You make good things happen. Thank you.

I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to open a small package and discover a world of wonderful words and music flowing from it. For me it’s like those magical boxes in the movies that are packed with a cornucopia of marvelous things let loose on the world as the lid is opened just a crack. As an artist and as a reviewer, I marvel at the number of very talented artists there are creating and performing their songs and at the variety and high quality of those artists’ performances. It is truly a very amazing and positive thing. Now that I’m again writing reviews on a more regular basis, I’m constantly surprised at this creative community of writers and musicians. You are truly special and important people.

As my regular readers and the artists who submit their releases know, I’ve taken periodic breaks from writing these reviews, this last one quite long. I do believe it’s very important to support independent artists and to provide them with positive and helpful feedback. (Certainly, as an artist myself, I appreciate any feedback that will help me to improve my art.) Life sometimes gets in the way of writing reviews. The fact is that writing these reviews can be a full-time job. However, not only do I not receive any payment for writing these reviews but I also have to pay a number of out-of-pocket expenses to get and keep the reviews online. I don’t mind. If I won a big lottery, I would spend all my time making art and writing reviews. As it stands, rent has to be paid and groceries bought. When the bills get too pressing, the reviews suffer. As I find more effective ways to maintain cash-flow, I’ll start being a bit more regular about posting reviews here.

I want to thank each and every reader for your support of these reviews and some of you for comments you’ve sent me both publicly on this blog and by private e-mails and letters. I also want to thank the artists, who have been so patient with my often slow process as they wait for me to finally review their releases. I wish that I could send a personal note to each of you. My thoughts and my thanks do go out, not only to all of you as a community, but to each of you as the wonderfully creative individuals you are. Thank you.

Keep on writing those powerful lyrics. Keep on making the music. The world really does need it now more than ever. Your positive vibes help to keep our world on an even keel.

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