1 December - Meteorology

Here it is December. Today is the start of what they call Meteorological Winter, although there are some of us who insist on waiting for the Solstice before considering it official. But seeing how there are plenty of folks out there who always jump the gun on the Yuletide (retailers, for example), it's not surprising that there's a "modern" way of looking at the seasons. March 1st for Spring, June 1st for Summer, September 1st for Autumn, and now this. It's simple, I'll give you that. And I've had to scrape my car's windshield several times already, so I'm not gonna argue.

Besides, as of yesterday, which marked a full month since I deleted my account, my exit from Facebook has become permanent. I'm in a good mood. You want to start Winter today, go ahead. Means we're that much closer to Spring.

31 October - Permanence

This is basically an update to the last entry. As of 11am today, my Facebook account has been deleted for good. Decided in light of recent developments to dispense with the usual temporary break, and to get rid of the thing once and for all.

According to an email sent to me by the Facebots, my account will not be permanently gone until 30 days have expired, and I can log into my page at any time between now and then and stop the process. Not gonna happen. 

Happy Halloween.

27 October - Hiatus

We're getting near the end of the month, and this means Halloween (of course), but also that my annual holiday hiatus from Facebook is approaching as well. I'm starting early this year. In the past I began these breaks around Thanksgiving, but this time it'll be for all of November and December, and I'll reactivate the account on the first of January.

That's the plan, anyway. But it's on shaky ground. I have had a difficult time finding justification to stick with the platform for the past couple of years, and have been threatening (to myself, anyway) to delete the account entirely. And recent disclosures about the way the company has been run are not helping sway me toward re-upping with Facebook after this coming break. Quite the opposite.

I'm no longer impressed with the platform as a promotional tool. And although I have many friends around the world with whom it seems to be our primary choice for casual communications, other means of contact are available to us. Every single time I log into the place, I can't help but admit that it is far from the enjoyable bulletin board it once was.

Anyway, I have a big decision to make. And the fact that whether or not to remain qualifies as a "big decision" is rather telling.

05 October - Birthdays

Yesterday was my father's birthday. He would have been 95, but he left this earthly plane for something more astral back in 2009. Last Saturday was my birthday, and it was the one I like to call the Beatles Birthday. That's right, 64. I was born the year that John and Paul met, lucky me. 

October 9th will have been be John Lennon's 81st birthday.

So there you go. We all shine on, whether or not we're still here to enjoy our birthdays.

23 September - Autumn

The Autumnal Equinox happened here yesterday afternoon, so today is the first full day of Fall. I'm looking forward to less humidity, good food, and getting together with friends. Perhaps I'll see you 'round town. We can shuffle through the leaves together.

24 August - Sadness

Charlie Watts photo courtesy of The Rolling Stones

31 July - Angel Park

We had a crowd of close to 70 people at the Angel Park show on Wednesday, but of course our friend Ivan framed this photo to make it seem like we were playing to just my Mom and John (my brother in law). It was fun to get out and perform with Nick and Fred again, something we had not done since October of 2019. Turns out that had been the last time I had played out, period – either with these guys or in any other capacity (solo, The Prestons, etc.). It's a crazy old world.

Photo by Ivan Oransky

22 July - Gig Poster

 

7 July - Peace & Love

 Hey, it's Ringo Starr's birthday. He's 81 today.

29 June - Coming Up

The trio version of my old band Group DeVille is playing in a local town park at the end of July, smack dab in the middle of this concert series. If you're around, stop by and listen. In fact, come see all of these artists if you can. As always, it's a fine line-up.

26 May - First Friday

I don't work the day job on Thursdays, so today is the first Friday of my week. I recommend having two, if you can swing the schedule.

Yesterday was Towel Day, but I expect a lot of you knew that, being hoopy froods and all. Yes, I had mine, as any self-respecting Douglas Adams fan should. Several, in fact. I keep a few in the car. One never knows.

4 May - Onward

Today is one of those fun play-on-words days. Star Wars fans everywhere are greeting each other with "May the Fourth be with you," and good for them. Got to find fun wherever we can.

The promo CD files have all been approved, and it's in production. The current ETA is late May or early June, depending on shipping time, and then I'll be sending them out to different corners of the world for radio play and reviews. Can't say when I'm going to feel comfortable enough to travel widely again, but at least my music can.

Thanks to all who listen.

