I was reading a recent post by Austin Kleon, in praise of mediocrity, when I felt a chord struck hard, deep inside. He was quoting author Tim Wu who was bemoaning the lack of hobbies in modern times…
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takeaways from 1RiffADay
September 30th was the last day of a thirty day challenge called 1 Riff a Day (or #1RAD) sponsored by She Shreds magazine. The challenge is simple - just post one "riff" - on acoustic guitar, electric guitar…
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white flowers
Tomorrow is the March For Our Lives to promote sensible, regulations to our out-of-control gun situation.
Made me think of a verse for a new song we're working on for Silver Cloud Express called "Here and Now" and…
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every damn day
Gratuitous sunset picture from our backyard
Just read this blog post about having an 'Every Damn Day' list and I really liked this idea! I mean, I have my WHOPPING list of all the things I WANT to…
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the broccoli tree
Midsummer Special - by Patrik Svedberg
I was pointed to this video by my favorite Friday read, Austin Kleon's newsletter. I was just stunned by not only the story of the broccoli tree itself - a series…
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bass meditation
With a title like that, you could assume this will be a rumination on the nature of playing bass, the purpose of the bass instrument in Life, of or even a little haiku on the joys of bass! But no…
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to the bone
It's not easy being a musician. All the instability and stress of scrabbling to make ends meet along with the mental instability and stress of putting your most vulnerable self out into the world for others to jeer or…
Read morefull moon rotation
Happy Full Moon Fever!
I've always loved the moon. Whether it's because I'm a moonchild Cancer or just a romantic at heart, I've always been fascinated by our closest celestial neighbor and do like to write songs about her…
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like rain in the desert
Photo by Bill Gracey
It's raining! Been raining since deep into the night, when I awoke to that lovely gentle patter on the roof. Winter rains are the sweet cousin to our monsoon season. Instead of the crash…
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remembering the music store
Here's a reprint from 5 years ago - I was just reminded of it by a kind message from Freddy Paulus' grandson, Nicholas! Thanks for getting in touch, and all the best to your grandfather!
Most girls growing up…
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music is life
Someone posted this quote in a forum on FaceBook and it struck me so deeply, I had to share. I knew Bruce was a poet but it still is lovely to see his writing outside of his iconic songs…
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blue blood super full moon fever
This photo of the moon was taken by my talented friend Julius Schlosburg.
“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of our desire to understand.”
-- Neil Armstrong
So Wednesday morning was a…
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girls just wanna be heard
My beloved sent me a link to an article on Billboard magazine, New Report Shows Major Lack of Representation by Women in the Music Industry, and it is an EYE OPENER!
This is a subject I'm of…
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your own Golden Age
I believe that we, that this planet, hasn’t seen its Golden Age. Everybody says its finished … art’s finished, rock and roll is dead, God is dead. Fuck that! This is my chance in the world. I didn’t live…
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Ol' Tom: The Long Road to Simple FolkMusic Guitar
Here's another stream of folk consciousness from my veteran folk singer dad, Ol' Tom. It's brought up a lot of my own thoughts of what it means to make good ol' simple music that I'll post another time. Enjoy!
…Read moreHappy New Year!
Yes, I took a few days away from my computer as 2017 wound down. It was pretty delicious! It's been a very sweet holiday after all - I felt like I was stepping away from the "shoulder to boulder" mode…
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the lovely in-between
Just swooping in here post-Christmas so that I don't totally forget how to write during this lovely in-between time. I work for a university (not as a professor, but as part of an associated research division) and one of…
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another holiday video playlist
Oh, sure everyone's doing it. But what the heck, I don't see these listed anywhere, so this is what I'm bringing to the holiday turntable!
Jill Sobule's version of "Merry Christmas From the Family" - originally penned by…
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sonic solstice
Today is the shortest day of the year - celebrated since humans had fire to fight back against the dark. It also reminds me of a lovely solstice day Jamie and I had a few years back in 2009…
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what could be simpler right now?
Horoscopes to me are more like that idea of holding a question in your mind, then opening a book at a random page and blindly pointing to passage to find your answer. If the writer is interesting, then you're bound…
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guitar picks for the soul
My dad is a poet/writer and from time to time he sends around something cool by email (and sometimes I turn them into songs!) Here's one of his stream of consciousness jack-kerouac-meets-william-faulkner pieces about that ubiquitous…
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light in the dark
Even as the Arizona sun keeps shining down on us during our unusually warm December, I like to reflect on the meaning of winter holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Winter Solstice rituals and all the ways different cultures celebrate…
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the sound of space
The sound of space
The not-hum of the world just existing
The sound of the In Between
In between breaths
In between thoughts
In between one breeze and the next.
Sometimes called…
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Friday inspo: Every Moment
From one of those effervescent thoughts that bubble to the surface of my mind when I'm lying in bed at the end of the day waiting for Sleep:
Every moment has its own wisdom
Isn't this what…
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old vinyl treasure
This is one of those old vinyl treasures that pop out at me when I'm rummaging through a thrift store bin or at local record shops like Old Paint Records and Zia Record Exchange. I just love everything…
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