Linda Stout

The other day someone told me I'm "in love." I'm in love with music, they said. They saw this when I played. It's true, I've completely and utterly fallen, head over heels. I love to play, sing and write music. There's no turning back. Although this love affair started about as soon as I could talk, with singing and getting up to the piano, pulling melodies out of a piano at, maybe 4, then a ukulele at about 5, it has only deepened, but not with the bored, perhaps, or even settled, contented love of old marriages. I just can't take it for granted. So it's deep, but I'm still infatuated. It's sparked by writing new songs, learning new songs, hearing lots of music and getting drawn in by the music of a select few. Besides more old standards, I have been listening to and learning songs by Matt Robbins. That leads to another topic. Matt Robbins and I have done recent gigs and rehearsals together. He is a jazz singer-songwriter. He played piano on my CD. He has a really nice feel for it. I don't know if he likes me telling it, but his mom came to recording session. Well, he obviously loves her, and it was nice having her there. Go listen at this site to Falling and The Other Side of Midnight. I can also be quoted now as saying Matt could land a record deal, hard as that can be. He has this soulful voice with a wide range, someone said like Howie Day. Matt can sing way up high and sweet and lower and warm. He's young and cute, but more, just so darn talented and nice. He plays jazz well, but has a pop thing going with his singing that's really happening. I remember the first time I saw him and heard him. It was at an open mike at Cornell, an open mic unlike most I've been to in that the players are really good, some professional or professional quality (I've seen one guy from that open mic graduate and hit the road as a singer/guitarist, no day job needed and apparently no Trustafarianism* going on either); a novelist comes in sometimes to perform, an astronomer who is a great guitarist. Some good musicians. Well, the first time I saw Matt, thin, blondish, I figured he probably played rock guitar, maybe good, maybe not. Then he got up and played the grand piano and sang Rainy Night in Georgia. I was blown away. I am not easily blown away by live performances. It's not that I'm harsh, but I know what moves me. Matt had soul, a real feel for music. Matt also plays guitar pretty darn well. Matt, Charlie Shew and I just had a really fun gig, the radio show Crossing Borders at the Carriage House in Ithaca. It was a special feature of the Ithaca Festival, a big festival right here at home. We shared the bill with singer-songwriter Joe Crookston, and his band. Joe is a dynamic performer, excellent singer and guitarist. It was fun to hear him. At this same show, Matt was playing piano and singing sweet harmonies. Charlie played bass and drums -- on about half the songs at the same time. Matt and Charlie are excellent musicians; it's really fun to play with them. I think I like playing with them because they are also in love, not just with their human sweethearts, but with music. There are musicians who play well who are not in love with music. But I know the difference. Great skill vs. great soul. Some lucky musicians have both. Look forward to more band gigs, and consider contacting us for your party or concert series. Charlie played on the CD, too, played bass and drums on all but one track. Yes, I am in love with music, playing alone or with others. I think it's safe to say I'll never break up with this lover of mine. I like to think that even in the afterlife I'll be humming songs to any songwriters who will listen. * a Trustafarian - musician or otherwise who seems to be able to live without a visible job, assumedly on a trust fund. Ithaca has more than a few of these people. Some disguise it well, possibly working at an organic farm as a hobby, costumed as an old-time farmer, long beard, smelly boots and all. They are not to be confused with the farmers who work like dogs and never have enough or the musicians who have other professions (that often being a necessity, temporarily at the very least). I try to be open and not jealous because some Trustafarians could also be fine musicians. I would like to think I would still just devote myself to music if I actually played and then won the lottery or a trust fund landed on my lap. Unlikely. I am eeking out a bit more at music than than ever. I hope music will show me the way. On that note, overhead at a music festival: "If we don't sell CDs, we starve." It was funny, and then... not.