May all of your graces someday flower in a sweet sunshower....For those who know me well or pay close attention to this newsletter, you might have picked up that I am into music.  While my base interest leans more toward traditional and alternative rock, I have pretty wide tastes.  Let's put it this way:  you will find tracks ranging from old standards like Frank Sinatra to 90's hip hop acts like Chubb Rock to newer indie bands like Cymbals Eat Guitars in our collection. Like those who may enjoy fine wine, craft beer or consider themselves foodies, I'm kind of that way with music. I'm not sure where it started.  It may have originated when I was a very young kid with my parents blasting Elton John and John Denver on my father's reel-to-reel tape in the family room on lazy winter Sundays.  It may have been truly awoken, like for many, when I went off to college.  All I know is that, these days, give me a live show in a stadium, dive bar, hipster hangout or a rented boat, and I am there.  And when I reminisce about the pivotal moments in my life, I find that my most vivid (and special) memories are invariably accompanied by a mixtape in my mind. For me, music is not just the soundtrack of my life.  It's neither the background noise for running on a treadmill nor the boozy beats you play for guests at party. It's not just the pop tunes you sing badly in your car when you are in traffic either. The attraction to "good" music can be almost visceral, like the feeling a wine aficionado gets when certain tannins engulf their tongue.  When I hear a musician play a nuanced arrangement with their instrument or soulfully belt out a heart felt lyric they wrote (particularly if it is live), I forget everything else that is going on at the moment. I just stop and listen, connecting with the thoughtfulness and care shared in each note, chord, beat, and stanza.  That's the wonderful thing about music:  music is personal.  Like any art form, it affects each of us differently depending upon our mood or our state of mind at a given time.  No matter who you are, somedays you're feeling a little Joni Mitchell or Adele.  Then, quickly, life shifts into Ride of the Valkyries mode.  Other days it's definitely Naughty by Nature or George Michael.  Then, maybe Death Cab for Cutie is the only thing that can capture a moment.  And sometimes, we can all relate to Missio. Over time, there will be plenty of things we will be able to automate or artificially construct, but I'm pretty sure technology will never be able to recreate the personal connection we humans make with good music and talented musicians.  Algorithms can't touch our hearts and minds.  Robots don't know how it feels to want you to want me, get you so crazy in love or what it is like to rock and roll all night and party every day.  And artificial intelligence certainly won't be able to throw sweaty guitar picks into the crowd at the end of their last encore.   So fire up your Spotify, get out those old CDs or dust off your turntables today.  Get immersed into something meaningful by an artist that connects you to how you feel at this moment.  Even better: find a live performance nearby and enjoy the show.  You may discover something new about yourself in the process.Just do me a favor though:  promise to do all of that after you read this newsletter, cuz really is a good one.....Enjoy your weekend.XOXODave