Today is the first day...

of the rest of your life... it was also the first day of the year when I saw the cross stitched, framed piece at my friend Yoon's house. She invited me over for New Year's Day brunch, and she made the most beautiful feast for me and my friends. It was a great way to find the 'clean slate' I was looking for to begin a new year. Nothing against last year, it was fine, but I appreciate new beginnings. A clear head, a fresh start, whatever it is. The holidays sort of merge into a blob of time you can't get back. Sure, productive things happen, but all along there's an underlying feeling of regret of what you can't get to during the season... 

So begins the dedication of this year to getting my music out there again. I'm sitting on a beautiful record I made last year with Patrick Damphier at Club Roar. My intention for this year is for it to be heard and hopefully enjoyed by more people than I can personally play it for. It's made with my whole heart and soul, and the musicians playing with me embraced that in their approach as well. I am working on my campaign right now to be able to release it somehow in the coming months. So stay tuned for more information on that. 

To back track just a little bit, I want to say how much I DID enjoy bringing in the new year once again with the Spikedrivers. Our first NYE was back in 2003 at Ruby Tuesday (the bar, not the restaurant) in Columbus OH. We went on to play almost every NYE since then and it's always been a special reunion. Because of the changing times, the band is going on hiatus after our show this coming Friday January 8th (at Park St Saloon). So it was a little bittersweet to do the NYE show back at Rumba. It truly felt like old times, and it was so sweet to see so many people who have been there with us along the way for so many years. In a way it was hard to imagine that we wouldn't continue to be the Spikedrivers... in a way, we always will, and there is a spirit in that band that is unmatched by any other project I'm in involved in. That's why we've done it for so long. And we will again someday. It's a super group of dynamic individuals! Jesse Henry, Stephen Fox, Nathan Anders, John Boerstler, Steve Sweney, Adam Schlenker... we'll have some good throw downs this Friday...