It’s that time of year again.  The leaves are changing color and starting to descend upon my yard.  I woke up this morning and as I went outside it was rainy and a cool nip to the air.   It gave me goosebumps as I inhaled the cool air, held and exhaled as I closed my eyes.  I smiled to myself and I said, “Don, the time has come.  It’s time for change.”  Change has been in the air for some time.  Even when my last band in North Carolina Mystery Road was together, I was feeling the need to change things up.  My whole life as a songwriter and creative person has seen me holding the wheel as I steer the ship in and out of choppy waters, rough weather and through blissful blue skies. Even as happy as I was in Mystery Road, I felt completely alone creatively.  I had three very talented people working with me yet I was the only one writing the songs.  This is of no fault of theirs but this was what I had set up for myself and I wasn’t happy.

Moving back to Atlanta was a welcome change for me.  Being that we only were here for a two year stint (my wife was doing a fellowship), we had no idea if we would be staying.  I used the two years to strip it back down to being a solo folksinger once again and found myself getting know myself, my songs and my performances in a way that I hadn’t done so in many years.  I suddenly felt connected to the songs, I felt engaged and it almost felt cleansing at times.  I released two albums that I am very proud of (“Planes, Trains, Crickets & Central Air” and “This Is Wooden Music“) and played a slew of fantastic show.  I got invited to be a guest NPR’s “The State of Things” and even got asked to perform in Knoxville, TN on the legendary WDVX Radio’s “Blue Plate Special” (LISTEN HERE!)  I managed to do more in two years time than I did in my 7 years in the Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham area and this was a huge thing for me.  I felt validated, appreciated and even felt like I just might be taken as a true folksinger/songwriter and not just some dude who plays coffeehouses.  With all that being said, I feel that I have hit that proverbial wall.

So here I am.  I have rooted myself here in Atlanta, GA for the long haul.  I feel like a dog who’s been living in a crate for a while and now has suddenly been giving this huge ass yard to run around in with no boundaries or restrictions.  It’s overwhelming, exciting, breath taking and honestly it scares the living shit out of me but in a positive way.  It scares me because now I am awarded the chance to run free and just do all of the things I’ve only ever thought about or dreamed about doing with my music.  Now is the time for me to shit or get off of the pot.  I literally have nothing holding me back from achieving what I want.  I have a loving wife who supports me and urges me on, I have the flexibility, time and energy to do whatever the fuck I want to do.  So what the fuck am I going to do?  Well, I have already started laying the foundation for two different projects and we shall see where they go.  If they don’t work out, that’s totally cool.  At least I tried them.  I don’t want to go to bed anymore thinking about the things that could’ve been or that could be.  Instead I will work to at least try them all so that at the end of the day, I will know that I pursued my pipe dreams and did what I could to make them reality.

Thanks for reading this and good night!