January 9th, 2005

Just back from Boston where I had a great time playing last night.  We had a sold out house and I made a lot of new friends opening for Ellis Paul. I don’t remember specifically but I’m told that the first time that I met Ellis is when he opened for me at the Tin Angel as he was just starting to make a name for himself. It was good to hear him again. He continues to grow as an artist and the recent birth of a daughter seems  quite naturally to loom large in his music. I laughed when I heard the title of the song he wrote upon finding that his wife was expecting. It’s called “I Have Nine Months to Fix the World”. I was reflecting on that impulse, one all parents can identify with, this morning at mass.   I believe much of my song writing stems directly from it. Water wears away the rock though. Reality intrudes. Hope ebbs then flows again as a natural transition takes place. Maybe a kind word for it is wisdom and it comes, very slowly,  from watching your children grow. I guess if I had to sum it up in a song title it would be “I Have a Lifetime to Fix the World”. And of course this reference is not to my lifetime but to my child’s lifetime. I’m only beginning to grasp this idea but I think little by little your kids, and then perhaps your grandkids, become the vessels that carry your hopes for the world forward in time. Where better to put your faith? More on this later…

Thanks to Jake and everyone at Circle of Friends for the wonderful evening. Thanks to Rotten Dan for riding shotgun and taking over the driving chores this morning at 3AM. And thanks to the low front for sliding a few yards up the road and keeping most of the snow to our north last night.

I  got news this week that “Dragon” was one of the top twenty albums and singles in terms of folk radio airplay in 2004. My congratulations and thanks to my label, Metta Four Records, to Hermetta and Dick Harper, and to the CD’s producer Ben Wisch for helping to me to get my songs out there in such a meaningful way.

 Peace,

John