Group Therapy

Boy, the past 30 days have been exhausting and stressful for most Americans. The presidential debate and post-debate handwringing. Trump’s assassination attempt and subsequent hand wringing. The republican convention and all the ear bandages. Biden’s out, Harris is in. The two hottest days in recorded history. Israel. Gaza. Iran. Ukraine. Something about cat ladies. Facebook hackers. Homelessness. It’s all pretty stressful and can make a person miserable. All of which is why I highly recommend group therapy. It helps to balance out all the insanity in the world. 

So, what is group therapy?  For me, it’s gathering atop Mill Mountain with my therapy team about twice a month for a couple of hours. We share songs, pointless stories, and meaningful hugs. We don’t talk about politics or social issues (though they may come up in a song). We don’t talk about whatever is frustrating or irritating us. The whole point is to leave that baggage behind and focus on what we love - the music. Allow me to introduce you to my therapy team (in no particular order). 

Alan is a Grateful Dead and Blues aficionado. He is soft spoken and eloquent but plays blues guitar like a man possessed. He also knows how to add the most elegant lead licks imaginable when backing up another therapist. He had some health challenges last year but seems to have beat them and we are all grateful for that. His girlfriend Nancy always brings cookies for the group and together, they bring calm and joy to everyone. 

Louann is a life lesson on overcoming adversity. She played cello in high school and, after 50 years of not playing, picked it back up and uses it to bring joy to others. She has been through surgeries, falls, broken bones, and other assorted challenges, but always overcomes and brings sweet songs to every therapy session. She reminds us that while life has its challenges, you can use music to overcome a lot of them. 

Mirna is our sweet singing, classical guitar playing, Latino mom, who often brings sweet Spanish folk songs from her native Bolivia when she is not covering Gordon Lightfoot. I usually have no idea what the Spanish words are, but I could listen to her for hours. Even the birds are jealous when she is singing.  

Bill is our original hard core New York folkie with a fistful of stories and original songs that we all know by heart and sing along with. He used to live in a monastery, and then lived and worked with Pete Seeger for a while before he arrived in Roanoke. When he’s playing, he puts everything he has into the song and people from all around get into it. He still goes out and plays festivals occasionally, but mostly focuses on his charity, which provides musical instruments to kids who couldn’t otherwise afford them.  

Mona just took up playing about a year ago and writes these incredibly funny and emotional songs about learning who we are and accepting ourselves, even if we aren’t quite perfect. I don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone who works so hard at their music, and she always puts a smile on everyone’s face. 

Sue is another one who just took up music and playing. She lost her husband a couple of years ago and moved to Roanoke to start over. She teaches all a lot about starting over and overcoming life's challenges with music. 

Keith is an amazing singer-songwriter and performer and brings equal amounts of humor and respect to every therapy session (when he doesn’t have a gig). Sometimes people who perform at the highest levels don’t like to spend time with others of lesser experience or talent. That’s not Keith. As good as he is, he always nurtures and respects the rest of us and amazes us with his talent. 

Aspen is another touring pro who has won numerous songwriting and performing awards and spends a lot of time driving around the country playing and performing. When she’s around, she’s always around encouraging the others and usually revealing some new gem she’s working on. 

Lynn is an artist and likes to show up with her pad of paper and water colors. She paints wonderful portraits of people in therapy, singing and playing their hearts out. If you get a portrait of yourself from Lynn, it’s always a joyful honor and timeless keepsake of what’s really important. 

Then there is the mountain itself. Mill Mountain to be specific. Right in the middle of Roanoke, with the world's largest man-made star and two large decks overlooking the Roanoke Valley and looking westward to the ridgeline of mountains where the Appalachian trail is. There’s nothing quite as beautiful as watching the sun set over those mountains while playing music and telling stories with your therapy team.  

They are my core therapy team, and they help keep me grounded and functional. Of course, there’s many others who join us from time to time. They all bring something special to help us find the joy in life and charge the batteries before we get back to the daily grind. I don’t think that I could do it without them! 

If you’ve come this far, you are probably a songwriter or, at the very least, a serious music lover. Please leave a comment letting me know that you enjoyed it (or maybe not), and any similar experiences you’ve had. You may know others who enjoy this sort of thing and, if so, I invite you to share it with them. If you'd like to leave a comment, but you get an error message, it's probably because you have your browser set to reject 3rd party cookies. The solution is to select "anonymous" where the window says "comment as". Just leave your name or initials if you want to let me know who you are. Thanks for reading this!

A Request For The City Of Roanoke

 

John Prine Street Sign
in the Old Town section of Chicago, Illinois

Sometimes, when the world and national news get a little too bizarre to deal with, we all need to take a mental break and think about something fun and happy. Thus, an idea occurred to me the other day. It was an idea born in fun, but also an idea that honors one of the great songwriting legends of our time — John Prine. We need to name a street for him. I’m thinking of the section of Mountain Avenue that runs between 3rd Street and Franklin Road. The part that goes right in front of 3rd Street Coffeehouse.

John Prine has particular significance to me, and many others in our local community. Back in the early seventies, I first heard his music.  John’s first album, released in 1971, includes classics such as “Paradise”, “Angel From Montgomery”, “Sam Stone” and the immortal “Hello In There”.  Every song on that album was a songwriting masterpiece.  I was totally addicted to his music and remain so today.  John is legendary when it comes to both his ability to craft amazing lyrics and create images everyone can relate to.  

"God bless this kitchen, said the knick-knack shelf.

The dinner's almost ready, go and wash yourself.”  

Kris Kristofferson said “If God's got a favorite songwriter, I think it's John Prine.” I fully agree.

Back in January of 2019, I decided we needed to bring John to 3rd Street Coffeehouse, or at least give it our best shot. I organized an old fashioned letter writing campaign among the 3rd Street faithful. All I had to do was give them John's address at Oh Boy Records and say “write a letter telling John what his songs have meant to you, and how they’ve affected your life. Then ask him to come to 3rd Street Coffeehouse”. Everyone told me I was crazy and that it would never happen. But, they wrote letters. Their friends wrote letters. Their dogs and cats wrote letters. One day in April, I got a phone call from Eileen Tilson, John’s VP of Marketing and Promotion. She said that they’d received hundreds of letters from John’s die-hard fans in Roanoke and were coming on November 2nd. It was the best John Prine show I’ve ever seen, and I’d seen a lot of them.

John and his band showed up that night and within a few months, he was gone from COVID. But he left all of his music behind, and we still play it in open mics, song circles, front porches and anywhere else where songs are sung. His songs lift our spirits and heal our souls in troubled times. They show respect for everyone, especially the lost and the lonely. That deserves recognition. That deserves something lasting, something permanent. A street sign that says “John Prine Way” would be a fine and lasting tribute. C’mon City of Roanoke... How about it?

If you’ve come this far, you are probably a songwriter or, at the very least, a serious music lover.  Please leave a comment letting me know that you enjoyed it (or maybe not), and any similar experiences you’ve had.  You may know others who enjoy this sort of thing and, if so, I invite you to share it with them.  

If you'd like to leave a comment, but you get an error message, it's probably because you have your browser set to reject 3rd party cookies. The solution is to select "anonymous" where the window says "comment as". Just leave your name or initials if you want to let me know who you are.  Thanks for reading this!