If you don’t like what you’re doing, you can always pick up your needle and move to another groove. - Timothy Leary

The reality of the fact that I’ve got a more than full time job and have four to six more months of grad school has finally taken a shape that can’t be ignored. Being in the final throes of this master’s program, I find that I can’t do what I need to do and keep blogging. Unlike Leary’s quote above, I haven’t found that I don’t like doing this. Quite the opposite: like a neighbor’s pool, it’s an attractive nuisance that continually draws me in when I know better. So I’m picking up my needle and moving to another groove.

This started as a Taylor Hicks music blog, but has become a lot more, in its own small way, and I’ve enjoyed the conversation. There’s an old saw that says that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, but I actually don’t agree with that (or rather, I think that dancing about architecture is a perfectly reasonable thing to do). During the last year, I’ve run across some very good music writers who have not only introduced me to new artists, but have opened my mind to new ways of thinking about music and musicians - something I’m very grateful for. But I’m no writer, so I know that with my time for music (and everything else) in short supply for the forseeable future, I need to spend my rare coin not on reading and writing, but on listening and playing. That’s where I get my fix.

So, I’m closing shop. I’ll leave everything up for reading and downloading, but close off comments in some way tonight or tomorrow - whatever is easy to do and leaves it so I won’t be tempted to check on things. In the meantime, I’d like to thank everyone who’s stopped by here, given me help and advice behind the scenes, commented, sent photos, tips, videos, links, written concert and artist reviews, and generally shared your time and thoughts. My stash of things to listen to is brimming, thanks to you.

But I’d especially like to thank the people who have helped with the blogging over the last 9 months: TandJam, especially, who has introduced me to so many artists, old and new with her weekly posts over the last five months; Guinness and Meg Collilns, who offered great insights last summer on how and how much music effects us. And, of course, Asstral, who helped me get this place up and rollling and set an example I’ll never reach on how to be both hilarious and right on.

For the time being, I’m planning on leaving the Speakeasy as is, so use it if you want to keep the conversation going. If it stays as sane as it’s been, it’ll stay up and open.Have to end with a couple of videos, of course. One, about recognizing what you need to do and doing it:

Hell of a Day, Taylor Hicks

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

..and in the spirit of “take time to let go and reset,” some Ray Charles:

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube videoLong live live music.

ETA, 2/26/08: This blog is now dormant. All comments are sent to moderation.

categories: music