Life, family, and music.
Deep Work This was my introduction to Cal Newport. In March 2024, I changed much of my work behavior based on this book. Learn more. Profit First Don’t let the title fool you. It’s not “profit over people” or anything like that. I took over our finances in September without even knowing our bank account […]
For Songwriters: Top 3 Books I Read in 2024 Read More »
This Is Happiness I recommended this way back in January (I think). It’s a fictional story about a small village in Ireland when they were first getting electricity installed. Utterly fascinating (e.g., 100-watt bulbs revealing the true nature of a face, a place, and all the missed cobwebs). It’s also about a 17-year-old, coming of
For Fans: Top 3 Books I Read in 2024 Read More »
Just the other day, I had an opportunity to arrange a song for a commercial. As I thought about how the opportunity actually came to me, I had to go back fifteen years. It was a relationship made that long ago, which was yielding results now. That’s how long some opportunities take. The groundwork is
Sustaining a Career Read More »
It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re about seven or eight. Your family has this tradition of opening gifts on the night before Christmas. You’re pretty sure the reason is to convince your young brain that there’s no Santa Claus. How could there be? It’s 9 PM. He hasn’t even hooked up his sleigh yet. Furthermore, your
I don’t perform very often, so each time I do, I go through these steps. I used to wing it, but I realized that a lot of my anxiety came from that. Now, here’s what I do. STEP 1: Brainstorm Songs I work backwards from the end result. I’m not just playing songs; I’m serving
How I Practice for a Concert: 11 Steps Read More »
Hi Keeth, Great questions! I wasn’t sure how many songs I’ve written—I’ve referenced 800 before—but I checked my PRO (ASCAP) today, December 3, 2024. It looks like I’ve written 1,024 songs (registered), which is more than I thought. There are likely 50 to 100 that I haven’t submitted because I was probably ashamed of them.
Allow me to talk to you for a moment about pocketknives because I bet many of you do not carry one, and you’re missing out. I have had one on my person for the past 15 years. First of all, I like it because when you carry a pocket knife, no one can accuse you
The Joy of Carrying a Pocketknife Read More »
I am six years old and a member of the Old Dutch Potato Chips hockey team. We have orange jerseys with big white letters. Aaron Degerness is our star player. Saturday mornings are game days and this particular morning the stars align: I catch the puck and begin a long breakaway the length of the
The Breakaway: A Hockey Story Read More »
A little clip for you to enjoy raw, stripped-down music. Love,Aaron
Acoustic Performance: “Thank You for Being a Friend” Read More »
First of all, do you keep a calendar? Do you stick to it? Is “songwriting” on there? Every morning at the same time each day, “solo songwriting” is written on my calendar. I almost never write songs just because I feel like it. I do it because it’s on my calendar. You might be thinking,