2019 is in its waning days and while I am cautiously dubious of self-dealing plaudits, I’m taking a moment to be grateful that this year allowed me to participate in a number of rewarding musical experiences.

My goals are first and foremost musical. I want to communicate with people: that’s why I do what I do. So I’m really pleased that the new releases by Sunwatchers, Modern Nature, and Thee Reps were received so warmly this year by both audiences and a music press helping to further our music’s reach.

• Sunwatchers got name-checked as one of The Wire’s top albums of the year and got a nod in Rolling Stone’s Best Jazz of 2019. We got shout-outs in Aquarium Drunkard, NPR’s Staff Picks, RavenSingsTheBlues and New Commute, too.

• Modern Nature got placed on year-end lists in MOJO, Uncut, Aquarium Drunkard, and Q Magazine, among others. (MOJO also listed Mega Bog’s beautiful Dolphine, which I made a tiny little appearance on.)

• Earlier in the year, Thee Reps got some nice praise for our debut cassette Minimal Surface in The New York Times and Spin.

By the time our earth was done racing around the sun, I’d contributed to nine physically released recordings and played ninety-eight gigs. Maybe next year I’ll get to 100.

Contemporary life is clearly sheer lunacy from moment to moment, and I’m definitely guilty of taking the good things for granted. So I’m sharing these things with you all to take stock and show my appreciation for my good fortune to be living in the world of sound. I work with good people in these groups and there’s a lot of good new music on the way from all of them.

I’ve listed about 30 shows that are occurring in the first three months of 2020: Modern Nature’s first tour of North America, Sunwatchers taking the south by storm with Ethan Miller’s legendary Howlin’ Rain, and a run throughout Western EU with Modern Nature. I’m also extremely excited for the two-night run celebrating the incredible work of David First in Philadelphia taking place in early February.

Thanks for your time and attention here: see you soon, I hope.