, and the rain during soundcheck was pretty defeating, but God answered my prayers when he sent lovely blue skies for the whole of my show, and for the movie afterwards, I imagine!. Thanks, God.

I've got a bit of free time from playing shows, but we're busy planning some. I'm hoping to set up a few band concerts. If anyone would like to bring the full Wileyrock experience to his or her hometown, gimme a holler.  

luv, Tess 

Land der Lebendigen = Land of the Living

I've got a new record out with my friend Elo v. Knorre. We've been playing in our church for years now, and people keep asking us when we're going to record some of our songs. After several years of planning (and babies that kept coming between me and our plans), we have finally recorded a CD! Check out this webpage (and it really is yet only a page) for more info: www.landderlebendigen.de

Sure, it's in German, but so is the record, so that might be a pre-requisite to fully enjoying the music, although the songs certainly stand on their own, in spite of any language. It's pretty fancily produced, too, wha: string quartets, horns, clavinet, glockenspiel - the whole spiel! Myspace should be up soon, more on that later.

Hessen Elections on January 18th

Dear Registered German Voter in Hessen,

In my last entry, I suggested, tongue-in-cheek, that one consider voting for Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel. In the meantime, reports of the candidate have been brought to my attention that make the poor lad appear a bit of a twit (among the more harmless yet embarrassing being his weak attempts to exude some of that Obama flair).

I'm not going to suggest for whom you should vote. Being American by birth (Texan by the grace of God), I can't even vote here! But please open your ears to all information and choose wisely when voting on January 18th.

May the best leader win!

Tess Wiley elected singer/songwriter by the SPD!

Hamburg Sounds

So, what may be the fastest performance this side of the Atlantic is now online for all to hear. I think a certain someone was quite a bit nervous, which you can clearly hear in the jittery, cough-and-cold-ridden voice.  

For those of you who would like to hear my show on the NDR website but don't speak German, here is how to listen to the performance, as long as you own a Mac (PC owners - maybe someone can post instructions on the messageboard if it be helpful):

go to this link on a browser other than Safari (it can't open the necessary file, I used Mozilla):

http://www.ndr903.de/programm/sendungen/hamburg_sounds/hamburgsoundsindex2.html

when the page comes up, look to the right side where you see the photo of the pretty blond girl. Underneath that, click on the sentence (Radio zum Nachhören - das September Konzert) 

It will ask you to choose a program to open the file, choose itunes, then enjoy!

Since it's a stream, you have to wait until the get to my part. The line-up is as follows:

Der Fall Böse (big band with horns)

Tess Wiley

Ole Soul (male singer with one guitar or piano accompanist)

Helen Schneider (female singer with pianist)

Sorry y'all can't follow the interview, being as that it's in German, but maybe you get a kick out of hearing me speak it.

Festival in Switzerland this Sunday

This Sunday I'll be playing the Blue Balls Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. I'm at the KKL Plaza Stage in the Europaplatz (in front of the KKL Concert Hall). I'm playing three sets between 6 and 10 p.m. There's no entry fee since it's outside, so there's no excuse to not come. Unless, of course, you don't live in Switzerland.

My lovely harmonist Miriam will be accompanying me. Wunnsk.

Sixpence none the Richer

Turns out that Sixpence has gotten back together and will be playing a few shows here in Europe! And they've asked me to join them. For all those of you who know of me through my stint with them in the mid-90s, this is your big chance to relive your youth! Here are the dates:

and one potential date still waiting to be confirmed:

 Aug 17, 2008 Mosaic Festival, Lemgo, Germany

Hope to see lots o' y'all there! 

Li'l sump'in sump'in

Here's a site that was brought to my attention:

www.last.fm/music/Tess+Wiley 

The people behind it have managed to scrounge up a long list of my songs, including a little ditty I wrote on the fly for a Hessenmob Skateboard trailer, "Halt Durch Digger". No idea how they found that!

Those who visit the site will also see there's a video for Anette. I actually vetoed having it "released" since it didn't reach its full potential (the director had big plans for it, but, well, with a budget that barely covers snacks, the plug tends to get pulled earlier than intended.) Anyway, it's not sooo bad. For those who want to watch three minutes of Tess Wiley being coy. It's so pixelated, anyway, it looks like my face is a brand name we didn't get permission to use.

That video is a byproduct of the "Raise Your Hand" video, which is also there (and here). The aforementioned snacks nurtured us while making that one. The last two hours of daylight we had after the shoot were spent perching a three-month-pregnant me atop a ten-foot ladder for the "Anette" shoot.

me and you(tube)

here's a link to a performance of "Crying For You" at the Flevo Festival in Holland last August. Thanks Arnoud for posting it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTXBe7LSSr4