Redmond, WA: Swedenborg Church of Puget Sound

At the risk of saturating the market, I'm making my third appearance this year with these swanky Swedenborgians--sure is nice how they celebrate music and songwriters and insist on having both as part of their weekly services! As I alluded to previously, I enjoy the art of picking songs from my repertoire to fit the particular theme, conceding that often said 'fit' has as much to do with how I present/introduce a number as the song-itself-as-independent-entity. "Ghosts, Goblins, and Spirits - Halloween and All Saints Day," however, is an area I have pretty much left alone in my writing... I can run with seasons, though, and also steal a post-sermon opportunity to share my newest creation: "Not Enough," written for the Bushwick Book Club (Seattle) and touching on some of the themes of grief and uncertainty that Rev. Paul Martin addressed in his talk.

AND...for those clamoring, you can hear a quick recording of "Not Enough" here!

Seattle, WA: Beery House

For the past fifteen years, the unassuming Beery House atop Seattle's Capitol Hill has hosted an astonishing variety of musicians--sometimes performing, sometimes just crashing between wayward road dates--and gatherings, and I'm honored to add my name to the list (and partake in the always-filling potluck) after having been a lurking attendee for years. Someday someone'll write a book about wonderful secrets like this 'venue,' and we'll learn just how many people have keys to Max's and Teresa's back door.

Seattle, WA: Can*Can - Bushwick Book Club (Slaughterhouse-Five)

You knew this was gonna be memorable: twelve songwriters asked to pen a piece inspired by a different novel each month and then give a show (in the Can*Can's ultra-funky confines, no less); tonight's offering: Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. What a wide and wonderful range of interpretations (and a lot of "so it goes" refrains...), from the slapsticky and suggestive to the darkly serious, and many waypoints in between. I titled my too-many-words (as usual) tune "Not Enough" as it sprung chiefly from the following passage:

Rosewater said an interesting thing to Billy one time about a book that wasn't science fiction. He said that everything there was to know about life was in The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. "But that isn't enough anymore," said Rosewater.

Kudos to organizer Geoff Larson (who plays on By the Side of the Lake!) and *all* of the other Bushwick Book Club-Seattle members and songwriters! Next month's pick (which, sadly, I will miss as I am playing in Spokane): William Goldman's (and S. Morganstern's) The Princess Bride. And hey - I finally made The Stranger Suggests!

UPDATE (10/30/10): Video HERE.