Heya folks,
Welcome back!
Keep making beauty; save the world
Your art matters! Beauty will save the world! Katherine Anne Porter says, "In the face of such shape and weight of present misfortune, the voice of the individual artist may seem perhaps of no more consequence than the whirring of a cricket in the grass, but the arts do live continuously, and they live literally by faith; ... they outlive governments and creeds and the societies, even the very civilization that produced them. ... They are what we find again when the ruins are cleared away."
Hear me play lap steel guitar
I had lots of fun playing lap steel and electric guitar on my partner Jessica Gerhardt's new single Suscipe, produced by Fictitious Professor. Normally I sit in the producer/engineer seat when doing session work for other artists, so it was nice to just focus on playing, not worrying about engineering. I did produce and mix several other tracks on Jessica's record, which I'll be sharing with you as they come out.
Show your work
I just finished reading Austin Kleon's Show Your Work, which gave me permission to share work in progress. And then on an evening jog, I listened to this Song Exploder episode featuring Noah Kahan, which reinforced the idea that sharing can inform one's work. And as I reflect on that idea, my own song Seeking a Friend in LA started simply as a verse I wrote for fun to share online, and the feedback I received inspired me to finish it.
Peace,
Arend