First blog post in about two years! I hope to keep these more up-to-date from this point on, even though the traffic around this page is pretty thin. At any rate, I decided to move south to Nashville just over two months ago. This was a decision that I originally intended for much later in my music career, as I had hoped to first give NYC a longer stint before continuing my artistic pursuits in Music City. I also find that my chances of being both a successful musician and eventual family man were higher in the South than in NY. However, after many days of careful reflection during the late summer, I found that it was better to make the transition sooner than later, given the consequences of COVID-related public policy on the music industry in NY. I grappled with these options for some time because of the expectations I had for myself as a NY musician, in light the city’s cut-throat standards. Would I be better off judging the validity of this decision by the “old-guard” expectation of being a broke NY player, or would it be wiser to take my talents to a more welcoming but equally competitive environment? Some variation of this question was burned into my skull for weeks before I finally realized that it wasn’t worth feeling like I owed NY my time when it clearly never owed me anything in the first place. I say all of this with the hope that I can one day unite my NY and Nashville friends, particularly as I move slowly towards being an artist instead of just a sideman. My childhood was set to the soundtrack of so many musical traditions, jazz and Americana being chief examples. Because of this, I hope to create the right sound for merging the two worlds, but do so in a way that is distinct from past iterations such as Gary Burton’s “Tennessee Firebird” or any of the Bela Fleck and the Flecktones music. Now that I am a Nashville resident, I intend to work on the next step of realizing that dream.
On a lighter note, 2020 did bear some musical fruit, as I was blessed to contribute my talents to some recordings, beginning with my friend Jake Benjamin’s upcoming release for 2021. We were able to record at Sound on Sound Studios in Jersey, only a month and a half before the first wave of COVID shutdowns. I’m excited to hear the final product, not to mention one of the tunes I co-wrote with Jake as a showcase for seven-string bass! Later in the year, my friend and fellow Fort Wayne native Colin Dorion invited me to record for his latest record “Turning”. We also recruited fellow Fort Wayne royalty and piano maestro Garrett Spoelhof for this project, thus rounding out the classic piano trio setup. Sweetwater Studios was kind enough to offer their time and resources for this record, which you can now download on Bandcamp or stream on Spotify! There are other projects with both NY and Nashville friends that I look forward to announcing as well. It’s safe to say that, despite the drought in live performances, 2020 has provided a silver lining for myself and many others in the recording world.