Instrumental Peace

21/03/2026

My pilot program for live music and memoir has made the first cut with another meeting scheduled with key administrators on April 13th at 2pm.

I will be collaborating with nurse educator, Allison Maloney, whose research specialty is in Interprofessional Collaboration, and Stella Heysek, cellist and vocalist extraordinaire from The Capital Area School for the Arts.

Please send us good vibes on that day. If approved, this program aims to bring joy and peace to many seniors, families, staff members and musicians!

11/03/2026

I have an opportunity to pitch a pilot program today for my music and life story work. If all goes well, Stella Heysek, cellist and vocalist will be sharing her gifts with me to implement it during her internship at Capital Area School for the Arts this Sept. There is strength in numbers so please think of us this afternoon. Thanks so much.

09/03/2026

The age segregated nature of senior living makes it a perfect environment to “mine” the stories of our older generation. They are our “folkways” in an AI driven world.

Folklorist Archie Green studied mining songs, and describes a folk song as “a piece received aurally by listeners and singers which is accepted by them and which is also altered in the process of movement over time.”

This statement touches upon the fragility of the oral tradition and its dependency on our “folkways” as a means of passing the social conventions, principles and values of daily living on to the next generation. It also draws attention to the organic and collaborative process of listening and interpreting folk songs in their purest form, then adapting them to mirror the ethos of the times.

06/03/2026

An important update:

3 days ago I completed my teacher’s certification for Guided Autobiography from the Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies.

Less than 8 hours after my final presentation for certification I was asked to demo my new music program combining live music with memoir writing for Country Meadow’s Health Fair at the end of May.

What I have discovered over the last 18 years of holding on to my vision of using music as a tool for reminiscence, is a brand new niche for musicians as co-facilitators of life story writing. Live music becomes a part of the face to face interaction and AI is not invited.

Guided Autobiography is NOT therapy but is therapeutic. This important distinction opens up the “playing” field for more musicians with the skills and compassion to meet the complex needs of our growing senior population - while simultaneously preserving our cultural heritage.

There’s more work to be done but we’re almost there. Thanks so much for tuning in.

01/03/2026

A writing exercise: which metaphor are you?

If I were a tree, I would be an oak. Firmly planted and deeply rooted to my dreams and aspirations. My branches are always reaching toward the heavens for guidance and inspiration. I stand alone because my creativity is entrepreneurial and visionary. But my seeds are meant to be spread so that my seedlings pass on my compassion to cultivate kindness and hope for a New Earth.

16/02/2026

A beautiful blast from the past…

In this restored footage of "James Taylor In Concert," James performs "Rainy Day Man" on the popular BBC series "In Concert" on November 16, 1970. "In Concer...

29/01/2026

Today I played music for two different buildings at a retirement community across the campus from each other. It felt so liberating to smile, tell jokes, play music, bring joy. Even the staff members were smiling and engaged. After I finished a man walked over to me and told me it brought back so many memories.

Show Me The Way Go Home, written in 1925 by British songwriting duo Campbell and Connelly was inspired by a heavy night drinking while traveling by train to London, and became one of their greatest hits.

The story I heard today was about a night in 1955 when my friend and his friend had just gotten out of the service, didnt have anything better to do and ended up in a bar. They were both “stoned” from drinking. My friend lived just a few blocks away and was tired of drinking but his friend was just getting started. The story goes he climbed out of the bathroom window, went home and left his friend in the bar. He then felt guilty and went back to the bar to discover his friend had left and went out looking for him. They ended up spending the rest of the night looking for each other.

I’m not sure if it was just the lyrics of the song that transported him back to 1955 or if he was still nursing a hangover just thinking about it. In any event, it got him laughing and that’s all that matters.

The power of music. 🥴🎶

01/01/2026

Stella and I performed last night to a lively group of seniors at a New Year’s Eve party. Over 70 people in attendance, our largest crowd yet. The message of the importance of passing down the stories of the elder generation definitely got through.

On the way home we talked about the sacredness of mother, daughter and grandmother relationships. This morning this song came up. It’s definitely on our lists of songs to learn in the New Year. Happy New Year! It’s going to be magical. ✨✨

Rhiannon Giddens’s book "We Could Fly," inspired by and featuring the lyrics of the song, is out now on Candlewick Press: https://rhiannongiddens.com/we-coul...

28/12/2025

It’s interesting how certain poems and/or music speak to you on different days.

Last night I had a dream about my mother. Claire de Lune was the first song that came up on my “random” playlist this morning. It was her wedding song. And then, this quote spoke to me for friends and for those I’ve never met navigating loss often compounded by the holiday season. Sending peace to all…

27/12/2025

How Heron Comes

It is a negligence of the mind
not to notice how at dusk
heron comes to the pond and
stands there in his death robes, perfect servant of the system, hungry, his eyes full of attention, his wings
pure light.

~Mary Oliver

25/12/2025

https://youtu.be/6qmtO6cebcU?si=YJSruwTVDV3kUg7Q

In the Bleak Midwinter is a poem written by English poet, Christina Rossetti. The poem was published under the title A Christmas Carol in the January 1872 is...

07/12/2025

Feeling such gratitude today.
Lana Ryder has asked that I present at her elective, “Offering Sound in the Medical Community” for her sound school students in May.
We’ll be discussing using sound, voice and music in hospitals, hospice, palliative care and with actively dying patients.

I’ll be using real life stories from my book, The Gatekeeper, coming out in a revised hard copy version in 2026. So much to be grateful for.