any day now

any day now

i become a dad again.

and asa a big brother.

the little bloke has me smiling and laughing,

and changing my point of view. a lot.

and that's the medicine i want.

so glad to be home in this time.

just being with the family.

tending the garden.

we have a deer proof fence this year,

so we're planning on having a lot more veggies.

keeping the business rolling along too. thanks leels.

amazing things are happening in this time.

20 years since i came here from oz,

with my 2 brothers,

and BROTHER began.

yes, it is quite the time...

we have a busy summer coming.

our busiest since we became 3.

i will enjoy it all very much.

but for now, there's a new human coming ...

angus

under the weather, over the moon

i'm home.

under the weather

but over the moon to be here.

my boy's beaming smile at the airport,

the best medicine i could ask for.

a ditty from the plane ...

first thing i'm gonna do when i get home

throw away a lot things i don't wanna own

make a lot of room for the things to come

but not before i savour my wife and son

'tis spring and there's much to let go of.

much i've carried around for too many years.

and across the country. twice.

not surprisingly, i enjoyed making music with the fellas.

cape may again. this time underground

while the rain fell above. nice crowd.

we did the colonial games with dalbo this year.

several jamming 'busking' type sets

and a big stage show.

then our first ever 'house party',

felt right to be in an idyllic garden setting.

the reid's backyard no less.

beautiful weather and birthday boy bill on sound.

a good readying for next months shows.

this cheeky cough had me piping and singing

with considerably less lung capacity than usual.

but, we make it thru, don't we?

in the meantime, the new cd.

we're told it's ready and on its way to us.

next stop, you.

'aveagoodweekend.

angus

out of hibernation

with my impending departure i break radio silence.

tomorrow, weather permitting, i fly to the east coast.

there, i meet the fellas and we play what is this year truly

the mid winter festival.

apparently there are feet of snow on the ground.

2003 anyone?

takes me back to this time last year in the catskill mountains.

shovelling snow, splitting wood,

keeping the wood stove stoked, often in the very wee hours of the morning.

a great experience but i am happy to be here now.

we have some bracing weather for sure,

but it doesn't take my time and energy.

in this time of hibernation and preparation

i have been blessed to be with my family.

asa does just about everything as soon as he can.

and with incredible passion.

what he can't do, he practices over and over.

he is my inspiration.

his early inclination to laugh has blossomed

into a wonderful bubbling chuckle.

my favourite sound in the world.

of course he grows incredibly.

his understanding of himself, us and his world does too.

and so we communicate better every day.

an increasingly rewarding experience

as he happens to be the most fascinating human on the planet to me ...

and so, as i contemplate the road again,

i do so committed to making this life of music

complement life with my family.

as we look to fill the rest of the calendar,

it will be with a view to having my greatest inspiration along for the ride,

wherever possible.

this weekend however, i'll be braving the snow alone.

some good hard playing with dalbo and drew. and a beer or 3.

then valentines, a day late, with the love of my life ...

the next day we drive to LA, meet up with the fellas again,

and see how our new live album sounds.

it's been a couple of months now.

fresh ears always helps.

stay warm out there ...

angus

i wonder

winter solstice has just passed.

as far as the earth is concerned it is a new year.

i spent the last few hours of the shortest day

playing in my new music room - the green room.

it is coming together nicely.

it is a good space to work on and to work in.

the the aim is to have it bizarre and inspiring

for all who enter ...

i've been thinking about our coming new year show.

and it feels like a good way to celebrate

our recent time living in the mountains.

and so, i have been looking again at some of the songs i wrote there.

i chop wood

i make fire

i feel good

a little higher

she makes bread

with special flour

we drink wine

any hour

gluten free for me.

appropriately it will be t on drums.

t, our neighbour in the catskills,

introduced me to many of the mountains secrets

on our regular cross country walks as the seasons passed there.

it already feels like so long ago.

an amazing chapter in our lives.

one that gave us a baby.

and so, new years eve will be an evening to reflect on

and say good bye to my time as a mountain man.

i wonder, will i shave?

angus

the future is now

we don't get snowed in here
as we did in the catskills.
but the morning frosts are thick and white
and the fogs fill the valley.
then by midday, the days are usually crisp and clear.
the feel of these days take me back to winters on the farm.
to the olden days, as my niece gracie would say.
back to the mid nineteen hundreds.
long before cel phones and laptops.
back when much of what we take for granted now
was science fiction. i read 1984 before 1984.
now suddenly it is the end of 2009
and i am a father ...

