Happy 57

"There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why." - William Barclay

left to right, me, Victor Wooten, Michael Johnathon, Morgan

So, another revolution of this celestial sphere - a count of fifty seven for me. This year has been quite the ride as, I suppose, each & every year has been. And the past few weeks have been quite memorable, also, from playing Woodsongs multiple times with the likes of 5-time Grammy winning bass legend Victor Wooten to Grammy winning Blues Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Rush to backing up rising star miss Phoebe White, to continuing to teach my incredible students, to playing my small weekly patio gig where I get to bring folks up to sing & play with me!

Looking back on the year so far, I'm also particularly happy about a few accomplishments, like my interview with Grammy winning guitar god Jon Butcher of Jon Butcher Axis, my 2 movie music pieces ("The Music of Black Widow" and the long time coming "The Music of James Bond" available at SD Universe), and the new songwriting series "Sonic Sorcery" at SD Magazine.

Outside of music performance & instruction, I'm happy to report my workouts continue to be epic, the Lexi Music Awards (despite covid-related challenges) continues to move forward, and the books I've discussed in the past are finally fully outlined.

So, birthday weekend....

on stage at Twisted Cork w/ Greg & Chris

Friday (the day before my birthday) saw a particularly brutal workout - since I knew I had 2 days off - that included an hour of cardio, 30 minutes resistance (weight machine) work, multiple laps of farmers carries (45 pound plate in each hand), and then sets of pull-ups and dips. Post workout meal tasted like heaven! Then I got to pick the kids up from school & the evening was all pizza party and late night of playing & video games.

Saturday (my birthday) I woke and fixed their breakfast, then off to a visit with their other grand parents while I prepped for my birthday cookout. Got to hang out with my youngest son, his wife, and 7 of the grandkids while grilling food for all. Add to that hide & seek, basketball, soccer, and other games. Then ended the day watching the sun set with a glass of fine bourbon.

#ThisIs57 swimsuit edition

Sunday was to see TWO birthday jams, but the patio gig at Ranada's was unexpectedly cancelled (the staffing shortage has caused major problems in so many industries!), but we hit Twisted Cork and bassist Greg Rhodus and I were joined by Chris Jones on drums for a lively open mic jam! Two hours of music with multiple guests made for a fantastic day. The day ended on my back porch with a glass of fine Jamaican rum.

Also blessed to receive hundreds of birthday wishes via text, email, snail mail, social media, phone calls, & the like...including a personal note from a particular author that I rank in the top 10 living authors on Planet Earth, which was, admittedly, an additional thrill.

As I do each year since my 50th birthday, I'm posting an ODIS picture (that stands for "Old Dudes In Shape") as a challenge to my buddies who also post ODIS. Good accountability and keeps us all motivated!

If you are interested in the stories & photos from past birthdays, you can punch THIS LINK, which will list them all.

That's it for now. Gotta get to work prepping lessons, Lexi Music Awards, & the songwriting workshop video series....but check out the video below of my cover of Louis Armstrong's James Bond song, "All the Time in the World" that I shot a week ago.

See y'all soon...in person, online, on TV, or wherever we shall meet!

#StayFierce #SkinnyDevil #FierceAF #SDMLguitar #LexiMusicAwards #ThisIs57 #PirateLife 

a gift from Eddy: Blackwell 007 Rum