Nathan Frazer

Hi, So yeah here I am. The year is winding down and I am too. I really want to let you all know what I'm up to and what I plan on doing for next year. Oh you know me, I might jump around and be non-linear in this report. But I WONT throw this into some chat engine to puke up something more linear and maybe coherent. It is what it is! From one human to another, I am sure you will get the gist of what I am saying!

Unfortunately I was unable to complete the new album in 2025. Many factors contributed to this but the main one was I WAS TO BUSY PLAYING MUSIC EVERY WEEK! It's hard to find time to rehearse, book studio time, and record when you have gigs booked left and right! We did have studio time booked at Sparta but various conflicts came up and we had to cancel. 

In the meantime I continue to write a song here and there, as well as bring up and dust off some older songs. Wouldn't ya know I got enough for another album. (Though these songs haven’t been road tested yet. I’ve got some nice demos of them coming together. Again, the time it takes to do this is hampered by my general busyness.)

I know if you are like me you’ve lost your attention span. So I know that this will be skimmed more than read. So I think I’ll try to write in aphoristic bullet points from here on out. (Though I am not clever enough for true aphorisms.) 

• I wanted to finish a book of Haiku. I am almost there. Just formatting and publishing needs to be done. Coming in 2026! 
• It is ok to write slow! No need to rush. Let things, little lyrics, little poems, phrases, ideas, simmer awhile.
• I wanted to work more on poetry in general and lift that up in some way, either in writing on a blog or on YouTube. 
• I really like YouTube as a platform. I just hate talking into a camera. Looking at my maw and brow on the screen. I want to get better at that and get some content out there! 
  •  Hopefully this will lead to me getting some more gigs! So people can see what they’re getting.
  • Not just music but other things. Maybe interviewing other artists and throwing it up on my channel. Some thoughts on books, poems, life… 
• I want to practice more…Ok I admit…I’m a bit inconsistent in my playing. Maybe I should refine my approach. Also work on my groove, fingerpicking, learn some new songs. 
• Oh but I am an artist, I SHOULD be playing more of my own songs! Looking back at my set list…I play at least 8 -12 a night. 
  • There has to be a balance between playing my songs and great songs I want to share with others. 
• Gotta work on the body. Exercise. Walks. Getting out in nature. 
  • Work on removing Silver Maple and Buckthorn. 
  • I would love to clean up where the old barn foundation is and put a garden in someday.
• Travel with the family. 
  • We took a great trip to the beautiful copper country of Michigan last year…Where to go this year. I might have to make an exception to a long standing aversion and go where Amy really wants to go! 
• Remix/Master GunnTown. Gunn Town is almost 10 years old. I want to put a mix I am more happy with. 
  • Maybe even some demos along with it. 
• My morning devotions, prayers and meditations…very potent and powerful. I love being able to do all of that. One, I am grateful for the intention and desire to sit, two I am happy I have the space and opportunity to do so! Three, I am also grateful for the teachers I have, the devotions I’ve come across…both ancient and modern. Both analog and digitally. 
• Gigs. Oh I’ve seen the crowds drop off. It's happening all over and it's not just to me or because of me (I hope!) Less is more. 
• Less social media?! 
  • Yes and no. I don’t like it. But I get that it’s necessary. It's part of “the job.” I’ve been terrible at keeping up with it. 
  • Dedicate some time for it once a week. Put it on an ipad or something so it can only be accessed there. 
• I really like doing “shows.” 
  • I did this Valentine's Day show last year, and it went really well. Songs all revolving around love. 
  • Then I did my Recovery Concert. Songs and stories about my alcoholism and recovery. These were fun to put together and even more fun to perform! 
    • I have always been a fan of Narrative Albums or song sequences. “Rock Operas.”
      • I want to do more of those, and I even have a few on the calendar for early 2026! 
• I need to play in front of people. Gigs take time, I think doing less will is more. Less travel this year. Keeping it local, and trying to reach out with You Tube and (even though I hate to use em) FaceBook and Instagram. Just doing half the gigs I do will satisfy me. 
• Band gigs. This is a tough one. I like playing with a band. I love the musicians that I play with and who take the time to learn my songs. But we live so far apart. I think we could do so much more if we had the time to get together and practice. 
• Big Day Dreams. I would like to play in 
  • A Classic country band
  • A Bluegrass band
  • A 90’s cover band
• Getting out to see some concerts! Live shows. Watching friends playing at local places. 
• Playing with the Kettle River Trio is fun. More of that please. 
  • Its fun because it is good jams, and it's a team…not all on me.
• Playing at Church. 
  • Gonna be doing more of this because I have been “called” to do it. It's actually not that bad. It's doing something as a service…for people, a community, and for a Higher Power. 
• 210 Gallery and Art Center. Hopefully we can get some music going here again. I would like to curate some programming there. I took a year off and I am feeling like it is time to get ‘er back. Sunday Sessions!
• Play some games. 
  • Tabletop. D&D. Creative energies of role playing is good for the brian.  
• Read more poetry! 
  • Yeah. I used to read a lot of poetry but lately I’ve been into theology and philosophy. All of that is intellectually inspiring, but not creatively inspiring. In the end it turns out to be navel gazing and I end up back in the soft downy wash of agnosticism. 
• Jams. Flatpicking. Working on those fiddle tunes. That’s something I’ve been doing. Learn more and get them down. Get better at music.
• I am grateful
  • For Amy, how she puts up with my shenanigans. For my faith, as idiosyncratic, ecumenical, and probably heretical as it is… it mostly makes sense to my intuition. For my sobriety. For and living in a stable society. For having a good payin’ job. For living where I live, good people all around.  

Wow, that's a lot of stuff I want to do and actually a lot of stuff I am doing now! 
Let’s just keep going and live and love life! 

Sometimes I wonder if I should try to write a song a week? I think I could do that pretty easily. Especially since it doesn’t have to be a “good” song haha! What does it take to make a song? Noise. Maybe some repetition. Maybe only a mind to notice or make a pattern from chaos, hear the differences in tonality, pitch, rhythm, and if there’s lyrics try to make sense of them, or appreciate the non sense…there’s that too…

Here. It has taken me several hours to write this over the course of a day. I’ve lightly proofread it, and I’m thinking that it’s alright to make up for a few months of silence with this entry.