Thankful for '23!

Thankful for sooo many things in 2023.....

On stage, December 2023, charity event.

Last year, I wrote a fairly comprehensive piece on being thankful, loaded with a fair bit of detail, professionally speaking.

This year I'd like to focus on something more personal and more general. I do focus on some 2023 highlights in my annual birthday post if you're interested, however....

It is often bragged - in song, poetry, moving pictures, literature, & the like - that one has made it on their own. That no one provided any assistance. That the person clawed out of the gutter and climbed the mountain all on their own.

This is a romantic vision and is, perhaps in some cases, absolutely true. But it isn't true for me.

From my first gigs to the first key to a recording studio door all the way to the day before yesterday, I have been blessed with opportunity and a helping hand from all manner of people - some family, some friends, some almost complete strangers.

I am blessed beyond belief.

And I am as grateful as I can possibly be.

I definitely have NOT done it all on my own. The life of a self-employed musician is hard, but mostly its hard on those around you. Every woman with whom I've had a failed relationship (that's ALL of them) and every woman I've ever been involved with will attest to that. My kids and my family and my friends can attest to it as well. Its a volatile industry and an incredibly stressful lifestyle for those who love us....or even just like us a little bit, for a little while - a few moments in time.

So, yes, it can be hard personally and financially and about any other way one can think. But its also incredibly rewarding, incredibly fulfilling, incredibly....magical. And it stuns me every day to realize this has been my life for decades.

On stage, June 2023, Woodsongs.

And I never could have done it on my own. 

So cheers to YOU, everyone who has ever lent a helping hand (financially, emotionally, or let me crash on your sofa when my life was falling apart), put cash in my tip jar, shared my music, attended my gigs, recommended me to others for music instruction, gotten me a gig, trusted me to teach a loved one or to play on your record, hired me to compose music for your business or to play music at your event or to produce your recording, collaborated with me (music, teaching, events, etc), and the like.

Saying "thank you" seem inadequate, to say the least. But being less than gifted as a wordsmith, its all I can find to say, I'm afraid.

But I can say: Its been a wonderful life and I look forward to every single day.

Thank all of you for making my dream a reality.

January...."Lifestyle Challenge" and a 2023 Challenge

HELLO January & hello 2023!

I hope this note finds you each happy & well, and looking forward to new challenges for both January AND for the entire year!

Let's take a look first at SHORT-TERM goals using our usual format....

Monthly Lifestyle Challenge

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

1) Exercise/Diet - Set a specific plan or goal(s). Keep us posted weekly (or more) on your progress!

2) Creativity - Music, art, writing, acting...set a goal to complete by month's end. Keep us posted!

3) Personal life - Re-affirm your personal relationships, get to that project/chore you've been avoiding, or just read a book you've always wanted to read!

4) Professional life - Set a work goal or change jobs or....just tell us what it is and keep us posted!

I will post some of my goals in the comments below.

New Year Goals

We typically use a similar format to set goals/resolutions for the year...but I have a simple challenge for you, in addition to whatever specific goals you have...and I'll be doing a version of this, also!

Again, in addition to whatever your normal workout would be, choose a particular exercise (I'll be doing both pull-ups AND push-ups) and do 23 reps every single day of 2023! 

If you can commit to this small task (60 seconds per day?), you will have managed well over 8000 reps by year's end! To be precise, 8,395 reps!

So....there's your challenge!

And yes, I'll be doing these 8000+ reps in addition to whatever my normal reps would be for these exercises (Lex Fridman has said 24000 pull-ups for 2023, so I'm looking to top that....and interestingly, if I do the 23 reps three times per day, that's 69/day, the total will be 25,185 by year's end).

Please feel free to keep us posted in the comments below or, if you wish to be more private about it, keep me posted via DM, text or email!

Novus Annus....and stay fierce, my friends!

