Happy new 2022! Hey, that rhymes. I guess I’ve started the year off poetically.

So traditionally this is the time for us to start new things. New places to experience. New careers. Or new paths within the same career. Congratulations to the 23 musicians and groups who just received grants from Club Passim to further develop their projects and careers. In late December, Passim announced the recipients of their annual Iguana Music Fund grants. Besides musicians, they include an organization creating learning activities at assisted living facilities, and a group working on a concert to fight hunger in Medford. It sounds like “music making things better,” yes!

SAMW Café thoughts….

I never met David Surette. But the comments I read about him online were absolutely heartwarming. Lots of people who met him at songwriting/music camps. People who just discovered his music who had a chance meeting with him. A writer who ordered a Surette solo album from his neighborhood record store in Maine, came back to pick it up a week later, and then had it handed to him by David himself because David happened to be at the store giving a workshop. Many stories of David Surette coming off as a very regular human being – very comfortable with himself…and making those he met very comfortable. And after he disarms you with that, then obliterating you with Wow Factor musicianship.

So after reading all that and hearing from some listeners expressing their regrets, but also their appreciation for having met or known David, I saw all these SAMW photo’s outside the radio station door. They have been there for a long time. So I have seen them many times, of course. But after Dec 26th, I noticed and recognized one that I had not recognized before. The eyes, the beard. This time I knew who it was: David Surette.

Well, here we go. Another time around. May you thrive in your personal pursuits, projects, activities, etc. And may we all have what we need.

Thanks for your interest in the music. Be safe, be smart, and spread some laughs when and where you can.

~ Perry