2026 Goals & Lifestyle Challenge

Here with Angelee Feltner and Bill Meck at the Lexi Awards!

Well.....this post certainly is late! As I write this, its already mid May - a long long way from January!

In my defense, I got pretty ill back in December, which led to a prolonged issue that I'm still not 100% recovered from...but I'm pretty close!

(Note: In addition to both bronchitis and pneumonia, I contracted the pertussis bacteria, which is a mean, mean illness. My advice: Get your DTaP if you haven't stepped on a rusty nail in a while!)

Today, I'll be using a format that ya'll (at least those of you who have read these for a while) are familiar with. Though I'm late writing & posting this, I have been pondering the goals for quite a while and, obviously, have been working on them since January....so this post will also find updates included.

Let's jump right in!

Blast from the Past

I got a GREAT surprise recently - thought I'd share here.

From a project I engineered and played on (percussion), though unfortunately only available on FB. If I locate another link (youtube, for example) I'll update this entry...

Check it out on Facebook HERE or better, YouTube HERE!

2025 Thankful & Wrap-Up

Thankful for so many things in 2025!

Agatha & me in Nashville

Lots of ups and downs....

On the personal front we saw some kid drama, health scares with parents, & more, but everything wraps in 2025 on an up note: Parents both doing well, kids & grandkids are good, siblings are out there rockin' it! And, as many of you know, Agatha and I have been together a year come January!

On the professional front, we're making a LOT of changes to music education (group vs private lessons and more), I've stepped down as executive director of the Lexi Music Awards to hand the torch to the VERY capable Angelee Feltner while I work on satellite projects (like two educational scholarships, UKY &/or EKU projects, "Walk of Fame", etc), and finally getting my focus on several album projects for 2026. Story on the official Lexi Music Awards blog.

You might also wanna check out the new Skinny Devil Music Lab website!

My Favorite B-Sides!

Readers of a certain age will have no idea what I'm talking about when I say "B-sides", but we'll dive in anyway - hahaha!

Jimi Hendrix

I live in Lexington, KY, and my buddy "Beerman" (he's a DJ on Classic Rock 92One) has a show called "Beerman's B-sides", which spurred a conversation between me and several others. So, I'm going to keep the list to a mere Baker's Dozen just to make it manageable, but I'd LOVE to hear YOUR favorites in the comment section!

Now, there are some very famous examples of B-sides that became hits and/or fan favorites, like "Beth" by Kiss (flip side of "Detroit Rock City") and "Good Riddance" by Green Day (A-side was "Brain Stew"), "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley ("Don't be Cruel") and "Revolution" by the Beatles ("Hey Jude"), and many more by CCR, Doobie Brothers, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, and on and on....but I'm running with my personal favorites. Usually something that grabbed me in an unexpected way or a song I liked better than the A-side.

In writing this, I did have several surprises....like "Carry On My Wayward Son" was actually the A-side (I always thought it backed "Questions of My Childhood").

I'm going to mostly hit songs from my youth (I'm old, so enjoy the trip to the land of dinosaurs haha!) because that's when I was buying singles, but I'll probably have a few from the last days of the 45rpm!

So.....in chronological order, my baker's dozen (though I could easily list a dozen more):

Happy 61

Kenneth shredding on "Ain't No Sunshine", birthday jam!

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

My annual birthday post often begins with a quote. The Barclay quote makes me think of another. So if you'll indulge me two this year:

“It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot

And if you'll indulge me once more, let's stop, together, in this moment right now....and ponder both of those quotes. 

Hmmm....