A Letter from a fan

A letter I wrote to one of my favorite bloggers, or rather newletter writers- Bob Lefsetz. He gets it. So well, that I felt the need to respond this time! I guess with time on your hands there are no bounds ;) You can read his blog at www.lefsetz.com

Read below;
Dear Bob,

I am an avid reader of your blog and I wanted to let you know that this week it has come in handy in a most particular way. You see, I am an artist, a singer, a songwriter and I believe in music as you believe in music. From artists mouths to the listening ear. That is the heart of music and that is why music persists. Though I am at the crux of the age of the MTV generation, I too am made to feel sick and disappointed by the ongoing reality TV shows, the utterly horrible game shows and the unfortunate lack of, well MUSIC, that this supposed Music Television station claims to offer.

This week I have spent 6 days in silence. About 3 months ago I found out that I had a cyst on my most precious bodily organ. My Vocal Cord. 6 days ago I had it removed and over the next 2 months I will undergo therapy to not only get my singing voice back, but also to get my speaking voice back. I am not a quiet person, I don't listen well and I talk a lot! So this challenge has been a great one for me. But I did something, well two things (along with catching up on your blog), I had never done before. 1)I kept a diary of my experience, which means I slowed down long enough to do so and 2)I listened to music.

You see it's funny, as an artist you spend your days making music, writing, playing, practicing, honing your craft. I, in particular, love to work, play and write with other artists. It's a passion of mine to create original words, melodies and to share it, with whomever will listen. But I find over time that as my own music becomes my focus I stop listening to music. Ironic, I guess. You would think an artist, musician, would constantly be in touch with the artists and albums that have influenced them. But as hours during the day tend to get shorter and shorter I make less and less time to listen. Song by song, note by note.

This last e mail of yours, regarding Little Big Town, a band I also love, made me think about that. And in my silence I yearned for music, not just to sing it, but to listen to it. So I took out old cd's and I listened to them from start to finish. And I guess it does not really matter which ones, but it matters that I did it. I took the journey again with different artists that have spoken to me in different ways from Levon and the Band to, well, old Ella F.

And it brought back music to me. It was great. If the phone rang, I could not answer it, if someone spoke to me I could not speak back. But I could listen....

Thanks for keeping it real, for loving music for the right reasons. Hopefully people will catch on to you as I have.

Have a good one.

Deena

http://redoutloud.blogspot.com/
www.myspace.com/deenagoodman
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