Dear family, friends, and fellow travelers,
The tune this cycle is Hold On, a song I wrote more than forty-five years ago while I was working at the large shelter for unhoused men in Boston, Pine Street Inn. The Inn was truly an astonishing, welcoming, love-from-the-heart space that held the essence of real community - open to all without question, without expectation but with hope and love and growth through shared sorrows, joys and trials. Some of my strongest connections in life came from working there, both guests and staff still travel with me. I hadn't recorded this song before but, recently, a dear friend who I met and worked with at the shelter, Nate Nickerson, died of pancreatic cancer. We shared a number of adventures in our early adult years, including several years together in Downeast Maine. Nate showed me more about community and love than I can put into words and I send his soul and spirit my gratitude and love. He continued his work with unhoused folks in Portland, Maine, starting Healthcare for the Homeless for Portland, eventually becoming the director of public health for the city and then, for twenty plus years, directed an international health program, Knobit Sante that sistered Portland with a community in Northern Haiti where he spent a good part of each year working with the community there. May community grow and thrive!
Love and Courage, Friends,
Brian
I recently started putting some songs up on music streaming platforms - all of them already published here. There's several now, organized as "albums" - Just a Little Rain, Late July and Crow. Take a listen there and add me to your playlist, if you so desire! I listen on Deezer.
I'm sending you a monthly offering from original music I've been writing over many years. I've been so bold as to add your email to my newsletter list. You can unsubscribe at any time (link at the bottom of the email).
Play your favorites!
I've also added a Favorites feature so that, as the playlists grow, you can mark those songs you particularly like and just listen to those, again from using the drop down filter at the top of the playlist. Right now it's a two-step process. You have to click on the song you want to mark on the playlist and then go to the side bar (bottom on phone) and click the gray heart so select; click again to deselect.
On the technical side, the favorites function relies on you not clearing your cookies, often the default setting. Favorites will be lost if cookies are cleared. I hope to add a login feature that would allow you to keep your selections without cookies.
Finally, realizing that many people no longer have a CD player, Leonore and I made our three albums available for free here on the site in playlists. There's a tab, Albums, on the top menu. Select the album you want to hear from the dropdown and enjoy. Songs are free to download as well. We will make some CDs for those who may want that medium - if that is your desire, feel free to contact me.
