So as today marks the last day of 2024, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to reflect on the year past and everything that has taken place. It has definitely been a whirlwind of a year, and so many things that I didn't expect, both good and bad but the majority is in the good column!
It started out as a pretty average year, but by April everything changed when the opportunity came for me to step up things musically and direct my attention and energy full time to my passion of playing music. In a very short amount of time I was very fortunate to first hook up with my bandmates in Carnival of Sins, and then not too long after that, Rock Inc. We've been working hard this year at putting our perspective shows together and Carnival is out and about on the St. Louis scene gigging now, and Rock Inc. will be in just a couple of weeks.
I also decided that it was time to take on the task of going back into my catalog and begin work on a re-issue of my first album “Dancing With Dragons” so that I could improve upon the sound quality from the original recordings, and also add in a few things that weren't available to me at the time of the initial recording. Things have been progressing with the re-issue, and I'm hoping to have it completed in the first part of the new year. It's been great getting to go back and kind of relive these tracks again as I've been going through them, remembering the inspirations for what started me on this journey with instrumentals, and it's given me new inspiration to continue on once this project is finished. I already have a few demo ideas in the can for album #3, so I'm hoping at some point in the coming year to begin work on that too. There will be a new single coming in the near future, that I can tell you!
There's been some other triumphs along the way, including the launch of this website! I am very grateful and excited for being able to reach people in a larger way than I had previously over social media. Also getting to take a crack at recording a podcast (Defending The Old School) that was a learning experience in and of itself, but I'm looking forward to continuing with that project as well (episode #2 is in the works, it's just taking a minute lol). And then most recently I have had the opportunity to join forces with some fellow musicians in putting together 55: A Tribute to Sammy Hagar. We're very excited about putting this show together for everyone and I'm thankful for my bandmates in that group as well. We think this will have alot of potential so we're working hard to get everything up and running.
It's been quite a year all the way around. There were moments that were a little scary, wondering if this was all gonna work or not, and there's been times that it's just required alot of faith in the powers that be, but I think that overall it's been a successful year and I'm looking even more forward to 2025 and what it will bring. So Happy New Year to you all, and keep rockin' and keep believin' in those dreams!