November 3, 2023
Today is Shawn’s birthday! My brother, my drummer and bandmate for 50 years. How important is this birthday? Incredibly. You see, a few short weeks ago Shawn had a stroke. Yes, my brother got hit with the same thing that nearly ended my life five years ago. The good news first. He is doing great. After a very scary onset with all the horrible signs of a stroke, Shawn’s wife Alison immediately called 911 and got him to the hospital. Did I mention that Alison is a nurse?
It was her fast recognition and response that saved the day.
Shawn is doing rehab. For us, that means playing the guitar for hours every day. He is quickly progressing. All his speech came back, and most of the numbness and muscle memory. All that remains is the fine motor skills needed to play music. We are all thrilled. And today we celebrate his birthday.
This Sunday - I’m doing my History of Rock Concert at the Ohmann Theatre in Lyons, NY. The show is FREE and starts at 6:30 PM. Brett and I will be joined by Letizia and Steve Orlando, Jr. It’s the same band that played the Founder’s Day Event a couple of weeks ago. Our guests that night were my colleague Carol Jacobe and four brilliant student vocalists.
The “lecture” is really more like a concert. We’ll be playing lots of great songs. Come on out and bring your singing voice.
Next week we take The Artist & the Astronaut to Houston. We are honored to be bringing our great award-winning film to the “scene of the crime” so to speak. Jerry Carr’s mission to Skylab was launched into space 50 years ago next week. For more info on our journey visit: https://www.theartistandtheastronaut.com/
GRAIL - This is my first mention of GRAIL. I want you to know… and this is way ahead of any announcement. I have been asked to be on a team with some great, I mean really great writers. We are writing a new Rock Opera. It will be a fully staged musical. Plans are to produce and premiere it in England. With the “making of” to be filmed at Abbey Road in London. The Emmy award-winning composer Bob Christianson and the brilliant author Bruce Coville! Yeah, I know. Every day is a blast and a half.
LT Owl Says, “What?” Not Whoo. My latest children’s book illustration was just published. And the beat goes on.
Stay tuned.