Beginnings

 My Wednesday online show this week is doing the songs of Michael Martin Murphey, and that has me thinking about my beginnings when I really started to play and sing in the early 1970s because Michael’s songs were some of the first ones I learned. I took lessons on piano as a little kid like so many other kids did and then played clarinet in the elementary school band again like so many other kids did, but I never really felt the music inside me in a way that was engaging and inspiring. At about age 12 I “borrowed” my sister Jane’s ukulele (I still have it - as she often reminds me) and I learned to play it with the Mel Bay book that came with it. I soon started trying to learn songs off records and the radio, and I bought sheet music to a few tunes. Michael Murphey’s “Wildfire” and “Carolina in the Pines” were some of just a handful of sheets I ordered and learned. We had songbooks too, but I soon found that the intricate guitar riffs and melodies weren’t represented in the sheet music or books, so I learned them by experimentation and noodling. Michael and John Denver’s music were some of the main songs I was learning to pick out on the ukulele. The ukulele led me to the baritone ukulele which is tuned like the top 4 strings of a guitar, and by age 15 I had graduated to an acoustic guitar. So you see that Michael made a big impact on me. I had all his albums into the mid-1980s, and even got to run sound for him at a concert at Philmont Scout Ranch in 1983 where we used my PA system that I was using for gigs around northern New Mexico. I’ve since run into Michael many times in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. His music has always expressed some of the things I love in this life. Did his music have an impact on you back in the day too?

——

What have I been up to?

I had 13 senior facilities last week, and several were wearing masks with Covid outbreaks. That didn’t slow us down though. I did learn that one of my long-time folks at the vets home passed. He will surely be missed.

My Wednesday online show was Fall songs with a couple harvest moon songs thrown in since it was the full harvest moon that night. It was a blast! I love this group.

Friday I was booked at the Grand View Restaurant at the Garden of the Gods Club, but they had a private party booked in that room so they had me play across the street at the golf course at Kissing Camels Grille and Bar to nice group of folks including a music friend who snuck into the members-only venue. It was fun.

Saturday morning I played 1840s and 1850s songs in historic costume the Mercado at El Pueblo Museum in Pueblo during the Chile Festival. That was something I haven’t done in a long time. It was great to see some of the museum folks I haven’t seen since I was musical director for the Song of Pueblo.

Saturday evening I got to see more friends at a Philmont reunion in Colorado Springs where we sang a few songs together and reminisced. That was great!

Sunday I played the Grand View Restaurant at Garden of the God Club for brunch, and that went really well. It’s actually a lot of fun to play instrumental songs and sometimes make up melodic guitar arrangements on the spot of songs I usually sing.

My Sunday online show was favorites and requests as always, and there were some fun requests and off-the-wall favorites I played to a great group of friends and fans. I love my Munch Bunch.

——

What am I up to this week?

I have 10 senior facilities this week, and I’m looking forward to every one of them. Hopefully there won’t be more illness striking these places as we get into the cold and flu (and Covid) season.

My Wednesday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be the songs of Michael Martin Murphey as I wrote above. I love these songs, and I really haven’t done very many of them for several years, so it’ll be great to share them with my online community again.

Saturday 6-9 I’m playing at the Rocks Lounge at the Garden of the Gods Club. This is a members-only venue. I finally get to sing at this venue instead of just doing instrumental music. Singing is really my forte, so it’ll be nice to sing for this gig.

Sunday I’m playing for a celebration of life for my friend Kathy Drozda who was also the sister of my friend Carol Rickman. Their husbands and many friends will also be there to celebrate Kathy, and I’ll be singing a bunch of songs that she loved. Kathy is very missed.

Sunday my online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be favorites and requests as always. I continue to be amazed at the caring and enthusiasm that this group brings to me, my  music, and each other each week. This is such a joy!

——

That’s it for this week. The Fall is really coming on strong. It was only 41 degrees when I walked Beau this morning. It will warm back up for a few weeks, but I definitely feel the shift in the seasons. I hope you are healthy and happy.

Best always,

Tom

——

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 25, 7-8:45 pm mountain time

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing

Where:  Garden of the Gods Resort and Club in the Rocks Lounge. 888-994-3156

When:  Saturday, September 28, 6-9 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 29, 7-8:45 pm mountain time