Okay. I hope my body has now decided to let me off the hook after extracting its revenge on me the past few days. Granted, I abused it with no sleep and plenty of poisons over the past two weeks, so I suppose I got what I deserved. Still, I thought we were in this together.
I've just returned from another successful trip to Europe for MIDEM and a few productive days in Amsterdam and Stockholm. I'm hoping to get back over there before the year is over...funny to say things like "before the year is over" in February, but that's how quickly time seems to be passing these days.
For today's post, I just want to let people know a bit of what I've been going through over the last little while. I've been pretty quiet on the performing artist front, having not played a solo show since the summer, and seeing the band on hiatus since November. It's been a contemplative time, where I've questioned whether I want to continue as a performing artist, or if I should simply stick to running LAMA, putting all of my energy into that instead of my own music. At the moment that I had all but decided that was a good idea, I saw a Facebook post from my friend Kristin, who writes a great blog called "Mondays With Mac". She mentioned that one of my songs helped create a beautiful moment between her and her son. I was touched, and realized that now that I've put my songs out there for the universe to hear, I have a responsibility to them. I've heard other similar stories as well, whether my songs have helped people through difficult times, or calmed them down during rush hour driving, or helped their children fall asleep at night. It's a way I feel connected to the people who listen to my songs, and it's a lovely feeling that I don't think I'm quite ready to give up yet.
That said, I finally hit the stage again about ten days ago, playing guitar and singing with D.O. We did a song called "Nothing's the Way That It Seems", which you'll likely be hearing in the very near future, sans me. I also got to sing on "I Stand Up" (one of my favourites), and pulled out my hip hop shoes to play half-hype guy for "Life Size Feeling". It was really nice to be up there with D.O. and our friend Poizunus, and it got me thinking that I might try to hit the road again one of these days. No set in stone plans yet, but I've got the wheels turning for something to happen very soon, and I look forward to sharing it with you.
In the meantime, I may play a few shows here and there, trying to find my stage chops. I also have some pretty heavy business-y things coming up. I'll be in Kansas City with my fellow folkies for Folk Alliance next weekend, then trips to Winnipeg and Charlottetown planned between now and April. At this point, it looks like my next album will be out in just over a year. I just planned a bunch of things out, and the end of March next year looks like it might be a good time, all things considered. If you're looking for something ahead of that, I have an exciting project that I'm hoping to launch in November (if all goes well), and our Crash Bamboo album that should be out sometime this year as well.
For now though, I'm happy to be home, and looking forward to Family Day weekend.