timeless

there’s a certain timelessness to life. we mark the passing months and years in increments, but we view the world from the collective time we’ve been alive. the “new” time gets added to the “old” time and a continuum is created— we view the sunset from the point of view of both our current and former self. for me, this is life’s great romance and mystery. from our mind’s eye, we are timeless.

one of the delights of playing music is sharing it with others. the act of delivering a song to an audience is an act of transcendence— to do it well, you need to move outside yourself so you don’t get in the way of the music. this took me years to learn. i mistook the performance for the art, and, for most songwriters, the least self-conscious performances work best for delivery of the song. some people can do both, and for some the performance is the art. but for me, transcendence has proved most effective. and when we move into transcendence, we are timeless.

most of us care deeply about our audiences. we strive to connect, and the connection is life-affirming. remember, music is invisible. i was recently speaking with another late-stage singer-songwriter about continuing or discontinuing live performances and how to continue our craft with grace. this is tricky business. i mentioned that there is nothing more rewarding than live performance and he remarked, “is there anything else you’d rather do?” of course not, i said. but grace has become the key defining term of how, when and where we practice our craft. and grace is timeless.

which brings us back to vincent’s, which has been a bellwether for us for most of our career and remains so today. it’s our anchor and a meter of our relevance. our small but broad audiences have turned over several times over the years, and include a wide age range from an eclectic social demographic. the chemistry has been right and, like les paul at the iridium in new york, vincent’s affords us a regular venue where we can practice grace, transcendence, and timelessness. at this juncture in our career, making this steady connection is priceless.

this year, if we can assemble the right team, we will record a live album at vincent’s. we think it’s important to capture the transcendence that happens regularly for us at this venue, if not for mass consumption, for posterity. up-and-coming independent artists need to know that the act of transcendence is still possible in a live environment, which is where the magic happens. we hope you will join us for some of these shows.

well, that’s it for now. happy new year to all, and i hope to see some of you in the coming weeks and months.

love,

jc