March News-in-Brief

March Greetings Everyone! 

Got my second Covid shot yesterday, and I’ve never been so happy to feel chilled and wobbly! I just wish everybody who wants one could immediately get theirs. 

It's all good, but since my brain's not quite firing on all cylinders, I’ll keep it extra-brief this time around. Here we go... 

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CONTENTS of This Newsletter 

1. This month I’ll be playing two (2) streamed shows… 
2. In my studio: oboe project(!), EP progress 
3. TK Poem of the Month: "Haikus for a Short Month" 
4. March Food for Thought: Chuck Close on inspiration 

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1. Live (streamed) Shows in March 

Two weeks from now I’ll be a part of two (2) streaming Folk/Americana “in-the-round” shows. My segment in each show will run about 20-25 minutes, and both are FREE (donation optional). 

The Scoop: 

Sunday, March 14, 2021  6:00pm EST, 5:00pm CST etc. 
—Kid Pan Alley In-the-Round 
…A virtual writers show with Paul Reisler & Cheryl Toth, Georgia Middleman… & Tom Kimmel 
For more info, click HERE 

Tuesday, March 16, 2021 8:00pm EST, 7:00pm CST etc. 
—Music My Mother Would Not Like Showcase Series 
…A streamed concert series (live via Zoom) with Johnsmith, Kitty Donohoe, James Keelahan… & Tom Kimmel 
For more info, click HERE 

NOTE: As these concerts are the same week, I’ll make a point of playing a unique set for each show. 

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2. In the studio: Recording oboist Galit Kaunitz & completing an EP 

a. Galit Kaunitz 

I recently had the privilege of recording a contemporary classical project for Galit Kaunitz, an outstanding oboist and a music professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. Wow! Talk about a completely new field for me—and such a breath of fresh air. 

For more on Galit, click HERE. 

b. I’m completing my EP (tentative title: “The Last Time I Saw Cain.” 

I’m finishing the final track now, then it’ll be time to finalize mixes. Little by little. More on the EP in next month's newsletter. 

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3. TK Poem of the Month: Haiku Challenge 

I was recently challenged to write a haiku-a-day for a month, and it seemed that this past month (with its neat 28 days) would be the perfect time to do it. 

Selections from “Haikus for a Short Month” 


Am I not asleep? 
What’s that on my chest? The cat? 
God, it’s 3 am! 


Pandemic deep dive. 
When it’s over, think we will 
Bob to the surface? 


Dreams and troubled sleep. 
Two o’clock, three, four and five. 
Restless mind syndrome. 


Valentine’s morning. 
My love’s cinnamon oatmeal. 
Slow-cooked and so sweet. 


Español is hard. 
My tongue gets so tangled up. 
¿Tú entiendes? 

10 
Dexter smells better 
Than he did before brushing. 
He still needs a bath. 

11 
Hal David’s lyrics. 
One brief syllable per note 
Burt Bacharach wrote. 

12 
I, white American male 
Dare, quite often, to complain. 
Am I suffering? 

14 
Arctic high pressure. 
Mississippi winter storm. 
No water, no heat. 

16 
A thousand songs, more. 
And what do they add up to? 
Boxes of paper. 

19 
Everywhere I look 
Pop-ups, click bait, eye candy. 
I want my life back. 

20 
Design, what is it? 
Nothing to see here people! 
Oh look, now there is. 

22 
I can hear the birds 
When I wear my hearing aids. 
Without them, silence. 

26 
Sagittarian 
I am, Water Snake, Vata. 
Enneagram: Four. 

27 
I forget to pray 
And then forget prayer exists. 
Will you remind me? 

28 
I’ve come full circle 
And a grand circle it’s been. 
Now the next challenge. 

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4. March Food for Thought 

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.” 

—Chuck Close (b. 1940), painter, artist, photographer 

Till April, Maximum Peace, Love and Understanding, 
TK

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