Because Tom Petty is Dead!

The question that aligns with the answer above is:

Why am I doing this?

Two days before he died, Tom Petty gave his last interview to the LA Times. In it he detailed the many projects and activities he was looking forward to. Instead, his heart gave out and whatever those plans entailed went with him. On the plus side there is his catalog of music with the Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys and his solo work; not to mention production and other projects. The downside is we'll never get to hear what was in his head. That's where it all starts and until you get it out no one hears it but you.

That's why I'm doing this; to get it out.

I may not be in Petty's league, but I am a recording artist with a catalog I'm proud of. And I want that catalog to be there for people to hear. That won't happen if I sit on my hands or let it rot in a box in a crawlspace. Because you never know what'll happen tomorrow or the day after that. Tom Petty was only 8 years older than I am so I'm feeling just a little more mortal these days. I know we think the people we've listened to and admired for so long will live forever, but like us their time will come and that time seems much closer than it did before with Petty's death, not long after Walter Becker's, and let's not go too deep with the loss of Prince, etc!

In some sense all an artist leaves behind that matters is the art. I suppose I could put out a bunch of outlines listing the ideas I have, but seriously....

So there's an urgency that I didn't have all those years ago when I was going to live forever; don't waste time, don't let days go by without doing something, don't believe there will always be more time, because you don't know.

The new album, Whispers (From a Forgotten Memory) will be released on November 10th. We'll be having a release party for the album on the 11th here at the house.