backroads
i’ve never been a “good old days” guy. life has always been about the here and now and it continues to be. i mostly feel fortunate to have this perspective, as it usually allows me to experience life differently as time moves on. i was talking with some friends about bliss this morning, and how my experience of bliss has changed in recent years. there have been places that gave me a sense of bliss, and then i’ve lost the sense of bliss that those places gave me. my initial instinct was to go back with a “good old days” mentality, only to experience disappointment. once i let go of the expectation, bliss came in other forms. and so it is with all things, with very few exceptions.
a dear old friend recently sent me some old photographs, one of which is above, taken the evening/morning after a gig in the 1970’s. i can see in the photo i am still in a state of bliss from the performance the night before, which i remember vividly, and my demeanor is identical to the bliss i experienced just days ago after a performance at vincent’s with the van gogh brothers. bliss is the same, bliss is different, and there is no pining for “the good old days,” just a sense of time traveling and bemusement. life is still good.
i have a couple of 80 year-old friends. one is a songwriter for Chicago and others, the other is a curious, adventuresome, fun-loving guy who i see frequently. while both of these fellows have stories, they both share the same passion for life. they live in the present, and as a result, they are relevant. and blissful. and since they are relevant and blissful, people want to be around them, so they continue to be relevant and blissful.
as we wrap up our sweet sixteen album, now entitled “backroads,” i am tasked with explaining what the album is about. songs are funny creatures- they appear as one thing, only to morph into another. i’ve said the songs are about love, life and mortality, but really they are just snapshots from moments in time, like the photograph above— relevant in the moment, and relevant today. the title track pretty much explains this phenomenon. here’s a bit of it:
it feels like a monday going on a sunday
we’re going back and forth in time
picking up the pieces a little as we go
on the backroads of our lives
i can hear the eagles playing on the radio
i see it all and i don’t know why
it’s where we spent our best time and i want to go again
on the backroads of our lives
i know the truth but what’s been on my mind
is how many miles are left to go
i can see the light- and i’m gonna let it shine
on the backroads of our lives
(c) 2022 american music partners
so there it is. there are times we’ve all had that we’d like to experience again, but the real question is how many miles are left to go?
we had an amazing return to vincent’s in february with a packed house unlike we’ve seen since before covid. we’re looking forward to our march 12 show and to seeing you all as life gets safer and happier. stay tuned for new dates to supplement our monthly second saturday residency at vincent’s. we also hope to have the new album packaged before summer.
enjoy the longer days and brighter sun as we move toward spring on the backroads of our lives.
love,
jc