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Dear Friends,
I’ve been enjoying this spring more than any in memory and sharing pictures of my walks, mostly in Riverside Park, just about every day.
About two and a half years ago, I was hit by an SUV as I was crossing the street on my way to a gig, and I surely don’t take my mobility for granted these days.
The Astoundingly Excellent News
The astoundingly excellent news is that my recording Rewrite the Ending is going well, and we plan to release it in July. Hurray for Independence! For the very first time, I’m in charge. Rewrite the Ending is a full 12-song collection, and I’m very proud of this creation.
As I was leading online songwriting workshops during the pandemic, I slowly realized that I myself had over 100 songs in various stages of completion. They were all recorded on my trusty iPhone but had never been released, the one shining exception being last Mother’s Day when the music community’s dear friend, John Platt of WFUV was kind enough to premiere the song and video about my mother (“Cigarettes and Chocolate Candy”).
Which Songs?
There were songs about coming back to life (“Back in the Pool” and “Rewrite the Ending”), songs about heartbreak and resilience (“One of Us” and “Going Through the Pictures”), even a song about my post-accident healing (“Here in My Bones”). A song about the power of kindness in these times (“Time of Trouble”). A song about a little girl and Honest Abe (“Lincoln on the Streets of New York”).
Through late summer and early fall, my dear friend Carolann Solebello shepherded me through the process of winnowing down the list to eleven tunes. Carolann is an excellent singer/songwriter/rabble-rouser who long ago co-founded the group, Red Molly. She and I have been around some similar blocks, we discover more and more. Each week I worked up five or six or seven from the cache, and we met on Zoom and listened and talked and considered. Then I wrote a new one about memories, new/old friends who become family, and one improbably pristine lake in the Adirondacks ("Out Past Yesterday"). The song seemed to resonate with everyone who heard it, so we added that one to make an even twelve.
Putting It All Together
The incomparably wise and musical Sloan Wainwright is my co-producer, and Mark Dann, studio veteran par excellence, is doing fabulous work mixing as well as talking me through recording myself at home. (As Former Technophobe #1, this has been a hugely satisfying undertaking for me.)