Last Friday I called home to Portland, only to have my mom rush me off the phone with a hurried, “I can’t talk now, I have to get your sister’s CD downtown to be mastered.”

I realize that this is not a sentence that would be heard in every family, but in mine, my sister’s career as a singer/songwriter is a family undertaking and so we all participate. My dad has been recording and editing the album for many months, my mom often frequently enlisted to run deliver posters or CDs and I have claimed the role as hugely proud older sister (I did help stuff and address mailings while I was home).

Raina’s new recording, The Prophet, the Panhandler and the Moon, is done and it’s fantastic. The songs are addictive, clever, joyful, painful, heartfelt and political. Some great folks played on the album with her too, including Tony Furtado and the fiddler player from Green Mountain Grass. I can’t fullly express how impressed I am with my sister and her ability to create music (my dad also did a lovely job with the editing).

The record is hitting the Portland area tomorrow night (Tuesday, January 9th) at the CD Release/Send Raina Off On Tour party at Alchemy Jewelers (NW 10th & Lovejoy). For those folks not in Portland, it should be on CD Baby and iTunes soon.