News, Reviews, and the Muse

It's been another year of kept resolutions here at Christine Hand music. For 2011 I resolved to record an EP and did, and for 2012 I resolved to blog regularly, and I did. Apparently, making resolutions in public (even if no one's really reading) is the key. This year, I blogged at least twice a week -- not all that often in blogging terms, but a big step up for me -- began semi-regular "Dylan Diaries" posts to document my dissertation musings, and established "Happy Friday" posts so that I could justify writing about all the random stuff that goes through my head each week that has nothing to do with music. One of these Happy Friday posts, "5 ways to combat writer's block," was the most viewed post of the year. Which is kind of funny, because I spent a lot of the second half of 2012 with writer's block as I stared dumbly at my dissertation mess. In fact, let's just call it the messertation. That's better. Speaking of which, my big 2013 resolution is to clean up that messertation until it sparkles so that I can graduate and you can call me Dr. unemployed musician.

Actually, I'm going to have to stop using that joke about being a musician with no work, because one of the big pieces of news of 2012 is that I am now officially leading worship music at Highland Baptist Church. This has been very exciting for me and I'm still kind of pinching myself that any of my legitimate work duties have to do with playing guitar and arranging music all afternoon. I love teaching, and am grateful for that income source as well, but grading papers will just never be as much fun as playing music. But beyond the 'fun' aspect of it, this new gig fulfills a deep sense of calling in me and has refocused my creative efforts toward songs that express Christian themes. So you may see some changes in my songwriting this year, as well as another exciting new musical project for 2013 -- but I don't want to say too much about that just yet. I only mention it because I seem to keep the resolutions I make here on this blog. Apparently the muse speaks best through the vague threat of someone on the internet having negative thoughts about me.

So here's to another year of blogging, songwriting, and dissertating. Many thanks to those of you who read this and, in so doing, give me that extra burst of motivation to keep working and creating.