"Once upon a time, wasn’t singing a part of everyday life; as much as talking, physical exercise and religion? Our distant ancestors, wherever they were in this world, sang while pounding grain, paddling canoes, or walking long journeys. Can we begin to make our lives once more all of a piece? Finding the right songs and singing them over and over is a way to start. And when one person taps out a beat while another leads into the melody, or when three people discover a harmony they never knew existed, or when a crowd joins in on a chorus as though to raise the ceiling a few feet higher, then they also know, there is hope for the world.” - Pete Seeger narrating near the end of "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song”

Today, I find myself thinking about something that has little to do with my professional career. Something that I’ve chosen for an avocation more than a vocation. I’m thinking about music and the feeling of being present in the moment, and in the music, that makes this one of the most satisfying and meaningful parts of my life. From my earliest memories of my mother singing in the car, to singing with family and friends as a boy, listening to Harry Belafonte, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, and my favorite recording of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony at bedtime, music has been a vital part of my life. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a singer and I'm glad that playing and singing music is an important part of my life today.

I am a man who loves words and I strive to choose mine well to express the thoughts and feelings that I want to share. I enjoy taking the time to craft a sentence, paragraph, stanza, or lyric that will share what is in my mind, and my heart. Sometimes there are thoughts, and especially feelings, that defy being cast into words, or that I dare not try to speak. Then music may help me speak my heart beyond what words can say. In singing, and playing with no song, my aching joy, haunting loneliness, and love beyond any hope of being spoken can find voices of their own.

Singing for, and with, my loved ones and for broader audiences gives outlet, and richness, to our shared feelings. We can sing out love and joy, sadness and pain, hope and outrage. We can sing with shared passion and compassion. Compassion is one of my very favorite long words for the precious things we share. It stands beside the most important, small, words of all, respect, joy, comfort, peace, and love. It tells of how we share our passion with one another To make a better world for one another and for our children. It calls us to share empathy and our passion for freedom, justice and equality.

For me music is another of these most important words. Five letters that represent a whole world of shared feeling and artistic expression. Music is universal. It is not only a universal language, but transcends all language. It allows us to share our experience of life through a common joy in using special sounds to express what is in our minds and hearts. While there are those who profess their own lack of musicality, and clearly for some musical expression comes more naturally than for others, I’m with Pete Seeger when he says “There’s no such thing as a wrong note as long as you’re singing it.” And, with or without words, we can all enjoy listening to music, tapping out a rhythm, and humming along with the music in our minds.

One of the most difficult things for me to express about music is the sense of timelessness that it can bring. The feeling of being in the moment not needing, or able, to look ahead, or cast my mind back, beyond the now. A feeling that can be mine alone or, when the moment is right, shared with those I am playing with and for, or listening or singing with. When time seems to stop, stretch, or lose its meaning. When the world seems to become smaller, drawing in around us like the light of a campfire or a warm hug, or vastly larger welcoming us to embrace the universe together in wonder.

For me this is the place where the greatest musical moments are made. Where improvisation flows like a mountain stream or a rolling river. Where the music dances like sunlight on the waves. Where the soul of the player or singer is one with the sound they are sending out into the world. I know this is one of the reasons that I love live concerts so much. Moments of music that will come just once. Some of them captured in the live recordings which have always been my favorites. I remember opportunities to hear jazz greats like Dave Brubeck and Dizzy Gillespie in concert and to marvel at they way the occupy those timeless moments.

I smile as I remember the times I got to see The Grateful Dead live and to be with them and a crowd of others sharing the journey through their expanding improvisational landscapes together. I grew up inspired by the improvisational power and fluidity of legendary guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Influenced in my own singer-songwriter style by Bob Dylan, Donovan, and the simple soulful warmth of James Taylor. Transfixed by and the incandescent soul of Janis Joplin.

I am so glad to have experienced live concerts, steeped in the improvisation that is central to the blues, by B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Clifton Chenier and so many others I had the pleasure to see thanks primarily to Tom Mazzolini and the San Francisco Blues Festivals he promoted over the years.

I am grateful beyond words for the opportunities I’ve had to play with other musicians in rock and roll, barn dance, Irish, and folk bands, and at sessions over the years. I love the learning, teaching, and sharing of these times we’ve had together, the music we make, the new young musicians who have grown into adults as the music played, and the community we’ve made together. I’m humbled by the times I’ve been asked to play shows of my own, and to be part of shows featuring many wonderful bands, dancers, and players.

Most of all I am grateful for those moments when I have sung my heart to my loved ones with songs of my own making, and seen them smile or laugh. When I have seen their eyes shine with love and happy tears. These are priceless shining fragments of eternity for me where we are joined together beyond the illusions of time and space. Close together in ways that begin to approach that day when we will see as face to face forever. They remain within the reach of my mind and heart always and bring me comfort, peace, joy, and love beyond the power of my poor words to tell. I treasure the opportunities left to us to make more moments like these.

© 2017 James Michael. The text of this work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0