Here's my next song. This one was full of craft learning, especially on the lyric side and also choosing the vocal rhythm. It's an early demo of my performing but it captures the song. Lyrics: V1 Standing, edge of toes / reaching, back of the shelf. An old forgotten paper / slowly falls to the floor. Dust in the evening light / breath briefly holds inside Clearing vision. Recognition/ Touching it, the years collapse PC Clock slowing. School’s closing. Final bell getting near. Chorus Dandelion dreams / kite-ribboned strings / whirling, feet off the ground Dandelion dreams / kite-ribboned strings / na na-a V2 Bicycles through rain soaked streets / double movies, second free Fishing lines ‘til evening time / cutting home through the woods Whispering secrets in the night / initials carved in the bark Boxes packed truck outside / (music only) PC Clock slowing. School’s closing. Final bell getting near. Chorus Dandelion dreams / kite-ribboned strings / whirling, feet off the ground Dandelion dreams / kite-ribboned strings / na na-a Dandelion dreams / kite-ribboned strings / whirling, feet off the ground Dandelion dreams / kite-ribboned strings / na na-a Dandelion dreams / kite-ribboned strings / whirling, feet off the ground Dandelion dreams / kite-ribboned strings / na na-a

I wanted to upgrade my monitoring headphones in the studio and a successful touring friend of mind recommended these IEM's which replaced his $6000 pair. They are absolutely awesome and I would recommend anyone to buy these if they're looking to jump in IEM's for under $120. Linsoul KZ ZS10 PRO 2 In Ear Monitor IEM Get the custom cable to make it easy to rest over your ears :) Linsoul Tripowin Zonie IEM Cable @Kaleb Blankenship @Luke Girdlestone

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Hi everyone — I'm excited to share the following. This community has played a key role in keeping me moving forward musically since I joined about 1.5 years ago. That period coincided with a meaningful shift for me: moving from music being something I was deeply passionate about but not fully focused on, to becoming a professional part-time solo gigging musician. More importantly, it changed how I see myself — I now see myself as a musician. After 35 years of mostly “bedroom” playing and singing, this marks a real milestone for me. Over the past few months, I’ve been focusing on what comes next and what I want from music long-term. The answer is clear. I’m focusing on original music — writing it, performing it live, and building a sustainable indie artist path over time. (I already shared the early fruits of this shift with my first original song in a separate thread.) I wrote the attached document for myself, as a way to gain clarity and create personal accountability. It also serves as a practical “how-to” guide for the path I’m trying to build. It’s been developing over these same months and is now complete, and I’m sharing it here in case it resonates with anyone. Thanks to everyone — especially @Luan Krasniqi — for helping me reach this current milestone. PS. I printed this out and bound it. I then presented it to my wife. She read it and had some questions. We had a good discussion. She gave me her blessing. Full steam ahead.

This is part of my recent 5 year road map to become a full time originals musician. There are a lot of songs ahead of me. And I needed a first. This was it. It mostly landed. But not fully. My self assessment is a 6 out of 10. Some of the words don’t land for me. The chorus lyrics needs some more syllables to match the melody. But I do like the build. And I like the hook. The chorus melody is generally strong. And many of the lyrics i like. But I won’t be able to leave my day job with this one. Still, it’s above the threshold that I’m going to play it at my gig tonight (if I can remember it). It took me about 6 hours to get the lyrics. 15 minutes for the music. Pretty much how I view my songwriting strengths and areas to work on.