“Time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once.” Anonymous

A couple of years ago I was thinking about reaching the end of my fifth decade on this planet. My oldest son Austin was getting ready for university and his younger brother Jesse getting ready to not need me so much anymore. I needed to start thinking about an exit strategy.
 
It had been almost 15 years since I had played music professionally. During that time I wrote two rock operas, Alice in Modernland and The Bird and the Waterfall, but their staging meant time away from my family to go New York, London and San Diego, which was really cool, except for the way it ate away at my soul. I was not a good traveling mom.

I decided to step away from my career, having faith that I was not given artistic gifts as a means of cosmic torture, that a day would come when it was scarier to go forward without writing and performing than it was to begin the long and daunting task of trying to revitalize a career so long behind me.

It started with me picking up a guitar and deciding that, for once and for all I was going to learn how to play it decently, enough to write and sing along with.  It’s hard to do that with a saxophone. A year of practicing and writing later I took a deep breath and called my friend of almost thirty years, John Ellis, producer/multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire and said, “Now.  I want to make a record now.”  I waited for him to laugh, but without hesitation he said, “Sure, I’m in!”

Over the next year I wrote and demoed the songs in this album.  Johnny and I would get together in the living room, two guitars, a mic and his laptop, and record them, me nervous as hell at first to play guitar in front of him.  We felt ready to go into the Factory to record in April, and started talking about our dream musicians for the session.  I never hesitated in asking if he thought Pat Steward and Rob Becker would play.  I had known Pat since college and Rob and I had played together way back. They had been like family to me, and I knew they would get where we were going with the album. I felt so grateful when they came aboard… I started feeling like it might actually happen! John also suggested “his personal guitar player” Jay Buettner who brought a great energy and focus to the room. The final addition, recorded a few weeks later, was my son, Austin Nash Park, on piano.  Sheldon Zaharko, consummate professional and another really nice guy, engineered and together I think we all created something beautiful and timeless.

“The View From Here” is meant to be less a literal scene than the coming of middle age…looking back and looking forward. I feel so blessed to be at this new junction in my life.  I love my family and friends and the way sometimes the lines are blurred between the two.  They have supported me through this process of artistic reawakening; their love and honesty has helped shine a light on this new path they have believed when I have doubted myself. I send my deepest thanks to you all and may none of us ever take our love for granted.

We never really know where life will take us, but from where I’m standing, right here, right now “The View From Here” is pretty darn good! Thanks for taking the time to share it with me.