The Last Time

Is this The Last Time?

Who knows?

But it could be. The last time you do that particular thing. See that particular person. Have that particular experience.

Read this particular blog.

That’s not a dark thought. It’s one of gratitude. And enjoyment. And appreciation.

And it’s a reminder to keep on keeping on ceasing the day, the hour, the moment. You might not need reminding, but I do.

Hostess With The Mostess

I’m taking the geetar to a friend’s 50th party tonight. Many happy returns (for tomorrow) to the wonderful Homesong Hostess With The Mostess, Lori Silvan.

I’m not your ideal musician for this sort of thing to be honest. I still don’t know a cover song even though I keep threatening to learn some. But, hey, I can play about a hundred original Feetunes if required (trying to learn all my back catalogue at the moment….I’ll get there eventually) so I’m not going to berate myself too much.

And some of those songs are real party boppers as far as I’m concerned. We will see.

But Lori has been a wonderful encourager of the Homesong idea. And she’s been a wonderful host to many fantastic Homesong evenings in her wee “barn/shed” in Clachan. As many locals and far flung musicians will testify.

And she definitely won’t let the party atmosphere drop, even if there’s nobody to play the Beatles, the Elton, the Taylor, or the Sheeran.

Wishing her the best evening of her life…even if it rains!

And onto the next 50 Lori. Congratulations!

Friendship CD’s

I recently bought a new CD release by a friend and Homesonger, Norman Lamont (and The Heaven Sent). It’s called Turn.

I only tend to buy CD’s from musicians with whom I have some physical connection these days. And I don’t buy them to listen to, coz I don’t have a CD player. (That’s what the WAV files are for, and I only got those today, so I haven’t listened to it properly yet. I know it’s going to be excellent though, from what I’ve heard “leaked” up to now).

I buy these CD’s as a musical symbol of connection. And I plan to make a wall of Friendship CD’s one day, if I get a room that is mine alone. They will be a reminder of all the wonderful times I’ve had, and the friends I have been able to make, simply by writing songs, and meeting and hooking up with other songwriters and music lovers.

That’s been such a wonderful pleasure of the last 20 years of my life in particular.

- If you happen to be in the Edinburgh area next week, Norman and the band are launching the album at the Leith Folk Club in the Heart Of Newhaven, in Newhaven. Supported by another Homesonger friend, Rosie Nimmo. Doors 7.30pm. I’m very much looking forward to it.

Sounds

The clock is ticking.

The rooks are cawing. The breath is escaping and returning with a soft hiss. The hard-drive is humming. Something inside my head, my internal hard-drive, is humming too. I think it’s the blood rushing around, but I’m no expert.

The keyboard is clicking.

This is the music of life. Always sounds present, even in that space we call Silence.

I don’t always listen closely enough.

The songwriter should probably pay a little more attention to Sounds.

Sonder

Sonder - “The realisation that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own - populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness.”

That’s Sonder…not Sondar (otherwise Dan Dare will be on my case!)

I recently came across this word, and it’s wonderful definition. I say recently. It feels familiar. Have I written about it before? I don’t know. But I do know that the realisation it mentions is a fantastic one to have.

I hope that your own particular and unique “vivid and complex” life is going in a good direction. I’m so glad I’m sharing it with you, whether I know you or not.

And I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating many times - what a frickin’ privilege we have!

Let’s go out there and make it the best life possible. Whether we have 60 minutes left, or 60 years.

For Better Or Worse

Me or everyone.

The individual or the team.

My brain or the culture.

It’s clear that the only thing I can really change in all of this, is my part. I am my responsibility. And nothing else changes without personal change happening.

But it’s not enough. I’m a human. Other people matter. The circumstances they exist in matter. It’s all part of a whole. I’m part of a whole. I can see that.

So, if I want to be “better”, and I have a definition of what “better” might look like, I’m going to need to persuade someone else to join me. That’s how culture happens.

And For Better Or Worse, that’s how we operate. That’s how human life progresses. And sometimes regresses. Someone persuades us to change ourselves, and we change. And then we persuade someone else to do the same.

We are all involved in this process, whether we like it or not. But we can choose whether to be pro-actively or passively involved.

No other options, I’m afraid.

The Fewest Words

“I had a wheelbarrow, the wheel fell off”. And repeat.

That’s the song for my main football team, the one I’ve supported since I was a boy. Notts County. My son and I travelled, Friday night down, Saturday night back, on the overnight bus from Glasgow to watch them win promotion on penalties at Wembley. My word it was a hard watch. But a happy ending.

And the song is, in my opinion, the best football chant in the world. It sums it all up, for those of us who follow a football team. Yes there are the high points, like Saturday, but mostly…well, the wheel is falling off. Mostly we don’t reach the top. Only one team wins the league. Or the cup. Everybody else loses.

It is about the taking part.

And the best songs usually say it in The Fewest Words.

The Technological Bubble

The Technological Bubble
I’m happy to say
Stops causing me trouble
When I blow it away
And go for a walk
On a sunny spring day.

My senses grow brighter
Sweet scents waft my way
The birds sing on high
And the clouds fly away.

