Woof. What a year. I’ve been hosting the PM Bridge on KMHD again, actually since June 2020, but never posted an update here. It’s been fun digging into my own library more. I also just got my record cleaner, turntable, and stereo receiver set up – it took me over a year, but now I’m all set to start digitizing vinyl. I started with Shirley Nanette’s LP, “Never Coming Back” – I was honored to perform some of this material with her in November 2018 as part of the Albina Soul Revue at the Alberta Rose Theater. She told us at the rehearsals that her husband at that time tried to sabotage her music career by only giving her a week or so to track the album. It’s a little rough in places, but it’s got charm and a classic soul sound. It never saw a digital release, and KMHD has a pretty clean copy on LP.

Mostly I’ve kept myself busy buying more organs and Leslies. There are so many I haven’t listed on here yet, or even posted on facebook. If I’m being honest, yes, it’s getting absurd… I now have a second storage unit which is rapidly filling in with organs and Leslies. I’ve been talking with my Dad about starting a nonprofit to get this project sustaining itself – and I am truly invested in the preservation of these unique instruments. Nobody’s gonna try to make a VST plugin to emulate a Conn Artist 703…

I’m trying to make music from home, and my home studio continues to come together bit by bit, yet I still feel like I have nothing to “show” for all my time spent in the house. I suppose the KMHD programs are something, though! I’ve also been teaching weekly at Montavilla Guitar Studio – via zoom, that is. I just learned this job actually makes me eligible for the vaccine, so I’m gonna look into that and get that ball rolling soon here…

Since the shutdown, I’ve done exactly four gigs. The first was an organ trio with drummer Adam Carlsson, who called me to play with him and guitarist Dan Balmer in Adam’s backyard. The second was with Pablo Rivarola and Machado Mijiga at Tavern On Kruse. The third was a new experience – Darrell Grant hired me to be an announcer/presenter for his variety program performance, “The Cool Spot,” which was livestreamed from The 1905. It was the first voice-over type work I’ve done outside KMHD. The last was a private livestream in Seattle with Curtis Salgado. I think we were the entertainment for a virtual employee party, but I really didn’t get many details, and haven’t seen the footage yet.

Hope you’re all well! Keep wearing those masks…