All kinds of feelings about this time of year depending on who you ask.  Looking back, I can’t help but be thankful for 2019.  There are lots of things I think I control, and I work hard for a living and yet, more than my efforts and more than my skills, one thing has been on my heart all year…the kindness of others.  

It would be fair to say that we simply would not survive or be able to continue to do what we do if it was not for the kindness shown to us.  Hospitality, warm beds, food, promotion,  purchase of our music, support, kind audiences, generosity, and more. 

Any musician who thinks that anyone owes them a listen is mistaken, it is a joy and privilege to have people in front of us who hear and watch what we do. It’s a gift. 

It’s a gift to have people share their homes with you, pay for a hotel room, prepare a meal, drive you to the airport and buy your recordings and art.   

It is a luxurious gift to get to travel all over the world to play music or to play in your local community to friends and fans.   

Sure, it’s hard work too and there is no excuse for not putting time and effort into what you do, but at this point I am aware that the amount of grace shown to us is really what makes it happen. 

People consistently put us before themselves, give freely and bless us so that we can keep doing our simple thing.  It’s a beautiful thing, grace.  I can’t control it, I can’t expect it, I can’t earn it and yet it is evident all around me in every country and culture.   

So, to everyone who has extended grace to us in any way I’d like to take the time to thank you as this year comes to an end.  You embody the Christmas message of the gift of grace in so many ways…..I am thankful for you and that we have been recipients of your freely given gifts of support, love, care, hospitality and everything else…. In fearful times I find comfort that the Christmas story almost begins with the words  “Don’t be afraid.” 2019 gave me hope once again that, because of grace, fear takes a back seat.  

Merry Christmas and a blessed 2020.. 

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!” 

― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol