I was working in the Palliative Care Unit at Vanderbilt when the pandemic hit. Palliative Care is a specialty in medical care that focuses on treating the symptoms of a disease that cannot be cured. Sometimes it leads straight into end of life care in a short period of time. I had been doing this work for the past 7 years and found it rewarding and that it was my calling.
Read MoreI must move more slowly, because I want to. I want to savor my conversations with you like they are precious mini pies eaten with spicy cocoa. Like the first morning snow. Like the string section in the Nutcracker Suite. I ask, how can I be of service, how can I love more, how can I exude peace when Kroger is crazy? I believe in it. I believe in small acts of kindness. I believe in mini pies. Dutch apple, chocolate ganache oreo, cheese graham cracker, ricotta custard and whatever else my ingredients lead me to. xoxo happy holidays,
Read MoreTo me this is a morning ‘mourning’ song. Anticipation of a new day, and the uncertainties it brings. I’m wide awake at 5AM; maybe not quite ready to take on a difficult day. When I pull into the parking garage and take my key out of the ignition and put my mask on, I enter a realm where I must be centered and ready to take care of others in vulnerable states. I must have a steady hand and a caring heart. I must be ready to find answers to questions and learn new things in any moment. I must be ready to think on my feet, and improvise when I don’t know what to say. I pray to a spiritual being to give me strength, to be still and to help me through the day because ‘this is how the day is gonna go.’
Read MoreRight now this song is an anthem to me. ‘There’s only one thing you have to change: everything’ Pow! Right in the kisser there, Tim! Damn! And right now, it feels everything has changed. The way I look at my old self is even different. And now, slowly starting to reconnect with everyone we haven’t seen in a year, and what about how to go about resuming being a working musician? There’s a lot I didn’t actually miss about that. Don’t get me wrong, I totally still love to play music. But there was a toxicity that was happening and growing within me and I resented some of the stuff ‘you need to do’ as a musician to be considered a ‘contender.’
Read More‘I’ll Be Here in the Morning’ wasn’t the first Townes song I learned, but it was probably the third or the fourth. In re-learning it for the tribute show, I thought it would be cool sung as a duet. I love this song because it reminds me of traveling, especially touring as a musician. There’s something uncanny about moving on from a place, whether it’s where you live, or a town you just got to a day or two before. Leaving a place commands you to be in the moment, which I really enjoy about touring as a musician. Some days I wonder if I’ll ever really do that again and I wonder if I’m romanticizing it all. Then I realize, yes I am and so was Townes.
Read MoreIn the days and weeks to come I drew inward and became reflective of the circumstances around. I started making playlists to cope, and while I was exploring new music, I heard ‘Sing a Glad Song’ by Kevin Morby. The words and music lifted me up and I felt emotional every time I listened to this song.
‘When you get to feeling so bad, sing a glad song, When you get to feeling so sad, sing a glad song... And perhaps we’ll meet again my friend, above the weather. And these coughs in our chests will have gotten better.”
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