I just had my first day off work from my restaurant in more than two months.  And I used the time off to start recording another album with an incredibly talented crew of musicians in Chicago. 

I've written a few dozen songs since my last album.  But putting tunes together into a cohesive record has always been a challenge for me.  In this latest batch of songs, some of the tunes are sort of doo-wop and lovey dovey.  Some are driving angry dad rock, and kind of angry.  Some feel like forlorn blues, and a few feel like tragic pop songs for the working woman.  So what do I choose? 

Any or all of them. 

Reader, I'm not sure how we get so very trapped into the notion that we are just one style of person.  We are people, not brands.  If we're being authentic, why should we be bothered with whether or not it all hangs together?  (Even if we're not being authentic: who really gives a damn?) We are an amalgam of different thoughts and feelings and interests and affinities and aversions. And you know what ties it all together? 

You.  You tie it together. 

Wishing you an off-brand kind of week.  Keep being you.  I leave you with this picture of a gorgeous sunset I saw this past week, just because.  See you next Monday. -Em