Pleasures are doubled
The stress at least halved
I no longer struggle
My breathing stays calm.

But it’s not a big secret
This thing that I do.
I just press the off switch
And you could do too.

Once the bubble is blown
The bubble stays blew.

Money In The Bank

The practise done when there is no opportunity, gig, or performance on the horizon is far from pointless.

Like any practise, or exercise, or preparation it is Money In The Bank.

A gift of kindness to your future self.

It will make things easier, when the pressure is on.

Because when the pressure’s on it is not the time to be getting ready.

The Stuck

I get stuck sometimes. In my head. It can, it used to be, a precursor to much worse.

But even now, despite knowing better, the first thing I do is to try and mentally fight my way out. I look around desperately for something to get me out of The Stuck. A distraction. Something to do. Or watch. Somewhere to be. Anything to stop me thinking.

But often the harder I try, the more I want to get out of it, the less energy I have, and the more the stuck sticks.

And it’s strange, but once I accept that, once I stop the struggle to “escape”, once I look straight at whatever it is that seems to be holding me… it, The Stuck, immediately starts to lose its power.

Being stuck usually has its own shelf life. It will usually lose its grip. But that shelf life will decrease far more rapidly when the stuckness is looked at directly, acknowledged, and then waved goodbye.

What A Ride!

“What’s wrong with U?”
”I can’t come out to play till after T?”


It’s true. Everything is in its place.

But at the same time those places are constantly changing. Things move. A constant movie stream in our consciousness with never a single sequence repeated in exactly the same way.

We don’t have to do a thing to “create” that experience.

We simply learn to dance with it all. And dance with the experience of dancing with it.

We are each a whirling dervish, spinning along with, and within, the universe. Inside and out. A part of everything, and yet everything uniquely ours to enjoy.

What A Ride!

*’s OK! No mushrooms were imbibed for breakfast. Just getting amazed without any outside “assistance” whatsoever. Yeah, baby!

Pulling At The Heart Strings

Pulling At The Heart Strings.

A magical happening, which Art in all its various forms can achieve. What a wonderful thing to be able to do. What a gift that is. What a privilege.

Just a song, a film, a picture, a documentary, a sculpture, a mime … reaching out to the heart of someone who may well be a complete stranger. Perhaps even helping them to heal. Or to grieve. Or to process. I’m thinking of sadder songs now.

Simply to help us feel something, when those feelings have been pushed down while we try to get on with the job of living. Of getting by.

And those feelings don’t have to be a massively advertised event, shouted, or cried out for everybody to notice. Even if we’re in an age where thankfully we aren’t hiding them away as much.

A feeling can simply be a quiet harmony to the song that you just sang.

If you’re feeling it, somebody else is.

Even if you never hear the tune that their heart is playing.

Our Choice

Some big event could occur.

“First man walks on the moon”

”President declares war”

”Earthquake raises city”

”Man and Woman have silly hats placed on their heads and millions of people get excited”

It’s possible for all these things to happen, and to pay no attention whatsoever. We are not owned by information. There is no obligation. We are generally, thankfully, not forced to pay attention to anything.

Maybe some of these events are worth paying attention to. Maybe not. But it’s almost always Our Choice.

Anyway, I had a quiet Saturday. And a quiet Saturday night.

What Is Wrong With Now?

What Is Wrong With Now?

I’m walking along “in the moment”, but my mind wants to jump to some point in time, the past, or the future….anywhere that isn’t now.

Is there something wrong with now? Something I need to escape from?

Not really. This phenomenon can happen when I’m in the very places where I love to be. While wandering alone along the forest paths on the side of Beinn Ghuilean this morning, for instance.

It’s probably a survival instinct you would think. From the days when my ancestors were needing to rehash the past in order to learn from mistakes, and plan the future. All in order to survive.

Those instincts aren’t necessarily helpful to me today though. Because NOW is the only place that I can actually count on, and my survival doesn’t need me to leave it too often. And it definitely doesn’t need me to do it when I’m in the middle of doing something I love.

Not that imagination is redundant. But it would be nice to go into that world as a deliberate choice.

Because, I’m lucky. Most of the time, everything I need and want is here, right now.

A Song About Love

So yeah, I wrote A Song About Love.

It was definitely me wot wrote it. I’m not going to have anybody say otherwise.

Sue me if you want. I’ll see you in court!

The Love Song
Verse 1: Love is a feeling that we can't ignore
It's like a wave that crashes to the shore
It makes our hearts beat faster than before
And it's a feeling that we can't explore

Chorus: Love, love, love
It's a feeling that we can't get enough
It's the reason why we laugh and cry
And it's the reason why we give it a try

Verse 2: Love is a language that we all speak
It's the melody that makes us weak
It's the answer to the questions we seek
And it's the light that guides us when we're bleak

Chorus: Love, love, love
It's a feeling that we can't get enough
It's the reason why we laugh and cry
And it's the reason why we give it a try

Bridge: Love is a mystery we can't solve
It's the passion that we can't control
It's the flame that burns in our souls
And it's the story that we all unfold

Chorus: Love, love, love
It's a feeling that we can't get enough
It's the reason why we laugh and cry
And it's the reason why we give it a try

Outro: Love is the one thing we all need
It's the glue that makes us all succeed
So let's hold on to it tight and never let it leave
Love, love, love, it's all we need.

by D.Fee - Songwriter

The Only Cup Of Coffee

I’m drinking a cup of coffee.

