And, just like that, “Aspirational Gardening” exists:
A dollar and a follow would help the cause, immensely.
I am thinking of describing this music as “experimental easy listening” or “avant garde adult contemporary.” I also describe it as uncool. Come to think of it, I feel like nothing I have ever done has been cool, though I have really wanted it to be at times. This is not a knock on coolness. I like things that are cool. This music, however, is Something Else Entirely. “He skips the bridge,” Dan says. Dan also coined the term “song-poems” for what these pieces are. I like it a lot.
I’ll play today, 18 originals and a cover. And maybe even some improvisation. Forget maybe. YES I will be improvising my way into and out of some of the tunes. The whole War Footing project (coming soon!), those pieces that have words, save for “Lying Down” which fills me with dread so I cut it. I also cut “+” (an oldie) and “Pearls” (a new-ie) and “Tonglen” (a medium-ie). Also many new “songs” and many old “songs,” and on-mic banter, and public drinking of water.
I’ve been inspired by watching my kiddos in their music/theater camp performance yesterday, and how their specific ways of being on stage seemed to encourage joy and community and just Being There. I have often walked into a performance situation wanting to impress (when I had a lot to prove) or survive (when I was scared). But I have rarely walked in with the attitude that I was there to facilitate a shared experience, some coming together of those saying a thing and those to and for whom things are said. I’m going to give it a try. Not like some new strategy per se, but as the marking of a moment at which forces that have been gathering strength finally come together and, as a result, things are different.
It’s been a really fun—and at times totally demoralizing—experiment to begin sharing this music. On that path this is a special day, and I am glad to get to share it with you all. To come back to Dan again, who plays on single 2, by the way: we had a conversation, years ago, as I launched a project called Future Sevens (also fun!). His question was simple and turned me a bit inside out: how do we celebrate the creation of new music? Not advertise or monetize or viral-ize. Celebrate. So that is what today is for me, and you are invited, too.
Cheers, and welcome, and thank you for reading and especially for listening,
Andrea