Have been listening to old "Joe Holt's Notes on the Radio" shows, cataloging the better performances, and also the musical instruction and thoughts spinets I often included (might release them all together on a CD someday). In the car this morning, I was listening to myself respond to a YouTube comment asking for advice. Going through old journal notes in my hard drive later in the morning and, coincidentally, came across the response to a question of "What excercises do I have to do to learn to play like that?": (I answered) "Listen and absorb. Play purposely, no matter how simply. Use a metronome, set on 2 and 4 (you may have to work up to that). Keep the tempos modest. Experiment freely. Practice in all keys. About the best I can do in 500 characters or less :)" On the radio show, I broke it down to the 6 separate items, addressing one each show, in succession. The one I heard this morning was an expansion of: "experiment freely". This sounds a bit odd, perhaps, but whenever I actually listen to the (musical) advise I give, I learn something. 

Had a wonderful weekend; a balance between working the connections, and nurturing them in my own space. Suspect that I have only cracked open a door to a new room of the mansion on both counts. The above post is from St. Margaret's Church on Saturday night (4/21). There was much encouragement to be found on/in both "gigs" this weekend. I think the walls are beginning to come down a bit. That's the desire of my heart, at this place. May it be even more so.

It's super cool to live in a place where people come to get away. When I go outside, I'm already away, in one regard. The flip side, of course, is that when I need to be somewhere, it's usually nowhere near where I am. So, my destinations are, perhaps, driven more often by necessity than desire, than may be the case with some. Later this (Saturday) morning, I'll take a walk in town (likely passing the view of Water Street pictured above). Downtown Chestertown is about a mile from my house, so practically speaking, I am already (t)here. To that flip side, I need to hold the context in view, when I am tempted to feel that it's a drag to drive the hour and a half or more to play a gig in Lewes, DE, or Ocean City, MD, or Arlington VA, or Phila, or Atlantic City. When I get home from the job, I'm already away. Cool!

Wasn't hard to find a fun example of Bob Havens from the Lawrence Welk days. This is exactly what I meant in the post below. To me, it was worth it to slog thru an entire show, just to get to this. Makes me happy.