NEW!  It’s Rhoda on demand!

It’s been a dream of mine to create a place that is both a home for my music and where I could share recordings of other kinds of works. There was no place where recordings of songs could sit with, for example, portions of the Bible and classic poetry and literature side by side. So I have made my own! It’s brand new and being filled up with Good and Beautiful Things and it is such a joy to share it now with you.

All of my studio releases are inside. The other content is exclusive to this membership. More will be added regularly.

Register here to become a member of Rhoda Barfoot’s Something Good. Benefits include:

• Streaming on-demand of Rhoda’s studio recordings;
• Streaming of Rhoda’s reading of poetry and other beautiful literature;
• Exclusive streaming of Rhoda’s concert recordings – never previously released;
• First access to new recordings;
• Special members-only pricing on Rhoda’s CDs;
• Exclusive opportunity to commission a recording of your favourite song by Rhoda and her band;
• New and exclusive content being added weekly.

Good morning / good afternoon / good evening to all who are here via Mark Steyn’s 2023 Christmas Show.

Well, I have some news. I will be recording more in 2024, including a surprise I have planned for Mr Steyn. I’m working on a way to release the new recordings in one place, and also for fans to request a brand new recording of their favourite song. It has the potential to be a vibrant and beautiful project and I would love for you to be a part of it. If you would like to know the latest and get a couple of free songs, then sign up here and I’ll send them straightaway.

May God bless you and your family this Christmas.

With love,

Rhoda

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Original post 18th January 2022:

I’m calling in to say a special hello and welcome to anyone here via Mark Steyn’s latest Clubland Q&A.

It would be a pleasure to connect with you. Please feel free to drop me a line at rhoda @ rhodabarfoot dot com, or sign up here and I’ll send you a couple of songs. Thank you very much for visiting and I wish you a great week. ~ Rhoda

Click to hear the song on iTunes.

The performing highlight of the year was sitting in with Vince Gill and the Timejumpers in Nashville, what an honour to sing with those incredible musicians!

I’m also thankful for a wonderful St Patrick’s Day concert at the University of Arkansas, a sold-out gig in my hometown, and other appearances in Nashville and UK/Ireland/Switzerland.  See the home concert here.

Conferences

While in the US, I was privileged to attend a business conference and then a mastermind event, both in Las Vegas.  I met some brilliant people while there and gained new insight and inspiration for my businesses.  At one of these events I was invited to speak at the Chamber of Commerce back in Kentucky.

Speaking

Speaking at the Chamber of Commerce/Small Business Incubator in Kentucky was my first ever speaking gig and I absolutely loved it!  I spoke about being proactive in business if we want to achieve our goals – what are the right things for you to focus on in your business for optimum results?  I was inspired to meet the business owners who came along and greatly encouraged by their feedback on the talk.

In September I was honoured to be the special guest at Rainey Endowed School’s annual Prizegiving ceremony.  The Sunday Times recently announced my former school as Best Northern Ireland Secondary School and I was especially proud to be there, knowing the outstanding achievements of many of the school’s current pupils.  In my address I spoke about saying yes to opportunities, and about pursuing excellence, rather than good, or good enough.  Read the full speech here.

Then in November I was guest speaker at the Rainey Alumni’s annual dinner dance.  I built on what I had said to the pupils, encouraging my peers to step up as leaders in their work, communities, and in society.  I shared how a particular remark in my student days had helped me make the decision to go into business for myself.  A friend had asked me, If not you, then who?  I took this to heart at the time and am grateful for his and others’ influence in my life.  And I believe it’s our place to lead and to encourage the next generation.

My last speech of the year was at a Christian retreat in Geneva, Switzerland.  I was asked to speak on the subject of Leaders.  The premise of my talk was that each of us is a leader, it’s not a part we can choose or not choose.  I talked about how to find our own unique gifts, and how we can identify and overcome the things that might stop us from sharing these in our everyday life, in order to thrive as the best version of ourself.

