NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

New blog. New Year's resolutions. These are not in order. Some necessarily have "must do by..." dates, and some do not. One needs goals in order to be able to measure progress. They also provide a tentative focus, to minimize the risk of getting distracted.

(1) Another album of "keepers" (10-12 songs) by the end of the year.

(2) Enough new collaborations (4-6) to fill out a "Joe Plays with Others" album. By mid-July.

(3) Record the Christmas Roadkill CD. With The Band. (There are already enough songs for this one.)

(4) Attend Pineyfest.

(5) Spend an extra couple of days in Nashville and perform at a couple of writers' nights.

(6) Record the "Joe Plays with Others" album with a band of Pineyfesters.

(7) At least one new (and ideally paying) gig for Concert Season, in addition to the regular ones.

(8) Join a new group of performing musicians (and, if one exists, a writers' group) wherever the new job is.

(9) Keep up memberships in N.E. Oregon Folklore Society and Blue Mountain Flddlers, and arrange to perform at at least one each of their shows in 2007.

(10) Enter songs in the Wheeler Co. Bluegrass Festival and Woody Guthrie Song Competition.

(11) Start a Music Savings Account--so much a month out of the paycheck that'll only be used to support the Music Habit.

Pretty hefty list for a part-time gig, isn't it? It's part-time because I don't make a living at it--and I've insisted the Music Habit support itself. #11 on the list above is a step away from that--creating a source of outside money that isn't income--to allow the process to be accelerated. We'll see how it works.