Its that time of year again. Autumn. It has always been one of my favorite times of year – a time for reflection. The last few years have been more reflective than usual, as this is the time of year that my son Jon left us. As I have struggled to come to grips with his passing, I have turned to the music (both mine and others) as a way to sooth the intense feelings generated by these memories (“Loneliness” in the Music section of the site is my closure song for Jon). While not a cure – music is certainly, for me, a healing balm. It reminds me of an old gospel favorite – “There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul”. Music has always been that for me – a healing balm. My therapy.
Autumn is also a time for putting away the gardening tools and lawn tractor and increasing the time set aside reading, listening, and of course for creative output. While I try to work on the music on a regular basis, it happens more consistently once the distractions of summer are past.
Lately I have been going through some of my old analogue recordings, and rediscovered a few creations that I had almost forgotten. One of them – “Over Me”, really captures the sadness conjured up as the days shorten, and mortality seems to stare us in the face. It was recoded on a Teac A-3440 4 track. I will post that to the “Music” section later today. I didn’t know it at the time, but the capstan drive belt was wearing out and stretching, so you can hear a little wow/flutter if you listen closely.
Thanks for listening – and have a great Autumn.
By the way – the photo at the top, “Grasses” is by my wife, Martine. Visit her site here.