Hi everyone,

Happy National Bird-Feeding Month!  It’s amazing what you learn when you try to find something to write about.  Also happy new year wishes to those following the lunar calendar.

Here’s a special welcome to the new fans I got to meet at the recent cancer research benefit in Newberg on Super Bowl Sunday.  It was a great show for a great cause.

Enough small talk.  There’s some exciting news to share!

Last month I reported that I was having trouble scheduling studio time to make videos.  And as so often happens, life comes along and puts the lie to that.  I was just in the studio recording some solo performances along with several songs as part of The Freelance Troublemakers.  Those videos are in editing now and should be available soon. Not only that, but the segment I did on Rose City Gumbo in August is now available on YouTube.  Check it out!

Thanks to many suggestions I am going to produce more videos, even if they might not have perfect production values.  This is a hard thing for me to do–not only because I don’t think visually much anymore, but because I don’t want what I do to become part of the noise of poorly-done work that’s out there on the net.  Somewhere there’s a happy medium, and I’ll try to find it.

Here’s where the big news is this month.  I’m rolling out my own solo show at the end of May!  The show, “A Musical Adventure,” is something I’ve been toying with for a while, and the opportunity came along to book a venue in Nehalem, a small town on the Oregon coast.  The show will feature music on all of my acoustic instruments, plus a garden weasel and who knows what else.  There will also be stories, audience participation, and a journey of discovery for everyone, including me!

Tickets are on sale now through Brown Paper Tickets.

You can join the promotion team by sharing links and posts everywhere you can.  For those in the north coast area who’d like to help, please contact me for a list of what needs doing.

Also in May I will be playing a fund-raiser for Habitat for Humanity in Forest Grove.  Not only is this a good cause, but it’s a dessert event.  Who can resist that?

Click here to see the complete schedule

I’m starting to see some regulars at my monthly beginning guitar workshops, and am always thinking up new topics.  Information is available on the website or on my Meetup group.

New pictures are up and they turned out great!  Have a look in the press gallery.  One of them has a particularly fun story behind it, you can read more in the post titled Worth A Thousand Laughs.  This photo session also featured images for The Freelance Troublemakers, a duo project I’m doing with Don Porth,  a long-time bandmate and musical friend.  Special thanks to Mirifoto for another outstanding group of images.

Until next time, walk gently & keep listening…

Jim