From Dust to Dust, Life to Life
Or, a garden of words, empathy, gratitude, UK Jazz, and a sneek-peek of page 9
Hello friends, and welcome to all you new readers. It’s been a couple weeks. Which is fine. I’m sure your inbox has been full enough. Andi and I are off to a slow but steady 2025 with hearts full of empathy for loved ones and friends who have recently passed from life to life, including my dear uncle Walt, longtime friend and bassist from NorCal Larry Casserly, innovative Sacramento musician Tony Passarell, and a force of nature, Poet Laureate of Sacramento Viola Weinberg. I wrote this for Viola many years ago.
Note: Andi has her website up now at https://www.andiashworth.com/ Of particular interest are her lists of essays and podcasts. Enjoy.
Additionally, there is the matter of the LA fire. We know several families that have lost everything. I will highlight one in particular. That of our friend Louise Goffin, who lost her house (and everything but what she could fit in her car). Our story with Louise begins with her mother and father, the legendary singer-songwriters Carole King & Gerry Goffin—who defined so much of the soundtrack of our youth. Then years later my friend Randy Jackson hipped me to Louise’s solo career. And who can forget the Gilmore Girls theme with Louise and Carole singing together? Well, eventually we met. Louise has written with Sam and I, and spent time at our homes in Nashville. We are honored to know her and support this unforeseen moment of beginning again. If you feel the tug, please support. Maybe you’ve been touched by the legacy of music this family has created, too. Any amount is something, and something is not nothing (thank you Steve G. for this applicable riff).
A quick word about the memoir book release event at Parnassus on Tuesday, February 4th at 6:30PM CST. Been thinking about coming? Good! Get your tickets (and book) immediately. There are maybe 10 tickets left. Click image.
Andi and I want to express our thanks to The Rabbit Room for choosing our book, Why Everything That Doesn’t Matter, Matters So Much and my song “Get Yourself Some” for their:
I also want to thank UTR Media and the music critic panel for voting my album EVERY KIND OF UH-OH in the:
I’m honored to be counted among all the artists included, but it is especially sweet to be with Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Sixpence None the Richer—close friends and artists I’ve known since their inception. And remember, UTR Media is the only destination for purchasing CD and Vinyl versions of EVERY KING OF UH-OH.
Jazz Lovers Take Note
I recently had a wonderful interview across the pond with DJ Tom Watters for JazzFM UK. Tune into @jazzfm’s Winter Book Club this Saturday (tomorrow) from 9AM (UK time) to hear me discussing Roots & Rhythm: A Life in Music, and doing a little jazz DJing myself. You can listen on your DAB radio, smart speaker, on the Rayo app or online https://hellorayo.co.uk/jazz-fm/play/
I know Tom was planning to play this cut with me, John Patitucci, Eric Harland, Chris Potter and Marcus Printup.
Next, this is me raising my voice in excitement: “After all these years, the memoir is about to drop!” Over the next several weeks I’m really going to need your help and support. If you’re up for it, let’s make a big deal of it surrounding the release date of February 4th and then maybe, just maybe, I won’t have to mention it so much! That would be a mercy. Oh for the days when artists weren’t in charge of marketing and promotion (damn you social media!). Fortunately, I have all of you and for that I am grateful. If you plan to purchase on Amazon, please do me one more and follow me there and write a review (I know, sorry). Blame the algorithm-centric world. Here’s the purchase LINK. Here’s the follow LINK. And guess what, here’s a bonafide tease from page 9 of the book for ya!
“From center stage to the cocoon of the studio, Charlie takes us into his world of creating music and curating a meaningful life as a whole. His invisible fingerprints as a gifted producer are made visible in this book, and his heart shines through.”
—Joy Williams, Grammy Award–winning recording artist (formerly of The Civil Wars), host of the Apple podcast Southern Craft Radio
Currently Reading
Small Town Talk: Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock by Barney Hoskyns
The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge by Peter Berger
New Explorations in the Lost World of Genesis: Advances in the Origins Debate by John H. Walton
Rereading this: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind byYuval Noah Harari
Peace and love—enjoy your weekend!
charliepeacock.com