New Year - New Challenges

 

I've been a full time working musician for most of my adult life. Although I have had to hold down a part time job here and there (because full time musicians usually only earn part time pay), but the past few years, I have had to rely on multiple bands to get by on music alone. One of those projects has been with my girlfriend Amy. After starting out singing with each other a few years ago for a multi act benefit concert, we recorded a bunch of cover songs and started playing some small shows here and there. Casual, usually decent paying, and always lots of fun.

Now we are preparing to write an album's worth of original songs all in the course of one month.

A friend posted about this challenge, which sounded interesting. Since all we do is stay inside and I can't really play any shows, we might as well write and record something. It has been over 2 years since I've recorded any new songs, although I've written a few songs during that time, nothing has sounded like a full realized effort. Hopefully with Amy's help, that may change. 

Another Door Closes

 It was back in 2016 when I started checking out an open microphone event that was taking place at a small microbrewery that had recently opened up in Florence, Massachusetts. Held inside of a lofty industrial brick building, it was cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. The atmosphere was unique for certain, but it was the company that ultimately united us all together.

 

It was a difficult year for me, and I didn't return to the event until several months later, when I was resettled nearby.

Silver Linings

Around this time last year, a giant snowstorm dumped well over a foot of snow on us. I grabbed a shovel, and cleared out a 50 foot driveway. 

We didn't get another storm like that until now.

But these are things we go through every year. Some people grow tired of the yearly winter grind and move to warmer climates. Others hunker down and try to make it easier on themselves. 

In an ideal New England situation: the car is garaged, your driveway is short, and the town plows things in a efficient manner. But if it is only a few storms a year, I think we can deal with it.

 If not? I'll buy a snowblower!

 

Four Seasons

 

Last year, I started taking a backroads drive North to Franklin County. Past cows, swamps, farms, orchards, hills, small towns and sweeping vistas.

I decided I preferred taking the scenic route, and it's renewed perspective on my life. It gave me the time to gaze at the present and focus on the future. 

This old land seems brand new to me. 

Largely untouched by the encroachment of civilization, only a few newer homes (with amazing views) show the signs of the "Bedroom Community" status all of this area has officially earned by now.

Cul De Sac

And when they all,

All go home

Down the cobblestones

You will double back

To a cul de sac - Van Morrison

I woke up to the sound of a cat's collar jingling.

Looking out of one eye, I look to the bedroom window facing the east, and guess that it is around 8 or 9AM. I decide to get up and start the morning, while my girlfriend sleeps soundly.

I share a 4 bedroom colonial house with 4 cats, and two young daughters, who spend most of the weekend with their father. Fumbling for the coffee maker, I look out the window to see a blanket of fog draped all over a pastoral landscape of the Connecticut River valley. I've lived in Western Massachusetts for 20 years, but this has been my first year as a resident of Franklin County. My neighborhood is a pleasant, mostly quiet Cul De Sac. The only noises I tend to hear is the occasional delivery truck, or a neighbor's dog barking. At night, the woods come alive, with fox, coyote and owls all letting their voices be heard.

For the past several months, Covid-19 has shut down much of my occupation as a self employed musician, and the year started with the passing of my father after a long illness. I ended up selling my house and moving in with my girlfriend of the past two years, while I wait for a vaccine, so I can start working again. 

I make some coffee for the two of us, leave one next to her bedside, and go for a walk.