Post Script: I was asked about the different courses I've taken over the years. I try to do at least one college course every year and have for many years, studying everything from Greek Myth to Music to Economics to Philosophy. My primary resources are Open Culture (1700+ courses) and, in recent years, EdX (3000+ course). Between the two, they've allowed me to access old lectures as well as register for classes from MIT, Berklee School of Music, Standford, NYU, and more. For musicians, I highly recommend all 11 hours of Leonard Bernstein's music lecture series, "The Unanswered Question" (Harvard)....available directly from Open Culture.

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Thankful, '22 Style.....

THANKFUL FOR so many things in 2022....

Not gonna lie, friends - COVID has made life tough for a lot of folks in my industry for the past few years (with careers folding & huge talent moving to other areas for employment), so I'm even more thankful than usual to make my living with guitar in hand. 

Addressing audience at SDML student recital, 2022.

My quick list for "things to be thankful for in 2022" include....increased business interest in the Lexington Music Awards & a smooth launch of the public ballot for the 9th Lexi Music Award....successful gigs like Lexi-Fest "unplugged battle", my monthly Goodwood gigs, various one-off performances, and a helluva birthday jam...backing stellar artists like Tabi Gervis, The Wallace Sisters, and others in various venues (see video clip w/ Tabi below)....seeing the return of live performance in the area & making initial steps to kick Skinny Devil Booking back into gear to book gigs for students & others....reaching so many personal & professional goals....being far more healthy than is warranted by my past & present lifestyle (and still slamming brutal workouts)....having real friends who truly have my back....lots of time with the kids and grandkids, as well as a very special Thanksgiving and equally special Christmas....being blessed with amazing guitar/music students & the progress of SDML Academy of Guitar as well as my new Patreon Page...being surrounded by more incredible & interesting humans than I could possibly deserve....the continuing success of the Guitar Gods interview series & Skinny Devil Magazine....and sooo much more.

Quick count: As SD Booking, booked over a dozen performances for students (not including recitals) and have set up a monthly invitation open mic for students & the music community.....wrote a dozen articles here at SD Universe (including free fingerstyle lesson, the "musicians' gig list", R&R Hall of Fame piece w/ song charts, & more).....9 entries to SDML blog with well over 100 song charts for students, taught close to 1000 private lessons and in excess of 50 group lessons....9 posts at SD Magazine (including serialization of an entire novel called "Nemesis Tori", & lessons on Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, "Top Gun", "Dark Crystal", Christine McVie, and Leonard Cohen)....played over 3 dozen gigs (the most post-COVID so far)....roughly 50 posts at my new Patreon Page.....I'm losing track of it all! Hahaha!

Playing Bert Francis' beautiful Gretsch guitar, Nov '22.

I am astounded every single time I wake up and realize that I'm not dreaming - I really do get to make my living in this world with a guitar in my hand and ideas in my head. 

Damn... and THANK YOU!! All of you!

#StayFierce #SkinnyDevil #DogsLife #CloseToTheGround #HungerAndFear #LuckyMF #GoBigOrGoHome #GuitarLife #MusicLife #PirateLife 

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If you value my work and want to support it......contact me for lessons (guitar, electric bass, ukulele, social drumming, songwriting, etc) or feel free to leave a tip (one-shot or monthly):

PayPal (one-time or monthly options)
http://www.paypal.me/skinnydevilmusic

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HAPPY 58

"Count your age by friends, not years." - John Lennon

Skinny Devil Life 2022

My annual obligatory birthday post!

Sooo...another trek around burning Helios - a count of fifty eight for me. This year has been quite the ride as, I suppose, each & every year has been. Last year I was honored to share the stage with Grammy winners (Victor Wooten, Bobby Rush, etc) as well as amazing new talent, and its a pleasure to see some of those talents (like Aisley Autumn & Phoebe White) now climbing the mountain! Of course I also had the pleasure of sharing the stage yet again with several amazing talents, including both radio & stage with the incredible miss Tabi Gervis for AlltechONE Conference Concert (& her interview on WUKY)....video at the end of this entry of her "TN Whiskey/I'd Rather Go Blind" mix from our performance at the show!

Of course, the big change is more local gigging than I've done in a long time.....restaurant gigs to coffee houses to corner bars. Loving it all and really enjoying seeing everyone in smaller settings than the radio & TV gigs and similar (that I also love).

