My relationship with music has been discontinuous. I first picked up a guitar early in high school. I found my way without any formal instruction, aside from childhood piano lessons and a brief stint with a trombone. Those were the days when we bought all our sheet music and songbooks at Central Music in North Phoenix, and kept re-placing the needle at the beginning of whatever track we were trying to learn.

In those early years, I hunted and pecked through various song circles, jams, and 5:00 folk masses, first at my parish, and later as an undergrad at Notre Dame. The folk music of the day, and all the usual suspects – John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, John Stewart, et al. – populated my wheel house.

Then came grad school, my first job as a forensic psychologist, and a young family. My guitars sat in their cases for a time, but were eventually sold when times got tight. 30 years passed. I finally renewed my acquaintance with the guitar – and with singing and collaborating musically with others – beginning in 2019.

The onset of COVID followed on the heels of my re-engagement with music. Thank heavens for the inter-webs, and for virtual song-circles! Kelly Muzzin’s weekly Salón, and Al Hobson’s bi-weekly FCRH virtual open mic were great places to perform and to take chances with new material.

I am grateful to Danny Dean, guitarist extraordinaire and one-half of the duo, The Watch, for being willing to hang in there through COVID as my teacher and role model. He taught me how to practice and how to get a piece performance-ready. He reinforced the importance of respecting the music, and your audience, by doing everything you can to avoid delivering a half- baked, or under-prepped performance. Thanks as well to Jamie Stillway, a fabulous teacher and finger- style guitarist in Seattle, for our on-going work together since meeting at Swannanoa in 2023. She reminds me, always, of the importance of using one’s fingers deliberately, and with a clear objective.

At the showcase on December 10, I will be joined by my bandmates, Kelly Muzzin (keys and vocals) and Dave Hamilton (Neuro-bassist and telepathic “vocalist”). We will perform a mix of covers and originals. I hope that you enjoy them even half as much as we will enjoy performing them.