Songwriter?

My latest musical project involves having hooked up with a local musician. His name is Bill Martin. He's about my age and we have similar interests. We both enjoy acoustic guitars. He can actually sing whereas I sound like a cross between a frog and a cat whose tail has been stepped on.

The last time I had a collaboration was when my friend, Mark Lammi, got me to join his band, The 55's. We practice for about nine months and played once for a church picnic. Then, the band ended. Mark and I kept up our playing, one on one, and that eventually got me to start writing songs. I even did some in home studio recording because I wanted to remember what I had written without having to write a score.

I wrote about a dozen songs and put them on a CD I titled, "Really, I Can't Sing". I kept writing in fits and starts for the next couple years - lots of scribbles in my notebook. Then, I went through a long dry spell. Nothing came to mind. The magic was gone.

Well, along comes Bill and our weekly collaboration was enough to restart the musical creativity heart beat. I've since written a bunch of new material, the latest being a song I actually started and finished just this week. It's called "Outside Of Your Circle". That makes it my 32nd song since starting my writing in this century. (I wrote one song in high school with my friend, Rom, called "Say Girl". I remember one chord from it and one line. I think he may have the song somewhere and every time I ask for it, I don't get it. Oh, well. Maybe he lost it, too.)


So, what's the story with this late-in-life creativity? I don't know. My Mom had a similar spurt with her paintings. She was always creative in her life, but it really took hold it the last part of it. She painted about 150 oil paintings during that period, not to mention small, card stock doodles that you can still find for sale on the Internet.


Hmmm...maybe I should write a song about that. Late bloomers.