Very pleased with the entries written here at SD Universe in 2022 (as well as the traction of older pieces like "The Music of James Bond") as well as the new "Sonic Sorcery" articles (which are suddeny among the most popular lessons) & the serialization of the amazing novel "Nemesis Tori" by Renaissance Man & omni-disciplinary artist (he is musician, visual artist, & writer) Gregory Francis at SD Magazine.

Definitely hoping to see my PATREON page gain some traction, as I'm sharing a lot of content (both public and patron-exclusive) there, from music performance to music instruction to lifestyle/diet/fitness.

Outside of music performance & instruction, I'm happy to report again that my workouts continue their Top Shelf trend.... the Lexi Music Awards (despite covid-related challenges) continues to move forward.... and I'm trending on pace for some serious personal goals.

So, birthday weekend....

Sunday gig on stage w/ a dozen fantastic artists!

Friday (my final gym workout before my Sunday birthday) was a fantastic workout - since I knew I had 2 days off - that included an hour of cardio (4+ miles at various elevations), 30+ minutes resistance (full body) work, & multiple laps of farmers carries (45 pound plate in each hand)....then good food! Then I got to pick the kids up from school & the evening was spent watching them play with friends while I cooked on the grill!

Saturday was more fun & games, and hit the grill again while the kids played outside.

Sunday (birthday) morning it was street soccer with the kids before I hit the road, a little quality time with more family (phone & in-person), and then Twisted Cork for our annual Birthday Jam w/ Greg & Chris on bass & drums! 3+ hours on stage & with friends, drinking a superb 12 year old scotch (thank you Bobbie!), conversing, & making music with others! That's damn hard to beat....until I got home and found a steak & cheesecake waiting for me care of my son Damien. Makes the night damn near impossible to beat - haha!

Also blessed to receive hundreds upon hundreds of birthday wishes via text, email, snail mail, social media, phone calls, & the like...including a personal note for the second year in a row from a particular author that I rank in the top 10 living authors on Planet Earth, RF Laird (who wrote, among other great works, "The Boomer Bible").

6am pre-workout & pre-pump haha!

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!

11am post workout PUMP - artsy version haha!

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....and please check out my Patreon page ($5/month for Total Access to writings, performance clips, music instruction, diet & fitness writings, AMAs, etc)!

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

#StayFierce #SkinnyDevil #FierceAF #SDMLguitar #LexiMusicAwards #ThisIs58 #PirateLife

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JANUARY...."Lifestyle Challenge" & 2022 Resolutions!

HELLO January & hello 2022!

Let's take a look first at SHORT-TERM goals using our usual format....

Monthly Lifestyle Challenge

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

1) Exercise/Diet - Set a specific plan or goal(s). Keep us posted weekly (or more) on your progress!

2) Creativity - Music, art, writing, acting...set a goal to complete by month's end. Keep us posted!

3) Personal life - Re-affirm your personal relationships, get to that project/chore you've been avoiding, or just read a book you've always wanted to read!

4) Professional life - Set a work goal or change jobs or....just tell us what it is and keep us posted!

NOW.....let's use the same format for LONG-TERM goals!

COMBO: The February Lifestyle & New Year Challenges

Sooooo.....normally I'd be doing this post on January 1, and it would be both an outline for the year's goals (with wrap-up of last year's successes and failures), but the COVID bitch-slap caused a very specific disruption to many goals for many of us. So instead, let's just start with a clean slate (though I will, for transparency, outline my personal valleys & peaks from 2020's goals).

Also, due to the election, I opted to wait until February 1...and here we are! So first, monthly lifestyle challenge...then our New Year challenge!

February Lifestyle Challenge

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

HAPPY 56

Moments before we started playing!

ANOTHER TRIP around the sun, as they say, and now I'm 56....and, more importantly, it means I'm writing another annual "yesterday was great" piece. Only I really have to say the entire week was great, since we kicked off the celebration on Sunday night at Twisted Cork in Lexington, KY with the "Jam with Dave & Greg" (my buddy & bass player Greg Rhodus has a birthday 2 days before mine) event we do each year.

