The Continuing Story of...
- Justin
- Jul 5
- 3 min read
Hi there, it's been a minute. Lots going on here: ups, downs, everything in between. Life! A few fun things have happened lately that I never got around to sharing, so I want to briefly recap them now before filling you in on things to come.
Poetry news: Yes, you read that right. :) I was pleasantly surprised to have two of my poems published in a local lit mag recently. I was even more surprised when they invited me to do a short reading at the magazine's release party. I realized I had not done a public poetry reading since 2006 . . . that's 20 years ago . . . oh dear. But off I went to North Portland one warm evening and sat in a room with about 60 poetry, prose and art fans and had a great time. It was such a positive and welcoming environment, which made the moment feel all the more celebratory.
Clarinet news: I've wanted to play at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in SE Portland for quite a while now, and I'm happy to say I recently got to satisfy that desire. On a somewhat uncomfortably warm afternoon, my fearless collaborator Becca and I found a spot under a grand tree on a hillside from which to sling our wind-powered melodies toward garden visitors. In celebration of Juneteenth and the summer solstice, the garden opened its doors to all and invited several musicians like ourselves to provide a special ambiance to the already-delightful experience of navigating the garden's paths and bridges around flowers, trees and waterways. If you live in Portland and you've never been before, you're missing out!
Songwriting: The streak continues. My latest avenue to finding and funneling inspiration? So, you know when you're on Wikipedia and click on some links and you read and you read and you get deep into whatever it is you're reading about and then you look at the clock and 30 minutes have gone by? Well, I'm been trying to harness some of that power for good (and creativity). For instance I spent an untold amount of time reading about people who have escaped from prison in all manner of ways, and one such story obliquely led to a new song. Or when I happened upon the story of an accidental poisoning at an Oregon mental health institution in the 40's. Other times it's a particular sentence or phrase that jumps out at me and seems to demand more attention than the middle of a Wikipedia article can provide. Maybe it gets its own song, maybe not. But I've started to amass some of these little gems for safe keeping. Maybe they will take shape later. We'll see what happens.
Shows: The streaming continues! It's been a little while since my last online show, but I make my return next weekend. I've always been interested in utilizing chance in music, and I'm going to incorporate it a little bit in this next show: using chance methods to pick my set list! I still have to iron out the details but here's the basics:
Saturday July 11, 2pm PT
Join the mailing list if you're not already on there for more info and the show link. Happy summer!
-Justin
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