Golly, it's actually...another new year! Hey everyone, and an extended HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! As I write my first newsletter of 2021, I am filled with anticipation about my musical prospects for this year and a kind of fresh hope that this year will be WAY better than last year. Let's face it, that wouldn't take much! But we all need to try to stay healthy, support the country's new leadership and work to minimize the stressful divisions that really brought a lot of us down in recent years. Hopefully we can all agree on that! But my primary goal right now is that I want to get back to making MUSIC and increasing my public profile! First of all, some of you have told me you are waiting for new songs. I've just added three tracks to my N!M list...these are not new recordings PER SE, but they were never available HERE before. "Come On Down (and Pull Me Up)" is a rocker from my third release, with the theme of trying to overcome stress (sound familiar?) and to partially ask your closest friends to help you in that process. It's partly also about self-talk, imploring the more hopeful part of you to get it together and make things happen. "No Second Dates" is the first of three collaborations with my old high school friend Christa Juergens. When we started writing together, I wanted to do something way more commercial and poppy than my usual style, which her lyrics on this tune made easy for me. And I want to single out the drummer on both of these songs, Andrea Spencer, who is now with a hot St. Louis band called Keokuk. I was lucky to get to work with Andrea for a while as she's a terrific musician. The third "new" song here is "Bites," a track from CLEAR THE WAY, which I never wanted to share before. That's because it is deeply personal, easily the most angst-ridden breakup song I have ever written. I was in love with someone, things ended, and I was in great pain for a while. Straight up, that's what this song documents. I play every instrument on the tune myself except for some atmospheric electric guitar from Theodore Moniak. Time has helped me heal, so I decided to finally share this song, and maybe it will speak to some of you who know the wrenching sadness of losing a relationship that meant the world to you. As for GENUINELY new songs, I am still waiting to get back into the recording studios I've mostly used. I have a decent demo of a song i love called "Go In Peace," and I am working on another tune that will probably be called "Saint Marge." There's also an instrumental or two floating around, I just have to get my act together and make stuff happen when I can. The pandemic has been brutal, simply brutal. People I love have caught it, friends have told me scary stories...I'm sure it's the same for all of you. I'm using much of this extra time on blogging, trying to license my songs, and reading. Life is okay but it could be better. And I want to increase my musical reach this year, which I will try to do in different ways. By the way, we lost one of the most evocative and talented keyboard players in the world late last year, Harold Budd. He was known for collaborating with Brian Eno, the Cocteau Twins (especially Robin Guthrie) and many others. And he influenced me a great deal. It was devastating to lose him, and yes, it was from Covid. DAMN that virus, anyway. Will it eventually be totally eradicated? I hope so. I want to also put in a plug for one of my favorite songs, "When the Best Ones Are Gone," by the Norwegian female pop trio Ephemera. If you've lost someone or you're scared about Covid or all the other malignant realities of our time, this song may prove cathartic. It's beautiful and fragile, and has distinct healing qualities. I've listened to it constantly. Look it up, you won't be sorry. Anyway, despite plenty of angst to go around, I am excited about music, about writing and recording new stuff, and about reaching new fans out there like YOU guys! Drop me a line any time. And be nice to each other, okay? Say "I love you" to people in your life as often as possible, and get in touch with your own dreams. Time is fleeting, folks. The time to pursue your goals and dreams is NOW. Group "Cheers!" on that one, okay?