I must have missed the memo, again: Posting new content regularly helps to grow and maintain your audience. I can’t believe it’s been since April 23 that I’ve shown up here (though I do appear more often on other busy corners of the internet). Maybe you haven’t noticed. Maybe you’ve been busy like me, negotiating human relations in the strange new normal, while attacking the house with various implements in the ever-present effort towards “improvement.” Reading two pages from a book before falling out for the night. Reading the same two pages the next night because I was too sleepy to remember much from the first attempt.
Life is weird, but life is good. Most of the time I feel like the luckiest boy in the whole world, even if stressed out by the small stuff constantly. I’ve started running again, infrequently, and that’s good. Got a couple of songs I’m working on when the time is right and the muse decides to visit. But one thing I’ve lost in the past year of not touring is my own sense of what’s good when I’m writing. It’s a weird deal: I like to try out new songs during shows, not so much to gauge the audience’s response, but to find out how that performance made me feel about it. Also, when on the road, especially solo, I have hours of van time where I can focus, listen to work tracks and get a better sense of where I am with something. Since March of last year, it’s pretty much been me arguing with myself in the privacy of my own home. A different kind of measure, and one I trust less.
Speaking of playing in front of people, I’ll be doing some of that tomorrow night (Tuesday, June 8) here in Nashville, at the Tin Roof, as one of many guests helping my friend Chris Canterbury celebrate his birthday. If you’re in town, it’s an 8 p.m. start. Not sure when (or what) I’ll play–but I’m honored to be there and count one off with Chris, a badass songwriter who is also from my homeground of northern Louisiana.
Some other good things going on:
I wrote a song with my friend Jon Byrd called “I’ll Be Her Only One” that he recorded for his upcoming release, “Me and Paul,” a collection of duo recordings with pedal steel player Paul Niehaus, whom some of you know from his tasty work with Lambchop, Calexico, and others. You can find out more here: http://jonbyrd.com/
It’s always flattering to have someone whose music you love record a song that you had a hand in, but I’m not quite sure how to appropriately react when they make an entire album of only your songs! Julie Christensen, who on her previous album, “The Cardinal,” released a fine version of “Saint on a Chain,” will be doing just that when “Eleven By Kevin” comes out next January. Wow! I’m absolutely knocked out by this. Stay tuned for details–and find out more now, via Julie’s site: https://stonecupid.com/
Okay, there’s a wall behind me that needs patching and painting, and a yard out there in bad need of a trim. And I should pick up a guitar and figure out what I’m playing tomorrow night. I can’t wait to get on the road again, but for now I’m sure making use of the time. Hope to see you in person real soon!
Love,
Kevin
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