Hi Everyone, I'm writing to let you know that I had a terrible accident two months ago. The blade guard on a chop saw somehow caught the blade and shattered. The guard that is meant to prevent injuries exploded, sending shards rigid plastic flying. Some of it hit my left hand and ripped my middle finger almost completely off. It also severed the tendons on my forefinger and thumb. The Doctor in Hana got me onto a helicopter to fly me to the other side of the island. The hand surgeon at Maui Memorial Hospital said she had to amputate my forefinger and middle finger. I had my wife wheel me out of the ER before they could get me on the table and we flew to Oahu. The Emergency Room staff at Queens Hospital connected me with an excellent hand specialist. The surgeon opperated on my hand for nine hours. He was able to save all of my fingers and reconnect all of the severed tendons nerves and arteries. Now I have to go through the slow and painful process of regaining the use of my hand. Needless to say, the new album I've been working on will not get finished until I can play my guitar again. My doctor said it may take over a year to get feeling back in my fingers even after I can move them all normally again. Since I will not be able to record my new material for quite some time, I have started going through my vast library of live recordings. I have hours and hours of performances recorded on various devices over the years. I have lots of songs on file that have never been released. The quality of the recordings may not be the greatest, but I will make all the tracks sound as good as possible. So you can look forward to some new music from me pretty soon :-)... I'm starting with the live acoustic recordings because they should take less time than the full band tracks. As always I want you to know I really appreciate all of you for listening and enjoying the songs I write. I haven't worked for two months and I won't be able to make an income for quite a long time... Please show your support by purchasing albums, songs and merchandise. With your help I may just stay afloat until I can use my hand again : ). Thanks for becoming fans!! Aloha, John