Writing

I was delighted to have several articles published in the Huffington Post this year, including one about How I Got to Sing with Vince Gill: 12 steps to getting my business to work FOR me, and making the decision to be on top of the world.

People

The best thing about 2016 was the wonderful people that I met and got to spend time with in my travels especially in the US, at home in Northern Ireland and in Switzerland.  Thank you all xxx

I was reminded at the end of the year of the importance of giving of yourself and living life on purpose.  I attended the funeral of a former teacher, Vice Principal and Senior Mistress from my old school, Miss Dorothy Madden.  Miss Madden retired from teaching in the first year I enrolled, but she never retired from her tireless service of the school.  Although with this job offer she had come to Northern Ireland from England as a young woman with no family or friends in her new town, she quickly put down roots and made herself indispensable in caring for and maintaining connections to the school with literally thousands of alumni, now all over the world.  I thought how wonderful it would be if we all aspired to live a life that touches people like Miss Madden’s.

Hi!  I published this for the Huffington Post, I wrote about how I got the gig with Vince Gill.  But I guess it’s really about the way we show up for things that are important to us.  I’d love to know your thoughts on that subject!  Write to me at news@rhodabarfoot.com

Here’s the article in the Huffington Post:

How I got to sing with Vince Gill in the Huffington Post!

RELEASE OLD IDEAS IN THE FORM OF ACTIONS AND WELCOME NEW IDEAS AND POSSIBILITIES INTO YOUR LIFE!

I’ve heard from many people recently who expressed some kind of hesitation about taking action in their lives.  It might have been in the context of business, health, a relationship, or something else.  But if how you do one thing is how you do everything, then we can probably assume they aren’t just holding back in that one area!

Looking around, we always seem to know what other people should do to get healthy/find love/go after that thing they’ve been talking about (maybe for years!), but we also recognise that it can be hard to take that step.  So many things can get in the way.

But if you want to get ahead in any area of life, then despite what else might be going on around you, you need to start by taking ACTION!

Today I wanted to share with you some thoughts on taking action on an IDEA (and there’s a challenge at the end).

Read the full article in the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/releasing-the-old-to-welcome-the-new_us_5790de54e4b0a86259d0d9a9#comments

To be clear, releasing the old doesn’t mean discarding, disrespecting or diminishing any part of yourself or another.  It means consciously honouring what has been and choosing to believe that you have gained from these experiences what you needed to and that you can now peacefully and hopefully move forwards into your future.  With that said, here are the most impactful things I have been working through…

MUSIC

I want to be the most beautiful singer in the world and create incredibly beautiful music.

As a perfectionist, in the past I have had real resistance to publishing some of my music.  The problem for me was that as soon as I finished a project, I knew I’d learned so much from it that I knew I was already at a higher standard than I was at the time of that recording.  So I wanted to wait until next time, then I’d happily publish.

I know that the most beautiful singer in the world doesn’t have this problem, so if I AM that singer then I need to publish my music, even the recordings that are definitely imperfect.  By publishing I release the old and welcome new opportunities for performing and recording into my life.  And I also build a stronger and more interesting portfolio and reach more fans (um, kind of essential).  This is how I become that singer.  By being that singer.  I could say so much more on this, but for now I’ll move on…

CLOTHES (and other items)

The best version of me

wears beautiful clothes that I feel great in.  Personal presentation really affects your energy and I knew I needed a high energy for everything I want to get through.  So I need to feel great.  So I need to feel great in what I wear.  So I needed to get rid of the clothes and other items in my home that didn’t make me feel great anymore.

This one is tricky for me, as I associate physical items with memories of people, places, experiences, periods in my life when… It was hard to set aside a dress or a coat that used to make me feel fantastic.  But I was pretty ruthless.  If it no longer makes me feel great, it’s going on ebay.  Items that weren’t good enough for ebay (WHY would I have ANYTHING around me that wouldn’t be good enough for ebay??) went in the bin.  And since ebay listing is not my happy place, I cut a deal with a friend to kindly take care of that for me.

