November Noise
The holidays. They are upon us. Stay strong.
This newsletter:
Happy November
“Roads I Missed” Update
Nov Show Schedule
Art Print Mailing Club - The Monthly Press
Oct Musings (Plus Today’s)
Books and Podcasts
November
Hello my friends! I’m writing this from Lake Placid, FL. I’m starting to head north today after playing in TX, MS, and FL. Next stop SC, NC, VA, NJ, MA…
This has been a great run of shows so far and I really appreciate how many listeners I’m meeting in these spaces. My goal is to keep finding listening rooms, concert series, house shows, etc and inviting people from all walks to sit by their neighbors and find some common ground in stories, music, some laughs, and all the good stuff that makes life a little easier. It’s feeling really easy to be overwhelmed these days and I worry about a lot of my friends all over the world that I can’t be close to to give a bear hug or scare off whoever is bothering them. If there’s anything I can do for you from near or far, just let me know, truly.
I’m loving the road, per usual, but this has been a very busy year. Looking forward to getting back to OH to slow down a bit for the rest of the year. I’ve got a couple projects I’m going to work on in Dec that I’ll share when I have more to do so. Know that I am committed more than ever to stay on the move and keep bringing music to you. If you have a place you’d like to see me next year, or if you’d like me to come back to a place I’ve been, never hesitate to let me know. It helps me plan out runs. I don’t have anyone telling me what to do besides you, so don’t be shy.
“Roads I Missed” - A month later
It’s out and chugging along. As of today it has just over 32,000 streams! So thank you thank you for listening to this. The other cool thing is that at the beginning of October I had 100 vinyl and I’m down to about 25. That’s amazing as I was nervous to get vinyl because of the cost and thinking they would just sit around.
So whatever you’re doing is working, from listening to sharing, it all helps. I couldn’t do any of this without you, so thank you.
November Show Schedule
Making my way back up the coast, a pit stop home to shower, then a weekend in Detroit before coming home and eating all the turkey I can.
The Monthly Press
Month #4 is here. I haven’t been home so as soon as I get back on Nov 18th, I am going to ink and print everything and then get them in the mail asap! I have 50 prints to go out, which is amazing!! I think my goal for next year is 100. I’ll probably need to cap it there as I don’t really have the space to be printing and drying many more than that, and I’m pondering on a mobile rig so that I can do them from the road (very wishful thinking).
If you’ve been on the fence about joining, I would really love to have you. It feels wholesome to be sending out physical mail to people each month **Also I have a few people that joined but are having me send the prints to family or friends, so if you’d rather join and gift the prints, that’s always a lovely option.
Today’s Musing
“Larry” - a song about incapacity
Oct Musings
“Rutland Rain” - a song about adjuring
“Muses Beg” - a song about need
Thank you to everyone subscribing on Substack and over on Patreon who fund the entire musing project. (Also Patreon members $8 and above get added to the lifetime free membership here on Substack as well as The Monthly Press, so don’t worry about paying twice if you wanted to join both).
Books and Such
Getting a lot of reading in between shows. A product of trying to be on my phone less and replacing that screen time with book time (written and audio).
Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
My first Vonnegut book oddly. I loved it. Really quick read and I’m going to explore more by him
The Jazz of Physics by Stephon Alexander
Just started. I may actually get a little smarter after reading this one.
Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown
All caught up on the books that are out. Really an amazing science fiction series.
Animorph Series by Katherine Applegate
I am using the Libby app and revisiting some nostalgic books I read as a kid. This were a favorite series of mine and surprisingly the writing isn’t as offensively childish as I thought it might be.
Rich Roll Podcast
A lot of inspirational conversations on being the best version of a human you can be.
I know it’s a handful of days into Nov, so I appreciate the grace. A lot of driving the past 5 days meant that I didn’t have the time or the internet connection to get this out. Excuses excuses, I should just use my massive songwriting income to hire an administrative assistant already!
Cheers,
Ben Gage
www.BenGageMusic.com
Dig this, Ben. Keep rolling on Substack