What a crazy year.
While "the plague" is still going on, although some signs of hopefully getting back to normal, I have to say that this year was CRAZY busy for me. If my count is correct, I had 49-50 shows this year alone. To some people that may not seem like a lot, but in comparison in 2019 I played about 25 shows all year. Last year, not surprisingly, I only did about 12. On top of that *knock on wood* I didn't get sick! The shows were mostly with Reckless Kind, but there were also shows with Electric Mayhem, Soulicide, Deb Desilets, Carolina M., and some acoustic gigs with Louie and Daisy and some solo things as well. I don't think I've ever had a year this busy gig wise, and I thank everyone who managed to come out and see me play.
Reckless Kind ended the 2021 gig schedule with an emergency acoustic show at JD's on December 17. Drummer couldn't make it last minute, so we went in and did a full night of unplugged rock and roll, and the audience and the JD's crew loved it! We did a mixture of RK covers, as well as some stuff that I do on my acoustic shows and some stuff that Louie and did on our acoustic duo shows earlier in the year. Reckless took the holidays off, and we're going to be back at it on January 7 at Glades Club and return to Eddie's Place on January 8, and our return to Sandbar on the 21st. We are hoping to work some more new covers into the set over the next few months, so it should be a fun ride!
Electric Mayhem returns to the stage on January 29 at Sandbar. We will be debuting a new lineup (new guitarist and new drummer, names after the rehearsals!), and a few new songs as well. Daisy, Jose and I are excited to see what the new guys bring to the band, and again should be a cool and fun show. If all goes well, EM should be pretty busy in 2022.
There hasn't been a lot of movement on the Incognito reunion project, mainly due to our schedules and the fact that we haven't been able to schedule a get together yet to record. Demos are still being passed around, and hopefully "the plague" will let up and we can get things back on track. I think that if it weren't for Covid we may have already had something released by now. Hopefully some positive news here soon! The same can be said for the project with my friends Pat and Karl.
There is a mostly finished Conspiracy Inc. album sitting on my computer, and I'm going to try to finish it up in the next few weeks. If I remember there are 3 unfinished songs. I'm going to be taking a look at them tomorrow to see what needs to be done with them. Originally, the songs were going to have lyrics and vocals by my best friend Tom, but he isn't going to be able to contribute this time around, so I'm going to do them. Hopefully they won't take too long to finish up. The stuff that is done is pretty interesting, not like my "solo" stuff at all, more electronic.
I'm also going to be refining and polishing the "Lapidus Suite" and hopefully posting the final version of that soon. I had a blast putting it together as well as performing the "rough draft" version. Needless to say if I can get what I hear in my head on "tape" (yeah I still think in those terms lol) it's gonna be pretty epic.
Speaking of epic, I'm starting the final editing of the "Electric Symphony" FINALLY tomorrow. I hope to be posting that 30 minute monster of a piece in the next couple weeks. My goal is to have all the edits done by the time the "day job" starts up again on Jan. 3, so the clock is ticking for that one! Just like the old saying goes, "Sometimes the best inspiration is a looming deadline!" After that, I think I'm going to start working on a full on orchestral symphony. I've been thinking about doing one for a long time, and I think it's time to stop saying I'm gonna do it and just buckle down and actually put pen/cursor to paper/screen.
As far as what I have in mind for 2022, I know that I'll be doing at least one solo album. I have a title and a rough outline in my head of what I want to do, and I'm going to start writing probably in February for it with the "etched in pencil" plan of starting recording in February as well. No deadline for release/posting, but sometime before this summer might be a relatively safe bet. I just posted a new 3 song EP tonight called "The IRL EP" over at www.reverbnation.com/timbirkett and you should check it out. As far as getting my albums on other sites...stay tuned...there will be some progress there I think. Depending on "The plague," we'll see what happens with the 'Nito and Pat/Karl projects. I'm also on call officially to do a new album with Deb Desilets this year. Not sure when, but we did have some discussions about it at the Lapidus performances this past fall.
I expect to be busy with shows with Reckless Kind and Electric Mayhem, as well as acoustic shows either as a solo act or with either Louie or Dasiy. Probably some substitute gigs here and there, and maybe a new project as well, who knows?
I've been asked about whether Dirk Diggler will play again, and the best answer that I can give you right now is "I don't really know at this point." A few months back I did talk to Greg at a memorial show that he was running sound at over at Cafe 27, and the impression I got was that he wants to get DD going again at some point, but wasn't sure when that point would be. I guess you'll have to be like me and wait to see what happens. I'm good either way at this time.
Again, I want to thank you for reading this, listening to my music, and coming to see me play. It really means a lot to me, and I will see you out in the world in 2022! Have a great rest of the holiday season, and be good, well, and safe going forward.
THAT IS ALL...TB