Greetings from southern New Mexico where our daytime highs are already in the 80’s and expected in the 90’s soon. I am not quite ready for that heat with humidity has been in the single digits. I still need to climb on my roof and swap out the “swamp cooler” as we call them. I hope you and those you care about are healthy and doing ok. Our shelter in place has been extended through May 15. The Dinè, or Navajo Nation in the four-corners area has been hit especially hard with 10 times the rate of cases and deaths than Arizona, the state most of their land exists. Being one of the poorest states in the country we simply could not handle more than the 2,000 plus cases we already have.
Myself, with every scheduled gig, performance, school being cancelled through June, I just want to get back to work so am doing my part in respecting guidelines to not get sick or get others sick. I ordered a Plague Mask to keep people away from me. It works well. Last Sunday, April 19, I had the wonderful privilege of being the guest “virtual” musician at a church in San Antonio and Albuquerque. I recorded seven live music videos, downloaded them to my laptop, edited them, uploaded them to dropbox then shared the links with the churches for their live-streamed Zoom virtual services. I am grateful for the work, because honestly, artists not only need income but we need our work to matter and to be creative—to be of service. You can actually watch the Albuquerque Unitarian service here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xLIcULusHU and the San Antonio Presbyterian “Earth Day” service here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH3KzJULmEo Both were inspiring. These are both places of worship I have worked with in the past, live and in person. I respect their thoughtfulness and technical wizardry staff doing such a fantastic job with it all. I sure enjoyed their services. Check them out.
Also this week I was reminded that being of service is an important part of what I do and who I am. Our Hospice, where I have volunteered over 13 years, had to cease all volunteers early on in the Covid-19 emergency. However, they are bringing back we musicians to play outside of the windows when doable. I was requested to play for a Native American hospice patient who was having a hard time with the dying process. Their family was also having a very hard time. Too many complications to list here, and I always respect confidentiality. We arranged for me to play in a private courtyard outside their window. The birds were singing, the sky was blue and a slight breeze. The staff positioned the patient’s bed to face the window. I played and prayed. I was able to record the video of me, no mics or special effects, just my breath to Creator’s ears. Video below. Today I play in a courtyard for assisted living residents at Hospice. It should be fun. I hope I can see them. Earlier this month I played for a retirement village serenading residents on their balconies and patios.
Playing at Hospice:
I am a minister and spiritual teacher. That work has also been affected by the shutdown. My messages have been recorded and should be available to view at 9:00AM Sunday, April 26 or live stream Zoom service with Unity of Las Cruces. Honestly, I couldn’t find the link or Zoom information for their service. Sorry. They do have a youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u94Txs8l0HI My sermon/talk title is "Spiritual Lessons from a Pandemic."
The Center For Spiritual Living service should be up on their Youtube channel Sunday by 9AM. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLTGIgzWdukpeoTHtBqrOyg
A special thank you for the generous fans, friends, listeners who have either bought my music or given a donation via PayPal or Venmo which is @Randy-Granger1
I certainly appreciate the support. If you would like to support me I would greatly appreciate it via PayPal, Patreon, Venmo @Randy-Granger1 Since all of my scheduled and contracted work has been cancelled all of the expected income also vanished. I set up a Virtual tip jar on my website. I did not qualify for unemployment and don’t know a musician who has. It is especially difficult for the way we get paid, to meet requirements for assistance. By the way, Bandcamp, the music hosting site, is waiving all their fees for a short while to help us musicians out. You can download all of my music at a discount even with highest quality music files. https://randygranger.bandcamp.com/
Thank you friends and stay healthy.
Randy