My people and my tools…

At lunch on Tuesday I thanked Jim for his instigation of the guitar surprise. He responded, “After you made the In The City video, you told me that you wanted your next project to come from this house, from your family in this place.”

That’s true. I remember saying that. I had no idea he would take it to such a significant height. But the effect has been realized. Everywhere I go, I take this family with me. I think of them when I play that guitar, even if I’m alone in a studio, just me and the mic, I still carry them with me. When I traveled to LA at the top of this month, it was the first time I’ve felt like I was still at home even though I was away. Like they were there with me. I was texting back and forth with Chris about workouts. I was online and on the phone with several others from home and it felt like I had a family here that I was on my way back to. It made the road bearable.

Last night, the night after a recording session, that’s typically a rough one. The let-down of anticipation, the dissolve of nervous tension, the quiet after many voices, that’s usually a time when I feel the alone-ness most acutely. But last night, I just kept remembering that me and these people belong to each other in a deeper sense than casual. I slept like a champ.

You know what else is interesting? There’s a wave of technological advance in my music right now. New studios and producers, new guitar, new video bloggie, new smartphone so I can start using twitter to communicate with my audience, new effects pedal, new website capability for digital downloads.

I’ve got my machines loaded, and my people are with me. At the convergence of network and technology, there is a point of leverage, a momentum surge. I can feel it. The power of “WE.”