The Joy of a Walking Pace  

Hey Wanderers!

There are a lot of challenges to touring, but one of the best things about touring Ren Faires is that I get to explore a place for weeks or months. As an avid hiker, I’ve begun a collection of trails that I visit every year when I’m in town.

One of my favorites at the Arizona Renaissance Festival is the Pass Mountain Trail. The loop is about 8 miles long and features a saguaro forest and some incredible desert views. Walking the trail allows a pace where I can learn the topography, see wildlife, enjoy the vistas, and recharge my social battery.

As much as I love performing, and sharing my music with people, I’m natively introverted and need the space a hike provides for recharging. I often hiked alone, allowing myself the space to reset and process how the weekend’s performances went as well as work on my songwriting projects.

Yet for as much as I love the solace of solo hiking, I also love getting to be out on the trail with a friend and share the experience with them. There is nothing quite like being able to share that outdoors time- the conversations, like the trails, meander and just as the pace allows one to learn about the land, the time on the trail gives time to get to know the friends out with you. If the trail is challenging, there is the added joy of completing something together.

If you like the idea of getting to know a place and a pastoral setting for time with a friend, get out there! It doesn’t need to be an especially long or stunning hike, it can be a short walk around your neighborhood. The important thing for me has always been the ability to get to know a place (and maybe a friend) at a walking pace!

Mark Williams and I are currently performing at the Arizona Renaissance Festival! You can hear us at Monk's Park Stage at 10:30am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4:30pm every festival day through the end of March!

See you soon!

Jeremy

The Surprising and Incredible Joy of Town Dance 

Hey Wanderers!

One of the things I love about the Arizona Renaissance Festival is their town dance. Mark and I have been a part of the town dance since our first year here, when Mark started playing and later invited me to join in. This year, I was especially looking forward to this moment in the festival day, where the cast helps teach folk dances to patrons. Over the time we've been part of the dance, we've seen it grow as more and more patrons stop and learn dances with a group of people they've never met.

Ren faires are magical places for a lot of reasons, but town dance exemplifies this in so many ways. Strangers who are diverse in nearly every way come together and bravely learn these dances, and they're having so much fun that bystanders will jump in. It's beautiful to see people of different generations at play, being patient with each other as they learn new steps, and getting caught up in the music!

Music is the only real magic. For a brief moment, all divisions are suspended and people find joy in sharing a safe space of shared play. In this time of so many deep divisions and so much fear, I get to take part in a moment that bridges gaps and creates joy instantly. 

Town dance takes place in the Local Yokels Village at 3:30pm. Should you find yourself at the Arizona Renaissance Festival, make sure you don't miss it! 

Seek beauty!

Jeremy

On Long Solo Drives and Destinations 

 

Hey Wanderers!

The last few weeks have been eventful! I made my cross-country trek to Arizona, got my desert hovel in order for the season, and madly rehearsed with Mark who was delayed by the winter storms. We also had a gorgeous opening to the Arizona Renaissance Festival, and reunited with lots of friends!

As some of you may know, I love long drives. I love the changing scenery and the excitement of travelling lots of miles, all while listening to favorite songs. There is something about a long solo drive that is almost meditative, and so I also reflect a good bit on where I've been and where I'm going.

As I've been thinking a lot about destinations, there's been a conversation that's popped up in a few different places about career destination and I've realized some important things I wanted to share with all of you. A lot of people in the entertainment business feel compelled to chase social media, looking for a wider and wider audience, and making content creation their central occupation. That's really not me.

As much as I've seen the power of social media to spread ideas and reward some with lots of followers and huge audiences, I'm not looking for millions of fans. It's not only that the algorithms aren't set up to do much for someone making thoughtful and beautiful music, I want to be able to recognize my audience at the very least, and be able to know as many names as I can. I want to make music for the people who show up to hear it.

And I've been very lucky to have a core group like you fine folks who have tuned in to livestreams, driven to hear me sing, and bought my recordings! The destination I have in mind is a place where the music actually connects us in meaningful ways. I'm still processing how to get to a place where it's all sustainable, so I'll check in as thigns occur to me. As always, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about all of this, so please reply if this sparks anything for you!

Thank you for being on this journey with me!

Jeremy

An Oasis 

 

Hey Wanderers!

Opening weekend was last weekend, and it brought with it reunions with friends, the joy of returning to a beloved festival, and the excitement of a new season. It was lovely to see familiar faces from last year among the entertainers, vendors, crew, and patrons! It's an incredible blend of beginning of a college semester, an opening night, and returning to a job after vacation…

It's been a few years since I've been out on the road, and while there are definitely challenges and hardships, the magic is still there for me! I love seeing everything come together; seeing site crew make final adjustments to stages, seeing acts rehearse, seeing vendors set up their shops, seeing everyone get settled into their living situations, it's wonderful to see so many people focused on creating wonder and beauty!

The folks who work in the security booth have the custom of greeting all of us as we return to site with “Welcome home”. It's a small thing, but a very fine kindness, and a reminder that for all its flaws, we are part of a special community. It's a reminder that whatever is happening anywhere else, this is an oasis for so many.

Mark and I enjoyed getting a chance to share music with old and new friends, and in this time of so much uncertainty, it felt indescribably good to help a few folks to relax, smile, and enjoy extraordinary weather paired with songs that speak of our shared humanity and all its joys and sorrows. I hope the time here helped the patrons go back to the real world feeling a little less harried, a little less stressed, and a little more hopeful.

Whatever is going on, I hope you're taking time to remember the things that give you joy. I hope you're pausing to notice how a song lifts your mood, a smile from a stranger, the beauty in a sunset, or remembering why you love your favorite food. These are the things that help us through those moments when our life feels the most hopeless, and small acts of kindness and beauty are doing that for others, all the time. 

Thanks for coming on this journey with me! I'll be posting to this blog somewhat regularly as I travel the country performing and experiencing this wonderful, and fraught, country. Please sign up for my email list for notifications as well as news of the (several) albums of new music I plan to release this year!

Jeremy

www.jeremygraeffmusic.com

 

 

 

 

 

A Narrowing of Distances, A Home Far From Home 

Starting last week, I made trip from Central Pennsylvania to Gold Canyon Arizona, home of the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It took 4 relatively long days of driving. I've always loved long drives- seeing the topography, flora, and fauna change as the miles go by has always held a fascination for me! Living in such a large and diverse country is a gift, I began in well forested rolling hills that gradually flattened as I made my way south and west. The hills eventually giving way to open prairie and an incredible big blue sky that stretched so far, I could almost imagine I could see the curve of the earth. The open land began to break and rise, and soon I was among the mesas and stratified rock of New Mexico. Soon after, the high desert gave way to tall pines of Northeast Arizona as I climbed in altitude before making my descent into the Greater Phoenix area and the pines disappeared in favor of cholla plants and saguaro. 

It was a beautiful drive, and I was thankful that my timing put me about a day ahead of the snow storm that inspired snowball fights on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The temperature didn't rise above 30 until I was into my descent into Phoenix. It was snowing through Albuquerque, but wasn't sticking to roads (although it was starting to lay on the exits). 

The vistas were amazing, but the other thing I love about days-long drives is seeing how people differ from place to place, as well as seeing others in the midst of long trips. There is a liminality to a long trip, a between-ness that suspends our customary patterns in favor of the many compromises to our daily comforts of home. It's a good place to reflect on what is, what was, and what perhaps could be. 

For more various and sundry reflections, as well as regular updates about my music, please sign up for my email list! 

Jeremy

www.jeremygraeffmusic.com