I had the great pleasure recently of attending a concert performance by Drew and Ellie Holcomb. Just them and a couple of guitars. Simple, sweet, joyful. And there were a couple thousand other adoring fans in the opulent…
Read MoreThough we’ve had some definite touches of springtime already — it was 80 degrees yesterday and trees are swollen with new buds — trees are still wintry in appearance…
Read MoreI wish I had possessed the foresight, when I began work as a traveling musician in 1996, to keep a written record of some of the more unique people I’ve met in my travels. By now that record would be a tome but one, I think, well worth reading…
Read MoreConfession 1: I am a sucker for a lush, emotive, (dare is say it) pretty movie soundtrack. . . . And by the way, you are too. (Tell me you didn’t cry when the family dog died and the little boy is sobbing…
Read MoreI don’t know that I’ve ever completely finished a song. I’ve worked on a few thousand and gotten them to the point that they were performable, or recordable. But there’s often the gnawing sense…
Read MoreOne of my favorite (and, I contend, one of the best) songwriters around today is Andy Gullahorn. His music is a thought-provoking mix of candor, honesty, humor and hope. And his performances…
Read MoreI have one bookshelf at my house devoted to books about writing. Several are by well-known, very successful writers. Others are by academic sorts who discuss the spiritual and philosophical..
Read MoreWhen I first started doing music full-time, as a 40+ year-old totally unknown guy-with-a-guitar, I said ‘yes’ to pretty much every gig opportunity that came my way. I played for all sorts of audiences…
Read MoreWhen I left law practice to become a vocational musician, one of the first things I did was write a mission statement. That sort of thing was in vogue at the time, mostly as a business practice…
Read MoreI’ve been wanting for a long time to try my hand at writing a novel. At 66, it seems a bit late in the game for that sort of thing. Which brings to mind a conversation I had with a dear friend….
Read MoreThere is a local restaurant, Eddie Mae's, a meat-and-three sort of place about ten miles north of where I live. My dad ate there this morning with.…
Read MoreA couple of months ago, I was at a gathering in Pine Mountain, the small town just north of where I live. A neighbor and old friend, Gary Zuerner, was also there. He was wearing a brimmed hat about which I paid a compliment…
Read MorePay off. … Build the boxes. Cut the eight-foot posts (from cedar trees I find in the woods and stockpile) on which to mount the boxes. Dig holes. Situate the houses….
Read MoreJust told my folks goodbye as I leave for a weekend gathering in North Carolina. They tell me two things every time I leave, as they do everyday — EVERYDAY — when I’m home: that they love me…
Read MoreWriting letters. It's what I do most Sunday afternoons, sometimes to those who've written me but usually to the unsuspecting. i usually handwrite them. Not the kindest…
Read MoreSometimes i walk. Particularly on Sundays. I go to church. Come home. Fix lunch and handwrite some letters. Read. Usually fall asleep; guilt free; the risk of reading…
Read MoreSchool started yesterday in Harris County. For the next 10 months I get to say "good morning" a couple hundred times or so every morning to kids arriving for class. Not…
Read MoreWhen I got a phone message comparing "Bucket List" to a Gladys Knight song, I knew I had reached a new plateau in my musical life. It has been such a delight, and thoroughly….
Read MoreA friend asked me recently what I enjoy about living where I do, in the middle of the woods in a sparsely populated community in middle Georgia. Here's one answer to that question…..
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