My 2020 wrap-up, 2021 look-ahead, and a big announcement.

Every so often I like to pause the madness and check in. Do a state of the onion - talk about what layers have been peeled away and which ones are yet to come. I’m not going to add my voice to the thousands of others who need to reiterate what a year it’s been - unexpected suffering discovery triumph etc. All true and all blah blah. I’m just gonna get right to the meat. The onion meat.

Nothing gets the fire burning like clarity. And nothing creates clarity like constantly working. In the last 12 months I’ve done nearly 70 podcasts, over 75 gigs, and released five albums with my band REC amounting to over 30 songs. It felt awesome, but what was it supposed to add up to? I’m a firm believer in the best way to learn how to swim is to jump in the pool. I mean, have a few basic survival skills down first. Then frickin’ get to it. And once you’re in, keep swimming until you figure out where you’re headed. It’s exhausting, but all that muscle you build will make the next leg of the journey that much stronger and easier to map out.

Toward the end of my 2020 laps - and here’s where I’ll end the swimming metaphor (you’re welcome) - a few things came clear. One is that I love talking as much as I love creating and performing music. And that there’s no reason for them to be separate. Another is that there’s nothing I’d rather spend my work time doing. All this work IS exhausting, but agar it’s resulted in is a world of music I wouldn’t trade for anything. My performances solo, with REC, and with C+N. The completion of Volume One of the Weird Objective. MUSIC is not a GENRE. MUSIC is EVERYTHING. It’s all here. and it’s all staying.

But it’s not all staying here. In 2021, I’ll be shifting my focus from YouTube to Patreon. What exactly does that mean? Well first, lots of what you see here on YouTube will still be here. And I’ll still be releasing new podcasts monthly and live shows occasionally. Except for the C+N shows, which will all be migrating to our upcoming C+N YouTube channel - more on that soon! You can still find all the REC music on my REC YouTube channel - get it right here on my Channels page.

If you’re looking for everything else, visit MUSIC is not a GENRE on Patreon. And what is everything else? Oh man, get ready. Aside from many of the playlists and special podcasts & performances you see here moving over to Patreon, most of my new podcasts will be released exclusively for Patreon Patrons. And it won’t be just the podcasts series you’ve seen here. I’ll be spinning off several new series, including live interviews, deep-dive genre deconstructions, artist spotlights, special performances, and I’ll even take some of your requests.

In the next few weeks, look for me to start posting select clips and highlights from this year’s shows - songs from artists you love spanning nearly 100 years, including REC. And I’ll keep you posted regularly on who I’m interviewing and what else I’m talking about that you might be missing if you’re not a Patron yet. As I do that, I’ll be migrating much of my YouTube material to Patreon as well. It’s very soon going to be the best place to find me.

In the meantime, stay healthy, find happy, enjoy the rest of this year however you can, and never stop the music.