Summer, Friends, Weeds, Playlists
I’m off my plan. I intended to post regularly for anyone curious about where songs and stories go once you send them into the world. But these are unusual times. The world is wobbly, and I recently lost one of my close friends — my Dad. He left in May. Life was better because of him and it feels askew now. Still, he’s showing up in songs, and in my current project, Enter the Muses.
There’s a lyric he once gave me to put to music, a poem called Consider the Seed, about a bright plant that bursts into the air and doesn’t care if it just might turn out to be a weed.
He was amused by such thoughts. His poem became a nice song, literally, a weed song. He laughed.
Well, whether my Dad’s song or any other of these tunes and stories turn out to be weeds or blooms or mushrooms or forests, it’s time to get back to dropping seeds and seeing what becomes of them.
Here’s what’s happened since the last post…
The songs are finding their way onto influencer playlists. In the streaming world, playlists are like eddies, and some playlists — compiled by professionals — are like rip currents. In the last few weeks a handful of the Colorshow songs (One and Only, Be With You and Indian summer) have been incorporated into popular playlists with over a million followers. That bodes well for the songs going forward.
At the same time, new listeners have been sharing feedback: #VFame (with a quarter of a million followers) thought the vocal on Indian Summer was “a voice with a very striking husky point” and liked the song’s melody, rhythm and production. #DaniloDiaz said of One and Only, “Thank you for releasing this amazing song! I loved it. It has a nice and engaging sound along with beautiful musical instruments.” And mystery writer #AnnAugustine said, “I absolutely love Be With You! The music and writing is fresh and inspiring.”
Just when this old world starts getting you down, people lift you up! Many thanks to all who are listening and commenting and forwarding the songs to others. That’s how they have found their way to seventeen counties on four continents.
Coming up: Soon, links will post to a batch of short stories on https://www.edgumbrecht.com. Before year end we’ll also post links to the fiction books, Shadow of a Mouse, The Adjusters, and Silt.
In the Fall, album #2, Enter the Muses will be released. We’ll preview some of the tunes here in the weeks ahead.
And anyone interested in learning about an amazing man, Don Gumbrecht, get inspired here: https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/24993326/donald-gumbrecht/huntington-station/new-york/m-a-connell-funeral-home. Miss you, Pops.
Enjoy your summer everybody.