I'd like to apologise in advance for the brevity and lameness of this blog, my first, my Virgin Blog. Being new to this format, I am not yet aware of the subtleties of blog foreplay.....how to get things "warmed up", as it were. I have been sitting in the Catskill woods contemplating (in no particular order) the confusing (yet oddly optimistic) state of my professional career, the appaling state of the United States government (and the people who think things are really going "great" with it), and what I might rustle up for a nice lunch. Sometimes the simple beauty of this place just eliminates all threads of thought, much like a surprisingly large shot of good tequila. Actually, that doesn't sound too bad right now.... For those of you curious as to what the hell is going on with me at the moment, I am "on sabbatical" from everything but being a family man. I have been using the free time to explore the path of my childhood (in New Hampshire and Mass.), drink beer, cook food, and write songs. It's been a long time since I had the personal brain time to do the latter, and it's feels fucking great. Sure, I'm broke as a mofo, but what else is new? We are currently trying to decide whether we should go back to Memphis or not. Things are great for my wife up here, kids can go either way, but I'm not sure if it's gonna work for me yet. Great thing about Memphis: 20 years of infrastructure, great musicianship, low overhead, the local gigs that keep you together between the bigger ones. Losing the Frampton gig (no reason given, other than an old friend became available, thanks for everything, see ya...) sorta changed the math for me.....that and not having sold the house before winter (youch!). You need a coupla years to break into any scene well enough to create any feasible income without getting a real job, and I'm getting to old for that shit. Still, there are some interesting things going on up here, and I'm slowly but surely making friends and contacts up here. Still, Memphis lurks down there, with that inevitable Memphis invisible bungee cord. You'd have to live there awhile to even understand it, not that I actually do. I've got a lot on my mind these days, so don't be too surprised to see some more postings in the near future. That is, if you even give a shit! Ross