Fire and All That Follows

We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the devastating Santa Rosa fires that started October 8, 2017.  We came to a moment in time at the studio that tested our resolve and tenacity to say the least!  We are some of the lucky ones who did not lose everything the night of October 8th.

How did we as a community and artists respond?  Please go to OutOfTheFireBenefit.com to experience our community. It IS still an ongoing process with our CD and concerts running to replace instruments and services for musicians needing our help!

Faith, Hope and Recovery is my mantra.  By the grace of my higher power I am moving forward with Prairie Sun with the same innocence and wonder I had when I took my first piano lesson when I was 5 years old.  A lot of recording studios have (due to multiple circumstances and conditions) folded along the way and I am so grateful for ALL of the recording community and all the amazing contributions we have made, especially in the Bay Area not excluding literally the world.  What a rich creative place. 

I am reading this book Your Song Changed My Life by Bob Boilen.  I recommend it.  What it brings home to me is the hundreds of artists who have come into my life at the studio and that we all had and have, this moment when we heard “that song” and it was fucking amazing and it was just starting us up!! 

My first was “Hound Dog”  by Elvis Presley, heard on a Motorola pocket mono transistor radio with my beloved brother Johnny on the front porch of my family home in Wyoming, Illinois, played by WLS radio in Chicago on its first presentation to the world.  When it was over I looked at Johnny said, "Jesus Christ what is this?" and we never ever looked back. 

It is still going on today, this morning actually,  and  I am still looking for the next artist to change my life. The people mentioned in this newsletter are, I am sure, doing the same.  May we all thrive and prosper (especially now, after this last year), renew what gratitude and love really are. What people and family and community really ARE !!

 As we like to say when we play our gigs “thanks for listening." Thanks for reading!
 
Namaste,
 
Mark ”Mooka” Rennick

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