September 22, 2O23 

Dearest Querents,

Mabon greetings!!!

The Wheel Of The Year shifts once again bringing us to Mabon, the season of changing colors, cooler nights, and waning daylight as we head towards the grand finale of the year with Yule.

This impresses upon me a sense of urgency to make some crucial decisions, namely, what happens next, and then what happens after that - there are several options to choose from.

It’s quite literally a “choose your own adventure”.

I feel ready to start releasing music, something that has been a long time coming.

I have the platforms, I have the music, I have the support content, just need to commit.

Mabon, as I see it, is also a time for commitment;  a commitment to preparing for the hard cold months ahead, commitment to the harvest, commitment to concluding the work of the Summer and the impending work of the Autumn months as Samhain, the final harvest, draws ever near.

I’ve got my mind fixed on the tasks at hand, as well as the tasks that are to come after.

There are many.

It can be overwhelming at times, alas, it all needs to get done.

The Fools’ Journey doesn’t stop at the “Tower” or “Death”, sudden changes and transformations, nor does it stop once the quest has been completed and started again; the circle goes on and on.

It took months, but most of the backend documentation has been completed, with the most current paperwork serving to concretize the first two merchandise lines - posters and metal pins.

Of course the music, videos, cards, and written content will be available as well, I just consider those to be core aspects of the project whereas everything else to come will be support content.

With most of the legal elements not completed it really comes down to a few questions:

When and How

When will these releases begin and How will they be handled?

These are relatively small questions with substantially huge answers.

The way I see it, you only get one chance to Premier something for the true “first” time, and after serving this project tirelessly for more than half a decade, really, going on closer to a decade than not, there is a desire to put as much care into its release as was put into its creation.

I don’t have children myself, but I imagine it's akin to the feeling of sending kids off to college after raising them from the day they were born, and as much as that is a day of celebration, it’s a bit of a hard pill to swallow because it means that it is leaving safe hands and being set out into the world where it will be tried, tested, critiqued, judged, and hopefully loved and cherished.

I know the day is coming and I have this mixed sense of excitement and apprehension.

It’s been over a decade since I personally released any music to the public.

In 2O13 I released “The Colors That You See”, with my then band of twelve years, Amber Blues.

At the time, that was the third studio project we had released, and in the case of this album, it was a lackluster happening, sadly, because the band decided to end our partnership shortly after.

Other than Clark & Kobel, Amber Blues was only other long term collaborative “relationship” focusing on original material that I’ve had, but even more so, the only other endeavor where I really invested myself on an emotional, soul level, where I really dug in and manifested magick.

So much has changed since then as far as the industry.

Instagram wasn’t really a thing yet the way it is now.

Facebook evolved significantly.

Tik Tok wasn’t even an idea yet.

Spotify was not around ,.. but we had Napster and Myspace *laughs*

Releasing music isn’t just releasing music anymore, it’s also about becoming a master of digital marketing, old school physical marketing, and everything that goes into being a content curator.

If asked, I would say YES, it’s nerve wracking. 

Yes, it’s intimidating.

Yes, it's thrilling.

There is this intriguing sense of quiet stillness in the heart of the project that comes as a result of being both finished, and barely begun, and that’s a space I have resided in for the majority of the past year;  Josh and I were at the end of that creative cycle, and we were setting our sights towards the future, and that’s when the journey ended for and with him, and ever since I’ve been taking sure, but steady steps, ensuring progress while also giving myself a healthy pace to keep.

The Summer activities took me away from some projects, mainly the website, but now as things calm down, there are intentions to get back into working on it, starting with adding these blogs.

Even if some major components have been on ice, one thing that I am so glad that I’ve kept up with, is these blog entries - they keep my head in the game, help cultivate balance, and they offer useful perspectives when I go back and read the entries, each one like a little time capsule.

The next time I write, it will be Samhain, the final harvest, on November 1st, 2O23.

I very much look forward to sharing new developments with you all at that time.

Till then, 

JC