I played one of the best shows ever last night. It wasn’t on the schedule- heck, it wasn’t even planned. There was no stage, no sound system, barely even an audience. In fact, the audience consisted of my roommates and my roommate’s mom. Three people.

Every so often it happens- I play for an audience that truly appreciates me. I see them mouthing the words as I sing them. I hear the unbridled laughter as someone, for the first time, discovers what the song Trees is about. I hear them requesting songs that I wrote or songs that they like my version of better than the original.

To me it does not matter the size of the assembled crowd. I would much rather play for these three people than a crowd of 300 incessantly requesting Bon Jovi or “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” I am not in this business to become a meat-based jukebox, I am an artist because I want to connect with people on a level that goes beyond a handshake.

If I can reach that level even for one person at a time, I am a success.

Photo by RoninOtter

Let the cozy begin
Originally uploaded by RoninOtter.

This little HDR shot was beautifully set up by my room mate. Yes, that’s a blizzard outside the window. And yes, that is a very, very warm dog named Mountain on the couch. And yes, that is also mountain all over the easy chair.

Anyway, this is the only way to survive a New England blizzard, it seems… Warm fire, happy pets, and spiked cocoa.

I mean hot cocoa. Hot cocoa. Who said anything about Irish cream?

Studio……44
Originally uploaded by RoninOtter.

As you can see from the photo, my room mate RoninOtter finally got his photo studio set up in our basement. In related news, I’m finally building the walls for my audio studio!

Pictured here are a couple of the base supports for the walls… but they tempt me to rename it Studio 44 instead of The Dining Room Studio as I call it now. I’ll let you know once the construction is complete!