Full Sails

I was trading texts with my friend Don, and we both agreed that we don’t feel like the wind is in our sails of late. Some of it is the lingering of pandemic worries and not fully feeling engaged like we used to be. Some of it is just the season and a bit of malaise with the state of the world and general unrest. I think sometimes we need to inhale, and sometimes we need to exhale, and this time is kind of an “in between” with maybe a bit of holding a breath to see what comes next. I don’t mind these states of mind, but I always listen to them carefully to see if I’m wanting a bigger change or just a pause. I’m always a peaceful person who feels the oneness with others and with our earth. So here’s to licking a finger and putting it into the wind to feel where that wind is coming from, and then trimming the sails to catch it - no matter how light.

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What have I been up to?

I had 8 senior facilities last week, and I enjoyed every one. I need to catch up on some of the requests that my folks have made over the last couple months, but it’s all good.

My Wednesday online show doing fall songs was very enjoyable. There are so many great fall songs! We even did a couple of the more melancholy songs that people know about fall. I love this season!

My Sunday online show of requests was another fun night of sharing and great songs. This group never ceases to amaze me with their fine song requests and engagement with each other. It’s a family!

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What am I up to this week?

I have 9 senior facilities this week, and I’m rushing to finish this missive to get to the first one today!

My Wednesday online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be the music of Kenny Loggins, Loggins and Messina, and Poco. I wanted to do Kenny Loggins and Loggins and Messina since the one flows to of the other, but I knew I didn’t have enough songs there for a full show, so I added Poco since they are a good fit. I also could have added Buffalo Springfield since Jim Messina was involved with them at the end of that band, but I thought Poco represented more of that early ‘70s into the ‘80s vibe. It will be night of music we’ve only hinted at before. Come on out!

Saturday 6-8 I’m playing for what will be an after-Oktoberfest party at Deerprint Wine in La Veta on the patio. It should be a really fun night of music, and I’m putting a lot of energy into it. I’d love to have you there if you’re in the area.

Sunday my online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be favorites and requests as always. We have such a good time at these shows, and you’re always welcome wherever you are to tune in and join in.

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That’s it for this week. I’m enjoying this fall although it’s honestly going too fast. Be well, and send some good thoughts and prayers to the folks in Florida as Hurricane Ian bears down on them.

Best always,

Tom

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Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of fall songs

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Wednesday, September 28, 7-8:30 pm mountain time 

Who:   Tom Munch

What:  playing and singing

Where:  Deerprint Wine & Bistro, 106 E. Francisco, La Veta, 719-650-2079

When:  Saturday, October 1, 6-8ish pm

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Sunday, October 2, 7-8:30 pm mountain time

Ahh...Fall

There are two things happening this week that really signal that fall is here for me. 1) The first day of fall is on the 22nd, and 2) my family is closing cabins for the winter. Of course it’s getting cooler in the mornings which feels great, and the weeds I’ve been battling on our morning walks are drying and dying out so I don’t have to whack them daily. I love this time of year. The leaves are turning in the high country, and everything is slowing down. It just fills me with peace and completeness. We’ve planted mini/micro clover so we can phase out our grass to use less water in the future, and we're starting to turn our thoughts to plans for the winter. It is a time of reflection and introspection. So Wednesday evening I’ll celebrate this beautiful change of seasons with songs of fall. To me it is one big Ahh…

What have I been up to?

I forgot to say how many senior facilities I was playing for last week in my last blog. I actually had 9 in addition to playing for many of them at once at the Senior Safari at the Pueblo Zoo. I enjoyed every one of them although I confess I haven’t had time to keep up with learning requests for many of them.

Wednesday was the afore-mentioned Senior Safari which was a blast with so many familiar faces and such a wonderful energy in everyone involved. I hope this event can go many, many years into the future.

Wednesday was also my online concert of “middle-aged” country songs. It was really well-received, and many more people love country music in our group than I realized. We’ll have to do country more often.

