Today I decided to cover the amazing P!nk and got lost in all the harmonies and extra vocals (there were more in this song than I had originally thought) but I thoroughly enjoyed being in the world of music today and that I don't take lightly. I didn't once come out to check on the news and even though I felt guilty about that fact, it was blissful without that terrible chatter cluttering up my soul. Please enjoy my scratch track cover of P!nk's "Please Don't Leave Me." I guess I'll check in with the world. I hope I'm not disappointed. Or horrified.

Well, here we all are in 2021. I'm sure many may agree that the "now times" are pretty disappointing. I have hope for 2021 don't get me wrong(!) I'm just saying that as the human race we're capable of so many awesome things and yet here we all are collectively experiencing a whole lot of downsides instead.

So what I like to do when I've visited the news in the morning and am completely leveled by it is spend the rest of the day visiting the times when and where humans were doing cool things. The 1970's and 1980's have been popular destinations for me lately of course because I was a kid (= fun) but more than that, the world was a much happier place then; a vibrantly colorful and musical time to grow up. It really was. Back then my parents played lots of music but they weren't into disco (aside from my mother's love for ABBA thankfully) and my dad hated The Bee Gees but somehow I discovered Xanadu. And in MY world it didn't get much better than an Andy Gibb lookalike and THE Olivia Newton-John singing and rollerskating inside a colorful orchestral inferno made possible by E.L.O. aka Electric Light Orchestra.

So for today's Carolaoke Song #21, I offer my rendition of one of the songs from that movie. Please enjoy my cover of Olivia Newton-John's "Magic". Here's to more "magic" for everyone in 2021.

Today’s Carolaoke song offering is a Brenda Lee tune. My parents played a lot of Brenda Lee when I was growing up and I always loved singing along to her songs. I liked the challenge. And I liked her voice because it was “spunky serious”. And she was a little rocker chick. My parents always told me she was super young (12!) when she started recording which fascinated me since I was around that age. It all seemed quite exhilarating and I secretly wanted to be a part of all that. I was excited to learn that she's also only 4’9”! As a member of the 5'0" and shrinking club, that's pretty rad. At any rate, here’s my rendition of Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry”. It sure felt good to be able to sing at this volume today that's all I'm going to say about that.

I've also included Brenda Lee's original version of "I'm Sorry" for reference. Please enjoy!

Happy Holidays Everyone! For some reason, even though we’re all staying home and zooming with our loved ones (right? Right? RIGHT?) this season, I've noticed an angsty fervor in general coming from everyone and everything, including me. Is it because we’re all collectively losing our shit? I think the extroverts in the world are having the toughest time with this lockdown. They must feel about this lockdown how I feel about having to be at a party and mingle. Every single day, all day. For an entire year. I just had an anxiety attack thinking about that.

I’ve been giving all this a lot of thought. There are no sports, concerts, movies, restauranting etc; in person socializing of any kind right now especially at a time when we all gather together to celebrate what we celebrate. It goes against everything we’ve ever done during this time and it’s all very weird. I’m in the extreme introvert hermit category with the occasional burst of extrovert when needed - usually requiring three months to recover from (well, at least a week in complete silence.) In my 48th year around the sun, I finally understand this frustrating aspect about myself and even *I* am going a little kooky-nut-face at times. The usual outlets and coping mechanisms we turn to to release our pent-up shit has been totally cut off. And that’s dangerous. Unfortunately, the winter holidays are usually very stressful, but this year is really different and I don’t think anyone really knows what to do with all this. This is the first time EVER in all of our lifetimes that we all have had to celebrate the holidays this way and we’re all divided on what’s right or wrong these days and I think these things are definitely a large part of this overall feeling of anything but happiness. For me, it continues to be a challenge to even want to “celebrate” anything right now.

Today’s Studio Closeup is a blast from the past because I wasn’t able to get anything even remotely presentable to show you this week. I admit I got sucked into this swirling energy vortex and I’m just concentrating on keeping all my shit together.

This is a slide of artwork for the lyrics of a tune written during Sweet Jelly days entitled “Larger Than Life”. A song written about folks who make others feel small and intimidated. I wrote a lot of songs while working in a corporate setting during this time. It feels like 12 lifetimes ago when I revisit all of this. Very surreal at the very least. You will hear Lance Dobersek’s beautiful guitar work on this tune. My singing is, uh, I’d rather not have anyone hear it but it’s all about the journey! And let’s keep in mind these were recorded at practices mainly for us all to listen to getting ready for a live gig. It was also the super early days in our tiny rock world. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

Speaking of extrovert/introvert matters, in-between sets, I remember Aaron, Lance and I would scatter into opposite dark corners of the bars that we would play at during the set break, keeping a low profile hoping nobody would talk to us. Chad and Rob were usually really good at mingling. But I liken the three of us to androids powering down. I love singing and performing because you truly are in the moment of creating something, but that is also a complete overload for me and I'd rather play for 2-4 hours straight than take an intermission and have to get back to the place I was finally at at the end of the first set. Maybe that’s just me. 5-10 minutes to starting the second set, we’d all quietly gather at one table and get ready to pour it on again. Not sure how other bands take a break, but that’s how a band of visual artists do it. Quiet and stealthy-like.

Below, please enjoy a little bit of SWJ history between song and visual art. I’ve also included a quick snap of Aaron Johnson’s beautiful sheet music he assembled for all of us way back when.

And I really do hope everyone finds some peace this holiday season. Please keep well and stay strong everyone.

Song: Larger Than Life ~ Sweet Jelly 2001

Happy Winter Solstice Everyone! This is the winter holiday I personally choose to celebrate. I love winter and I love Christmastime. This is the time of year where I start to feel like my old self again. I know how I feel about winter in Wisconsin is not popular around here at all, but we have four seasons so everyone gets to be happy at some point in time. Lots of advantages in winter: no bugs, no humidity, and it’s finally quiet and still outside. I grew up loving this time of year and it was really strange in 2018 and 2019 to feel nothing for it. As we all know, the flood claimed all of my Christmas decorations. I know they’re just things, but those things had a lot of good memories attached them and it's hard to want to start all over again. I'm working on it all.

Then in October of 2019, our beloved 15 year old black lab, LuLu, passed away and as a result of it all, I sort of shut all the way down.

In terms of enjoying this time of year, 2020 has been a lot better than the past two years for me for which I am very grateful for. I bring all this up as a little background for today’s Carolaoke Holiday offering. Last year, after Christmas was done and New Year's was yet to be, I peeked out for a tiny bit trying to find some, any, holiday spirit and stumbled upon Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton’s Christmas duet on YouTube, which I’ve included below. I can't get enough of Blake Shelton’s facial expressions and reactions in this video and their infectious joy while singing this song sort of snapped me out of my emotional coma for a few seconds. For a fleeting moment, I felt how I used to feel about this time of year. So really Gwen and Blake, Thank YOU!

A special note - this karaoke track had no backing vocals or harmonies in it so you get just me again, I'm afraid.

Now if you’ll excuse me, there are plans for Filet Mignon, Grilled Shrimp, Winter Solstice Latkes and a fire this evening that I need to get into. Please enjoy and I hope this finds you happy, healthy and in good cheer!