Hey everybody. Thanks for dropping by. Hope that you and yours are well and happy. Today marks the beginning of our 18th week of staying at home (but really, who’s counting anyway?!). June just came and went here in Austin, and with it admittedly some slightly delusional hopes that the worst of the pandemic was behind us. In the last 3 weeks or so I have had a handful of gigs (distanced, outside, limited capacity, etc) and some session work…almost had me thinking that the return to a sense of normality had a) begun and b) would be a linear thing. Clearly this is not the case. Time and time again this whole experience has shown us the futility in trying to predict what’s going to happen tomorrow, let alone next week, next month etc…which obviously can be troublesome and cause anxiety. However here’s the silver lining I’m seeing in all of this: the predicament we find ourselves in is effectively training us how (and why) to stay in the present moment. Much of the training I’m receiving in this comes from the amount of time I get to spend with my daughters (ages 4 and 2). Up to a certain age, children live from moment to moment naturally; they don’t carry with them the anxiety, regret, or guilt that come from dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. What living during the pandemic has reinforced on a daily basis is that golden truth that is so simple but also incredibly difficult to realize—that true lasting happiness cannot be found in something or someone outside of us but within. And the access point is always available right here in the present. Alan Watts called it “grooving with the now”. Dig!

Now for a few updates:
BOH has kept busy and for that I’m deeply grateful…and proud to be associated with these guys for all these years. We have thrown ourselves in adapting to a new medium which definitely wasn’t our bag before all this. We’re learning on the fly and having fun with it. Our Good Time Supper Club variety show is in its 15th week and continues to steadily evolve due to everybody putting their best foot forward and staying positive and upbeat. We are fortunate to have such a loyal fanbase and viewership has been steady each week.  We even have a sponsor now (Topo Chico!).  My favorite part of the show is our “Remote Transmission” segment. Each week we have a different guest on the show and ask them to pick a tune for us to cover. We all record our parts individually from our homes, then film ourselves doing it and throw together a music video to debut on the GTSC. We’ve had amazing artists as guests thus far—Hayes Carll, Joe Pug, Nicki Bluhm, Charlie Starr, Robert Ellis, Seth Walker, and Margo Price. Here are a couple of my favorite videos that we’ve done thus far:

In other BOH news, we were fortunate to be part of a tribute album to a great American master, John Hartford.  Our good buddy Chad Staehli did an incredible job putting the whole thing together.  It’s a beautiful album that features Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon, The Infamous Stringdusters, The Travelin’ McCourys, Keller Williams, Danny Barnes, Todd Snider and more.  Check it out here.  Also, here’s a nice write up from Rolling Stone on our contribution to the record.  

As I mentioned above, I’ve had a few recording sessions recently with Bruce Robison producing that I’m stoked about. Robert Ellis, Jack Ingram, and Wade Bowen each did full days with 4-6 songs each. More to come on that later…For now, I’ll leave you with this beautiful quote from a great Jesuit, Anthony de Mello:

“As long as your happiness is caused or sustained by something or someone outside of you, you are still in the land of the dead. The day you are happy for no reason whatsoever, the day you find yourself taking delight in everything and in nothing, you will know that you have found the land of unending joy called the kingdom.

To find the kingdom is the easiest thing in the world but also the most difficult. Easy because it is all around you and within you, and all you have to do is reach out and take possession of it. Difficult because if you wish to possess the kingdom you may possess nothing else. That is, you must drop all inward leaning on any person or thing, withdrawing from them forever the power to thrill you, or excite you, or to give you a feeling of security or well-being.

For this you first need to see with unflinching clarity this simple and shattering truth: Contrary to what your culture and religion have taught you, nothing, but absolutely nothing can make you happy. The moment you see that, you will stop moving from one job to another, one friend to another, one place, one spiritual technique, one guru to another. None of these things can give you a single minute of happiness. They can only offer you a temporary thrill, a pleasure that initially grows in intensity, then turns into pain if you lose them and into boredom if you keep them.”

Peace be with you,
TN