Sunday my online show of favorites and requests was so much fun even though several of our regulars couldn’t make it. We have such a giving and caring group who love music so much that it’s always a rewarding evening.

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What am I up to this week?

I have 8 senior facilities this week, and I’m looking forward to all of them. We have a vet appointment for Tuzi for a dental on Wednesday, so I’ll take that day to be with her until the evening online concert, so I won’t have quite as many as usual.

My Wednesday online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be fall songs as I mentioned above. I have several new songs from the last couple years about fall that I really love in addition to many of the classic fall songs we all know. 

My Sunday online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be favorites and requests with our wonderful group as always. It will be special, and I’ll have all the energy of the mountains coming in from closing the cabins with my siblings.

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That’s it for this week. I hope you’re enjoying the fall season wherever you are. It’s still hot here for a couple days until it starts feeling more like fall. I do have two gigs out and about coming up that you may be interested in 1) Deer Print Wine in La Veta during Oktoberfest October 1st - probably 6-8, and 2) Littleton Museum Harvest Festival October 8th from 11:30-1:30. So if you’re near La Veta or Denver please come out and say “Hi!” I’ll write more about these as they come into view.

Best always,

Tom

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Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of fall songs

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Wednesday, September 21, 7-8:30 pm mountain time 

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Sunday, September 25, 7-8:30 pm mountain time

It's a Zoo

I’m playing for the Senior Safari at the Pueblo Zoo this week, and I thought I’d reflect on what this event is and has become. I’ve been playing for senior facilities since I was in high school, and I started playing for them in southern Colorado as soon as I moved here in 1985. The zoo here first asked me to play for the Senior Safari in 2009, and I was honored to play for it. If you’ve never heard, it’s a free day for seniors at the zoo with fun activities, animal encounters, and food that draws seniors from facilities and the communities for miles around. Over the years it has become the place where I see folks from almost every facility I play at - 30 places or more sometimes. Attendance is in the many hundreds, and it is so gratifying to get to see and play for so many folks. The event now goes for the entire week although I just play one day for them. It’s not often that you get to see how many people you’ve been able to work with and play for all in one place, and I really look forward to it so much - especially since we couldn’t do it in 2020 because of COVID. I’ll put more details below.

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What have I been up to?

I had 9 senior facilities last week to play for, and I enjoyed every one of them - especially the one I got to play for on 9/11. We commemorated the anniversary with a somber but meaningful show.

My Wednesday online show was doing the second part of the songs from 1972 (50 years ago), and it was just as fun as the first show. There really are so many good songs from that year.

Thursday was the Appetizers and Alcohol BYOB event at the Yellow Pine, and it was so much fun seeing everyone for one last hurrah before the season ends. We had a great group of folks, and the food they brought to share was amazing!

My Sunday online show doing requests and favorites was very nice also with all our good friends. I enjoy this evening so much!

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What am I up to this week?

Wednesday will be the Senior Safari that I mentioned above, and I’m playing from 11 to 1. It will be a crazy fun day with zoo bingo and lots of animals and music. More details can be found on the zoo’s website here - https://www.pueblozoo.org/senior-week. I notice on this page that they have me starting at 10:30, so maybe I’ll start before 11. Come on out and see!

Wednesday evening my online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be what I’m calling “middle-aged” country. That’s country music that’s from the ‘60s and ‘70s, so it’s not the early old country or the more pop-oriented country of the ‘80s up to today, but the more classic country of Merle Haggard and Jim Reeves and others. It was especially requested by my friends, Dan and Debbie Brantley. It should be a really fun evening!

Saturday I’m attending a Philmont reunion in Colorado Springs that’s called the Philtoberfest that I’m not playing at as a gig, but that I mention in case there are some Philmont people reading my blog and mailer that are debating whether to come. It’s always a fun time, and I encourage Philfolks to come on out!

Sunday my online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be the favorites and requests that I love to play for my wonderful group of friends and fans. I can’t say enough about how special these evenings are.

