Shooting Dulcimerica Deluxe. — Shooting *Dulcimerica Deluxe*.

Hello, blog-reading friend! I think we’ve pretty much agreed to only see each other once a month, right? I know, babe. There’s so much going on, so many things to consider, quite an abundance of knowledge to acquire and simply astounding amounts of shit to get done. Besides, you know where to find me.

A couple of years back, I laid out a plan to get better organized and energized, which included spending less time on social media, believe it or not. I joined Facebook with an eye towards marketing, and I stayed for the social aspects of it, so pimpin’ is what I’m largely doing there. In fact, a majority of my posts have all been composed at once, at some point, and then scheduled to go live over the course of weeks or even months.

Thank god for Buffer.

I will like the occasional post, send birthday wishes, offer congrats and will comment on something non-music-related from time to time, but have largely kept Facebook at arms-length while working to balance the new schedule that I’d curated, as well as carving research time out of a jam-packed schedule. Gotta learn new things to do new things and you’ve gotta make the time.

In 2019, I did a lot of sitting and listening to people smarter than me, and watched their demonstrations, feeling their excitement for the subjects, and couldn’t wait to try out each new piece of the puzzle. Being a late-bloomer has its benefits, for example, you can still surprise yourself with what you don’t know and be okay with it, because now you know.

That’s so much better than god, I’m so stupid, why am I just now figuring this out?

It’s like dehumidifiers.

I’ve had pretty bad allergies for years now, and finally came to the conclusion that I was pretty much allergic to our home, but just didn’t put enough checkmarks in all the columns until Jae says, “we should get a dehumidifier and see if that does anything.” And there it is. I’ve heard about them for most of my life, know people that have them, never did the research, never asked the questions, pretty much just never paid attention and I ordered three of the little suckers and put them in strategic locations all around the house about a week ago.

[Heavenly music cue]

Really? It was that simple? What a joy to know! And I love all the pretty green lights all over the house. We’ll probably save a ton of money on our water bill because we can just suck it out of the air now.

ADHD makes it very difficult for me to learn new things, let alone follow through on them, and I’ve learned to tame the Monkey Mind over the years, lull it into submission by channeling my energy into consistently scheduled activity. With Patreon, I built a subscription service on the back of this schedule, this timetable of regular productions, weekly video shows, monthly recordings, it’s like fiber for the ADHD person, it makes you more regular, and that’s always a good thing. Artistic constipation is never a good thing.

Of course, this isn’t “art for art’s sake” in the slightest. In fact, as channeled through the lens of Patreon, I’m putting education front and center, which works in astoundingly cyclical ways. The seeking of knowledge and the acquiring of knowledge are rewarded, I think, by the sharing of knowledge. The by-product of the process? Lots and lots of sweet music.

Dulcimerica’s 475th episode will kick off the 13th year of this show on Friday, January 3rd, 2020. It just so happens that, at the same time, an exciting new spin-off will be debuting its first episodes exclusively on Patreon.

Dulcimerica Deluxe! will feature a series of 5-10 minute video modules that focus on one concept at a time. Each concept will be presented for novice/beginner, intermediate and advanced players in separate video modules. The intention is to build a database of content that players of all skill levels can access based on their interests, making their own track through the content. Lots of on-screen graphics and voice-over narration with very little of me on-screen. Each module will be scripted and storyboarded in order to present the information in a concise manner.

While watching all of these different types of teachers on YouTube and Vevo, the one thing that would strike me, besides the info they delivered, was the visual presentation. If the production was clean, and they spoke clearly, I could hang with them, but if you could see their laundry behind them or they seemed distracted, then I tuned out. A few of these YouTube folks were absolute wicked in their presentations and I’m not ashamed to say that I’m stealing some of that mojo going forward into 2020.

Here’s an exclusive sneak peek of the very first module. The studio upgrades really reflect in this one. (THANK YOU, Patrons!)

I think it’s gonna be another great year and I hope that you’re just as encouraged about the prospects of 2020. Thanks for your time, I take it seriously, and here’s to another wonderful trip around the sun. May we all have enough sunscreen to go around. Happy New Year!

2020 Vision