|| Dear Diary || The sun that shun upon - A little diary note of late

It’s been Summer! SUMMER! I tell you, you probably know it. It’s been warm. Here in London, in the Netherlands where many friends live, and in many other places. Perhaps a little too warm in some, like in Portugal and Spain where bits of it have gone up in flames. Ongoing contemplations about Global Warming, but anyway. Music. Yes…. Even though I’m still talking to you all about the SPRING ep. The Summer one will be here soon! We’re just finalising the mixes and getting the mastered tracks by the end of this week! I’m so excited about these next 3 tracks I can’t wait to share them with you!! The pressed up EP for the Boxset-Subscriptions should be with you in the first week of August! If you have no idea what I’m talking about with all this seasonal/ep/Boxset huuuuh?! Look here: www.gittaderidder.com/foreverythingaseason You might have seen that I’ve been out and about playing some shows. Netherlands and such. I’ve been feeling outrageously grateful for the last few gigs I got to play there and here in London. Everyone has been so kind and lovely and supportive. Like REALLY. Mañana Mañana festival was blissful. Above a little video I made about it, the song is ‘All is Love’ which will be on the SUMMER ep :-) THANKS to all that were there and at the other gigs!! And thanks to Laura Frances & Hannah Lovell for singing with me at the last London 'Sound of Songs'! more will come with those two! For sure they will sing with me at my upcoming London headline show at the Green Note (22nd of October) where we'll be celebrating the first official 'For Everything a Season' single which is coming out on the 2nd of October. Tickets for that show are limited and already available HERE

Also super excited to announce that I'll be opening Gestrand Festival on the 15th of July together with the awesome folks from Assorted Travellers - A Dutch band from the town where I grew up. We'll be playing a set of songs of mine, theirs and a couple covers. We had our first rehearsal while I was out in the Dutchlands a couple weeks back - looked a little like this: Such a joy to play music with this lot! :-)

Something that has been on my mind a lot lately. And perhaps a strange thing to bring up, as it often feels like the struggles are something we’re not supposed to talk about. There are times when I’ve gotten - and sometimes still get - really down about how to keep moving the art forwards with energy while being able to support myself. Us songwriters and performers need to pay rent and buy food and have time for music making and playing, and time and money to record, and run a business while being able to create, which is tricky, because often we end up playing shows for not much more than travel money, and sales are often - if lucky - just covering the costs of making records. But it seems this is starting to change for me. Also because I’ve managed to find a side-life-line in my Pilates teaching which can be quite a part-time thing. Perhaps the thing that keeps me sane too. The fact that my life activities are supporting me money-wise while being able to do what I love and what I feel I need to do is just AMAZING. I came away from the last few gigs feeling like I’m on a mission. Well, I always kinda felt like I’m on a mission. But even more so now. With all that goes on in the world - so eagerly highlighted by recent events - making me realise that the positive all the madness creates is what we need to focus on. Together. Understanding. Connecting. Asking Questions. Giving each other space to answer them and contemplate and live as we feel is true to what we are inside. Art is and has always been one of the primal human forms of expressing and understanding. Of learning and growing togetherness. Of ritual and celebration. Of moving through darkness into the light. The more I realise this the more I feel such joy to be able to fill my life with art and music. It really is a blessing. I hope we will continue to live in a world where there is space for such things. Now life would really be grey without it. Here a few images to go with recent times… Starting with a few from the studio a few weeks back where we recorded the final tracks for || For Everything a Season || which means the album is FULLY RECORDED NOW! aaaaaaaaah! So happy with where it's at!

I’m not quite sure what else to add to this right now. I hope you like the little video! And I hope if you haven’t yet you’ll be curious enough about these new recordings to sign up for the Boxset Subscriptions as I quite badly need to sell a few more to be able to pay all the bills related to making it. ;-) It’s worth joining I promise!! Quite a special thing dare I say so myself, it’s a record from the heart and the artwork/designs to match it. Silver lining and all… Sending you all a ton of love, happiness and bliss x Gitta