samcrain.com

Greetings, whoever-reads-this! 

Enjoying a cool house on a hot day. My Central Air unit pooped out on me twice this week, but is now back in business. I was putting off doing some yardwork before because I didn't have an air-conditioned home to cool off in. I'm still putting it off, but now just out of laziness and inertia. I no longer have a good reason. 

Self-discipline sometimes falls short around here. I get things done, but not without fixin' to commence to get around to them first. The only thing I have managed to do with any regularity is practice. At least der scales und arpeggios. Basic calisthenics.

And I'm still making music videos. I don't keep all or even most of them, but there are survivors. Keeping the flame at least flickering on the You Tube page. 

And I'm still working my senior citizen part-time job of health management. So far I've had two treatments. No sweat, at least so far. They talk to you for a minute or two, then you sit for about 40 minutes in a La-z-boy recliner with an IV hooked up to you. When you're done, the machine plays a little tune--actually just a riff-- and you're on your way out of there. 

The treatments, called Immunotherapy, are every 3 weeks for the next year. Very manageable. So far so good with advancing age. 

And that's about all the news I can think up. Thanks as ever for stopping in and reading. Much love to you! More later. 

Greetings, whoever-reads-this!

 It's been an eventful couple of months. My visit to the ER on March 2nd(see previous blog) set the tone for the whole month. I had to wear a Catheter for all of March and much of April. 8 weeks in all.. Much of the time, I wasn't aware of it, but there were moments where I was very aware of the medical contraption hooked onto my johnson. And feeling like I might have to wear it forever…

They operated on me on April 3rd. Removed my left kidney. several lymph nodes, and part of my Colon. Five days in the hospital. I've never had to stay even overnight, but it wasn't bad. Actually it was kinda peaceful, for the most part. I wouldn't recommend hospital food though…

So I got a more-or-less clean bill of health, but I have some follow-up treatments. Every three weeks for the next year. It's called Immunotherapy, and is supposed to be much less debilitating than chemo. No hair or weight loss. There is more maintenance now that I'm down to one kidney. Changing my diet, and making sure to stay hydrated. 

I sorta had a relapse, and went back into the hospital for another 5 days. Learned my lesson as far as sticking to the program. 

There's only one item left in this busy-ass year to take care of, and that's Dentures. There are four parts to the process, the first two by an Oral Surgeon, and the last two back at my Dentist's office. The first thing they do is to yank out most of your teeth. so I've got roughly a quarter of it done. 

No pain to speak of, but some hellacious side effects. For two days, my face was swollen. I looked like a Chipmunk with my cheeks all puffed out. Then I had discoloration on my face- a bright yellow/orange. My color is back to normal now, thank God. I go in Friday for a follow-up, and we take it from there. 

Eventually, I'll have a new set of choppers. I had some missing teeth already, virtually nothing in front, so eating was already compromised. It's a real challenge right now with even fewer teeth, but I'm discovering a few more foods that don't involve chewing. Rolling with the punches. And then another adjustment  getting used to these new teeth. 

With all the punches I've rolled with, I'm practically invertebrate. 

As things begin to settle, I'm hoping to get back on the guitar. Some practicing here and there, but not a full-fledged effort. Yet.  Music is one of the few things that makes sense in this nutty world. 

Well that's my news for now. Thanks as ever for stopping in and reading all this drivel. One thing I'm thankful for in this life is my friends. I got a call from one of them today, just to check and see how I was doing, with all this health hubbub. Made my day. 

Again, thanks for stopping in and wading through all this. Much love to you! More later.

Greetings, whoever-reads-this! On March 2nd, I had to go to the ER, where they kept me pretty much all night. Sent me home with a catheter stuck in me. Tomorrow will make 2 weeks with this contraption in. I called the Nurse to see when(or if)I could have it taken out, and she's supposed to get back to me. 

I have surgery on April 3rd, which is supposed to fix this whole kidney thing by removing one of them. Worst case scenario is that I have to leave the catheter in until then. But April 3rd is just around the corner.

The thing about the catheter is that it's hard to get it just right as far as fitting. I can walk around with it in, but I have to slow things down considerably. I miss my mobility. 

Well, this too shall pass. Eventually I'll be back to my old self- or at least a better version. Thanks for stopping in and reading. Much love to you! More later. 

Greetings, whoever-reads-this! I've been remiss as far as writing in here lately. Gonna try and post something more often than once a month.

I've always thought of March as the actual beginning of the year. January and February are just continuations of last year, as far as I'm concerned. And March is quite often a time of beginnings and/or endings. That remains to be seen this year, but at least it's the end of Winter.

These past couple of years have been spent looking after my brother. His health took a serious nosedive- heart failure and cirrhosis. . At first it was just weekends, then a couple days out of the week. We reached a plateau of sorts in there, where we could run his errands and even get a bite to eat before he ran out of energy. Bittersweet but still as good a time as we could manage. 

