Today is Thursday March 21st the first official full day of Spring and as usual on Long Island it is overcast and rainy. Oh well, at least for this year Winter is a thing of the past. I spent a part of last week in Pennsylvania visiting my favorite bookstore "Hearts And Minds" in Dallastown, Pa. This is so much more than a mere bookstore, it is a sacred space and a place of magic and wondrous beauty. I picked up a copy of the new album from Over The Rhine as well as a book entitled "Every Moment Holy" from Rabbit Room Press, a book of prayers and liturgies for various moments in life with excellent drawings from my friend Ned Bustard. It has reminded me to look for the holy and sacred in the everyday things in life. And though the food in Pennsylvania is an absolute disaster for a diabetic, it is just so amazingly delicious, especially the buttered noodles found almost everywhere in Lancaster County. Also got a chance to see a concert with Mike Roe, Kerosene Halo & The Choir at a local church. Imagine, that a church that actually brings in acts that are producing great art instead of insipid propaganda, who could have imagined such a thing happening. It doesn't happen on Long Island where they think that what K-Love is doing is actually good. When the bands appeared at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, earlier that week only 20 people showed up that is just not right. Considering that NYC is the entertainment capitol of the world for that to happen is down right deplorable. At one point in time the Church was the prime instigator of all the great art in the western world, unfortunately that time has long since past and it is a true shame. When recently my friend Jae Jin appeared on the tv show "The Voice, not one judge turned to see who this amazing artist was. It just goes to show once again what an absolute joke that the shows of this type truly are. The judges wouldn't know great talent if it came up and bit them in the ass. Oh well, enough venting SXSW has come and gone so the festival season is upon us. There are good shows to be seen and heard, coming up in NYC next month are gigs from Over The Rhine, The Last Bison  and Leigh Nash. Indeed I am going to be a happy camper soon enough.