Update: January 11, 2022
Happy New Year!
Music is so weird these days. Not the music itself (ok, some of it is), but the business of making music, performing live, recording… it’s all weird. At this writing, we’ve gone from just plain Covid to Delta to Omicron to… who knows what? It’s given most people with music prominently in their lives a kick in the Oompa-Loompas. So many of my musical friends were hit really hard in 2020, bounced back at the beginning of 2021… and are entirely unsure of what will become of musical endeavors in this coming year.
My PSA to this end… PLEASE be safe and responsible. The overwhelming majority of hospitalizations and deaths from Covid are those who didn’t get vaccinated. But, for those of you who have genuine concerns about the vaccine, at least practice responsible habits. Wear your mask. Social distance. Stay home if you’re sick. Just don’t blow it off… Several people I know personally, more than several that I’ve admired over the years, and hundreds of thousands of people I’ve never met have died from Covid. If you think it’s a hoax, overblown, or over-reacted to, reach out to the families of those who have died. Tell them to their face it’s a hoax. Let me know how that goes for you. And find something else to do instead of coming to my shows. I value my health and that of my friends and family to take chances. I want to see you. But alive and healthy…. and smart. End of rant.
So what’s this about “shows”? So glad you asked. I finally got around to re-jiggering my calendar page – some changes in coding took place last year that I didn’t follow as closely as I should have. (Read: Yours Truly misplaced the note from my web designer (and local music legend) Annie Capps, explaining how to use the new system. D’oh!!!) Having finally figured it out, you’ll now find new dates added to the calendar tab above… and more hopefully will be added soon. At this writing, most of those dates are with In Harmony’s Way – or whatever the new name will be (more on that below)- and 2 solo gigs. Hope to see YOU at one of them.
About the band: Since last Summer, Amy, Paul and I have been performing with drummer Janine Sosa from ZenAgain Acoustics and Donde. Over the last month, we’ve also added Gloria Sosa (also from those same groups!) on vocals and guitar. The resulting quintet will be performing under another name soon – it’s not really In Harmony’s Way without Sharon (who is currently taking a band break). However, our gigs are currently booked under the IHW name. When we pick a new name, we’ll let everyone know and go from there.
As for recording: I’m about 80% done with a new album of songs (tentatively titled “Hope”), but recording time has been hard to come by of late for a number of reasons. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I’ve been doing some studio work here and there, and doing a great deal of writing. I did premiere a number of the songs from that upcoming album over the last year via occasional videos on Facebook Live, some of which are still archived on my music page there. If you haven’t visited in a while, pop in there and check ’em out!
Looking forward to seeing and hearing from you soon!
JJF