view through a free-standing wall in a church ruin in Antigua, Guatemala

July 20, 2007
Indianapolis, IN

Looking back at the Notes from the Road on this web site, it’s kind of staggering to see how far back they go. Some are updates about music and career, some musing and pondering on current events, some personal stories. I’ve never written one like this, though. I have some big news (and no, it’s not a baby... I’ve learned that’s the next thing I need to say when I tell people I have big news...).

After 2000 shows and 17 years, I’ve encountered a calling that is even more insistent than my pull to play music, so I’m retiring from music to follow it. Things have never been better with my career, and it’s kind of amazing (even to me) to find that this is the time I’m choosing to leave it.
I’ve applied for a Fellowship from Rotary International to pursue a two-year Masters Degree program in Peace Studies. The official name of the program is the Rotary World Peace Fellowship. I won’t know until November whether I’m getting it or not. If I do, Deanna and I will spend two years overseas, most likely either in Australia or Japan (I’ve listed my preferences, but the final decision is theirs). If I’m not awarded a Fellowship, I’ll have to figure out where my path is, but my sense of this is that it’s what God wants me to do, and I’ve got to go with that feeling. That will sound flakey to some of you and make a lot of sense to others. It’s the best explanation I can offer, though.

That and the fact that I’ve been singing for years about ‘following your heart’ and ‘making a difference,’ and to pass up this opportunity to do those two things seems like it would be a bit hypocritical. When I was in college I got involved in alternative conflict resolution work and, I spent the summer of 1990, when I had just graduated, trying to discern which career I should pursue, music or peacemaking. I’ve never regretted the choice I made, and I don’t now. It’s been an amazing ride. Now it seems like it’s time to turn my focus back to my other passion, though.

my father and I in Guatemala

That said, I’m leaving a place of comfort for an unknown life. It’s ironically amusing to say that if the academic thing doesn’t work out I’ve got a successful music career to fall back on, but the truth is that I am leaving something known for something unknown, and it’s a little scary. I've never regretted making myself vulnerable in this kind of risk, though, no matter how things worked out.

A month ago I was in Guatemala, where I went to a couple of dedication ceremonies around school projects we’re doing there with PEG, got a water filtration system installed at the Escuelita in Tzanchaj and spent some time talking with people in the village of Chacaya about a new school building they’re trying to get started on there. In the town of El Tejar we celebrated the launch of a music program where PEG bought the instruments and is paying the teacher’s salaries. Near there in Chimaltenango we celebrated the completion of a $9100 library grant at a teachers’ school, including $3000 worth of new books. I can’t tell you how good it feels to visit those places and spend time with those students and see what we’re able to do together with contributions gathered primarily at my concerts. It’s a lot. And it’s just a little. And that’s the beauty of it.

I really like the fact that PEG is a small organization. It keeps reminding me that small changes matter. It seems like most often I narrow my responses to big problems down to two choices - do something radical or do nothing at all because the problem is too big. And this work in Guatemala keeps reminding me that most often my best choice is neither of those. It’s to find a small thing to do and do that. Those small changes often add up to big ones. And even when they don’t, the small things matter.

When we began that project in Guatemala three years ago we had no idea that it would grow so quickly and make such huge changes in several communities. We just tried to do the piece that was in front of us with integrity and the rest flowed from there. I have to trust that this Fellowship will go the same way.

People keep asking me what will happen after the degree, and the truth is I don’t know. I don’t have a grand design, but I have a hunch that the next step will become clear when I take the first one. I’m not making any dramatic pledges to never perform again, but I do have a sense that I won’t return to touring, at least not in the same way that I tour now. Certainly I’ll be playing my guitar in our living room, and I hope I’ll be writing, and I may well put songs up for download on my web site from time to time, but I am going to draw a line some time next summer or fall and consider that the end of the road.

When I got home from Guatemala a few weeks ago I was at my house for about nine hours (none of which coincided with daylight) then flew to Texas for the first National Restorative Justice Conference. That was a powerful experience among people who are giving their academic and professional lives to the work of finding and enacting better models for justice than the options that legal systems generally offer. Jack Jackson, who organized the event, had the idea to bring me in to set the tone for each plenary session, so I introduced each speaker with a few words and a song, trying to make song choices that were relevant to the upcoming topic. It was a rich experience, and also gave me the opportunity to spend some time in an academic environment with some heavy-hitter scholars. I was happy to find that the academic environment suited me well. Having not been in school for seventeen years, it was good to feel comfortable in that crowd. Right at the moment it seems like my life is dripping with omens, including the slip of paper in my wallet that I pulled from a fortune cookie which reads “You love peace.” Go figure.

So if I’m going to Japan I’ll stop touring in June of 08 and head to Japan in July. If it’s going to be Australia, I’ll have time for a few more shows, and I’ll stop touring at Thanksgiving of ‘08. I’ve kept all of my recordings in print since I started, but we’ll now have to let them each go out of print if they sell out, so if you need to stock up on baby shower gifts, for instance, this is probably a good time. ;-) All of the records will remain available on iTunes and other sites, though, so you’ll still be able to get the music if you have a hankering to hear it.

And I’ve still got 11 months of touring to go! I’m going to be touring hard in that time, trying to catch up with a bunch of old friends on the ‘farewell tour.’ One whimsical goal for that time, too, will be to play in the five states I haven’t played in - Alaska, North Dakota, Maine, New Hampshire and Minnesota. There’s absolutely no practical reason to do that, but why not? So if you happen to be in one of those places and you’d like to bring me in for a show, drop MJ a note and we’ll see if we can work it out. If you’re somewhere else and would like for me to come by one more time, of course we’ll be happy to hear from you about that, too, but you might want to be in touch soon.

There have been many other good adventures lately - doing a Live Earth satellite event in Asheville, having a visit from my friend and erstwhile European booking agent Kenny, etc. but I'll stop anyway and hope to catch up with you on the road to share more stories.

Earlier this week I played at a Montreat youth conference for what may be the last time, and I’m now at Purdue in Indiana for the Triennium conference. Those gatherings have woven through my life and career for many years, and it was poignant to realize that’s drawing to an end. There are lots of ‘lasts’ these days, like my last European tour next month, for instance. What a wonderful ride it’s been, though. Thank you for hanging with me all these miles. I hope to see you some time in this last year.

Peace, justice and music,
David

 

child's handprint, rain water and sky in a sidewalk in Antigua, Guatemala