Monday, April 11, 2016

100 songs and counting

I started writing songs a very long time ago. So, when I recently heard about a website called Bandcamp  I was really happy to discover that it's a place where I could archive my songs and some of my art too.

I've spent thousands of hours and dollars too, writing and recording my songs.  So I am incredibly relieved to have found a place for them on line where people can listen to them (for free if they so choose). I'm slowly extracting them off of dozens of CDs that are gathering dust in my music studio.  So far, I've archived over a hundred.  I'm hoping to add another hundred before it's all said and done.

One of my favorite songwriters (Joni Mitchell) once said, "At the point where I'm trying to force something and it's not happening, and I'm getting frustrated with, say, writing a poem, I can go and pick up the brushes and start painting. At the point where the painting seems to not be going anywhere, I go and pick up the guitar."  

I can really relate to this quote and I'm thankful for the possibilities of being able to write songs and paint pictures.  I may never gain the kind of notoriety or fame that Joni Mitchell has gotten, but that's all right. A true artist isn't interested in fame or fortune. It should not be the motivating reason to express oneself. And if it is, are you really an artist in the first place?

So, for now, it's 100 songs and counting.. which you can access by clicking on the link below.  As long as I'm healthy enough, I'm never going to stop writing songs and painting pictures. It is a big part of who I am.