Greetings, my lovely subscribers! Last time I tried to do a newsletter, there was a still incomprehensible glitch and it did not go through. So I am being super careful this time. Essentially, I won an Artist Support Grant not long ago from the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission, and it is allowing me to record two very separate albums simultaneously. One will almost certainly be titled RIVER OF CHANGE. I am about two thirds the way through this one, which will be a document of personal changes, passing time, dealing with loss, and figuring out your identity in the midst of chaos...all favorite themes of mine! I am pondering the interest in the very idea of "artistic expression" these days, as I still intend to do limited runs of CDs, but recognize that streaming is how most people seem to do their listening now. I am not so fond of that reality, but...what can ya do? I want to encourage my listeners to check out my song about fighting depression, "I Might Want Out," which I've had a powerful response to so far. It comes from deep personal experiences, and I think many of you will find it relatable. Any day now, I will also be posting a rocking song I wrote inspired by the movie "No Country For Old Men." The song is titled "Call It, Friendo," and though it dates back some years, I did a thorough remix of it with one of my ace engineers, and now it has a fresh new sound. I think it is genuinely relevant to our times, as it is a song about taking chances and recognizing that there are consequences to virtually every move you make. I really like this song, and it rocks! I'm in the midst of polishing off three newer songs in the studio: "Disappointed," which is a straightforward mid-tempo rocker about things not quite going according to plan; "Walkin' Along," an ambling country-pop song about a long thought-filled stroll, and "Go and Tell the Others," an oblique sort of look at the nature of "true" spirituality. And brand-new stuff is emerging from my restless mind as fast as I can focus on it and make something tangible. A shout-out to one of my performing partners, Denise Chappell, whom I've now been doing shows with for 7 years (we had a great gig this past weekend in St. Charles). Denise is about to get her first co-songwriting credit with me if I can just finish up an arrangement for a set of lyrics she wrote. And it goes without saying that I am grateful to ALL the musicians I play with, like the dedicated, versatile Theodore Moniak, who appears on more of my songs than anyone else. Check out his eerie guitar ambience on "I Might Want Out," and contrast that with, for example, his fiery playing on "Promise Man." Versatility, man! My tentative plans call for the release of an EP, containing 4 or 5 songs, in the next month or two. I'm calling it FORECAST. Exactly when a full album will be released depends on many factors, but certainly by the end of the year. As always, I welcome your emails and comments about any aspect of my music. I encourage you all to support the music you like by buying directly from the artist when possible, as we make almost nothing from streaming. Do you guys know that some platforms actually email me to say "Congratulations! Check our your latest royalty statement!" And when I do so, it's about 5 cents for x number of streams. Or in a really good quarter, maybe a dime or more! Frankly, I have found more money just walking along in parking lots, than I've made from Spotify or other services. Thank God for ASCAP, where I still get decent royalties from "Up in the Air" and a couple of my other songs. Anyway, I'm not bitter...just contemplative about the realities of the modern music industry. I love what I get to do. And I greatly appreciate the support and feedback from each and every one of YOU! This is a busy time for me, and I'll be putting new songs together throughout fall and winter!