less is more

in which you can catch Sunday's "Chrysalis" performance, and our heroine considers a new approach to... doing things.

hey hartlist,

it was nice to be back.

I’ll be back not this SUNDAY but NEXT SUNDAY 9/12 at 4PM EDT for THE CHRYSALIS 52: MY CONDITION, a short set about discomfort, handicap and triumph. You can subscribe at that YT link and get a reminder. (will also be on FB and maybe elsewhere)

Oh, ALSO: if you missed the Manhattan School of Music stream of IRON JOHN, they will broadcast again right here, on SEPTEMBER 10 730EDT.

‘RETURNS’ was possibly my favorite Chrysalis so far, for a couple of reasons. One being that it was just so nice to reconnect with the listeners who became a small club over the year, and to do the kind of set I’d probably never do with the band: intimate and theatrical and eclectic. I loved the regularity of a weekly show, but they do take a lot of time and energy and a different schedule probably will have better results.

Then again, I mused as I set up my enormous ring light, it’s possible that I was *spending* more time and energy on it than it actually *takes*, which has been a theme of late. After a lifetime of either Overdoing It or Not Doing It, I’m beginning to suspect that “Less” may be, in fact, “More”, more often than not. Another reason I loved Sunday was that I was running around that morning fretting about how I hadn’t learned any new tunes and had so much to do before 4, and then I was like “wait. do i?” I stopped. I had tea. I realized I already know a lot of songs. I cleaned up the living room. I remembered a poem I wanted to share. And then I was in a good mood by the time I clicked ‘go live’. And was the show worse for being 22 minutes instead of 40? It was not.

No shade, of course, to last summer and the time I spent two days learning Joni Mitchell’s version of Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” (it’s at 30:26). I’m pretty proud of that.

See you soon…

RH