Quarantine House Concert + "Shelter In Place" Spotify Playlist

Greetings!

I hope this message finds you and your families well and weathering the quarantine as comfortably as possible.

Should you have a little extra time on your hands, below are a few things to help break up the boredom or keep you company while you work from home.

To those of you heading out each day and facing down this dangerous virus to keep the rest of us safe, stocked up, and/or secure I'd like to extend a huge thank you—knowing (of course) that no thanks can be enough. You are the real rockstars!

Like many of you, I'm spending a lot of time on video calls. One of them involved my first "public" performance in almost five years! I've also been finding comfort in old songs, discovering some new favorites, making more time to exercise, and waking up early to make all sorts of things.

My dogs may have snored through it, but this "Quarantine House Concert" got me back behind the microphone with a guitar for the first time in almost half a decade!

Live From "The Media Corner" 4-24-2020.

The opportunity to perform this 20-minute set came up suddenly, and thankfully I said "yes" before my nerves got the better of me. Aside from playing a few songs for family and friends (two weddings and a funeral), I haven't performed since The Furious Light tour ended in August 2015. It was a little harder than I expected to jump back into it, but I'm glad I did. If you listen closely enough, I bet you can hear the anxious quiver in my voice and my heart just about beating its way out of my chest. By the end of it, though, I was buoyed by the melody and the goodwill of those cheering me on.

Watch on YouTube

"Shelter In Place: Quarantine Mix" on Spotify

Last month, a newer friend asked me for a coronavirus playlist to help him pass the time he was now having to spend at home. He doesn’t yet know me well enough to realize what a task I might make of such a thing. This innocent request resulted in weeks of wracking my brain and culling through my music library for a satisfying mix of songs for the theme at hand. Eventually, I settled on sticking to tunes available on Spotify to prevent myself from spending too much time ripping CDs, matching volumes, and editing the ideal flow between songs. I also figured this would be a good way of connecting folks to the libraries of the artists represented. I did not attempt to cater to any cultural relevance or “coolness.” I simply picked songs that sung to me and whose titles formed a sort of narrative of their own. I hope you find some solace, strength, or comfort from these 48 songs of hope, isolation, resilience, and beauty.

Listen on Spotify

"Bloom" Music Video

Back in September, I traveled to South Dakota to film a sit-down interview and supporting footage for a documentary about my old friend Sean Kammer's new (forthcoming) album, Possible Bird. This music video for the song "Bloom" was edited together from footage shot during that weekend session. You can download the single and watch the video at dreamingoutloudrecords.com.

Watch Here