November 11, 2021 - Pomfret School, CT (From My Home)

Every show matters.  

Every show is valuable.

Every show is an opportunity to connect with an audience and learn about my material. 

Odyssey shows 333, 334, and 335, were in Greece, The Netherlands, and Italy.

Odyssey show 336 was back at my home over Zoom for a private school in Connecticut, about 16 hours after I walked through the door to end 20 hours of travel back to Chicago from Rome (through Newark, my own katabasis).

I played at Pomfret in 2019 and virtually for them in 2020 and I love the relationship I've built up with an English teacher there who teaches a class dedicated to the Odyssey every fall.  We were going to try to do this show in person, but with my travel to Europe and some shows the following week, we just couldn't make it work.

So I sat in my office back in front of the computer and looked at a classroom of a dozen or so students all gathered looking back at me (I assume) on a screen.

I actually slept pretty well the previous night after getting home but the heaviness of travel was still all around my head, a heaviness that is as much psychological as physical.

I was off into my songs and the first half breezed by. When I reached the second half though, something changed. 

Songs 13-24 in my version mirror Homer's Odyssey in that they're about what happens after you get home from your journey. They're about reintegrating into your family, reclaiming your home identity, working to reconcile who you are upon return with who you were when you left. 

These songs sat differently for me less than a day after my life-changing trip to perform in Europe. 

I got through them and we were on to the discussion.  One student asked what I'd learned from writing my Odyssey and how I applied any lessons to future writing.

What. A. Great. Question.

Every show matters.

Whether it's in Athens, Rome, or from my home.

Every show matters.

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