If only we could sing away all the pain...

Throughout our time in the Urbandale studio, and now ensconced in "the studio of life", it has been our aspiration to make music "kaleidoscopically" and help others do the same. Someone said "the best way to predict the future is to create it." So in this transitional season, we've bravely allowed ourselves to dream, wish, spend valuable time in what Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way) calls "the i-magic-nation."

The personal reflections born during this time have had a lot more to do with "how NOT to do music kaleidoscopically" than "how TO do music kaleidoscopically." It's been a time of backing up from the musical universe in which we've been so enmeshed. When you're too close to something, you can't see it clearly. Only when you back up does the fuzzy picture come into focus. And as wacky, weird, wild, way-out-on-a-limb as this might sound, here's a little of what's been percolating:

If only we could...

sing away all the dysfunctional, out-of-balance, self-destructive, world-destructive crap

sing away all the disease, the disasters, the disgrace

sing away all the depression and anxiety

sing away all the harm, the hopelessness, the hate

sing away all the headaches and heartaches

sing away all the greed, illusion, and disillusionment

sing away all the small and shallow thinking and feeling

sing away all the milquetoast mediocrity passed off as the standard

sing away all the pain, SING AWAY ALL THE PAIN...

So much of what transpires in musicmaking, both onstage and off, doesn't really amount to a hill of beans. Sorry, but it's true; and not just true, but very overwhelmingly obviously true. And yet we go on, both as artists and audience, making our choices based on an insane, out-of-control web of untruth. I'm not elaborating any farther, it's something each of us has to arrive at our own conclusions about (but I'd be happy to dive in further with you over "brandy and cigars" sometime!).

The nature of a root can be known by its fruit. So I humbly ask you to look, listen, back up, question, and thoughtfully analyze the fruit of our musicmaking system. At that point, you may realize that we've been put on a planet in desperate need of the healing power that music possesses. You may wake up and say to yourself, "Sucker!" You may even start creating some plans of your own to do music differently, truthfully, kaleidoscopically!

Please don't think that we think we could dare say what the truth really is, on this or any other matter. It's very simple. We just want what is best, for both artists and audience, for both ourselves and you. I hope you are reminded from the statements above that we as world-citizens have a ton of "singing away" to do. And we need new paradigms and procedures about the power of music and all art, that will enable us to do the maximum musical healing we were put on the planet to do.

If only we really could sing (and play) away the world's pain. Guess what? We can...and we must.