Lots of new folks hopped up to play as well as my good friends Debra Hurt and Ande Fee. Deb came up and sang "Dreams" by The Cranberries, and then Ande sang the Etta James classic "Sunday Kind of Love" and the old Hank Williams song "Cold Cold Heart". The after-party was quite the adventure, as well!

The week was fabulous, mostly teaching and a few business chats (re: Lexi Music Awards).

My actual birthday was Friday, which started with a quick visit to fix the kids breakfast, then a brutal workout at the gym (60 minutes cardio, 30 minutes resistance work, then bodyweight stuff like pull-ups & dips), ran some errands, and then over to visit the kids for the remainder of the day. Upon arrival, I got video of 2 attempts at one-arm pull-ups....the first a trail run (and my 8 year old dancing in the foreground) and then I did the real thing. Bad form, but got one on each side. Not bad for an old guy - haha! Gonna clean up that form and take it to the next level (goal: 3 reps each arm!).

One-arm pull-ups VIDEO.

My youngest granddaughter, Halloween party!

Then ate a HUGE salad (red cabbage, carrots, avocado with balsamic vinegar and oil dressing with extra pepper) and extremely rare beef seared in pepper and a splash of soy sauce. YUM! Being a Friday, I even had a second meal later in the day, and topped it off with spiced rum and a pizza party with the boys. Then one of my sons, Chris, grabbed me for a pitcher of beer & a few games of pool. The rest of the weekend was fabulous also...got to spend more time with the boys as well as see 3 of the granddaughters at a kids Halloween party!

As I do each year, 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 start hit THIS LINK, which will list them all.

Official ODIS photo for 56!

That's it for now. Gotta get to work prepping lessons, Lexi Music Awards, AMA video series, and my Monday Classic Covers video!

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

#StayFierce #SkinnyDevil #FierceAF #SDMLguitar #LexiMusicAwards

JULY Lifestyle Challenge

We do periodic lifestyle challenges that are always guided but very general. I thought I'd try something different this month. We all have huge lists of daily activities (from work to family to hobbies and more) and often the challenges we do get a tad overwhelming, even if well-intentioned.

So let's try a ONE GOAL PER WEEK challenge this month!

Pick ONE thing per week....hell, pick ONE thing for just this week right now and we'll worry about the rest of the month later!

Visit the May Lifestyle Challenge for ideas if you're new to this.

For me, I'll list them one for each of the 4 weeks of July:

1) I'm just going to try some new organizational tools in an attempt to weed out waste and increase my general productivity & presence. Thanx to my friend Eddy for a great "journaling" idea!

2) TBA

3) TBA

4) TBA

My bonus item: Having ONE gym day that gets heavier than other days (Wednesday, as of late). I go in earlier, do extra cardio, and try to do the regular resistance & body-weight work with some extra focus.

But our goal, remember, is pick ONE thing this week...and each week in July.

As always, you can leave comments on your goals below or contact me directly if you like!

Let's do it!!

May Lifestyle Challenge

WITH EVERYONE STRUGGLING due to the stresses of the COVID-19 quasi-quarantine, I thought I'd skip our periodic lifestyle challenge.

However, in speaking to folks & seeing social media posts about the difficulties of lockdown & re-opening; the disruption and challenges to social, economic, physical, & psychological health; the humorous but telling "drinking at 10am, 3 naps a day, gaining weight" memes coupled with the very real increase in depression & hotline rates; and, bluntly, the people who have explicitly asked me to provide info or assistance with not only music (that's not unusual, obviously) but also diet, exercise, and "how you stay so positive"....well, I thought my initial thoughts might have been mistaken.

Sooooo.....

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

1) Exercise/Diet - Set a specific plan or goal(s). Keep us posted weekly (or more) on your progress!

2) Creativity - Music, art, writing, acting...set a goal to complete by month's end. Keep us posted!

3) Personal life - Re-affirm your personal relationships, get to that project/chore you've been avoiding, or just read a book you've always wanted to read!

4) Professional life - Set a work goal or change jobs or....just tell us what it is and keep us posted!

