Delta, Delta, Delta!

A collection of assorted thoughts this month; I had a hard time thinking of a common thread for the blog and we accidentally sent out the newsletter before I had even updated the blog so that’s just the kind of month it is.

Tomorrow night I’m hosting Richard Album & the Singles on Music Therapy: Group Session! These guys are close friends of mine but before we were friends I was a fan, and the first place I ever saw Richard perform was at Cafe Mustache. This is their last performance maybe ever; each of the 4 band members are going through some very significant life changes, and it will be interesting and probably a little bit sad to talk about the arc of the band. If you’re reading this before it happens you can come in person to Cafe Mustache on 8/11 at 8pm, or it will be streamed live via Cafe Mustache’s Twitch if you can’t make it or don’t feel comfortable in a venue these days, and of course the episode will be released on the podcast for anyone who missed the live event.

Listening to my clients talk about the pandemic this month has been interesting, and personally validating, although my clients represent a very small and definitely not representative sample of the general population. But I’ve taken note of some common threads, including feelings ranging from exasperation and bewilderment to fury about others choosing not to get vaccinated, and reflections on what the pandemic has shown them in terms of priorities in life. By and large the answer ends up being “relationships” and trimming the general fat from our lives. It was a weird feeling to hope we were rounding the corner only to be told to sit back down, and it’s still difficult to process that one day we woke up and Tom Hanks had Covid and that basketball player licked all the microphones and then everything changed and hasn’t changed back.

For myself lately I feel memory pains of last fall, which felt like a sort of impending doom and stress blob as winter with Covid + election stuff was around the corner. It’s still hard to see footage from last year around this time and up til oh about 5 months out without some sort of visceral reaction; maybe it always will be.

But I’ve had some great conversations with people lately, and it’s inspiring and normalizing to see people trying to carry on. A few highlights from recent episodes:

Brian Case (FACS) talked about being a dad and a musician, his definition of success as a musician, and methodically chipping away towards that

Adam Schubert (ULNA, Cafe Racer) talks openly and candidly about his years-long addiction to alcohol and cocaine, recovery process, and trying to stay sober in the music scene

Dr. Lauren Neaman is a nationally-recognized expert on social anxiety, and she talks about dealing with social anxiety post-lockdown, what not to do to help social anxiety, and how social media plays into all of this

Girl K was on our second Group Session and we had a frankly adorable conversation about how they all met, why Kathy cried in a green room on her birthday, and they play an excellent set of some of their songs

Hope you guys are hanging in there.

More soon,

J