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That’s it for this week. It’s really starting to feel like Fall here in southern Colorado, and I hope you’re enjoying it wherever you are.

Best always,

Tom

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Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch

What: playing and singing

Where:  at the Pueblo Zoo for Senior Safari, pueblozoo.org/senior-week

When:  Wednesday, September 14, 11-1

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of middle-aged country songs

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Wednesday, September 14, 7-8:30 pm mountain time 

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Sunday, September 18, 7-8:30 pm mountain time

Summer's End

Well, summer is over in my mind once we hit Labor Day, and that always makes me take stock and look at where I’m headed. I know for some people the summer was pretty much back to normal with few worries about the pandemic. For me that wasn’t the case. I still shied away from indoor gigs for the most part and was hyper-careful for my senior facilities. Especially with the chapel in Cuchara there was a lot of COVID still going around. It was still slightly more relaxed knowing that the vaccines were making the threat a lot less ominous. Musically I did pretty well. I had some really interesting gigs like playing in Estes Park, and my voice and fingers held out for the most part with just a few struggles here and there. I’m definitely feeling my age and the wear from playing so much in my younger years. I have come across some wonderful songs this year - mostly from requests from my group of friends who frequent my online concerts. Those concerts continue to be well-attended and very good for the soul of all involved. It’s so nice to not have to go out to a venue and still be able to connect with so many folks that I used to almost never interact with. It also gives me the chance to play a lot more instruments than I usually get to play since they’re all so close at hand in my office. I’ve even played the piano more this year which I’ve wanted to do for many years. I got to play the banjo once before I started to work on it and found out it will be out of commission until I put some real effort into repairs. And going into the fall I have some interesting gigs in addition to my online shows. I’ll be writing about those as they near. So as I write this on Labor Day I find that I’m in an interesting place with some great things behind me and a winding path in front of me. There’s a small touch of melancholy as I say goodbye to summer, but what more could I ask for?

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What have I been up to?

I had just 6 senior facilities last week, and none of them had to be cancelled for outbreaks. I enjoy playing for these folks so much.

My Wednesday online show went really well with the 1972 songs - so well that we’re going to do a part two this week. These songs are so much a part of my generation that many people in the audience said they knew every word even though they haven’t heard them in almost 50 years.

My Sunday online show of favorites was also very nice with some great new songs for me as well as the audience. We have such a great group - I have to say it again!

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What am I up to this week?

I have 9 senior facilities to play this week including Labor Day and even a special show for 9/11. I’m looking forward to all of them. 

My Wednesday online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be part 2 of the 50-years-ago songs from 1972 as I said above. I found 104 songs in my repertoire from 1972, and I can’t resist playing some more of them. Come on out if you remember some of the great songs and memories from that year.

Thursday 6:30-8 will be the wrap-up for the year at the Yellow Pine with their annual BYOB event called AA (Appetizers and Alcohol) or Shalom and Charcuterie. It’s always a fun goodbye ‘til next summer for the summer folks of Cuchara. Anyone is welcome to attend. Just bring an appetizer to share and whatever libation you prefer. I’ll be playing my music, and it’ll be a hoot!

My Sunday online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be favorites and requests as always, and I always look forward to what the night will bring with such good folks and great opportunity for musical interaction. We always do a Zoom a half hour beforehand (6:30 MT) which you’re welcome to attend. The link is https://us04web.zoom.us/j/7759127796?pwd=MZ55WfXnEkOSi3bztfvmMlbe2oCpoN.1

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That’s it for this week. We’re coming into my foveate season of the year when things cool down and slow down. Savor it with good friends!

Best always,

Tom

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Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of songs from 50 years ago, part 2

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Wednesday, September 7, 7-8:30 pm mountain time 

Who:  Tom Munch

What:  playing & singing at the Appetizers and Alcohol event

Where:  Yellow Pine Guest Ranch, Cuchara. 719-742-3528

When:  Thursday, September 8, 6:30-8:00 pm

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Sunday, September 11, 7-8:30 pm mountain time