I learned from my dear friend Kim today that I may have to forgo my guitar playing for a long while. The joint where my left thumb joins my hand needs lots of time off. I spent a few years playing hard, getting out all of the old feelings and bringing in the new. Now for six months I have avoided the guitar. But my thumb needs a lot more time to heal. I still have more to express. It has gotten to where I love the groove that I find myself in when I am playing, especially when I am performing and it is working well.

I guess I can find that groove without my guitar. Adapt. Go with the flow. Step with the dance.

Here is an interview with Michael Franti. What an inspiring human being he is!

Tonight is a birthday bash at the Wildflower celebrating both Bill’s and Michelle’s birthdays! Come on out to 316 South New Street in South Bethlehem, PA to join in the fun. Sign up for the open mike usually starts at 7:00, but this is a different deal tonight, so I guess the show itself may be central instead, starting probably at 8:00. I think I will go a little before that.

The Wildflower has had a lot to do with me feeling free to open up into all possibilities with my music. Both Bill and Michelle are instrumental in the openness at the Wildflower. There is a lot to celebrate here.

Hey Everyone:

I received an e-mail from Bill Medei about something happening at the Wildflower tonight. Here is the text of the message:

“Mr. Imagination always encouraged everyone around the Wildflower Cafe to create and enjoy something new. The music that comes from the Cafe has a direct connection to the tangible art that he creates from society’s discards. Tonight’s Open Mic will be dedicated to Mr. I and our feelings for him. Let’s allow Southside’s healing to begin.

This is my invitation to you to attend Wildflower’s Open Mic tonight. There will be no signup sheet. Just talk to me with your ideas and instant combos and we will make them happen.

Bill”

I am certainly going to try to make this one. Come on out, anyone who is reading this! They are at 316 South New Street on the south side of Bethlehem, PA.

So much of my life in the past couple of years has been in change. The process of change has made it necessary for things to be fluid. My music has been no exception. It has only been in the past couple of years that I have been playing the guitar and singing again. There was a twenty year gap when I did not create. I think the music I created a long time ago would be called folk music. Please forgive me, folks as I go along. I am an expert at nothing but my own present experience. I don’t know much about genres, I just have a general impression about things. In any case, my music has always been folky and acoustic. And I have pretty much stuck only to my own music and to my brother Billy’s music.

I self-pollinated for a long time. Actually in every sense. Not just music. But now I am reaching out. I want to learn about myself and the world. I’m done with being scared and not taking chances. So my music is following suit. It is changing. Much of it has been very fluid for a while. I am sort of afraid of committing to much structure. I feel that way generally about my life. I have been cast into a heavy mold for so long, I am afraid of being pinned down again. But my fear is lessening and form is surrounding the creative core. Yet in the process of traveling through parts of myself that I hadn’t allowed myself before, I am letting new kinds of expression out: still very fluid: grunts, shrieks, a language that seems to have a life of its own. But it is forming itself into something very new to me. And I am finding beauty in this new form.

I have found a wonderful place to perform my music, no matter how weird my music gets. The Wildflower Cafe in Bethlehem Pennsylvania is owned by a wonderful lady who has created this space where people can feel free to be themselves. It has attracted some amazing talents, and a lot of wonderful accepting people, where respect for each other is central. Come out on a Monday or Tuesday night to join in with the open mike. Sign up starts at 7:00 PM.