Another note on that… I decided that a dress making me feel fantastic was too reactive for me.  Objects do have energy, but an item can’t make me feel anything.  I choose how I feel about something.  The dress had great memories attached to it, but it didn’t hold any power of its own.  All the power and strength from a certain memory is within me.

And releasing the physical memento from a memory isn’t rejecting or diminishing the experience, it’s trusting that I’ve taken from that whatever I needed to, and can move forwards smarter, more mature, expanded.  Plus, I create space to make new memories – new experiences and opportunities that will come along when I’m wearing a beautiful new dress!

The very practical side of this is that I now have physical space for the new things I’m buying.  My wardrobe was crammed full of things I would no longer even have considered wearing, now I look in there and see beautiful things I’m delighted to choose from and that’s such a pleasure!

RELATIONSHIPS

I allow myself to be thankful for beautiful memories, an expanded capacity for love and a renewed compassion for the world, for people and their dreams and struggles.

Sometimes you need to slow down and spend some time looking within to move forwards.  That way you come out stronger and also more compassionate, towards both yourself and others.  And this way you’ll be ready to welcome great new people into your life at the right time

CLIENTS (this one is about old beliefs, not old clients!)

I want to work with the best clients!

For me, that means highly motivated people who are prepared to go all-in to create the business and the life they want.  They are courageous, they are open to possibilities, they dare to dream BIG and they have that glint in their eye, where they thrive on the game and can’t wait to see what they can do with their life.

Guess what – that’s who I work with.  I didn’t do the whole who-is-available-that-maybe-I-can-help-then-some-day-I’ll-get-someone-a-bit-better-then-eventually-I’ll-work-with-who-I-really-want-to-work-with.  NO, I skipped that part and started working with the clients I really wanted.  I released the belief that I had to wait (wait for what, anyway?).  The truth is that you don’t have to wait to be or do something you really want.  You can just decide it then act accordingly.  As a man (or woman!) thinks, so he is.  When I decided to apply this ancient principle to my biz it was a major uplevel for me.

On a practical level, I had some client projects waiting to be completed.  They got finished this weekend and are all sent away.  I’m releasing the old work so I have time for new exciting projects.

IDEAS

Release old ideas in the form of actions and welcome new ideas and possibilities into your life!

We all have ideas every day for posts, articles, projects, programmes, services, offers, adventures, things we want to say, share, places we want to visit, etc.  Isn’t it so tempting to say wait!  I’ll do these when I’m ready.  Another day.  When it’s a better time, when I have more experience, more money, more support, when this or that project is out of the way, when I think it all through and make the idea better… Wrong.

Ideas (like opportunities) are living, breathing things.  You need to act on them or they fade out and go looking for someone who will act on them.

And hoarding ideas reveals a scarcity mentality.  On some level, you believe that you aren’t enough to carry them out and/or that by carrying them out, your moment of glory will pass too soon and you’ll be left with nothing in its place.  Not true.  When you act on an idea, your capacity for creating expands.  You gain experience, knowledge, connections, opportunities, all things you only got because you acted.  All these outcomes in turn inspire MORE ideas.  So don’t believe that you should wait, you def shouldn’t wait.  As a creative being, it’s your responsibility to act on ideas you are given.  When something is in your head or in your heart, that’s the moment to act.

In the past week I have acted on ideas for music videos, newsletters, blogs, fb posts, an accountability partnership, skype chats, lunch dates, a free offer, new places to market my work, and more besides.  Whether or not I felt ‘ready,’ I had faith that my ideas were good enough to be acted on, that I was good enough to fulfil them and that by acting on these ideas I would be given many more.

And today I’m releasing these thoughts to welcome new thoughts!  I’m sharing with the community to inspire someone else to make a transformation their life – ideas can do that!  YOU can do that!

My challenge to you – What are you hoping to welcome into your life and what do you need to release in order to make that happen??

Much love,

Rhoda

This was taken after the concert – Jeff Taylor was on piano and accordion, Eric Thorin on bass and Erick Jaskowiak was our sound engineer.