The Halted Clock Gives Thanks For…

Here in the States we celebrated Thanksgiving today. As the name suggests, it’s a holiday of gratitude.

For many, it’s also a holiday of overeating, consuming alcohol, and watching football. I bet you can’t guess which of these three vices I was guilty of today (and yes, I was only guilty of one of them, smart aleck).

In keeping with the holiday spirit, I’m taking stock of a few things I’m grateful for, in no particular order…

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4. Bad As Me

2011 was a big year for one of America’s greatest living songwriters.

Tom Waits was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April, then released an album of all-new original songs for the first time in seven years.

Bad As Me is full of tightly-crafted bawlers and brawlers with top-notch lyrics and Waits’s muscular voice. If you like Waits, don’t miss it.

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3. New Book from Pat Pattison

Berklee professor Pat Pattison, author of the canon songwriting text Writing Better Lyrics, is releasing a new book of songwriting prompts called Songwriting Without Boundaries on January 6th, 2012.

Pat’s insights into the art and craft of songwriting are refreshingly literate. If you’ve got the spare time and the spare cash, Pat’s also teaching an online poetry course through Berklee this winter.

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2. Old Ideas: A New album from Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen’s releasing his 12th studio album, Old Ideas, on January 31, 2011. The first single’s already out, and the master is in fine voice. Check it out:

Show Me The Place by leonardcohen

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1. The Internet

I’m especially grateful for the internet, which has been such a tremendous boon to indie musicians. Never before has it been so inexpensive to record, publish, and publicize your own music.

You and I are very, very lucky to be alive during this unique period of music history. Previous generations of musicians would have killed to have the tools that we have now. Don’t miss out on this opportunity!