Dana Perry

"Imagine that I am on stage
Under a watch tower of punishing light
And in the haze is your face bathed in shadow
And what's beyond you is hidden from sight
And somebody right now is yawning
And watching me like a TV
And I have been frantically piling up sandbags
Against the flood waters of fatigue and insecurity.......then suddenly I hear my guitar sing
And so I just start singing along
And somewhere in my chest all the noise just gets
Crushed by the song..."
- Ani DiFranco, Imagine That

Oh Wisconsin, why are you so devastatingly beautiful? Every year during that magical 3 weeks in October you explode in this painfully fu***ng magnificent sploosh of color, and we get to witness it up close.

This month of this year marks 20 years of playing guitar and songwriting. It'd be fun to somehow know the actual "stats" in 20 years of playing...if I had to do a roundabout guess:

- hundreds of songs, played thousands of times
- hundreds of bar gigs, hundreds of coffee shop gigs, dozen-or-so big stages, hundreds of sidewalks and shop corners and back yards played, approximately one yarn store...all together totalling thousands of shows
- thousands of miles traveled
- a bazillion strings snapped and picks lost

Keep swiping through pics and see one of the first ever show posters with (18ish years ago?) and our first Folk U gathering 🥹

My music is not for everyone. I've seen it bring folks to life-changing tears AND I've seen it make folks leave the room in a big pissy huff...which is fu***ng beautiful if u ask me. If you're lucky enough as a music maker, you should experience both of these reactions and everything in between.

This tune by always nails it. Grateful to be a music maker ♥️