It has been pointed out to me that this is The Only Cup Of Coffee I’ve got.

I might like to have a coffee made by an experienced barista in Venice, served to me in a little plaza, on a beautiful springtime day, with nothing more to worry about than to idly watch the gondoliers glide by.

But this cup of coffee is the one I’ve actually got. And this chilly windy day in Campbeltown, just after 9am on the fourth of May, is the place and time I’m drinking it.

It tastes fine. And it tastes even better when I don’t start wishing it was something else.

*And here is my Fee Comes Fourth song for this month - The Other Way Round. Who knows what it’s about, but it’s the only cup of coffee on offer today. ;)

ChatGPT

In the interests of science, blah, blah, blah, I dived (that’s dived America, NOT “Dove”!!! ) into the wonderful, brave new world of Open AI ChatGPT. Below is the question I asked, followed by the response.

It’s very good.

But I’m still, ahem, around if you need me… and even if you don’t, I’ll be here tomorrow.

Or will I?

Q. Tell me what you know about Home concerts - music gigs in people’s homes.

Home concerts are music gigs that take place in private homes rather than in traditional concert venues. They are typically organized by music fans who want to host an intimate and unique experience for themselves and their friends, family, or community.

Home concerts have become increasingly popular in recent years, in part due to the rise of social media and online platforms that make it easier for hosts and musicians to connect and promote their events. They offer a more personal and interactive experience for both the performers and the audience, as the setting is typically smaller and more relaxed than a traditional concert venue.

Home concerts can take many forms, from acoustic singer-songwriter performances to full-band shows. The musicians are typically paid through donations or a portion of the ticket sales, and the hosts often provide food and drinks for their guests.

Some potential benefits of home concerts include the opportunity for musicians to connect more deeply with their fans and build their audience, as well as the chance for hosts to create a memorable and unique experience for themselves and their guests. However, there are also potential risks and challenges associated with hosting and performing in a private home, such as limited space, noise complaints, and safety concerns.

Overall, home concerts can be a fun and rewarding way to enjoy live music in a more intimate and personalized setting.

Small Circles Of People

An interesting blog here on an end to pop.

"The end of pop and the rise of the long tail and AI brings us back a century. Just like it used to be–small circles of people, not mass markets. But this time with endless choice”

I do think this summarises where we’re at quite plainly.

There are still some songwriters out there who are living in The Loop Of Eternal Promise in which they imagine a future with a hit song (s), a record contract, loadsofmoney!!!, and an interview on The Graham Norton Show.

For the rest of us I truly believe that “Small Circles Of People” are where our music is destined to be played, if we choose to embrace the challenge and find our own small circle.

And this is a good thing not a bad thing.

Firstly it presents us with musical goals that are realistic and achievable.

Secondly, we can be part of something that helps to build community and real life personal connections at a time when that is becoming something which is desperately needed.

The Plumber

We’re waiting for The Plumber
(The “Heating Engineer”)
We’re still waiting for the plumber
(I think he’ll soon be here)
I hope he’ll do some plumbing
(Coz one thing is quite clear)
The boiler isn’t working
(And I hope he’ll soon be here)

We’ve been waiting quite a while
(Since the beginning of the year)
But we haven’t frosted over
(I don’t want you to fear)
For our safety or our comfort
(Coz we’re full of warming cheer)
And by that I don’t mean whisky
(Though feel free to send some here ;-).

And I promise not to give some to the “Heating Engineer”.

The Best Of All Worlds

Last week I watched a live stream of a performance from Nashville. Happens that the fella performing, Aaron English, after a brief email exchange a few years ago, travelled all the way to Kintyre to play at Homesongs here in Campbeltown. He talked about his journey and his experiences in Kintyre during his live online set, and it was great to listen to his incredible music and to reconnect (though we’ve never actually disconnected!)

Here’s Aaron performing in another wonderful cross-continental connection with Ali Gul Pir from Pakistan on a wake-up call collaboration, Sound The Alarm.

These connections are the odd happenings which have become kind of normal now for many people, but which only 30 years ago would have seemed like science fiction (or, as with Live Aid, something that happened only in the lives of “superstars”).

And these are the little images of how local, personal, and intimate experiences can interact with the global, digital, and online world, in a positive way. For all of us.

I’m very much a “have your cake and eat it” kind of person. Even now, though things look dark at times, we can still strive to achieve The Best Of All Worlds. Let’s work, as far as we can, to make that happen. Let’s support each other in doing it.

Because it only takes small steps on our part to help move things in a good direction, even in this crazy, mad world. Just that email. Or that decision. Or that invitation. Or that commitment.

We have choices.

And, no, we can’t do it all. But we can take this one step.

We can do this next bit.

Good luck!