we make our new home here.
a most enjoyable work in progress.
we watch our son grow and change and explore.
he is the most incredible mirror ever.
so this is what it was like.
and this is what it's meant to be like still.
this endless energy and curiosity.
this ongoing joy in discovery.
and he continues to make us laugh. hard, and often.
the funniest little creature i know.
and the most amazing inspiration i could have imagined.
and so, with asa as our example,
we imagine, and prepare for, the coming year.
what do we want it to look like?
how do we want it to feel?
family and making a living. one must balance and inspire the other ...
i feel a potential wholly different from times past.
and, when the hour is upon me,
i shall resolve to have a damn good time next year.

angus

visualizing

back home for a while now.

i am loving being a dad.

it is something i hadn't truly envisioned

until relatively recently.

but now the visions come all the time.

i am in the moment with him. and i am visualizing ahead.

it is a captivating, mind blowing state to be in.


as a new parent different things catch my attention now.

this link was sent to me by a good friend. thank you elizabeth.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/66h

this bloke had me laughing, reeled me in with his humour,

and thereby made his points all the more memorable.

good food for thought

as one anticipates having a child to educate.

the idea that we can have an education system

that nurtures, rather than kills, creativity ...

the grass is longer still.

another thunderstorm's on the way.

a sleeping baby lies in my arms,

and a new tune plays in my mind.

i am enjoying the spring ...

angus

changing my mind

thinking of mowing
changing my mind
wanting the wildflowers 

to keep growing a while ...

angus

archive photos, sentimental fool, costa mesa

 i stepped out with the bleach look sometime in the year before the accident that took us off the road for 9 months. so this must be late '98, early '99? thanks to leila for this shot. i particularly like my joe cocker interpretation.

this was at the vegas renaissance celtic festival. it was so hot the war paint was running into my eyes. i could hardly see. my old bagpipes too, before they fell apart. i'd like to get back to this festival. anyone?  also from leila. what year here leels?

hamish's dreads, not long off the starting block. thanks for this one jude. 2002?

i have had it pointed out

that most archive band photos are most likely not digital,

requiring tiresome format changes, scanning or some such wizardry.

they may also be hidden away somewhere in boxes, in closets, in storage. 

not to worry. 

we shall make this search for classic BROTHER 'looks' an ongoing enterprise. 

when you stumble upon the one that gets you smiling tho,

do send that puppy our way ... info@brothermusic.com

here in the mountains. man, woman, child.

i am very grateful to be around in these early days.

he's still so tiny but growing and changing every day.

it is a privilege to be an eye witness to the evolution of a whole new human.

inspiration for another song today. 

'sentimental fool'. a hint of zeppelin in this one.

which of the new ones to do with drew at the colonial games next week?

a warm up for our return to costa mesa the following weekend with dalbo ...

costa mesa was the first celtic festival we played.

and we ended up having a dream run there from 1994 to 1998.

the only non traditional entertainment. we had quite the monopoly.

costa mesa witnessed our early evolution as a band.

they were incredible days. incredible crowds.

and we? we were pretty clueless. well, i know i was.

there's gotta be some classic archival photos

floating around from those days, n'est pas?

onstage or behind the scenes. 

ladies and gentlemen you have 2 weeks to find your favourites.

spring is truly here. 

new colour - gold, purple, red, white, and a very virgin green -

has pushed thru everywhere.

kind of like the insistent thrusting limbs of a new little human i know.

what a time to be in the moment.

angus

some things i'm noticing ...

it's snowing. admittedly not a lot, but there they are,
cheeky white flakes engaging in a flurry outside my window.
feels strange after the warm tease mother nature has given us recently.
you never know what that foxy lady will be up to next in these here parts ...

my eleven day old son is out on his first trip to town with mum and auntie.
i know he's a very brave little fella but that doesn't make it any easier for dad.
i finished a song for asa last night. feels good to sing it.
i may have to quicktime it soon and send to drew in PA
so we can play it at brittinghams. and that's the other thing ...

drew and i just confirmed a double bill show with 7 nations.
the first time we'll be sharing a stage not at a festival with the lads.
having first crossed paths in 1995 at a nashville college showcase,
we've found ourselves playing many of the same festivals.
long we've talked with kirk of doing a show together
but it has never worked out. until now it seems.
brittinghams is an irish watering hole both bands have played often
and i am particularly excited for this meeting,
having not heard kirk and the fellas play in a long while.
drew and i will be unveiling a whole new sound following on the heels of drew and dalbo's groundbreaking shows at the sonora celtic festival last month. BROTHER re imagined. with a hint of nations perhaps.
and this will be my first time performing as a father,
already the source of much inspiration.
it will definitely be a large celebration of a night for me ...

so there they are. the things on my mind.
or those things i can actually interpret.
and now i will continue to smell the gluten free bread baking,
strum my guitar
and await the return of my son.
my sun.

angus