I’m back! It’s been a while, I know. But I’m back and it’s good!

I played my first solo gig in quite a few years this past Saturday, and it was a hoot! Outdoors at the Blossom Festival hosted by Albemarle Ciderworks. Great weather, great crowd, great vendors, and a Puppy Parade packed with some of the cutest pups you’ve ever seen! Great fun.

It’s looking like I’ll soon be hosting a monthly Open Mic at a local winery, and I’m very excited! I’ve got an idea for a wildly different approach to an Open Mic that I’m confident will appeal to musicians, patrons, and proprietors alike. Details to follow but suffice it to say this is not your mama’s and your papa’s Open Mic! I’m also building a monthly performance schedule for the Accessible Music Project at a few local Community Venues1, and I’ll be seeking sponsors and donors to support our musical outreach. More details on that are to come as well, in time, and I’m excited to see how the fruits of our efforts will grow.

“Without music, life would be a mistake” -Friedrich Nietzche

I suppose the headline news, however, is the fact that I’m really coming after the “Music Mythology” here in America – that set of stories and anecdotes that we believe and perpetuate about the music business & the money, about genres and venues, about audiences & their preferences, about how to best utilize music to change the world, and so on. These beliefs contradict the noble sentiments professed by the musicians that perpetuate them, and they foster many very toxic, prejudicial, discriminatory, and hurtful beliefs, actions, and outcomes. They deprive many wonderfully deserving, attentive, and appreciative music lovers of the thoroughly documented benefits of live music, and in doing so our Music Mythology also deprives countless American musicians of attentive and appreciative music loving audiences that they long to share their music with.

“Wait!” you’re thinking. “Musicians are playing everywhere these days! They’re playing in coffee shops and at wineries and breweries and cideries and restaurants and on street corners and in music clubs. They’re everywhere. If you’re not getting out to hear some music, you’re not trying.”

Let me stop you right there and remind you of how many of your neighbors don’t have access to traditional music venues. Your neighbors in assisted living and nursing communities. In rehab facilities and hospitals. Your neighbors with developmental disabilities. These musically deprived music lovers – your neighbors – are part of the Access Limited demographic that the Accessible Music Project brings live, contemporary music to. Oh, and our pay rate is one of the best in our area.

Solo Gig played at Blossom Festival @Albemarle CiderWorks on April 11th, 2026

We need a new Music Mythology. I’ve written extensively about it in my book Play Something Pretty That You Like to Play, and I’ll be blogging and vlogging more as we go forward.

So, yeah. Welcome back. Here we go…

Welcome Back!!