Hello Friends and Neighbors,

It's with great pleasure and anticipation that we've tuned up our instruments and warmed up our voices in your city today. Thank you for coming out to join us in the festivities! Since our gathering is a musical one I have some musings on the subject...

When my daughter was born I spent quite a while trying to decide what song she would first hear when she came home from the hospital. The first song in her life! What record would I play for her? I had been playing guitar and singing since I was 8 years old and yet it never occurred to me that I could sing her that first song myself. Although we ended up listening to some great recorded music that day (the Melodians, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal trio, just fantastic) lately I've been considering the place where the recordings end and the soulful homemade singing and playing can begin.

Yes, these days I have a vision of a new and improved America! A singing, dancing, freewheeling, shaking, inclusive America. Someone once asked me "Dan, how can we sing Cock-a-doodle-doo when there are all these crazy things happening in the world?" That's just it! That's why we sing! It restores our spirits and gives us hope for the future, it gives us a sense of life's best possibilities. When we make music together we share our stories. We welcome each other into our lives. We give our children new ideas for social living and in return they show us how to dance like bears, or birds, or ice cream cones. And we have fun...unbelievable fun.

I love being in the world of families because these are the people (from lack of sleep perhaps) who seem most likely to step into the unknown, and spontaneous casual music making is, for most people, the unknown. I can't say that it won't feel a little awkward the first time someone suggests to dinner guests that they all sing "Rock Island" or "El Canario" before the meal but I can guarantee that it will be memorable and probably exciting. The first time family and friends sing together in any capacity new traditions are made, bonds are created, spirits are lifted, and the world suddenly becomes a more musical and peaceful place.

Thank you for joining us today. It may look at first like a show or a performance with a band and an audience but in truth we're all in it together. Think of it as a house party or family reunion, or neighborhood block party. Some of us have instruments but everyone has a voice or dancing feet or clapping hands. This is our day together and when the house lights go up and we all head on down the road, let's be sure to make it a musical one!

Love,
Dan