So many of us are looking at this Spring of ’21, hoping for a better future. For me, I want to be more committed to sharing my original songs. Although I have put some of my songs on the market, I was only putting a lukewarm effort into that process. But this year I have resolved to be more bold in my musical pursuits, and so here we are. I know my music can’t be everybody’s favorite but I hope everybody will enjoy the process of trying something new as much as I am.
The path up to this point has been much like Emerson wrote of the ship that tacks back and forth. It seems to be wandering but seen from a distance, it has a definite direction.
I love a song. Always have. In time I began to search for the more pure and raw forms of music. This would eventually draw me to the Singer-Songwriter community, especially the Texas music scene. Hearing a song in it’s original context, and the original emotion infused into the lyrics, somehow brought me deeper and closer to music (check out legendary songwriter Tony Arata doing “The Dance” made famous by Garth Brooks). Being in the music biz already (I wrote in another blog about my experiences teaching music), I began looking for ways to get involved with helping to promote these songs and their writers. I was thrilled to find my own home state of North Carolina was also home to a plethera of rootsy, genuine, dedicated songwriters. I poured my energy into hosting radio and TV shows, seminars, and live showcases, all in hopes of spotlighting songwriters and their music. And I loved every minute of it. But somehow I turned all of this work into justification for not sharing my own songs, at least not whole-heartedly. And that nagging truth never left me. I was holding back in a cowardly way and I knew it. Music is something to be shared and our offering don’t have to be perfect, just honest.
I hope now in this amazing chapter that is what I offer to life; an honest love for music.
GodSpeed