looking on the bright side

   I've been really remiss about updating this blog and i've got no excuse for it seeing as i haven't been able to gig for the last few months. Anyway... We've been dealing with this 'rona thing for way too long now and as uncomfortable and inconvenient as it's all been i started thinking that it has actually had a few benefits for me and i thought my "look on the bright side" might be worth sharing. 

   When i first realized that everything was shutting down and my only source of income (i.e. playing live music) would be cut off for the forseeable future i decided to try my hand at the live streaming thing. I thought that maybe i could earn a couple of bucks via a virtual tip jar by playing live on my facebook page and not have to burden the wifey with paying all the bills so the Carl "Stuck on the Couch" concert series was born. I was not the only musician to think of this. We were all scrambling to figure out a way to not "lose the farm" so lots of my music pals did the same thing. Most of them just did a stream here and there, some did a regular weekly stream, and a few even did two or three days a week. For whatever reason i decided to go all-in and just play every night.(I'm still not really sure why.)  I will do my 108th straight stream later today. I never would have guessed that I would have done this for more than 10 or 15 days, let alone over 100. It's almost unbelievable. One of the main reasons that i've continued to do it is that all of the folks who show up to watch and listen every night have become like a kind of 2nd family to me. We really have developed a little community that gets together every night "on the couch" to hang out and it's been really moving to be a part of it. Hell, they even started calling themselves the "couch potatoes" and the "spuds".  It has saved me from going crazy and apparently i'm not the only one. I've nearly come to tears when people have related to me how much it has meant to them to have something to look forward to every night when 6:30 rolls around. I have always known that music has the power to bring people together but this unfortunate situation has proven it and i'm grateful for that. 

   I've also joined a new songwriting group, collaborated with a few new co-writers (even one in south africa), and had a chance to write a bunch of new tunes. In doing so i've discovered that some of the songs i would ordinarily have thrown out without ever even bothering to play for anyone have become some of my most requested songs. Whoulda thunk it? As a result i've decided to record stripped down versions of them to release and that's one of the things i'm currently working on.

   Lastly, i've enjoyed having the opportunity to spend a ton of quality time at home with my family. While a 1 year-old can sometimes test one's patience it's amazing to be able to witness his day-to-day growth and be a part of every day with him and his mom. We sometimes all drive each other a little crazy but i wouldn't change a thing.

Anyway...... those are a few of my silver linings. Tell me a few of yours.

Hope to see you "on the couch",

C

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