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Small kindnesses last a long time. Thanks Rick.

This one hurts. Some people have a disproportionate effect on your life relative to the amount of time you knew them.

Rick Lyon was one of those people.

I met him on a plane between Dallas and Chicago, read his poetry and corresponded with him for the last 3 years.

He invited the band to Cuba for his wedding to Lisa earlier this year. We'd have been there if we could. 

Rick made me want to work harder, to do better.

His poetry was open, honest, simple, elegant, beautiful.

Rick only dealt in Truth.

Although he had a little recognition and was proud of the attention from the New Yorker, he was vastly under appreciated.

Rick would write me long letters which he wanted to post, but opted to send by email, in a rare nod to modern technology.

I shared a few with Rosie, only to marvel at how beautifully he wrote.

The last time i talked to him, he was on the floor of an airport, returning from criss crossing the US delivering vehicles looking out the window, writing.

I often thought of him, somehow playing a vital and powerful magical part in our world, observing, knowing, seeing each an every small detail that the rest of us were oblivious to.

Rick was a beautiful soul and the light dimmed just a little when he left.

What he leaves behind still resonates, and keeps his light alive in the world.

We're heartbroken for Lisa and only greatful that she brought so much joy into his life.

We all thought we'd have longer to spend with him, he had so much more to teach us.

Damn. 

For you Rick. 

Neither too happy nor too sad say the Stoics.

Marcus Aurelius may have cautioned us that the universe likes to keep things on an average.

After yesterdays good news, we were due for a little leveling out.

When I got to the venue last night I found that I had left my earplugs for my in ear monitors in my other jacket. Bummer. Rookie mistake.

Fortunately I had a backup pair. Pro Tip.

With one ear piece not working. oops. Then the other ear piece broke in half, mid set. Argh!

Mr Wizard had a string breakage in song 2 and had to capo and transpose, causing some very novel riffs to emerge.

And of course, a highly enthusiastic local chap who wanted to play my harmonicas. 

I tried pointing out that Harmonicas Go In Your Mouth.

In my case, that means I've licked them. Yes LITERALLY. I LICK MY HARMONICAS. (to be fair it's called 'tongue blocking') but any 5 year old knows once you've licked it, it's yours.

I tried explaining that as a result, we would be sharing things best left to people who are really, really close.

He was fine with that. Wasn't so sure why I wouldn't want to use the harmonica after it had been in his mouth. eeeeeewww....

Having come to a conclusion on this, our enthusiastic patron was not going to be discouraged by something as silly as 'No', climbing up on stage with us to yell into the microphone for a song.

How you handle this sort of situation is a challenge. Some bands stop altogether. Some walk off stage. Some call security.

Picking a fight with a Heckler or a stage crasher can sink the vibe for the night and alienate your audience. Being a 'precious' musician is frowned upon in our egalitarian culture.

It's your gig, but it's their local. 

What do you do?

I generally ride it out. Brother Bill says it's all part of the show. However, it really bugs other members of the band and actually throws them off their game.

Mess with my guys? Now we have a problem. That's not cool. No matter what, we're there to work. Broken string? Technical equipment failure? Rowdy crowd? All part of the spectrum.

Getting up on stage and screaming into my microphone?

No. That's simply bad manners.

Getting up on stage with a professional act is a privilege, not a right, and is by invitation, not request.

We finished the song, asked for a round of applause for our stage crasher, who may have continued to sing, if not for Rosie leaving the stage to go ask Security for some assistance.

It's just another night out playing music in Oz. It's not for the faint of heat.

Also our album is Number 1. So there.

When is a #1 a Number 3?

Turns out that would be now.

I am gobsmacked that Defiance has hit #1 on the Australian Blues & Roots chart.

That's our third time ascending the Vegemite Throne.

Thanks to all the DJ's who spun Defiance.

Get it here:

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/stormcellar23

I wrote on FB today that we're grateful every time we get to go into the studio.

I'm listening to the almost-but-not-quite final mixes of Pirouette, Sail Away and Brave with your heart. We bounced out some instrumental versions to listen to as well.

It's an unexpected sunny afternoon, the light is coming in from the garden and I'm listening to the strings Marcus recorded. It reminds me very much of Edgar Meyer & Joshua Bell, and that's a great starting point for a sound.

Listen a few times, make some final notes, a tweak and the 5D recordings are done. Meanwhile Ben is tackling another mix of the electric version of pirouette.

I read online recently, 'do what you can, where you are, with what you got'

It's good to be making stuff.