A (Beautiful) Voice From the Past

Remember when I wondered how my friend Courtney Campbell might be doing?

I met Courtney many (many) years ago when she was performing at local L.A. elementary schools. I fell in love with her music, her knack for storytelling, her love for children, and her spirit, and I introduced her to Dan Crow, with whom I was working at Disney. (Dan's music was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Milo and Otis, among other places.) Courtney and Dan worked together on a few projects, and Courtney also went out on her own, releasing a few CDs and working on proposals to do her own kids' show.

Courtney became an important part of my kids' childhoods, and when she sang lullabies and silly songs like Mustard Pancakes and Red Raincoat, the rooms of our house -- and the kids' faces -- were filled with magic. When we moved from Southern California to Washington State, we didn't have to wait long before Courtney "followed" us, and we hung out with her a few more times. Then she got big in Europe and began to spend quite a bit of time abroad. At the same time, our kids grew up and we slowly (and sadly) lost touch.

Until this morning, when we received a completely unexpected call from Courtney! She'd found an old phone number of ours and called it, expecting it to be "disconnected or no longer in service." But lo and behold, we're still here, and I'm was so happy (and surprised) to hear from her! We chatted for a while and she was shocked that all the kids have grown so quickly -- as has her son, who now has a family of his own and works in Hollywood.

Courtney did finally get her own show, and can also be found at www.courneycampbell.com. If you have young children, or are just young at heart yourself, check her out. And if you're in Europe (as well as the U.S. of course), keep an eye out for her, as she's heading out on tour again. You'll love her!

Oh, and tell her I sent you!