Summer has been very quiet and relaxing. I wasn't even going to put out a newsletter this month, but then I felt guilty about breaking up my streak.
Roadtrip
Marie and I took a 17 day roadtrip as soon as school ended. June 24th was our 30th wedding anniversary, so we decided to relive our cross country honeymoon roadtrip by doing another.
We drove 6,171 miles and passed through 15 states. The planned highlights of the trip were Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, Glacier National Park in Montana, and Zion National Park in Utah. We also made a stop in Kansas City on the way back east to visit a dear old friend and have the best BBQ of my life.
The entire trip was amazing…the beauty of the ever changing landscape, the little unheard of towns along the way, the kindness of strangers, the food, lots of card games, books, knitting…and the quiet. It was a welcomed reprieve from screens and the noise of every day life. The challenge now is to hold on to that tranquility when entering back into the normal day to day.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park - ND
Glacier National Park - MT
Glacier National Park - MT
Glacier National Park - MT
Zion National Park - UT
Zion National Park - UT
Zion National Park - UT
San Rafael Swell - UT
Kansas City with friends
Free Piece
Once school ended, I took a three week hiatus from playing and writing. I did bring my Yamaha silent guitar on our trip, but only played it for about ten minutes one day. I needed a break. Every once in a while, I feel the need to put it down and step away.
That being said, I did not write something specific for this month's newsletter. So instead, I am giving away the notation/TABs to “Kian's Blues”. I recently came across a performance video of the tune that I shot at home. (The video was for an interview I did for Rick Musallam's YouTube channel.)
I wrote “Kian's Blues” about 26 years ago, on a night when my infant son Kian wouldn't go to sleep. Years later, he would refer to it as his "weird lullaby". I recorded it on my first album “Skies and Openings” in 2009, then again on “Three Evenings” in 2022. It's always been one of my favorite compositions.
I have three days booked at Sounds & Substance with Tom Eaton in August. These sessions will hopefully become my 10th album.
I usually head up to New Hampshire with at least 15 fully composed and rehearsed pieces, but this time around, I am going to try something new by incorporating more improvisation, composing in the moment, and collaborating with Tom on layering and arranging ideas.
Change is good.
I will post updates and some peeks behind the scenes in my August newsletter. Stay tuned…
Recommendations
Here's some of what I've been listening to and reading…
That's all for July. I'll be back in mid August with updates on the recording sessions with Mr. Eaton.
Maybe if we all concentrate real hard, we can collectively make the summer slow down just a little. I hope you are enjoying these warm days with your friends and families. Take some time to be still and quiet. We all need that, now more than ever.
As always, thank you for reading these and for supporting my work.
