Hello, and welcome to Volume 41 of the Underground Binder Clip Society.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom to check out a demo for a new song called “Where Will You Go?”
I’m up before the sun. The coffee pot sizzles in the kitchen. My bedroom is right off the kitchen. I share a wall with my studio—everything I need. I can smell the day ahead. I’ve been waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep. So I use the time. My journal entry is bland. I can’t fill a page. I used to fill multiple each morning, especially as a boy. But I don’t fret. Songs are flowing and touchable. I know what I’m feeling.
I’m home a lot these days. I work some too. I Write. See friends. Go to shows. I’ve told my journal plenty about it. Yet, I still try and put something down. I know it helps. So I take inventory. Maybe the stillness of morning itself is worth praising.
Eventually, I allow myself into the studio, but first, I make myself sit awhile. I freshen my coffee, surround myself with books, and hope for some sort of osmosis to occur. Liturgy, bible, journal, Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Wise Blood. I look up. There is new Wendell Berry on the shelf. It calls to me. But I’ve committed to what’s in front of me. No more shifting gears. No more path of least resistance.
This is mo(u)rning time.
Aiming time. Up Before the devil time. I can’t always have what I want time. I must prove to myself that I am disciplined. It’s time. Wake up, and bow down. Hit my knees and remember, I cant do this alone. Die to myself. Eat crow. Call it what it is. You don’t wanna do it today Jake. You cant do it. But, you will. You will be a vessel. A something. To someone. By showing up. By being you. By staying true. Maybe today you are simply the paint can, not the paint. If it’s all you can be, try and be it well. So Help me God.
Sing me half a new song, I’ll sing the other half.
Stretch out this clenched fist, I’ll clench it right back.
Work is medicine. A burning sensation. A drop in the bucket. A quick fix of getting gone. We know this. And so we love work, even when we say we don’t. Disengage reality. Engage the task at hand. Thank God. Move along.
12 cups of coffee. No medicine. Is this medicine? Is it stillness?
Maybe sometimes, just for a minute, it’s a prayer, when we keep our hands busy.
Is my “I love you” loud enough
through clenched teeth
do you know
just how true it is?
when I say
“I miss you”
when I tell you to come home
that you don’t have to go
and that I’ll be right here
trucking along
till the end of time.
Yours Truly,
Jake Smith
Here is a Voice Memo of “Where Will You Go?” a new song that will be out fairly soon! Enjoy, and thanks for tuning in.
Here are this week’s “Quick Clips”:
* The Next Happy Medium Community Dinner in Nashville will be on February 15th at Talk Nice Vintage in East! Sign up and RSVP HERE. And sign up for the email list HERE to stay in the loop. The purpose of Community Dinner is to gather behind a vision of intentional community and artfulness. At Community Dinner we share a meal, make crafts, share songs and generally celebrate one another.
* I am for hire for recording, production, mixing, and mastering! Check out a playlist of some of my favorite things i’ve worked on here. You can reply to this email to get on my schedule!
* “Community Not Competition” T-shirts and stickers are available NOW at happymediumtn.com.
* Listen here to a private collection of songs I made this December called “One Night In December.” It’s all unreleased material, recorded live with just myself and an acoustic guitar.
Support me and this newsletter by becoming a paid subscriber, buying merch, or by streaming my music!
As always, shoot me an email if you want to work on music, remote or in-person, here in Nashville, TN.
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