March 23rd, 2026. It's 3am I must be sneezy.

Will Sims hosting his first songwriter showcase at Vortex Brewing Co. in New Freedom, PA on Saturday, Match 21st. His first showcase AT Vortex. Not his first showcase. 

Singer/songwriter Timothy Card at Vortex
Brewing. The afternoon did exactly what
I needed. Got me back out after being sick,
introduced me to some new people, and
picked up a gig or two.

I think I’ve kicked the coughing. Almost. So now, enter the sneezing. That just seems rude. Weirdly, though it FEELS like my breathing’s just about back to normal, I have been aware of still getting out of breath quickly, and when sneezing I can’t drawn in enough breath to sneeze as hard as normal. Bleah.

It’s 2.46am and I’m trying to remember how to sleep without codeine and nyquil and I’m NOT going to have any tequila and now I’m awake and avoiding the news. The horrors of Trump’s tweets, the nightmarish lines at the airports that Heather will soon have to face for her trip to Canada, the idiocy of the bombing runs and drones that are literally burning billions of dollars a day overseas. Will we have elections in November? Won’t we?

Yeah, I might legitimately miss codeine and Nyquil, and being so sick that I was more worried about me than the world.

Coming out of this illness, I’ve gotten to have a couple of really good music days. Saturday, I got to play a showcase up in Pennsylvania with Will Sims – a singer/songwriter I’ve known for a long, long time but probably never really had a conversation with. It was good to spend some time with him and a number of new-to-me artists. A solid night with some good connections. At least one booking and another “promised” booking: the owners of Vortex Brewing pulled me aside at the end of the night and made sure I had their manager’s info (I’d already nabbed it) because they wanted to make sure they got me back. They’d really enjoyed hearing someone who didn’t play covers and Loved the energy… they told their manager to book me… but I’ve heard that runaround before. We’ll see if anything comes of it.

Singer/songwriter David Ninos. I was pleased
that everyone did what you're "supposed" to do
at things like this and almost immediately net-
worked. David is also an old school gamer and
we chatted a lot the next day about Warhammer
and Rifts. Making friends when you're growed
up is hard.

Then Saturday NIGHT I ran down to Jessup, MD to film Georgie Jessup and her new singing partners – and the band that they opened for was simply stunning. A reminder that I can have plenty of Life left in this crazy job of mine. Heh. Plenty of Life left, learning all the while, and I STILL won’t have the chops of the band on stage with ____. Mind-blowingly fluid, beautifully tight, and all with a flow that said to ME at least that they were just letting the music take them where it willed.

Today was the Annual Focus Meeting and Jam – and I … ha… I performed excellently despite having to sort of mumble through “everything hurts”. My theory on why I lost it so bad was that, though playing yesterday at Vortex was satisfying – finally getting through a half hour of music without coughing or flailing – today it was through MY sound system and I honestly was just in Love with hearing my voice again the way I THINK it sounds. Gravel and growl, it sounded so good that I listened too much… and forgot the words.

Yeah. Attention, rob. You NEED to pay attention.

Well, the sneezing’s stopped. I’ve written a little bit. Maybe, just maybe, I can try this whole SLEEP thing again.

If I’m lucky.

Singer / songwriter Brad Cox at Vortex brewing on March 21st, 2026.

Singer/songwriter Reid Schoenfelder making me feel like "if I can spell Schoenfelder, YOU can spell 'ilyAIMY'".

Tony Wilkins surprised me. Deep, gravelly voice. As Robert Lighthouse is to Jimi Hendrix, so Tony Wilkins is to Scott Weiland. I'm enjoying listening to his band Undertone and they could fit right into my 90's collection without batting an ear. Are there a dozen bands named Undertone? Yes, yes there are - this is undertoneartistry.com.

Below this is a photo dump from catching Georgie Jessup at her venue Edith May's Paradise on Saturday night, March 21st, 2026 - opening for Cathy Ponton King Band. I'm really missing GALLERIES but... 

Georgie Jessup's new backup singers, the Wildflowers (Monet Tash and Ainae) warming up Saturday night.

Edith May's Paradise always has new friends. Lurking.

Georgie's art should have gallery space somewhere...

Frank Kayser running sound.

Mike Kelley on keys.

Cathy Ponton King.

Sam Goodall on bass.

Bon Berberich on drums. I've known him for a LONG time but have never really gotten to see him tear things up behind the kit. He has some ABSURD stories about having toured as a drummer in the 60s and 70s. I haven't even Lived.

Andy Rutherford blew my mind on guitar tonight. Simply some of the best playing I've ever seen. I've also just noticed my watermark is out-of-date. Damn it. Seems like I JUST updated it.