If there’s anything that I sort of expected from this pandemic was that we’d lose a bunch of gigs. I didn’t anticipate we’d lose over a YEAR of shows, but I am happy that people are getting vaccinated and things are slowly getting safer out there, so we’re getting closer to playing some shows (closer – nothing is final yet – and we’re definitely not show-ready, in terms of rust or stamina at this point).

I could go on a forty-page rant about how paranoid, stupid, shitty, and selfish so many people are in this country, but what would be the point? George Carlin said it best, “Think about how stupid the average person is, and realize – half of them are stupider than that!” I did my best to make sure I wasn’t passing around this shit, and thankfully, my precautions and care helped make it so no one I am close to got COVID-19. I’ve heard tales of many friends of friends, and some casual acquaintances suffering through it or losing friends and family to it, but I was fortunate to not know anyone who passed from it (that I know of).

My heart goes out to everyone who suffered loss as a result of this. And my heart goes out to all my fellow musicians and all the wonderful people we rely on (sound and lighting professionals, techs, venue ownership and staff) who suffered HARD as a result of the lockdowns – lockdowns that could have been avoided had we put a system like many other countries had in place, with widespread testing and contact tracing and strict quarantines for the exposed. Things basically every epidemiologist was saying were the way to handle this back in February. Every single one of those countries fared far better than we did through this bullshit. And basically, what it comes down to is that our leadership failed us completely. I’m not saying anything partisan here – Biden might have screwed this up just as bad at first for sure. But let’s get off this for a second and go into happier thoughts.

Like there’s this weird thing that I haven’t experienced for a long time – it’s called “hope”. People are excited about getting their vaccines. People are still wearing masks and practicing social distancing until enough people get the jabs. Everything is going the way it should.

3/4ths of the band (the vulnerable ones) are halfway to being fully vaccinated and we’re already talking to venues about future plans, possibly starting with outdoor shows. This is good. I’m excited to go out and make people happy while I do one of my favorite things – play music with my friends.

We’ve been having rehearsals, planning for the future, refining our show to allow for future expansion of the “show” aspect of it, and honestly, it’s gone GREAT so far. We’re already starting to sound like ourselves again.

It’s going to take some time to build up to our three- or four-hour extravaganzas, but I am very hopeful.

I’m happy about the way attitudes in leadership on the federal level have changed regarding this pandemic.
I’m proud of my efforts to do my small part in helping prevent the spread.
I’m excited for what the future holds, because I think happy times are just around the corner and we can stop losing so many people to this nonsense.
The math with vaccinations looks good. Here’s hoping it stays that way even with all the efforts of the toxic dipshits that hold certain government positions on the state level that keep trying to make it worse.

Stay safe, get a shot if you can, help the elderly and vulnerable get their shots if you can, and don’t lose hope.

Once we’re out there again, I hope to see some smiling faces singing along and dancing to our silliness.

Time to keep putting in my work so that live show experience is the best for everyone present.

Peace and love and good happiness stuff…and peace be the journey!
TMS