My personal goals include: 

1) Exercise/diet - Keep adjusting my workouts to continually keep my body guessing (without benefit of gym, this has been extremely challenging) and mix my eating up in similar fashion (including periodic short-duration fasts)...and I've been alcohol-free for a little over 2 weeks as I write this.

2) Creativity - Honestly, the majority of my creative output is currently focused on creative ways to generate income. 100% virtual lessons is working nicely, but many students have had to fall back onour scholarship program due to financial hardships...plus all my performance income is obviously gone. So, promoting music lessons, organizing upcoming workshops, doing song requests for tips, and the like has consumed much of my creative energy. And clearly I need to get even more creatove - haha! But challenges are always good, so on I trek!

3) Personal life - Spending extra time with grandkids to make sure they are handling the abrupt adjustments with minimal stress. 

4) Professional life - See item #2 above - haha!

Soooo.....share publicly or priately, and please don't hesitate to reach out for anything you may need!

2020 Goals & Lifestyle Challenge

Sooooo...this is basically a re-print of last year's 2019 Goals & Lifestyle Challenge, which allows us all to look over last year and assess our progress to help inform our 2020 goals. For transparency, I will point out both where I succeeded AND where I failed.

Given that its January 1st, perhaps we'll do our annual "goals" and our periodic "lifestyle challenge" all in a single shot!

Lifestyle Challenge

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

HAPPY 55!

Lexi-Fest 2019

Another birthday!

And for those who read these annual posts, I'm not dead.

Haha! Referencing last year's birthday post, re: recurring dream of dying before my 55th birthday. I didn't expect to die, of course. Not in any literal sense. But I also trust my subconscious and assume its telling me something. But more on that later.

It was a great day.

Went over and woke up the kiddos after packing their lunches and making their breakfast. Got hugs as my ex took the 2 oldest to school. Then I played with the youngest for a bit before taking him to school.

Tiffaney singing with Greg on bass & me on guitar!

Then it was GYM TIME!

Ripping workout, then trekked over to see the older 2 for lunch at school. (They ate - I just hung out.) Then I went to lunch myself....giant salad and bison tataki. Then hit the grocery and treated myself to some out of date antipasto! Hahaha!

After a full day of teaching guitar (private lessons at Hurst Music), I went home, had a bit of "out of my pay-grade" rum that I got last year as a gift from my good friend Eddy, and called it a day.....because days before, Greg Rhodus and I had our Birthday Jam at Twisted Cork (pictures coming as I get them) and I'll also be at Taziki's this Friday (tomorrow, from this writing).

One of my favorite singers!!

The Cork jam started slow and worked into a fevered pitch, with us just absolutely winging the last 3 songs ("Walking the Dog", "Purple Haze", and "Suzie Q", if memory serves).

Taziki's tomorrow should be a blast, though far more laid back.

As I do each year, 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 start with LAST YEAR, which also links to all other posts.

That's it for now. Gotta get to work on the Lexi Music Awards now, and then go teach the first day of a new group guitar session at Willis Music!

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

#StayFierce #SkinnyDevil #FierceAF #SDMLguitar #LexiMusicAwards

I need to post one that is more ab-friendly (haha!), but there ya go!

FALL Lifestyle Challenge

HELLO OCTOBER!

From Sept 2019 at Lexi-Fest 5.

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

1) Exercise/Diet - Set a specific plan or goal(s). Keep us posted weekly (or more) on your progress!

2) Creativity - Music, art, writing, acting...set a goal to complete by month's end. Keep us posted!

3) Personal life - Re-affirm your personal relationships, get to that project/chore you've been avoiding, or just read a book you've always wanted to read!

4) Professional life - Set a work goal or change jobs or....just tell us what it is and keep us posted!

I usually say that I'll post my goals below, and then provide weekly up-dates...but I think I'll make a few plain right here.

1) Exercise/Diet - I will get more area focused while still maintaining my 4-5 day per week workouts. Also trying to shorten the workouts, as they were turning into 2 hour events (haha!). so cutting to under 90 minutes per workout.

Onstage playing electric guitar!

