I can't help but think of the opening words from "A Tale of Two Cities" as I write this year-end news email: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." On the one hand, I am devastated by the continuation of the pandemic and the human greed, cruelty, apathy and foolishness it has amplified; on the other hand, 2022 has been such a wonderful year for me musically. To date, "Breonna", the video containing the song by Artists 4 Racial Equality, has been a part of 18 film / film award festivals across 5 continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America), and we have now won 8 awards. To know that people around the world are moved by our tribute to Breonna Taylor and our plea to end white supremacy means a lot. But here comes the worst of times part: I have not performed live since March 2020. This was inevitable given the fact that I come from a medical family and keep up with current scientific knowledge about the coronavirus. My fellow Canadian musician Cadence Weapon states that musicians are risking our lives every night when we go on tour, given that venue safety standards are either severely lacking or non-existent. American indie band Superchunk goes further in their observations: “When the band are the only masked people in the venue, it’s clear that this stage of the pandemic is going to be around for awhile.” However, there is an upside to performing live far less often. Decades before the pandemic hit, legendary musicians like Kate Bush and Steely Dan gave up all or most live performance opportunities to concentrate on recording and other projects. I can't even imagine my record collection without their stellar contributions, LPs that would not have been made had the artists been forced to tour. What kind of recordings are in my future I can't yet say, but I do know that I've done some of my finest writing during the pandemic. A big thanks to those of you who kindly reach out to me asking about new material. There's plenty of it, but how and when it gets recorded has yet to be determined. Please remember to spread joy, celebrate the New Year safely, and listen to great music! Hugs, Anna