30 April - Change

A week from today it'll be another Bandcamp Friday. A few days ago, I converted all the songs and albums on my page to "name your price," so there's no minimum fee for anything. Everyone who's downloaded material has been really generous, so there's really no sense in having a starting point listed. It has almost always been exceeded by those who have had enough to spend. And when all's said and done, I just want people to enjoy the music even if money's tight right now.

28 April - Life

Got word from the company pressing the discs (okay, burning) that the audio files and data goodies are ready for proof and approval. So part of tomorrow will be spent attending to all that. This process is still a fun thing for me. I'm gonna have the Beatle Birthday (64) this October, but part of me is still that kid learning guitar and writing songs and playing in bands with school friends, and dreaming about someday playing for a big audience and being able to make records. So every time I step on stage to perform, or work in the studio, or release a newly completed project - even at my humble level - I'm still dead chuffed about simply getting to do all of this.

Remember:

"How successful you become is a matter of luck and business, and is a totally unrelated subject. Whether you leave the house to your mother or if you've got anything materially to leave behind is one thing, but what you do leave behind is your music. Whether you sell a million records or never even make one, if someone's heard you and you've turned them onto it, you've done your fuckin' job. The rest of it is hype and business. That's what it comes down to." 

Keith Richards said that. Words to live by, yeah?

Yeah.

23 April - Shiny Objects

Part of yesterday afternoon was spent taking care of a few loose ends, one of which involved uploading the art and song files for Rising in the Blue to Disc Makers, and ordering some promo copies. No fancy packaging this time, just printed CDs in plain paper sleeves. They're gonna look like this:

19 April - Effective Date

As of today, the Janssen vaccine we received two weeks ago is considered fully effective. But we're still masked and sanitizing, because a whole lot of people still haven't had a chance to get their jabs. Short post, yeah. I just wanted to make note of this point on the timeline.

14 April - Progress Report

Last Monday, the four of us in our immediate family went into downtown Northampton and were vaccinated. We got the one-shot Janssen formula, so next Monday it'll reach its full effectiveness. That said, please don't think we'll be tossing our masks and other precautions aside. This is gonna take a long time, folks.

Earlier this week I was musing on Twitter about the fact that I do more musing on Twitter than I ever did in here. Then again, this isn't really a blog, per se. It was intended to be my primary web presence, as I never really saw much point in having a proper website. But I should probably do more with it, even if no one has any real reason to be here right now. The album's done and out there, my work for Cliff is finished and delivered, and I won't be booking or playing any gigs anytime soon.

So what to do? And then this morning I decided it might be worthwhile to simply keep track of life post-vaccination, and how 2021 compares to the full lockdown quarantine situation of the past year. I'll try to post something each week, and we'll see how it goes.

15 March - Almost Spring

As you can see, it has been a long time since I last posted in here. I'm not going to apologize. Good things have been happening. A few sad things as well, but this is not the place to talk about them.

The new album has been very well received, and also selling well. I'm truly grateful for this, and my heartfelt thanks go out to those of you who have said kind things about the music and production, and especially those of you who have told me which songs are your favorites. This really does mean a lot.

Secondly, I spent some time after my album's release mixing and mastering one by my friend Cliff Eberhardt. I've done this sort of thing for a few of the students and clients whose songs he produced, and he liked my approach well enough that he asked me to do the honors on his own new record. An honor it was. These are great songs, and Cliff's a mighty fine gent. When it's out, I'll post a link.

Rumor has it that the rising availability of vaccine means that there is renewed hope for live shows later in the year. So I'm going to be optimistic, but also stay careful in the meantime. You too, please. 

1 February - Release Day

Hi everyone, the day's finally here. I'm really pleased with how this record turned out, and I hope you like it too. Click here and give it a listen.

Please note that like everything else on the page, it's "Name Your Price," and that includes "Free" if money's tight. I just want folks to listen and enjoy. But you'd like to throw some cash in the drawer when downloading, consider waiting until this Friday. It's another Bandcamp Friday on February 5th, when they'll be waiving their share so we artists get a bit extra. Stay well, and thanks for supporting independent music.

31 January - New Beginnings

Here we are a month into 2021, already bidding January farewell in a matter of hours. I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that I should probably post something in here. Firstly, to apologize for not having posted anything all month, and secondly, to remind you all that tomorrow is the release of the new album, Rising in the Blue.

Okay? Okay. Job done. See you tomorrow.