I have specific OCTOBER goals, with the birthday ODIS photos coming up (haha!). RIP! Past Birthday Posts are available, of course.

As I mentioned in the Spring Challenge, I've been asked about doing a health & fitness E-Book that includes a variety of my workout routines broken into 4 groups: Spring, Summer, Fall, & Winter. This will include not only exercise plans I've followed, but dietary habits.

This notion makes me somewhat uneasy, as I have discovered over the years nothing about what works - only what works for me. But I am happy to share that info. And will.

Doing a "Sober October" (which I started early to hit 30 days since I'll likely drink on my birthday, which is 10-23).....and shortening the time frame again on my eating window (common parlance is "intermittent fasting") from 8 hours to 3 hours. Still high raw, but quasi-paleo (not vegan).

2) Creativity - Continue to play more gigs though I've pushed back the work on 2 album releases for this year. to 2020. I've discussed these album projects here at Skinny Devil Universe, but in short, one 3-song EP of me covering local writers, and one 3-song EP of my new original material).....and keep moving with the Monday Classic Covers series, which has been huge fun AND good instructional fodder for students.

A few years ago hanging with Greg & holding Rylan.

3) Personal life - Organize, organize, organize....and spend more time with ALL the grandkids....AND decipher last year's recurring death dream.....

4) Professional life- organize, organize, organize....and double my productivity. Higher focus, less waste, increased marginal gains, law of averages. Live gigs, workshops, more student opportunities, Lexi-Fest & Lexi Awards......and everything discussed in the January post mention above.

Sooooo.......How about YOU?

Let us know in the comments below!

Spring Lifestyle Challenge

HELLO APRIL!

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

1) Exercise/Diet - Set a specific plan or goal(s). Keep us posted weekly (or more) on your progress!

2) Creativity - Music, art, writing, acting...set a goal to complete by month's end. Keep us posted!

3) Personal life - Re-affirm your personal relationships, get to that project/chore you've been avoiding, or just read a book you've always wanted to read!

4) Professional life - Set a work goal or change jobs or....just tell us what it is and keep us posted!

I usually say that I'll post my goals below, and then provide weekly up-dates...but I think I'll make a few plain right here.

1) Exercise/Diet - I will get more area focused while still maintaining my 4-5 day per week workouts. The idea being that I can rehab needed areas as well as build on specific strengths better if I rest areas more AND work them harder when they are worked....but keep the benefits of a full-body workout.

I've been so asked about health & fitness, I plan to do an E-Book that includes a variety of my workout routines broken into 4 groups: Spring, Summer, Fall, & Winter. This will include not only exercise plans I've followed, but dietary habits.

This notion makes me somewhat uneasy, as I have discovered over the years nothing about what works - only what works for me. But I am happy to share that info. And will.

Dietarily, I'll be having an Alcohol-Free April.....and probably shortening the time frame again on my eating window (common parlance is "intermittent fasting") from 8 hours to 6 hours. Still high raw, but quasi-paleo (not vegan). BTW: Is "dietarily" even a word?

2) Creativity - Continue to play more gigs as well as write & work on 2 album releases for this year. I've discussed these album projects here at Skinny Devil Universe, but in short, one 3-song EP of me covering local writers, and one 3-song EP of my new original material.....and keep moving with the Monday Classic Covers series even as I add a free songwriter series and a periodic Ask Me Anything series.

3) Personal life - Organize, organize, organize....and spend more time with ALL the grandkids!

4) Professional life- organize, organize, organize....and double my productivity. Higher focus, less waste, increased marginal gains, law of averages. Live gigs, workshops, more student opportunities, Lexi-Fest & Lexi Awards......and everything discussed in the January post mention above.

Sooooo.......How about YOU?

Let us know in the comments below!

MONDAY - Classic Covers!

On stage at the 5th Lexi Music Awards

A NEW SERIES that I decided to start after various requests for both original music & more covers. It's called "Monday Classic Covers" and we're 5 weeks deep. Songs so far include "Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding, "I Can't Stand the Rain" by Ann Peebles, "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz, "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix, and "My Girl" by the Temptations.

