Donna Ulisse
Singer, Songwriter, Bluegrass Poet
Russia tour a huge success!
Donna singing "Who Will Sing For Me" to the grieving crowd after the Russian cruise ship sank near Vologda where the concert was. We have been told there were not many dry eyes in the crowd.
Donna singing "Who Will Sing For Me" to the grieving crowd after the Russian cruise ship sank near Vologda where the concert was. We have been told there were not many dry eyes in the crowd.
Donna on an early morning TV show in Yekaterinburg that is our equivalent to Good Morning America in the U.S.A.
Donna on an early morning TV show in Yekaterinburg that is our equivalent to Good Morning America in the U.S.A.
fresh strawberries picked from the dacha of new friends just for Donna and the band to have with tea!
fresh strawberries picked from the dacha of new friends just for Donna and the band to have with tea!
Donna & The Poor Mountain Boys with Robert Palomo
Donna & The Poor Mountain Boys with Robert Palomo
Donna with traditional Russian folk musicians and performers who also were part of the festival in Semenkovo.
Donna with traditional Russian folk musicians and performers who also were part of the festival in Semenkovo.
Donna being interviewed by Russian media in traditional folk village of Semenkovo
Donna being interviewed by Russian media in traditional folk village of Semenkovo
Vologda Soundcheck in Kremlin Historic Square
Vologda Soundcheck in Kremlin Historic Square
on the left, Greg Davis of the Poor Mountain Boys jamming before the Vologda soundcheck
on the left, Greg Davis of the Poor Mountain Boys jamming before the Vologda soundcheck
"I am home now safe and sound (beautiful music to my worried mothers ears) and feeling a bit out of sorts. The flight from Yekatrineburg to Moscow was joyful for me, Rick Stanley, Jon Martin, Greg Davis and Bobby King as we relived all the great moments we had. The flight from Moscow to Washington, DC was quiet as the realization fell like a heavy blanket on us.... it was over :( If we said it once, we said it over and over again...."what a blessing this trip to Russia was for us"!
Vera from the US Consulate in St. Petersburg has promised to send me her borscht recipe. This coming Saturday night I am going to attempt making it for the band and we are getting together to enjoy all the pictures and videos with the wives and my record company folks. We want so much to relive it all, to re-tell the stories and re-capture the celebrations that we experienced in Russia. I honestly felt like I was leaving dear family members as we said our tearful goodbyes. When I hugged Julia from the US Consulate in Yekaterineburg I could have cried like a baby. She presented all of us with wonderful pieces of jewelry made out of stones that came from Yekaterinburg as she wanted us to take something tangible home with us from her country. They are so hospitable and sincere that it breaks my heart even now as I think about it.
What I learned so strongly was that at the end of the day we are all the same. We get through our struggles the very same way. We cry the same tears, we share the same joy, we are connected by music even if it's a language we don't understand. I was so honored to be a part of introducing Bluegrass/Mountain Music to Russia. May this be an ongoing event and may music always weave us together!"
While in Russia, the band met an American banjo player living in St. Petersburg by the name of Robert Palomo who was kind enough to provide some wonderful photos of them at their first two festivals. Donna also wrote travelogues of the whole trip and The Bluegrass Blog was posting them each day of the journey. We are including the links below as we think you will enjoy reading them and seeing the many photos and some video from the trip as it was happening. As you can see, Donna was also interviewed by many members of the Russian media.
Travelogue Day 1
Travelogue Day 2
Travelogue Day 3
Traveloge Day 4
Travelogue Day 5
Travelogue Day 6
The U.S. Consulate in Yekaterinburg has also posted a full page of photos from the festivals in their city so we are including the link for you here .
