The Sidelines

Yesterday I flew from Nashville to Portland, and it was the first time I had been out of Tennessee since the beginning of December. What a bizarre feeling it was to stay put for so long! I'm so accustomed to being in a different time zone every few days, so this was a very rare few months of normalcy... or at least as close as I've been to it.

Over the past few months I've slept in my bed every night, watched TV with wifey, gone out for dinner, shopped for groceries, fed the dog, bought a treadmill, run on the treadmill, painted a bedroom, and did so many other things just as domesticated as these. I had such a normal, stationary life for a few months. It was surreal. Of course, I watched my wife get ready every morning and head out to work, knowing I would just be hanging out at the house all day. That's not exactly normal. Most regular dudes have jobs, right? The whole experience got me contemplating what things are truly most important to me.

I remember when the idea of moving on from the music biz and working a regular job was awful to think about. I felt I would never be happy doing anything else. I no longer feel that way. I still love making music for a living, and I'm SO grateful for the opportunity to do it... but it's just not the #1 priority anymore. Jess and I have been married for 3 years now, and at some point in the future, I know we're going to want to start a family..... Sometimes I get little glimpses into what that will be like (the last few months have provided me with quite a few!), and as I get older, my own career path feels secondary to the wonderful responsibility of providing for my family (which at the moment consists of me, Jess, and the Till).

I suspect this feeling will grow in leaps and bounds once children arrive. I hope to be involved in music for many many years to come, but taking a regular job at some point no longer seems like the harrowing path it once was. I can see how it would be worth it, if it was better for my family.

In any case, I'm not there yet, and I'm limited to tiny glimpses of the future through my experiences....... ones like being home for 2 and half months straight!

Of course, I have had plenty on my plate....

The other HN boys and I spent a few weeks in the studio recording an acoustic album, and that was TONS of fun. We completely reworked our live set, and it will be SO fun to play it for you guys in all the cities we plan to hit this year.

I've also had a slew of immigration issues, which are still unresolved as of yet. I have every confidence that it will be worked out eventually, but the process is slow, and in the meantime, I dare not leave the country for fear that I would not be admitted back in, since my status is currently in jeopardy. As a result, I may not be able to join the rest of the band in Australia for Easterfest in April. I would be seriously bummed out if this were the case, but I have to make sure I'm not stranded outside the US.

So, needless to say, dealing with all this has nearly constituted a full-time job. The system is slow and incredibly flawed. For instance, immigration does not send any correspondence by certified or registered mail, so there is no way to be certain that their mail arrives properly.... and as I've found, the mail system has plenty of its own flaws. Just last week I received a letter from immigration that was literally ripped in half. I received the left half of the letter. It's scary to think that my ability to live and work in this country relies on the stability of this system that has lost or damaged two of my letters in just a few months, from a single sender alone. What other mail isn't making it to my mailbox?

Anyways..... I'll get off my soapbox now!

Well, there's my update.... More to come!

Jonathan