The Aaron Starkey Music Newsletter - the "it's not the worst case scenario" (FOURTEENTH) EDITION!!

FRIENDS....this is the FOURTEENTH (14) Aaron Starkey Music Newsletter!

If you are getting this for the first time..it's because i'm still learning to send email. If you are sad to get an email from me....please respond back with "no thanks!" and i'll gladly remove you from all future missives!

ok..let's chat!

this time i'll start with the latest show (this friday!) and details and then get into the email. It somehow feels better that way?

i'm happy to remind you of our vinyl release party for the new Long Dark Moon record: Cold Atlantic (see a theme here?) 12" of pure vinyl!

• get your tickets early because it's the right thing to do. and you like to be right, right?
• BUY TICKETS HERE
• when and where is it? Friday Sept 18th at the Sunset
• who with? King Youngblood and The Great Ooze -> you all know Cameron and the KYB crew and you know that they are going to delight. A new band to most of you, and Den Tape's label mate, The Great Ooze have become one of my favorite new bands. think of them as a post-modern jason molina with the exuberance of youth. truly a fav.

now that that's done.. It's been a summer. i think my heart is still in NYC. Perhaps my mind is too? Not sure if I've ever felt more at home than when i'm there...i also don't often do a retroactive email, but let's do it! First off, the kind folks at Doe Bay offered me an artist residency in august and it turned out to be one of the most healing and creative weeks i've had in eons (literally, eons, as i'm that old). Jeff B and Rebecca Y (and Tony F for a day) came up and we had equal parts playing music, soaking in hot water, eating together, and sleeping. The music making was free of self-consciousness, playful, and without agenda. a good lesson for really how to do most things. carefree, fun, and without an objective. More things should be like that in my life i think. the result was we made some things that will live on past the week and eventually end up in your ears. I was also invited to perform a set of music on the campfire stage. I do an acoustic set once a year and this was it, and what better place. To top it all off, we got to see some bioluminescence...lifetime goal unlocked!

other highlights this summer were bumbershoot. as some of you may know, my day job, among other things, is to be part of the team that produces this long running seattle festival. This was my fourth. Each year is a long climb up a mountain, and then you parachute down over two days. the music this year was stellar, the food was awesome, the vibe from the people was pure love. i hope it's this way every year. i guess the beauty of it is that each year IS different. We just turn the dials a little differently each year..a little bit left a little bit right. highlights were peaches, WITCH, sera cahoone, and surprisingly, i kinda got into the Death Cab set. Maybe it was the years of relentless playing of Transatlanticism on KEXP that biased me?

for me personally, my back/cervical spine issues have raised their steely grip on my life again...but i'm dealing. i've got a plan. and after years of dealing with achilles tendon issues, i feel like i have a good frame of mind for how to move forward. but damn it can be painful too! don't get old as they say! but also..get old!! i'm biased towards getting old.

i would add to that a thing i've been thinking about lately which is how to react to unknown events...or anxieties, etc. and this spine stuff has me filled with unfounded "WORST CASE" scenarios. I traditionally, race to the bottom, work out every fear and possibility that could happen..for almost any situation, and then and only then do i feel "ok" or somewhat ready to deal with things. but wow...that is exhausting. During my visit to Doe Bay and from talking with friends (and professionals!), i had this revelation that some of my singular childhood experiences were situations that...didn't work out. things weren't...ok. I mean, ultimately, yes. i'm still here, and so many things have gone amazingly "right"...but the point being, that one BIG thing that didn't end well, at that formative youthful experience, in a lot of ways, wired me to assume that most things won't go well, and as a result I then spend a lot of energy making sure they...do go well. Again..exhausting. So moving forward, i'm going to pay attention to that and ask myself if this is really a worst case scenario. so far..so good.

did i mention how much i loved being in nyc, and brooklyn in particular? the Brooklynn Musuem was nothing short of captivating. world class. 100% a required visit. if you want to know where i ate...let me know.

what's coming up? did i mention the vinyl release show...which is this friday, sept 18th...we are releasing the vinyl record for Cold Atlantic.

I love this record, and yet i have loved all the records I made. What's different about this one is that it still feels fresh for the band. we're still finding new and better ways to play the songs (sometimes to my band mates annoyance!) It's also a record that grows our sound from the more americana roots of the first record, into a more blistering and moody sound. I think if you totalled all the records i've been a part of for the last 25 years...i'm still trying to zero in on something between neil young, built to spill, and the pixies. somewhere in there is the truth. maybe i'll find it someday. situation uncertain.

And i'd be remiss and a bad band leader if I didn't mention that you can still pick up a cassette in person at SONIC BOOM RECORDS in ballard or via the Den Tapes Label bandcamp ->. get it here: https://dentapes.bandcamp.com/album/cold-atlantic (please pick one up!) ALSO: the vinyl is there as well...and on our bandcamp https://longdarkmoon.bandcamp.com/

If you've read this far...I invite you to write me a question and I'll try and answer it in my next email! I like questions!

also...i started building out a new website with my entire performance history and lots of photos....https://aaronstarkey.com

love ya ll! (well most of ya!)

Aaron Give a follow? https://www.instagram.com/aaronstarkey/

https://www.instagram.com/longdarkmoon/

You are getting this email because we have played music together...or you've come to a show...or we've done music business type before...or we're buddies...or you have expressed a deep, longing desire to stay connected to what I'm up to musically. #desire if you don't want it...please reply back and you'll never get it again!