california sun
it feels like old times as i write from 30,000 feet en route to los angeles and my beloved malibu… it’s been 18 long months since i’ve seen my spiritual home, and my heart and soul are still wrapped around it like a jealous lover. a piece of me has always lived in malibu and la, and it always will. the lightness and light, the desert and sea, the mountains and sky, and, as joan didion said, this: “California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension; in which the mind is troubled by some buried but ineradicable suspicion that things better work here, because here, beneath the immense bleached sky, is where we run out of continent.”
as we slip into summer, the late spring has been a time of amazing energy and activity. i’ve been helping donna get the farm and the new Moon Barn performance space up and running for summer, and, as with anything she touches, it’s all beautiful. we started the free saturday shows on june 5th with award-winning duo, Elizabeth and Ben Anderson, on violin and cello, respectively, playing traditional Scottish music and wow— they were incredible! we opened the indoor space on june 12th, where i performed with clayton young on bass and john sands on drums in a chill trio format after donna dedicated the space. ryan bowen and emilee lyons followed us with some early ‘70’s covers. a beautiful start and, after a rainy morning, a beautiful day. as donna says, ‘it never rains on the moon.” coming artists for saturday lawn concerts (1:00) include: van gogh brothers and grand theft audio on june 26th, chuck mcdermott, lil ellis and cooler by the coast on july 3rd, kerri powers and jay psaros on july 10th and, our first ticketed show on SUNDAY july 11th with classical musicians michael strauss and kevin crudder (1:00 PM).
we are now 4 songs deep into our 16th album (title TBD) with david minehan producing and we will record basic tracks for 2 more songs in august. this album centers on paul and i both playing acoustic guitars, a different foundation for us, and one that is yielding a deep, rich, soulful result. anthony resta produced an alternate mix of the first track, “only love (redux)” which will be included as a bonus track on the album. it was great to work with anthony and karyadi again and i’m looking forward to seeing them in la.
in the meantime, i have the graphics for “ghost” complete and we will get that album into reproduction for cd manufacture and into the online stores this summer. i had to make myself step back and wrap up the delivery details before we got too far into the new record… i actually forgot we had a complete, unreleased album ready to go! i get so excited about the new songs, and we have such a “machine” with david minehan and the van gogh brothers, that i can’t stop the process. i am super grateful that the muse continues to bless me with songs, and i think i recently wrote the best composition of my career, “tonight,” which we will record in august. listen for it at our live gigs, which include june 26th at 1:00 at magical moon farm, and august 7th at 2:30, also at the farm. on september 11th we resume our lifetime residency at vincent’s worcester, every second saturday each month. God bless our good little life.
that’s about all for now. i’m going to soak up the sea and sky for a few days from the beautiful view above, in between meet-ups with friends and colleagues before returning to boston for father’s day dinner with my daughter. i hope to see you at the farm this summer.
love,
jc