A New Ballgame

I can't believe it's been more than a year since my last post. But that is explained by the kind of year 2018 was. In a word, "trying."

I had knee surgery in June (which was preceded by the need to go through airports in a wheelchair. Talk about a reality check!) I healed from that just in time to schedule lumbar spinal fusion late in the fall. I'll spare you more details, but suffice to say, playing through all that was a challenge. Now it's a new year, and I'm on the mend at last. Unfortunately, Jean Marie is still facing some issues with her voice that surfaced last summer during the wild fires.

The result of all the above is a transitional period for Domestic Harmony. Some of you remember that we performed a couple of gigs late in the summer as "Jim Baldwin and the Plan B Band," and that will still be the formula for a while. The constant will be me, singing my own tunes and the covers that I can manage by myself. There will be guests performing with me, including Ron Friedman, our regular Domestic Harmony bassist and vocalist. He'll be joined occasionally by Joel Schick on vocals and harp. Joel has been a Domestic Harmony irregular for several years and knows a good deal of our material. He also has a catalogue of over 500 of his own tunes that we like to dip into when he's aboard. And Joel is magical. If you don't know that, well, then. . . .

In any case, I know some of you are growing weary inquiring about where you can hear us and when the next gig will be. Thanks for your enthusiasm and your patience. Keep your eyes out on the schedule on this website and on our Facebook page for more specific updates.

In the meantime, don't forget to check out the recordings we made last year with Jim Reitzel at Tarpan Studios. The latest to go up on SoundCloud is my tune, "Brand New Love," sung by Jean Marie. It has a little more "studio magic" than some of the previous recordings, where we've tried to stay closer to our live sound. This one has keyboard (played by Jim Reitzel and me), several guitar overdubs, and some digital drums. The effect brings the song closer to a Motown sound which I had in my head as I was writing it. Fun.