I wanted to comment a bit on the kinds of gigs I play and why you haven’t seen much of me lately.

I just got back from Santa Fe, NM where I played a gig at a convention for psychologists studying the effects of various music-based therapies and the unique emotional challenges and personality disorders which tend to affect people in the creative arts.

And let me just say, you’d have to be nuts to play in front of a bunch of shrinks.

<rimshot>

I’m keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeding. I booked the gig months ahead based on a recommendation of a fan who also happens to be a psychologist. If it had been a ‘normal’ gig and I had not already committed, I probably would have backed out. But it wasn’t normal in any sense of the word.

What I do is targeted. When people come to see me they know what to expect and they expect me to docertain things. Because of the nature of this gig, meaning that people had no idea who I was, I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted. And what I wanted was to save my aching hands, which often no longer do what I want them to. So for this show I played some covers (which I never do) and I took breaks as often as possible. In short, I took it easy.

The problem is that, since the various accidents of Spring 2007, my right hand has been regularly finding ways to mess up my shows. So the reason you don’t see me as much as you used to is simply that I have a great deal of difficulty doing a proper show.

The latest deal is something called ganglion cysts which have made all my knuckles swell and that right there is making finger-picking a serious challenge. I’ve already had an outpatient surgery and expect to have at least one more to suck out the swelling (seriously). I’ll let you know how things progress.

Right now, I’m focusing on what I can do—compositions for films (check out the main site for more), new ways to market the CDs and always more songs.

The nagging doubt I have is, of course, will you be there when I (finally) get it back together? I sure hope so!