Then more nosedives. A couple of emergency 911 calls, two Hospital stays(or was it three?) and then off to the Nursing Home for a couple months. That was the worst phase, due to the noisy atmosphere and unconscionable prices. And I was stressing about how we were going to keep paying them. 

From there, it was another trip to the Hospital, and then to Home Hospice Care. This last phase was also stressful, but not so out-of-control. He died in his sleep on October 24th of last year. 

So in these past couple months, I've been adjusting to the loss. Our Dad passed in 1992, Mom in 2007, and my brother last year, so I'm the last man standing. But it's time to get back to my stuff, working on my own life. 

Music news. Still practicing most every day, and changing some things around. Working on playing more chords in my solos, and defining the form of the tune better than I was doing. The chords tend to round out the sound, give it more depth. So, changing my approach a bit. 

This being my year to get back to my own stuff, I can see getting out to play a gig or two. Or more if it works out. Not back to 6-10 dates a month like I did when I first retired, but a bit more active. We'll see. 

Medical news. Next month I'm going to have an operation. They're taking out a kidney, and fixing some lower GI stuff. I'll be in there for a couple days, something I've never had to do. But it'll make coming home that much nicer.

I'm also getting Dentures a bit later in the year. Another adjustment. 

And that's my news for now.  A longer post than usual, but more stuff. Thanks as ever for stopping in and reading. Much love to you! More later. 

Greetings, whoever-reads-this! I had a LOT of traffic yesterday, at least for my humble page, with 192 hits. And I'd imagine out of that number that some of them read my Blog(s).

My calendar in 2026 looks like my calendar in 2013, only now it's medical appointments rather than gigs. That was the year- actually halfway into it- that I left the world of dayjob. And before the age of 60- a couple months shy of my 59th birthday. For awhile in there, I was playing 6 to 10 times a month.

This was lots of fun for the first couple years, and then it got to be more work. My own group sort of disintegrated about then as well, which was the other nail in the coffin.  Since then, I've done both sideman jobs and gigs where I hire the band- so I still get a few of my bandleader desires fulfilled. 

At this point, I still practice most every day, and maintain a YouTube page with videos I make. I play out a couple times in a year. I've also reached the age where I'm starting to have some health issues, hence all the medical stuff on the calendar. Just a few things that need fixing. So I'm trying to play ball with them. 

It's all about quality of life. So far there's just enough on the schedule to give me the little bit of structure I need. Plus they're supposed to fix these problems down the road. Like my gig calendar of old, I'm trying not to let it get out of hand..

  And that's all I've got to say for the moment. Thanks as ever for stopping in and reading. Much love to you! More later. 

After about a week of freezing, we get up to a balmy 22 degrees. Tomorrow is supposed to be even a bit warmer, before we go back into the teens. Today was the day to shovel the driveway, and get most all the snow off of my vehicle before heading out for a food run.

 It was also the day to get the hell out of the house. After a week of captivity, I could feel Jack Torrance starting to emerge, just a little nuttiness. This second hibernation will take me until next Monday, at which point I'll be again ready to fly the coop. 

Music news.  These hibernations are good for guitar practice. I've been working up some old new tunes, like Airegin and Waltz for Debby. And Ladybird. 

All these involve a lot more chording than I've been doing lately. This is a good thing, on several fronts. It's good for my soloing to mix it up with some chords(something I often forget to do), rounds things out. Also good to define the form so that people playing with you know where the hell you are. I had a drummer bitch to me about that. He bitched about damn near everything, but at least this once had a valid point. And last but not least, the chords make it more interesting for the listener. 

So I've got a fair number of music videos to put on the page. I wish I could upload them here, but YouTube is still alive and swell. Got a whopping 703 subscribers at the moment, maybe someday to get all the way to 1000. As I understand it, that's the point at which you can make money with your page. But then I'm sure there are all kinds of restrictions that go with it. 

That's all that's going on in my little corner of the world. Thanks as ever for stopping in and wading through all this Much love to you! More later.

Greetings, whoever-reads-this! It's a beautiful sunny day out there, even if it is still Winter. The next four--excuse me, five-  days or so, it's supposed to be cold as all getout, so I've made sure today that I have all the necessary items for a 5-day hibernation. 

This is one perk of being an old retired guy. You're able to take breaks when Mother Nature gets in one of Her moods. I feel like I'm entitled, having spent 26 years of my life taking shit from the public. 4 years as a Bank employee and 22 years with the State. I like to think I've helped people in my job, particularly working for the State. But I've definitely taken a lot of their guff in those years. 

So I'm settling in, ready to enjoy a few days hunkered down. Netflix is featuring many if not all of the James Bond movies. Between the ages of 9 and 11--1963-65--I was a huge James Bond fan. Saw all the stuff at a Movie Theatre, which was of course the only way to view it back then. The films are not as good as I remembered them, but there's plenty of action and excitement left over.   

