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

Fall Highlights & Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!!

IT'S BEEN AN AMAZING year so far, despite the continued uncertainty in the world due to COVID, and this autumn season has been no exception....so a quick re-cap of a few highlights and some Big Changes in the pipe.

1) TV/RADIO/STSGE: Happy to report that I was called to the Woodsongs stage again as they returned to broadcast (for those unfamiliar, please see Woodsongs description below) for 3 weeks in a row: The first to support 11 year old Phoebe White for her amazing performance....then again to play back-up for the readings of Grammy winning Blues Hall of Fame artists Bobby Rush's new autobiography (and hanging with Bobby backstage for an hour prior to showtime was an incredible experience).....and yet again when 5-time Grammy winning bass legend Victor Wooten took the stage for his performance & interview, and on his last song he invited me to play on his impromptu jam.

Now that's a serious return to the center ring! My thanx to Michael Johnathon & the entire Woodsongs crew for everything!

2) TEACHING: In addition, we've finally returned to live, in-person student recitals and are transitioning back to in-person lesson option for local students (both group & private lessons) over the coming weeks & months....as well as expanding teaching tools for our virtual options (which include Zoom, pre-recorded video, & more) for both local students and my growing call for our of state & even out of country students...as I'm now teaching students in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, and now even Canada.

3) GIGS/WORKSHOPS: I also hope to be booking more live gigs and workshops, but am also currently taping the videos for both the 8-week Songwriting Workshop and the 8 week Improvisation Workshop.

4) DIGTAL TIP JAR & 21st CENTURY BENEFACTORY: It has constantly been suggested to me that I embrace the "subscription model" as an addition to my more traditional biz models. That is to say, I am now offering payment options for anyone who values my work and wants to support it - both one-off "tip jar" model and ongoing "monthly subscription" model.

This is to cover the additional (and unpaid) work that I do, such as the "Guitar Gods" interview series, my "Classic Covers" video performance series, various cost-free lesson articles and "Ask Me Anything" series, and more.

The full list is below, but in summation, 2021 alone saw me publish 20 articles/lessons at Skinny Devil Magazine, another FIVE at Skinny Devil Universe, THREE "Ask Me Anything" videos, and another 28 performance videos. That's 25 articles and 31 videos. So far (it's still October as I write this).

Sooo....one-off via Venmo or PayPal and monthly subscription via Patreon or PayPal!

One-shot support: https://www.paypal.me/skinnydevilmusic​ or www.venmo.com/David-McLean-47 (Pay What You Will)

Monthly support: https://www.patreon.com/skinnydevilmusic​ or https://www.paypal.me/skinnydevilmusic​ (Pay What You Will)

And I've just gotten the new PayPal pay button here: 

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=U9PN8H8LM722A

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Addendums:

WOODSONGS: 

Woodsongs Oldtime Radio Hour is taped live at the Lyric Theatre and broadcast on over 500 radio stations worldwide, satellite radio, RFDTV plus about 3 dozen public TV stations across the continental US, Armed Forces Radio, and more.

FULL 2021 content list: 

EIGHT songwriting articles (see: Sonic Sorcery), FIVE one-off music lessons (from "Signature Chords" to the "America the Beautiful" Superbowl performance), THREE Jimi Hendrix style re-print lessons, THREE Zen Guitar lesson re-prints, and one "Guitar Gods" interview (with Grammy winning Jon Butcher) with more in the cue...all in SD Magazine.

At SD Universe saw THREE "Ask Me Anything" music articles, and TWO large works: "The Music of Black Widow" (info & 3 song charts) and "The Music of James Bond" (info & 26 song charts).

Add to that 28 performance videos and THREE music-centric "Ask Me Anything" videos.