The past few weeks have been a flurry of good things happening in my world of art and media. In August at Soulfest in New Hampshire I will be teaching two seminars in the area called "The Back Room". The first one on Friday afternoon at 4pm is entitled "Glimpses Into Eternity: A Song Well Sung, observations and thoughts on art, faith & imagination as seen through music." The next day, Saturday morning at 10am I will be speaking on "Glimpses Into Eternity: A Tale Well Told, observations and thoughts on art, faith & imagination as seen through literature and film". Even though the day and nights at Soulfest can be rather hectic, the time I spend there is for me a time of rest and reflection. I get to sit and talk with as well as listen to artists whom I love dearly and in many cases have become good friends who I only get to see on a sporadic basis. People like Jim Trick, Rachel Taylor, Courtney Reid, Christopher Williams, Justin McRoberts and a few others feed my soul and nourish it beyond measure. I have gotten to the point where interacting with these folks has become just as important to me as sitting and listening to their music, which by the way is outstanding in every aspect.

The past few weeks I have seen two concerts that were just fabulous and reminded me in a very satisfying way just why I have chosen to take my radio show, "Rock N Soul Gospel" down the road it has gone over the past almost 34 years. First was an artist who I met a number of time at the old Cornerstone Festival whose name is Timbre. She is a classically trained singer/ songwriter who happens to play the harp as her instrument of choice. Now when I say the harp I am not talking about a blues harp or harmonica, rather think of Harpo Marx. She played at a church in Brooklyn, NY accompanied by a drummer, guitarist, cellist and a 23 member choir. It was a musical journey into another world, a world of sonic magic, of beauty and wonder. Her newest album release is called :Sun And Moon", it is a double disc of pop music as well as neo-classical tunes it should make a welcome addition to anyone's music library.  The second show I saw earlier this week at Irving Plaza in the city was the part of the East Coast leg of the "Home" tour by Josh Garrels with Zach Winter as the opening act. If you get a chance to see either of these guys in concert don't pass the opportunity by, go for it.

Reading, I just last week finished 2 books that I totally enjoyed, the first by author Matthew Dickerson is called "The Gifted" and is volume 1 in a fantasy trilogy. The second book comes out in a year followed a year later by book number 3. I also finished a book of poetry by Anne M Doe Overstreet called "Delicate Machinery Suspended" which was not only wonderful but wonder filled as well.

For those of you go live on or near Long Island, every weekend this summer I will be giving away tickets for Splish Splash Water Park on the radio show. "Rock N Soul Gospel can be heard Friday at 9pm & Sunday at 5m at WCWP.org/ 88.1fm, Check it out!!!