2018 is already here. It's crazy to think of what all happened in 2017 personally and musically. Life takes control sometimes and that's what happened in 2017. New music was put on the back burner so I could get through some personal changes, getting out to some of my favorite bars and towns was also scaled back from the same reason. On top of that, my music tastes took a big hit. Some fantastic music was put out in 2017 that blew my mind away, such as Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's album 'The Nashville Sound" or Will Hoge's "Anchors". I was also reminded of artists that I've listened to for years, just how amazing they are and how much their music means to me such as Sunny Sweeney, Pokey LaFarge, Butch Walker, Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, hell, 90's country in general, Hank Williams, and, most importantly to me, American Aquarium, led by BJ Barham. BJ Barham's solo album "Rockingham" might have single handily saved my life and seeing him play a solo show in Minneapolis in the summer of 2017 made me realize songwriting is a soul cleanser.
I spent a lot of 2017 not even looking at a guitar and loathing playing music for you, my fans. Of course, every time I hit the first chord the love would immediately come back for a few hours, but then it was back into a hole. All of that came to a head in October when I had unexpected back surgery and I just gave up. I wasn't myself after.
Now that I brought the party down, let me try and bring it back up. 2018 is the year of new music, new singles, more shows and in more places. The goal is to hear more from me and it starts now. I plan on releasing a new song "Made Me A Man" digitally and it will be available for purchase or streaming. Each month, I plan on posting videos or demo's of songs I wrote in 2017 and as we move into 2018. And the last part of a new year is that I will be coming to cities all over the midwest. I've already started booking some shows back in my hometown in Indiana and look forward to getting out and meeting a lot of you who I've only interacted with online. It's going to be a great year, a promising year, and most importantly, the best year.
See you soon!