The guitar is getting a good workout these days. I've stepped up the practicing, which is improving my technique, which adds fun to the whole process, since you can play more of what's in your head. And the more fun you have, the more you want to play. Once you get the ball rolling, it feeds on itself. 

I've got a number of videos now for possible inclusion on my YouTube page. That's still Where the Action Is as far as my musical exploits. With my brother ensconced in what's got to be a better place--he passed away last October after a long illness--, I now have more time to devote to music. Still adjusting to his loss, but trying to move forward..

Gigs are something I still enjoy, but on a more occasional basis. That way it's fresher, both for me and the folks I'm playing for. And the folks I'm playing with. Plus I feel like I get better crowds , better than I'd probably get if I played out all the time. So I'll eventually have something to share in the way of a gig. Hoping it ends up being at The Pharmacy. It's my new favorite place to play. 

 I made a reference earlier to a TV show from the 60s which featured the top bands lip syncing their current hits. I remember a lot of shows with Paul Revere and the Raiders playing in the snow. Where the Action Is was the show. If you remember that too, you're pretty old yourself.    

That's pretty much all I had to share for now in the way of news. Thanks as ever for stopping in and reading this mess. Much love to you! More later. 

ps The bit about my brother being ensconced in a better place is my view of things, not any kind of pronouncement. One thing I think I know about this life is that it ain't over when the body goes. As far as what follows, I don't know. I just feel that something does.

Greetings, whoever-reads-this!

I'm starting to bounce back after this past year and all its troubles. My brother is in what I surmise to be a better place, and life here is picking back up where it left off. 

Music news. The guitar is getting a more-or-less daily workout these days, and I'm making more videos. Many of them end up on the cutting room floor, so to speak, but there is usually at least one survivor. I'm workin' it..

In July of this year, I'll have been playing guitar for 60 years. I've just about got my picking hand where I want it. 

So far no gigs for 2026, but I'd just as soon get through the Winter first. Something always comes up. 

Old guy news. I've got to have an operation in the next couple months or so to take care of some plumbing problems. Losing a Kidney and the Sigmoid Colon. Nothing life-threatening, just stuff that has to go. They're supposed to keep me for another 2 to 5 days after that. I've never had to stay there before, so this will be a new experience. Maybe not the most pleasant experience, but it's new- and just a couple days. 

The upside to these extra medical appointments is that you get to know your Doctors and Nurses and Techs a little bit better, which makes the whole process smoother. Still a pain in the ass, but easier…

The other adventure for the year is getting Dentures. That all begins in April. Hopefully these are all the things I've gotta go through as far as my health, at least for awhile. 

This is probably too much information, but oh well. Thanks for stopping in and wading through it. Much love to you! More later. 

Greetings, whoever-reads-this!

I found out today that guitarist Rick Haydon has passed away. He taught for many years at SIU Edwardsville. I had the good fortune to take two lessons with him back in 1986. After hearing me play for a bit, he told me I had wimpy technique. 

It didn't hurt my feelings. In fact, I agreed with him. I had the habit of anchoring the pinky of my right hand, which was greatly limiting my range of motion. If you have big hands, that might work to use a finger as an anchor. But with my mitts, it wasn't quite getting there. 

He gave me a scale exercise in major 6ths, which was nice and tricky. I had it pretty well for my second lesson. But the main thing he did for me was to un-anchor my right hand. My  technique was vastly improved. It took a good year before it felt right though. 

I've read in recent years about the George Benson picking style. It's supposed to be greatly liberating as far as fingerboard fluency. But I don't want to go through another adjustment year. So far so good as far as what I've already got going. 

RIP Rick Haydon. I'm sure you've helped many student guitarists over the years. Even this one. 

A moment of jocularity at Arlington's. Don't remember when this was taken, but we were clearly having a good time. Mark Russillo, Lou Humphrey, Frank Parker, Ben Taylor and me. 

Arlington's, if it still exists, is on Broadway. In New York, Broadway  covers all of Manhattan and then some. In Springfield IL, it's one of the shortest streets in the city. Just  2 or 3 blocks. More of a cubbyhole than anything. 

I used to do a gig on the 31st, with Mark(see picture)at Springfield High School. It was a Harmonica Masterclass. I played chords for him, and his girlfriend held up the signs. She was the spokesmodel. It was a total cacophony, a high school full of kids, but a good hour's fun.

Some of the nicest New Year's Eve gigs were through the Arts Council. You're done nice and early, and there usually aren't that many drunks in the audience. Well, if they're quiet I don't really care if they're drunk, just as long as they're quiet. But that's usually not the case if you're good and pickled. 

Well somebody will be playing at all the main bars in town, plus a lot of private parties. I'm going to watch the Twilight Zone Marathon on TV and quietly ring in the new year. This is Cold and Flu Season, and I got some of that, so I'll also be continuing to mend. 

Happy New Year! Much love! More later.