Hi Everyone,

It’s been a long time since I sent out a newsletter, so this may be a long newsletter, but hopefully worth reading.  With COVID, a lot of things came to a halt, so there wasn’t much to talk about.

I did spend some of the downtime in the studio recording my new CD “MESSAGES”.  I chose the title because all the songs have social or spiritual messages.  I did all the vocals, and the multi-talented Steve Goodie (Owner of Quality Recording) played most of the instruments, however, I did bring in Arnie Reed for keyboards on a few songs and Robin Ruddy for steel guitar.  I was a bit concerned about having one person play most of the instruments, but it came out fine, I  am proud of this long-overdue project and have already gotten some really good feedback.  

The CD was actually released in February, but I haven’t promoted it until now, because there were no places to play and I wanted to wait until my website was completed, which took longer than expected (Talk about not having your ducks in a row!).  But the website is done now (Thanks to Pam Saxon of Saxon Creative), so please check it out:  gordonellismusic.com.  At some point, I may do a belated CD Release Party; however, I don’t know when yet.  In the meantime, the CD is on Amazon, Apple/iTunes, and most of the other platforms.  You can go to my site to link to these platforms and hear clips of the music (And see other interesting info), or go directly to Amazon, etc., to hear clips.  Search for Gordon Ellis and “Messages”.  You can even purchase my music if you are so inclined–the CD has been #1 in my living room for months (LOL).

In the meantime, I have started lining up a few nursing home gigs again.  All of that came to a screeching halt with COVID, and they have been slow to open up for entertainers.  But CSLN is open again, thanks to the hard work of Rev. Lynn Bennet and many volunteers.  I have performed at a few of the Sunday Services and will be performing again on Fathers Day, June 20th.

I went to my first party in over a year recently, have gone on some hikes, and even went down to Grayton Beach Fl., sharing a cabin with 4 friends (All of whom were fully vaccinated, of course). Yes, Virginia, there really is life after COVID.  

Grayton Beach has pristine white sand (I think I have only seen that before at Jones Beach on Long Island).  I had never been to the Gulf before and was looking forward to swimming in the warm water.  It didn’t happen (Phooey!).  First of all, the Gulf isn’t as warm as you would think in mid-May, but that wouldn’t have stopped me.  And the 5-6 foot waves were actually enticing–body surfing, here I come! The Gulf rarely has big waves except when there is a storm.  Well, there apparently was a storm somewhere, because in addition to the big waves, there was a strong riptide, and no one was allowed to swim, the whole time we were there. The ranger even told us we couldn’t stand in the wet sand (Are you kidding me!), or we would face a $500 fine (Are you kidding me!).  But I still enjoyed being on the beach and watching the waves come in for three days.

Grayton Beach is a quaint town, and there are no high rises on the beach (Yet).  The town has stood firm against big developers (You go boys and girls!).  The five of us got along amazingly well, considering we had never shared a living space before.  The cottage was really spacious and immaculate.  We got to hike at Grayton Beach State Park and eat in some great restaurants, and just hang out together and have fun for a few days.  I even got to enjoy my first “Low Country Shrimp Boil.  Hopefully, life is returning to normal.

I may not be sending out this newsletter monthly like before, but I will send it when there is enough to share, and it will probably be sent via my website (As soon as I figure out how to do that).  In the meantime, I hope you are all doing well, are fully vaccinated (Remember, this isn’t a political thing–it is a health thing), and are starting to emerge from our long hibernation.

Until next time—

Gordon

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