Songs in the cue (by request) include "Long Black Veil" by Lefty Frissell, "The Times They Are a Changin'" by Bob Dylan, and more Jimi Hendrix. I'm trying to keep track of the other requests...and please feel free to leave requests below or contact me directly or via facebook, youtube, reverbnation, and the like.

Of possible interest: a new SONGWRITING series and possible music-centric "Ask Me Anything" series....also hosted at my Youtube channel (please feel free to subscribe & share!).

You can see the Monday Classic Cover playlist HERE!

Happy 54 to Me

MY BIRTHDAY POST.....

Lexi-Fest with Brandi Hart (Dixie Beeliners)

I need to get the pics in line, but it was a great celebration. Started the Friday before at Taziki's for the WBVX monthly gig with my buddy Max Corona jamming with me (here in Lexington), then Sunday in the unlikely place of Georgetown at the new MOKY Foam, where we held my annual birthday jam (with birthday brother Greg Rhodus handling bass guitar duties) and it got better as the week went on.

Taziki's with the amazing Tiffaney Nesbeth

Probably my best birthday in years. YEARS. Literally.

And yes, in addition to enjoying the pleasure of teaching guitar all day, I hit the gym for an epic workout in the morning, followed by a lots of raw veggies and steak tataki.

Matthew Florez fundraiser with Eric Hutchens

If you're interested, I've made birthday posts the past few years. Last year and several before that...complete with ODIS photos, party photos, and lots of info, video, links....

54 years old, y'all...ODIS!

My matra-quote for the remainder of the year:

"Live like you are going to die tomorrow; learn like you are going to live forever."

And maybe also "Train like your life depended on it".

Spring Lifestyle Challenge

Ssooo....It was brought to my attention we haven't done a lifestyle challenge in a while, sooo....

2018 Music

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

1) Exercise - Set a specific plan or goal(s). Keep us posted weekly (or more) on your progress!

2) Creativity - Music, art, writing, acting...set a goal to complete by month's end. Keep us posted!

3) Personal life - Re-affirm your personal relationships, get to that project/chore you've been avoiding, or just read a book you've always wanted to read!

Add caption

4) Professional life - Set a work goal or change jobs or....just tell us what it is and keep us posted!

I'll post my goals below, and then provide weekly up-dates...

How about YOU?

Happy 53 to Me

On-stage at Lexi-Fest 2017

MY BIRTHDAY POST......

Greg/bass, Deb/vox, Alan/perc

It has been a crazy year (here's the list of posts at SD Universe)...and as I write this, I've just published Miss Liz's latest poem at Skinny Devil Magazine (following a long list of fabulous stories, essays, interviews, and more) and about to dash out to the gym, then teaching, and then tonight's performance backing Tabi Gervis on Red Barn Radio. You may remember Tabi from "The Voice" or from her appearance this past summer (with me backing her on guitar) on Woodsongs (video below).

Drew Curtis singing!

Its a coupla days after my birthday. We had the Sunday night jam the night before, which was fantastic. When it was over, I ended up at a karaoke bar with Angelee, Deb, Marsha, and Warren....home at 1am, asleep by 2am, and up at 5:15am to get the boys ready for school.

ODIS at home

Then hit the gym and did a massive workout and at the end went for my pull-up challenge. I was shooting for 35-40 pullups in one set and ended up stalling at 25, but all things considered, I wasn't surprised OR disappointed.

But I then knocked out 10 sets of 10 pull-ups and 10 dips....so not a bad way to wrap up a workout.

ODIS at gym

Took an ODIS photo at the gym and another when I got home. Probably in better shape than when I started these photos at 50. Here is 50 and 51 and 52 for anyone who cares to compare.

Then Bryan from Woodsongs called, so I got the pleasure of booking SDML student Shelby Callahan and SDML senior instructor Paulie Felice to appear later that evening on national TV via Woodsongs. And pushed a new story by the stunningly talented writer Lindsay Caudill at SD Magazine. Then taught at COC.

Not a bad day at all.

