The Kitchen Musician ~ October 2024
Hello Friends,
My intention today? – fake it till I make it! Join me on the bench behind the cabin as I share a song to lift both of our spirits.
Index
NEWS:
THIS MONTH’S MUSIC: “It’s a Grand New Day (A Fly Struck My B String)”
UPCOMING SHOWS
FEATURED NON-PROFIT: Focus for Democracy Action
Photo by Dan Tappan
News:
I had a very full month of music in September, and am excited about two great shows coming up this month.
Oct 18, Friday: First Parish Unitarian, Dedham, MA. Sharing this show with the remarkable Cosy Sheridan, and we will be joined by Seth Connelly and Charlie Koch. We did this last year and it was sold out! So advanced ticket sales are recommended. This promises to be my favorite show of 2024.
Oct 24, Thursday: Merrimack NH Library, songwriters night with Carl Beverly and Beverly Rush.
All show details can be found at upcoming shows.
Also this month, in anticipation of the presidential election, I am promoting two songs to Folk radio:
The Frog and the Scorpion
Talkin’ Election
Call your favorite folk radio show host to request they give them a spin or two! Both are available on my 2020 album “Planting in a Drought – New songs of struggle, protest and encouragement“, which can be download for free by all. Also available on Spotify.
This Month’s Music: “It’s a Grand New Day (A Fly Struck My B String)”
℗© 2024 Tom Smith (ASCAP)
With all of the high tension as we approach the presidential election, I find myself looking for ways to calm down, or cling to hope. Music is my prime pressure release valve; whether that be to express sadness, anger, gratitude or any of the wide array of emotions that take over as I observe the world and events beyond my control. Sometimes all I can do is to feign a positive emotion in hopes that it will take root. Folks call this the “fake it till you make it” strategy. My song this month has a history of lifting my spirits, and so it seems like a good time to share it with you.
“A Fly Struck My B String” is a little snippet of a song that I wrote few years ago while camping deep in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I woke early and leaned my guitar against a pine tree to consider what I should write about. At that moment, a very large fly flew past my face and bounced off of the B string of my guitar, causing it to PING! The result was a tiny two-verse song that I put away as a kind of toy song. I called it “Morning Visitor” when I first shared it in the July 2018 “Kitchen Musician”.
“It’s a Grand New Day” is a song I wrote and shared in the August 2017 “Kitchen Musician”, written to encourage myself to “accentuate the positive”, as my dear father-in-law Burge Ayres used to tell me. These days, I like to combine these two songs into one, which seems to work well as a spirit lifter. Though this is a pretty frequent song in my live shows, I have never recorded it the way I sing it now. It is time to correct that.
“I displaced my grief with a will to care
I shed that thief we call despair
Here comes the dawn, I’m unafraid
Wake up! It’s a grand new day”
Sing on!
Tom
(If so inclined, I invite you to leave a comment by scrolling to the end of this page.)
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Tom
October 2, 2024It’s a Grand New Day (A Fly Struck My B String)
© 2024 Tom Smith (ASCAP)
INTRO
A fly struck my ‘B’ string
No one was listening
But I heard her singing a song of this place
On this blessed morning
Arrived on a fly’s wing
The herald awakening, Amazing grace
A small sound in the forest
A voice lost in chorus
And those gone before us obscured by the noise
But today I will listen
Uncloud my vision
Release the musician. Give them my voice
VERSE 1
I spread my wings when the sun comes up
The whole world spins in my coffee cup
Got a magic wand from the milky way
Wake up! It’s a grand new day
CHORUS:
It’s a grand new day
It’s a grand new day
Wake up! It’s a grand new day
VERSE 2
Dandelions like powder puffs
It’s a perfect time to fall in love
A bluebird song and a feather spray
Wake up! It’s a grand new day
CHORUS
VERSE 3
I displaced my grief with a will to care
I shed that thief we call despair
Here comes the dawn, I’m unafraid
Wake up! It’s a grand new day
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
A day when I will turn myself around
I’ll make things better than I found
VERSE 4
Please lend a hand, there’s a lot to do
There’s a tree to plant, and an attitude
A heart to mend and a world to save
Wake up! It’s a grand new day
CHORUS (x2)
Mally
October 3, 2024One of my favorites! I can’t not sing along!
The Dad
October 3, 2024Hearing you sing along is one of the highs in my memory. Love you Malzo.
Nancy
October 3, 2024Just what I needed this morning. Feeling old but not helpless. So feeling fortunate.
Tom
October 6, 2024Thanks for listening, Nancy. Can’t do much about the “old”, but lots to do about the “helpless”. We need good people like you to carry on!
Deb
October 3, 2024Loved it! Need all the positive thoughts we can get!
Tom
October 6, 2024Thanks for listening, Deb. Pleased this helps a little.
Jan
October 3, 2024delightful
Tom
October 6, 2024Thanks for listening!