Amazing. The first month of 2010 is already behind us. What happened? Well, musically, not much for me I’m afraid. I have been super busy with “other stuff” (like making a living) and haven’t made the time for recording. There are so many things I WANT to do with this new set-up I have (Thank you again Jeff Bohnhoff – and Happy Birthday!). Among them are transferring tracks from my old portable machine onto the new iMac and seeing if I can improve the mix for a new master track.
I need to find a solution to music transcription that is not so labor intensive as re-producing my guitar parts and vocal melodies with a midi-keyboard. I need to produce some scores for the songs I’m writing for Joseph Sheppherd. I know Sibelius software has a candidate solution, but the price makes me hesitate.
I got some news from home that our dear friend Rosalie Moeser passed away in Virginia (at the age of 96). That’s her on the left of the picture with me and my mom – taken back in 2005. Rosalie was an incredible woman. When I was a kid she gave me piano lessons and acting lessons and was one of the adults who spoke to kids with the same dignity afforded to grown-ups. She was the mother of about six kids (I think I’ve counted right) and endured the pre-mature passing of two of them and of her husband Ralph (an extraordinary character himself). When I was first married, Rosalie, then in her mid 60’s, became a real-estate agent and negotiated the purchase and subsequent sales of the two homes I owned in Virginia. She was a vibrant soul even through the pain she suffered near the end. Thank you Rosalie for the example of a life well-lived!
The current bright spot in the month of January has been the arrival of my dear mom, Katy. She’ll be staying here in AZ for a while. In fact, in 2 days, her brother Dale Witherow, my artist uncle, will join us for a week. I’m looking forward to a gathering with them and both my daughters and new son in law.
I want say CONGRATULATIONS to my friend Robert Reid Gillies for winning the Grand Prize in the Songdoor Songwriting contest. Although we, his friends, had already told him he was top-quality, we couldn’t back it up with a bunch of cool prizes and a song publishing contract. Now it’s official – Robert is fantastic!
One more thing: my friend Moro Baruk and his wife Paule have lived in Haiti for over 30 years. Beside their artistic crafts and jewelry, they have provided jobs as well as spiritual mentorship to many there. Please take a moment to pray for their safety and strength. I do so daily. Thanks.










Jim has spent years as a columnist, publishing many newspaper articles about Agent Orange and our government’s feined ignorance of it’s dangers. Jim was welcomed into Viet Nam “as a long lost brother” he says, and given the treatments there that have helped overcome the physical pain. More importantly, he has received a measure of forgiveness and love from a people with every reason to hate him, that has yielded a great spiritual healing in his soul. He has written a book about his war, and post-war, experience which will be published in Viet Nam next summer. All of his proceeds will go into a fund for the treatment of Viet Nam’s Agent Orange victims. Jim says “it’s the least I can do”. 
Each year I coordinate the activities for the Annual Music Industry Weekend at Bosch Baha’i School. It is a labor of love. This year it seemed to pay dividends as this group of musicians, though fewer in number than past years, included many new faces and some very talented ones at that. Meeting them was a sheer delight. I wrote a full report for the
I also wanted to comment about songwriting. For the past 3 years, Alan James and I have hosted a “songwriter’s round table” where we share our views on songwriting and also some tricks for breaking writing block, etc. This year, several of our participants launched into songwriting during the weekend and that to me was very gratifying.
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