January 2026 | where to begin |
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- Dave Mehling —— Happy January, dear friend ❤️ Happy second day of 2026! Happy 8th Day of Christmas! Happy Friday! or….Happy whatever day! For it is most certainly a day. A new one at that. It always is. The new calendar though, it does give us a concrete, tangible way to say ‘look! clean slate! fresh start!’. Whilst I remain a firm believer that this idea/energy can apply to any moment of any minute where you are ready for some kind of reset, I am also a fan of things like…writing things down. And so, new calendar in hand, I have spent the past few days considering the year that was, while also looking at the scope of a coming year and saying… ‘ahhhh! what might be possible? what might be possible!' 🎊 For the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to listen manymany times to a fantastic song by my friend Dave Mehling. It's called, ‘Do You Know Where You’re Going' or…..when you're feeling like you don't want to type that anymore cuz long - ‘DYKWYG’. Catchy as all get-out, I've found myself walking around singing to myself… These feel like good and true questions as I hang out in the transitional time between the ‘25 and the ’26. The end of 2025 was beautifully busy to the point that I frequently didn't even really know where I WAS much less where I was headed next. OR…the energy was a hyperfocused-tunnel-vision sort of ‘it’s this then that then thisthenthatandahhhhh.'* But here I am, up (North) in the place where my heart meets my body again. Where my mind quiets in response to quiet. Where I am surrounded by light (not a lot of it, cuz winter) and trees and sky (and kiddos, and pups, and a husband) and I can ask myself the good and true questions, and then write to YOU from a place of whole, rather than scattered. 2025. I got to start out the year by making music with dear friends in an incredibly special place. I devoted the year to completing what we started, which was… an album that we released with a wildly fun and heart-forward show/party on October 10. I give the whole experience a 10 out of 10. I feel fortunate beyond measure to have found collaborators who are as talented as they are kind, and FUN. Along the way, I played a bunch of shows, produced a listening series, helped facilitate a songwriting retreat, wrote 25 or so new songs, wrote 52 lists of good things in the world. I fell in love with humans and songs and tacos and skies and trees. So, I can tell you (mostly) where I've been. Whew. Good. ❤️ 2026. Do I know where I'm going? I mean, I got ideas. And OH how I love having ideas! I have a brand new Dolly Parton calendar, and some sharp pencils, and a flutter in my heart. And I have in my mind people that I want to do right by, or do WRITE by (fingers crossed they need a song). By this I mean, people I aim to serve somehow, through music, through community. The reality of being an 'independent' musician is that I mostly get to find my way around here. All stumbling and exploring and wondering and seeking and little soars and big dips. It's oh…exactly how being a human is meant to be, I guess. I'll just be over here singing to myself…. ❤️ |
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from l to r: In Studio for Say Yes, holding Say Yes in my arms, reindeer's-eye view of holiday show, Dolly 4Ever ❤️ |
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for example… Also, there are two NEWs! A new Venue (Venew?) and a new monthly to-do! |
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also, you're perpetually invited to… |
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maybe you're going…to write a bunch of songs! |
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about the album: a year ago! a bunch of friends and I got cozy at the magic Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, MN to record an album. We said yes to taking musical chances and had a lot of fun doing it. Dave Mehling produced, Holly Hansen engineered, Lars-Erik Larson, Nick Salisbury, Haley E Rydell and myself - we made noise. You can listen to this album in a variety of ways and even hold it awkwardly in your arms if you'd like (see photo way above for example). |
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1. LIGHTS 🌟 Oh, how winter, with its so much dark gives us chances to make our own light. Candles, yes. Strings of tiny light bulbs, always. On the second day of Christmas, I got to sit and listen to my son and my mother-in-law make music together, and I looked over and saw…a (notreal) cardinal in a (notreal) birch tree and I was just overwhelmed by the special of it 💗 2. Sing for Science! RENEE FLEMING! 🌟 If you have any interest in the human voice, and singing, this podcast is an utter delight! Fantastic description of the physiology of the voice (took me wayyyy back to first semester of Freshman year) and also…some great reminders that ANYONE CAN SING! And a sense of magic somehow even though it was mostly scientific. I LOVED. Also, I'm here for any reminder to listen to ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’. It's a beauty. 💗 3. This… 🌟 In December, I had the very cool honor of writing 2 songs for people. For one of these songs, I got to sing it at a big party and they put the lyrics on this real big screen. Dave was there! It was fun and festive, yes, but…being asked to hold people's stories, and bring them to melodic life…that's the stuff. I feel lucky. 💗 4. Tis the Season(ing) 🌟 I'm eternally delighted by opportunities to look at the very end of some condiment or other and think…how might I use you?! Mustard bottle? you're becoming a marinade! Pretzel salt? you're going to make that broccoli taste great. Listen up, pickle brine, I think you could be something special and don't let anyone else tell you different (vinaigrette! brine a chicken!). 💗 |
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✨ I See You! I Am Here! My 2025 daily meditation book, Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening, ended with a story about friends who call to one another, when they can sense the other is near… I See You! and the reply is I Am Here! I love this idea. This idea of encountering one another with a joyful affirmation. Of offering this to your friend, neighbor, cashier, person you're passing at the gym or it can be something like… I See You (2025!) I Am Here! (2026!) Also, I most definitely said this yesterday to the sky as I stood on the snow-covered lake, bundled up with every possible bundle. |
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Nepo tied up the story (and the year) with words that have stayed with me ‘in a culture that erases its humanity, that keeps the act of innocence and beginning invisible, we are sorely in need of being seen with joy, so we can proclaim with equal astonishment and innocence that of all the amazing things that could have been or not, We Are Here.’ Here. At an actual beginning. I don't know where I'm going. Of course not. But I can aim to approach this new with wonder, astonishment, and appreciation for …the here of it. Yes! I will sing them though - if that's ok? ❤️ |
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✨ this email is sent with abundant gratitude & huge, demonstrative kind of BIG
LOVE |
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a word about our sponsors |
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aka - a community of wonderful people that make it possible for me to make things! 📣 In exchange for their monthly membership of $0-$25, I send love letters, poems, cover songs, advance ticket notice, etc. This month, I wrote a #brandnewbabysong prompted by a patron, and shared it with them. All year long they helped me know where I was, show me where I might be going, and I couldn't be more thankful. Patreon now offers a free tier, which makes me happy. Because - if you want to be there, I want you there. LIFE IS EXPENSIVE RIGHT NOW, but in the world of time and attention, if you want to give those things, I want to say thank you via…songs and letters and such. 📣 THANKYOUSARAHSUBSCRIBERS! |
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4440 Round Lake Road West #N12
Arden Hills, MN 55112, United States |
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pps - Ted! you have a new album! It's a beauty! We get to sing together soonish and that's also a beauty!❤️ |
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