And It's Only Monday

Or, how young love, turtles, jazz musicians, heartbeats, Amy Grant, Steve Taylor, Sara Groves, Sinach, and the artistic principal of contrast all gel together

Yuba City High School, circa 1971-’72

Hello friends. It's unusual for me to drop a Monday newsletter, but this week is unusual. The week's most important story is that Andi and I will celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary on Saturday, May 18th. That's 52 years together. 49 of it in holy matrimony. On our first official date in the Summer of '71, I brought her a live turtle in a Chinese food box. Naturally, I'm commemorating this event with a song, "Turtle in a Chinese Food Box," — featured on my next vocal album (coming September 2024).

Fortunately, you don't have to wait that long for new music. The Music & Meaning podcast theme, "Sound of the Room," is performed by me and the legendary bassist John Patitucci. The full-length theme single will be released this coming Friday, May 17th. The composition has two other significant sections you do not hear on the podcast. The out vamp is especially fun as John and I trade solos on electric bass and Fender Rhodes electric piano. Don't miss it! Here's a snippet to dig it.

This past Friday night was especially fun. My sister Terri and I attended Amy Grant's concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Terri filmed her old songwriter brother singing along to some of his past handiwork ("Every Heartbeat"). Much gratitude to Jennifer Cooke and Amy for the excellent seats. A woman in the pew behind me tapped my shoulder at the intermission. "I was watching you," she said. "You knew all the lyrics!"

In the green room afterward, I jokingly asked Amy's husband, Vince Gill, if he was still singing. "Yep, still singing," he assured me. "Working the night shift, 8-10:30." Funny. I assume that's the average length of a concert for The Eagles.

Amy Grant, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee, May 10th, 2024

In 1981, I was performing with my band, the Charlie Peacock Group, in Sacramento. We'd been approached by a writer for Music Connection, a popular southern California music mag. He'd heard about the interest we were garnering in NorCal and was coming to review our show. This was the first time any journalist in LA had shown any interest, let alone travel to hear us perform. With this background, I felt a corner-of-the-mouth smile emerge as I saw the masthead of an article on me this past week—in Music Connection magazine. The publicist (Milestone Publicity) for my upcoming memoir (February 2025) issued a press release announcing the book and entertainment trades were beginning to pick up the story. The most significant upside for me and the magazine is that we are still in business 43 years later. Ironically, they are mentioned a couple of times in the memoir.

Today from HITS Daily Double.

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On the whole, you all really seemed to enjoy last week's "Invention and Reinvention with Steve Taylor" podcast. Thank you for all your enthusiasm and kind words. Your interest and faithful listening put us in America's Top 25 music podcasts last week! Well done.

Another treat from last week was a visit from the amazing singer-songwriter Sara Groves, who was lovely and inspiring. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have her sing a bit on the new album, though. I was honored by her contribution. Click to find all things Sara and Art House North.

Finally, and in brief, I had the honor of interviewing Sinach, the singer-songwriter behind the ubiquitous Christian worship anthem, “Way Maker” — all for an upcoming episode of Music & Meaning for CT Media. Can’t wait to reveal this gem to you.

Have a blessed week full of hope and imagination. Whatever you do, wherever you go, create the contrast. Here are ten inspiring and sustainable ways of being and doing that consistently lead to good contrast and human flourishing: Artfulness, Curiosity, Empathy, Forgiveness, Generosity, Gratitude, Humility, Justice, Kindness, and Love.