Thanksgiving 2008

One month left to mark the end of this year. And really, all it is, is just a mark. People continue to go about their daily routines, time passes, seasons change, & some of us get reflective…”WT(heck) happened? Another year already?” As children, our lives are measured in minutes. Then as we get older, hours, then days, months, years. At some point, it starts to revert back though, like the riddle of the sphinx. This year much has happened, but little was done. There is anticipation & hope for the future because of a new administration, & there are many who are looking to retire in the next ten years, A decade. When I was just out of high school, a decade seemed like an eternity, so much could happen, so much could change. 3658 days is a lot of time. Ten years ago, I could not have imagined how it would be sending my kids off to college, & the possibility of them getting married & moving on was just a concept. I thought perhaps when that occurred, I could get back to what I was doing a quarter-century ago, but now I find myself older, slowing down, my guitar playing is sloppier & my time is filled with other things Watching “The Bucket List” I found myself thinking about friends who already got to the top of their mountains, & perhaps I have already been there & not realized it at the time. By God’s grace I have done much of what would be on a “Bucket List”: 25 years married to someone who loves me in spite of my idiosyncrasies, 3 kids who are pretty much self-sufficient, releasing a CD of my own music, producing some successful artists, performing in some of the largest & most prestigious venues around, going on tour, going to Japan, garnering enough respect to have endorsement deals with guitar companies & equipment suppliers, became friends with celebrities, played on TV, co-hosted a radio show, built dozens (maybe over a hundred) guitars, had some of the finest instruments in the world in my possession…But I’ve also had near-fatal accidents, hand & wrist injuries that have changed how I play, instruments & stuff lost or destroyed, & friends & family passing away. This year I started working with someone & shared some miracles, only to have it fall apart because of misunderstandings. But those few months generated over 2 dozen song starts, & brought me back to the rock roots that I hadn’t touched on in a long time, to where God can speak to me in a different voice, giving me something new to share from an old place. And just in the last few weeks, one of those things from that rock place connected with another vocalist who helped make the song happen, & several other new songs caught the ears of my industry friends & gave me encouragement that the music I do is still viable & can touch people. Then there’s SongNet. A huge crash in April nearly cost us our online presence, but thanks to Tommy Honles, our webmaster, & our friends @ Hostbaby, we came back stronger than ever. We will be able to provide more services, resources & assistance than ever now, & we’ve become established enough in the music industry to be recognized by the powers that be. There is much to be thankful for. I am blessed to have so much in my life, friends like you who read my blogs, an abundance of things to share, and faith to know that whatever happens, there’s always better stuff ahead. During the rest of this year, I hope that we can all celebrate & be thankful for another day & the promise it brings, knowing that as long as we look in the right place, our paths will be straight & the journey true.

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