Ikigai or Raison d'être

WIKI defines it thus:

"...Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced [ikiɡai]) is a Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being", it is very similar to the French phrase Raison d'être. Everyone, according to the Japanese, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self...."

I stumbled upon this graphic at a place called "Urban Samurai". Facebook suggested it for some reason, so I took a few seconds to check it out, and found this.

My mantra was always "where your interest and talent intersects", but I find this to be...deeper.

Posting here for your consideration.

2017 GOALS (not resolutions)

I don't mind resolutions, but it's almost a tradition to break them (haha!). So...this is all about setting goals - both "process" goals and "product" goals.

On-stage at Lexi-Fest Festival 2016

Really, it's the same as our lifestyle challenges, but those got few and far between, with most comments happening on social media instead of here. So the idea here is to use this post as a PLACE to go to keep track of your goals, keep them at the forefront of your mind, and help each other stay focused....not to mention, sometimes we can help each other on the journey by some sort of collaborative effort.

Sooo....here are some of my goals:

Happy 52 to Me

Lexi-Fest 2 on Labor Day.

The day started well.

Up very early with the boys (Wayne, 5, Rylan, 4, and Grayson, 18 months) and fixed them a big breakfast...hashbrowns, turkey bacon, fruit. Then played and played! Their Nana got them for long enough for me to grab a quick work-out (quick brisk bike, 3 rounds on the heavy bag, and 100 pull-ups) but then I got them again because she was ill.

It's no secret at this point that the divorce is final, but we're prepping the house for market and selling it before we'll be in different homes. Sooo...I'm enjoying all the time I can get with these grand-babies we share custody of, while I still can. And they are a HUGE amount of fun....even if I feel like they're trying to kill me (haha!).

Grabbed coffee and fruit and steak tataki (which is to say, only quickly seared - mostly raw) and a snack of carrots and fresh guacamole.

Morning ODIS photo for the records.

The workouts haven't been as Olympian as the past due to a more hectic schedule, but I'm roughly the same weight as the past 2 years...just not quite a "cut", as you can see in my ODIS photo (as compared to birthday 50 and birthday 51). But not too shabby. But the comparison does me good to see, because no excuse is good enough. I will endeavor to shred even more by the first of the year....so I may follow up with a new post or just in the comments below sometime soon.

Be that as it may, I made my way (with zero prep time!) over to Twisted Cork a bit before 6pm. Ray kicked things off (man, he is sooo good!), and then I jumped on stage and spent the next 2.5 hours having an amazing time with new and old friends playing music on-stage (most of it with no rehearsal or any idea what we were about to play...and much of that I didn't know...which is half the fun!). I hesitate to name names because I'm bound to miss someone when I make lists, but Paul and Mary and Thomas, and Chris and Heather and Ande and Mira and Ray and Whitney and Jeanna and Warren and Blackii and Greg (on bass throughout the night, as Friday was his birthday) and Marsha and Jim and many more besides! Lots of hugs & handshakes and lots of music was made!

With Mary on vocals...

Ande on vocals....

We played right up until they had to throw us out (haha!). I gathered my gear and stopped to chat, then realized I was (owners/employees aside) the last to leave. I loaded my gear in the truck, looked around at the gorgeous clear black skies, and was suddenly overwhelmed - despite divorce and all the implications of raising grand-kids and the financial disaster that follows all that and the stress of living with one's ex and any other of my many first world problems - with the reality that life is damn good. Damn good. My problems are, in fact, just first world problems, but the good is better than most people ever get. And so I have zero room to bitch about anything. At all. Ever.

Sooo...I put off meeting with Nik and Damien and Chris (Liz came by to visit the boys, so I did see her) until Maria is well so I can help with the boys, so I'll see them (and my 2 grand daughters) later this week.

And if my recurring dream (as outlined in my 50 post) holds true, I still have plenty of time to go make a difference for everyone, in my on-going mission to create opportunities, build something my kids can be proud of (like the Lexi Awards and Lexi-Fest Concert Series, and all the projects of Skinny Devil Music Lab), and secure my creative legacy..

Time to get busy.

VIDEO of Paul & I Jamming!