Or so they say. I think practice, more importantly, makes fun, especially when it comes to music. There’s really nothing in the world quite like sitting down with cool people and making good noise.
And y’all, I am so happy and proud to report that Lucy agrees.
A little musician in the making. 😊 My heart is so happy.
(But we never did quite figure out how to play the song we were working on, because Lucy just really needed to strum on the instruments instead. Which, honestly, was so much better.)
Lucy has inherited, it seems, many things from me. My temper, my stubbornness, my curiosity, the shape of my eyes, my sleeping habits. We discover something new every day – some little look or mannerism – and it’s fascinating and funny and wonderful. Most wonderful of all?
Lucy loves music.
Musical toys have always been her favorite.
She’s super intrigued by my dad’s guitar and mandolin.
She likes it when I sing to her.
It’s been so lovely, to share music with my baby. And I knew that when we moved, we’d finally have the space for something I’ve always wanted, something that would bring even more music into our home.
It got here over the weekend.
And, y’all, it’s a big hit.
I am over the moon. Lucy and I agree: This is the best new toy ever.
My parents came to visit last week. Graham’s work has been insane, and some nights he’s been up until 3:00 a.m. or later. We were struggling. We were both tired, our house was a mess. The cat’s feeling neglected. I don’t even want to talk about laundry.
We needed help. And we got it, and more.
My family has always done music. I’ve posted about it a lot, and I’m just so elated that Lucy seems to love music, too. My dad brought out his mandolin, and she was just fascinated.
Absolutely entranced. And she wanted to try it for herself.
She cried when he put it away. She’s never done that before, with any toy. (We got it back out and gave it back to her, of course.)
These little moments, they just keep coming. Lucy is an easy baby, but life around her has been generally chaotic. These sweet new memories make all that chaos seem like nothing at all.
I’ve mentioned before that I come from a pretty musical family. It’s how we celebrate, how we have fun, and how we share special moments and memories. And so it doesn’t surprise me at all that around the time I was born, my parents wrote me a song.
I don’t think I realized just how special that was until I was much older, and now I’m so grateful to have it, to hear it still, and to be able to share it now with you.
That’s my mom singing. My dad’s best friend produced the recording (many years ago). And he’s also drawn an adorable onesie for Baby Girl, who seems to already love music, based on how she squirms around in my belly when I sing to her.
How perfect is it? Seriously. He even captured Merlin’s magnificent tail! It was meant to be a guest book at our baby shower, but I just couldn’t let anyone sign it, so our guests signed a plain onesie, and this one will go in a frame that she can have as a keepsake.
At any rate, I’ve been trying for the last couple of weeks to write a song for Baby Girl, and I’ve made some progress. But I’m not there yet. As with many things in life, I think it’s just going to come to me all at once, when the time is right. Doubtless the time will be right when I’m preoccupied with something else, but that’s fine. Special things are worth a pause in the action.
Sad news yesterday, but I’m so grateful to be alive in a time when she was, too. So this one’s for Loretta, an old video of a good song.
Our time here may be brief, but when we leave our stories behind – our words, our music, our art – part of us really does live forever. Thank you for your music, Loretta Lynn, and for sharing it with the world.
In my family, it’s not a reunion unless there’s music. There’s always a guitar or three, someone singing, a harmonica and a mandolin in the background – you get the picture. A family day just isn’t complete without some good noise. And now that Graham’s family is part of my family and vice versa, it seems only right to share the music. Which is exactly what we did this past weekend.
And of course, I want to share it with all of you, too. 😊
So, here’s a favorite of mine and my dad’s, written by Gillian Welch:
And here we are goofing off on a crowd-pleaser, Wagon Wheel, with a family singalong and a cute mash-up.
We had so much fun, and I think the family did, too. I hope we all get to come together again soon, but until then, I’m grateful for the time we had, and for the happy memories.
Hello from the other side! Of Christmas, that is. We had a wonderful holiday – busy, but so good, and I’m grateful for it. We ate lots of delicious food, spent time with my parents and a few good friends, and made so many happy memories.
And, you know me. Of course, there was music. So we made some musical memories, too.
I mentioned in a post a few months ago that Graham had really taken to the mandolin my Dad brought the last time my parents visited. This visit, we were able to actually sit down and play a couple of songs. It was so much fun, and so cool to see Graham get more comfortable. And luckily, my mom took a couple of videos. I wanted to post them here, because good memories, and especially good music, should always be shared.
This one’s an old gospel song I used to hear all the time growing up.
And here’s a new classic.
Both songs were keyed a little low for me, but it made things a little easier on Graham, so it’s all good. 😊 I hope you enjoyed listening!
And I hope you had a lovely holiday – or, just a lovely weekend – as well!
I love life’s little, unexpected moments. Especially when they involve music. Here’s what happened:
On Saturday night, we went out to a birthday dinner with a couple of very dear friends at one of our favorite local spots. The musical act was setting up for their show that night – a singer and a guitarist – and I happened to strike up a conversation with the guitarist. We talked for a bit about the kinds of things we like to sing and play, and, well, long story short, he invited me up to sing a number. This doesn’t happen often, and as a rule, I never ask. Not my show, you know? But hey, I love to sing, and he was really good, and the singer he was playing with was also really good and very nice, and sometimes, you just let the magic happen.
So, with apologies for the poor quality of this cell phone video, I wanted to share that little bit of magic with all of you, too.
I remain just so, so grateful to live in a community full of wonderful, kind, and enormously talented musicians who graciously give me the opportunity to share the music and make good noise. Nothing better in the entire world.
There’s a phrase musicians use – “find your instrument.” What it means is this: Find the one music-making thing that feels like home when you pick it up and start to play.
I haven’t found mine yet. Or perhaps it’s as simple as my voice, in which case, I will never have to pay for tuning or new strings or a collapsed bridge.
Graham always thought his instrument was the viola. He played it for many years and loved it. It fit into his hands and on his shoulder, and he liked the deeper tones, the more caramel-y timbre. Violins sound like silver. Violas sound like gold. Rich, deep, and still bright and resonant.
But Graham hasn’t picked up his viola in a long time. Over the years we’ve been together, he’s tried his hand at guitar and at piano, he’s picked up a harmonica and banged on a drum set. I figured he’d just lost interest. But now I know – the viola is just not Graham’s instrument. And neither were any of the others.
This is all going somewhere, I promise.
See, my parents came to visit this weekend, and my dad brought up his guitar – the usual – and also a mandolin he bought secondhand. He figured it would be fun to learn to play. He was right, of course. Especially for Graham.
Turns out, the mandolin is Graham’s instrument. And we found it, on a warm Saturday night by the fire in our back garden.
He took to it immediately. My dad was a little jealous (sorry, Dad, if you’re reading this, but you know and I know that it’s true), but was also impressed and happy, and gracious enough to give a few quick lessons.
And before any of us knew it, they were sitting there, picking out songs to play together and laughing like they’d been doing it for years.
It’s actually pretty cool, to see two of your favorite people find a new favorite thing. A most wonderful discovery indeed.
P.S. – I’ve been trying to figure out what to get Graham for his birthday. Now I know. Good thing I have until November to do some research and find exactly the right mandolin!
A Virginia Writer's Diary 