Episode 12: Dani Mari
My apologies for the wait this week. It’s been an action packed week, full of emotions and activity and large life decisions. To be brief, my wife and I are buying a house. And anyone who’s done that before knows that the process is a roller coaster ride of nerves and drama and potential disaster at every turn. And this is something we choose to do. No one is making us. This is something we actually want to do.
It’s scary how you can go from looking at pictures online to viewing houses to suddenly signing a seller’s agreement and thinking about mortgages. A mortgage. That is something that has existed completely in the abstract for me. I know what one is. I know how they work. I know the advantages of home ownership versus renting, and all that. It’s just very frightening to be an adult buying a house. We’ve rented the same apartment for ten years. Basically, this is all happening really fast, but maybe that’s the way it should. At least for me. I shouldn’t be given too much time to think, otherwise I’ll just do that indefinitely.
Also, on top of all that, I’m playing in a band again for the first time in almost two years. My former bandmate/musical collaborator is leaving Philly for the Hudson Valley, and there’s going to be a huge farewell show (April 4th, Connie’s Ric Rac in South Philly, come on down and say hey if you’re in the area). I was tapped to play guitar, which I haven’t done in a band in quite a while (I played bass in The Way Home for years). I must say I’m loving playing the guitar again, but I found I do not miss any of the day to day of being in a band. I like to practice, and I like working with the guys, but I definitely don’t miss going to rehearsal twice a week. And this is all for one show! I used to do this all the time! What is happening to me? When did I lose my freakin’ spirit?
Anyways, hope you enjoy this week’s show featuring Dani Mari, a former Philly area singer songwriter. She’s also in a band called Lover’s League, another one called Owl and Wolf, and she sings with Brooklyn Shanti in New York as well. All of these projects are of the utmost quality, too. Which is even more impressive. Dani and I drifted around the same circles in Philadelphia, so it was great to sit down and get to know her better. She plays a beautiful song at the end of the interview, so hang out for that. We recorded this on the eve of a big snowstorm, and I was also pretty congested. Winter may be behind us, but we can alwys look back, right?
Sometimes you want something, and it’s difficult to get. And it should be difficult to get. You should have to work for it, not just have it handed to you. Yes, this is a metaphor for buying a house. But it’s also a metaphor for playing music, or undertaking any kind of artistic expression. You’ve got to keep working at it, or it will get rusty. And then you have to work even harder to get back to where you want to be. So keep up on your thing, whatever your thing is. Work is good. Work should be as much fun as the result.
Be well, be busy (but not so busy that you can’t enjoy it), and I’ll catch you all in a couple of weeks.
-DD