Songwriting!

I'm writing a day later on Tuesday this week because I got to spend yesterday visiting my good friend, Don Richmond, and part of what we did between talking shop and sharing stories was to revisit a couple songs we've been working on writing for a couple years.  Collaborating with another writer is a really fun thing to do!  I get to bounce ideas around and flesh out more thoroughly than I usually do on my own.  We sit and talk about each line and how it fits into the overall arc of the story we're trying to tell.  We think about pacing and words and how it all fits together.  There are so many variables!  One song was based on an idea I had, and Don and I had quite a discussion about the topic before we dived in a couple years ago.  We had to pick this one back up and get into the idea again and expand on it.  This was quite an exercise in memory and reconnection.  The other song was based on a melody that Don came up with and lyrics that I kicked off.  It has an old-west feel that was really fun to work in.  The first song has a free-form ending that we just sketched out a little because we know it will take on a life of its own when the real recording is done.  I'm not sure whether one of us or both will record these songs, but they sure are fun to work on - the give and take, the reliance on each other's strengths and background, the fun of creating with someone else since it's usually a personal and individual adventure.  So I just had to share!  It's one of the more fun things I get to do in my work.

So what's up this week?

Friday I'm back at Magpies 7-10.  We had a blast last time starting up again for the season! Barrett may stop working Friday nights, so things may change a little.  We'll miss her for sure.  Please come out if you can.

Have a great Halloween!

Best always,

Tom

Details for this week:

Who:  Tom Munch
What:  playing & singing
Where:  Magpies, 229 S. Union, Pueblo.  719-542-5522
When:  Friday, November 1, 7-10 pm

Back from the Road - What I Learned

Well, we're back home and into the flow at home again - as much as you do right away, anyway.  It was a great trip in so many ways.  I had a friend ask me about it on Facebook, and I was surprised by my answer.

She said:

"So glad the vacation was what you both needed it to be."

My reply was:

"I hadn't thought of it that way. I guess it was that and more. I don't think you ever know what you need until you experience it. A vacation gets you outside yourself and your normal scope of life. This one did that. It also showed us what an extended time on the road is like. (We've never done two weeks off before.) It also got me to a festival where I got to soar like I haven't before. In addition I got ideas for new songs, connected with Jen in new ways that make our relationship even stronger, and made new friends. It really was all we needed and more."

That was a couple days ago.  I'm having a little post-trip coming down now that is bringing out other realizations.  There's a certain magic you experience when you travel that is interesting to recover from.  I wrote about it in my song, "The Road."  You have freedom in your mind to let your mind wander.  If you travel where we did you end up in pretty remote areas where you're almost unreachable.  You suspend your regular life in a way that lets you experiment with other life realities and other paths.  What if you could live in another place with another job or different priorities?   What would that be like?  You also see how other people live.  This lets you find out that your world is completely different than other people's worlds, and this helps to understand why people see the world and day-to-day life in different ways than you do.  (Life really is a wondrous thing with so many possibilities.)  And the thing I always ponder after a trip is just how to let these little epiphanies stay with me as I flow back into my regular life.  It's so easy to just pack it away with the pictures and souvenirs, and if I am to believe that it's better to spend our life resources on experiences and not things, then I want to take the time to make lasting changes based on the things I've seen and done on a trip.

So here are some things I want to hold on to.

-The Joy of Discovery
Even though we had read about different places and had a rough idea of where we wanted to go, we let the moment dictate our next move by trying new roads and new areas that we happened upon.  This led to sights, smells, and even tastes that were amazing and gratifying.  If I can break up my regular routine with a little of this I'll be a happier and more fulfilled person.

-The Love of Creativity and the Human Spirit
The festival in Prescott, AZ, where I got to play had some very creative people who could write and play in ways that thrilled me.  It reminded me that we humans can be endlessly inventive and expressive in ways that reflect the wonder of the universe and the vibrancy of life itself.  Remembering this every day can't help but make each day better.

-The Beautiful Silence and Awesome Roar of Nature
From the primeval hushed redwood forests we stood in to the tireless deafening white-capped waves we marveled at, the power of the natural world we experienced brought out a reverence and a peace that can silence any angst or unrest in the soul.  I know this and talk of it often, but I never grow weary of learning it all over again.  This surely can make every day worth living.

I think those are some great things to hold on to.

So on to the week ahead.

I just have one gig to tell you about this week, but it's a pretty special one.  Saturday night 8-midnight I'm playing for the Jimmy Durante Children's Fund Benefit Dinner at the Eagles Lodge in Pueblo West. Tickets are $28 per person or $50 per couple and include prime rib dinner.  Cocktails start at 5:30, dinner is served at 7:00, and I start playing at 8:00.  Call Rick Lack at 719-821-1115 for more information.  The event is limited to 80 people, and they are almost sold out, so call ASAP if you'd like to come. I'm glad to be a part of this, and I'd love to have you there!

Tom

Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch
What:  playing and singing for the Jimmy Durante Children's Fund Benefit Dinner
Where:  Pueblo West Eagles Lodge, 348 S. McCulloch, Pueblo West
When:  Saturday, October 26, 8-12

Tales from the Road

I'm writing from the road today.  Jen and I have been traveling up the coast of California after the festival in Prescott last weekend which was amazing!  I've never had a better reception from nicer and more supportive people.  They've already asked me back.  I got to play amongst some great singers and songwriters!  If you've never heard of Beth Fitchet Wood or Bob Frank (just two in particular) then go listen to their music right now.  I'd highly recommend them and any of the other folks I got to hear - not to mention the entire Sharlot Hall Music Festival.  It was superb!  Big thanks to Jan Collins for introducing my music to the Sharlot Hall folks, Steve and Ann Atkinson for hosting us, and Terry and Jan Berrett for running the festival and handling the CD's and logistics!  Steve and Ann have become new good friends.  Steve's art is outstanding, and he is nationally known and a heck of good guy!  Check out his art - western to the core - great landscapes and cowboys and Indians!

And how is the road you ask?  Well, we've seen some amazing sights, had some very tasty wine and yummy food, and met some wonderful folks.  Highlights include Vina Robles winery in Paso Robles where we had a private wine tasting, the boat tour in Morro Bay with Jack the skipper and Roy the long-haired dachshund (who is a good little sailor,) long hikes and the McWay waterfall at Big Sur, the Año Nuevo State Reserve south of San Francisco where we got to walk on our own beach, playing music with my banjo-frailing nephew Eric Niehaus and harpist extraordinaire Diana Stork, and we still have several more days of our adventure before we get home in time to play Magpies this Friday.

So that's where I am this Friday - Magpies 7-10.  I always look forward to getting back to Pueblo in the fall and my good friends at Magpies.  It's a homecoming that gets sweeter with time.  And coming off a trip I'm going to be jazzed beyond belief, so this should be a great night!  Please come out if you can.

Better get back to the morning where we're off to Mendocino, the beaches of Fort Bragg, and beyond today.

Tom

Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch

What:  playing & singing

Where:  Magpies, 229 S. Union, Pueblo.  719-542-5522

When:  Friday, October 18, 7-10 pm