As the world turns, chapter MMXXI
Hi!
Oh, how time has changed. Has it really been two months since I wrote you? And what do I have to show for it, other than a couple more pounds? Not much…some more culling of useless house filler, thousands of e-mails written, hundreds of walks taken and zoom gatherings, and the lofty achievement of getting 7-8 hours of sleep rather than my 50 year pattern of 5-6 hours. Are you impressed? Where’s the new album you ask? The auto-biography? Frankly, sorry to say, I figure I still have time.
But really, so much has happened since we visited last. I figure I don’t need to run over it all - you were there, and it’s all been endlessly analyzed. The most positive for humanity were the wise, calming and inspiring words spoken at the inauguration of the new president of our neighbour to the South. We (and I boldly assume we’re on the same page) collectively breathed a huge sigh of relief. Having the constant chaotic, toxic voice that had sucked all the air out of the atmosphere for over four long years finally silenced, was an indescribable relief. I am still feeling the surge of fresh air that rushed in that day.
The return of hope.
In my own little life….
Exactly a year ago I rendezvoused in Vancouver with two dear friends and favourite songwriters - Lynn Miles (on tour from Ottawa) and Nova Scotia based Susan Crowe, (out visiting her brother). When I’d been touring in the Maritimes the previous summer I had a few days to spend with Susan at her place in Pictou County and we pondered our dream Gal Trio. And there we were, six months later, rehearsing songs together for a spring tour of the Maritimes. Hence The Mavens were born. Well, we all know what happened next! Fast forward a full year (if only we could have!) and we figured, though we couldn’t play together, we could still share a stage. So, on Sunday, March 28th, we will do just that, at noon at my house, 3pm at Lynn’s, and 4pm at Susan’s with Leonard Podolak hosting us on Home Routes via Zoom. YAY!! I’ve missed you all, and certainly missed playing music! Here’s the link for tickets! They’re on a sliding scale. Julia took this shot of us on a break from rehearsing last Feb.
I have been slowly releasing videos from the recording of Back to Shore, as well as others I’ve recorded over the past year. Last week it was the recording sessions for “These Lines” – a favourite of mine in live concerts as I watch the knowing smiles and hear folks laugh when I sing the first lines:
I look in the mirror and wonder who’s looking back
She looks familiar, but I’m not as old as that
Face that is peering
Questioning how this could be
I’ve talked before about how much more I re-worked the songs on this album, and there were many versions the verse describing the lines…
These ‘round my lips are from kissing and whistling
Blowing out candles, and all of that wishing….
I wanted to include playing the harmonica as another sure source of those lines, but rhyming “harmonica” was out of the question. (Stop...I know you’re trying right now! Trust me!)
You may have already read my blurb on Facebook about the video…that daughter/engineer Julia Graff likes to choose a few songs with the artist to video during the recording of an album. She will then shoot every musician’s performance on those songs, (with partner James Perrella taking over the engineering), so she can include the actual footage of the performance you’re hearing. I love that! It’s one of my little pet peeves when they’re unrelated, as in film when there’s a dancing scene and the producers end up using music with a different tempo. Wrong. Okay, not “social injustice” wrong, just rudely dismissing how music works.
But what I really love about this video is the peek into what recording the songs you listen to entails. How every player brings a lifetime of well-honed skills to the session and is so focused on serving that song and the artist’s work. And of course, the musicians I get to work with are great friends - warm, funny, and supportive on top of everything else. It’s the payoff for the months of writing in solitude - an utter love fest. Having Julia and James at the helm, and the cross pollination of generations just makes it all even richer.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of where we put our attention. Not that I’m terribly disciplined but I am being pickier. More reading, more walks, more focus on creative pursuits, and eschewing any of the dark twisted programming that popular culture loves to feed us that includes cruelty, torture (usually of women), soulless characters, and all manner of terror. Aren’t we all anxious enough without that?
Pondering human nature is one of my favourite sports, and in the process of supporting friends through various issues, I’m keenly aware of how the negative voice, the bully in the room, can consume so much of our focus. One really notices it living in a small community, where anyone with an opinion or a voice will be sure to be heard. And when someone who has a hole in their sense of self that they strive to fill by wielding power over others, they can make the lives of others pretty miserable. The challenge is to have learn to not let that person move into to your comfy living room of consciousness like vermin. It is very hard to boot them out and keep them out. But it can be done. And life is much more enjoyable without them. I try really hard to switch over to being compassionate, thinking what a shitty way to live, never getting the positive rewards of being a kind and caring person. Then I back that up with gratitude that I don’t have to live that way. But believe me, it’s more a goal than an achievement . I can easily revert to writing them long angry letters in my mind before I again have to shoo them off.
I have been taking in lots of concerts online, mostly because it’s interesting and lovely to see and hear what folks are doing, and partly to support them during this lean time. I also took in 5 of Chris Thile’s master classes and lots of different tech talks on streaming and social media. But I particularly value connecting with friends and family on Facetime or Zoom. I am perennially grateful for the technology that has afforded us the ability to visit, teach, share, work and play through this isolated time.
Just like I do following a live concert, I will send this off to you and immediately think of so many things I meant to tell you. But I remember asking you way back in March how you were doing and many of you responded. Now, almost a year later, maybe it’s time for an update? Frankly, what fascinates me the most is how folks’ marriages and relationships are holding up. I would imagine some are stronger and some are fraying, but as someone who has the luxury of weathering this time in solitude without annoying anyone else (which I certainly would!) I’m interested in how it’s been for others. I promise not to name names in any songs!
Thank you for listening to me rant and ramble and for being on my mailing list. I hope to hear from you along the way or see you hunkered down in your living room for the Mavens concert!
I used to sign off “Happy Trails” but that might just be from your bedroom to the kitchen so, Happy Home. Be safe.
Love, Shari