What Makes A Happy New Year? Digging My Way Out

As the new year approached, I found myself getting progressively more upset. At times like this, I turn to making music.

Digging With A Spoon

As luck would have it, I was already working on an upcoming album. This release will be folk songs — nine of them. I’ve been composing, arranging, and recording it for a while. But I don’t have it ready for release. Not even close.

So, I tried working on my folk song album. But no luck. It was not helping me to reach the catharsis I needed. I decided to try creating new tracks. And, sure enough, I found in them the processing I needed to move through this upset.

Gravely Familiar

As has happened for me so many times before, while I composed, it was as if my insides were decompressing. I began to feel more like myself (instead the the grumpy guy I had started to become). Playing and recording the music became my therapy.

I continued to process the feelings with friends and loved ones: anger, frustration, fear, confusion, and melancholy. However familiar the feelings were, I still needed to dig into this one with the composing and creating. And I’m so grateful to have this creative decompression valve.

Toward the Future

I’m sure there’s more to come in the new year. By that, I mean both music and emotions. They seem to come up all the time in my world. The feelings are part of being human. And the musical creations are part of being me.

Thanks for coming along in this exploration. And may the new year bring you much that’s true, beautiful, and good.

Digging My Way Out is coming to all the streaming platforms. Thanks for listening.