true art lies in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder. what looks, sounds and feels good to me may not be the least bit appealing to another human being on earth. music has always had the ability to completely transform me to another world. earthy, raw, passionate voices speak right to my heart. i have included a few of my favorite artists that have touched, and continue to touch, my soul.

willie nelson

this creature deserves a blog all to himself. 76 years old and still lives his life exactly the way he wants. this picture, full of beauty, captures the qualities i love about him most…humility, quiet confidence, wisdom, gentleness, a little bit rebel, experience, a life lived. i have always been intrigued by his beautiful soul.

tracy chapman

her music exudes passion and truth. i always feel that her music, every song, is a way for her to say something she can no longer keep locked inside of her, something she must share. and she does it effortlessly without wasting words.

ray lamontagne

musically, he is my favorite artist. i have never experienced anything like it. there are not many artists who can move me with every single one of their songs, but he has a way of doing just that…his voice, his words, his soul, his ability to express every possible emotion. i put him in a category of his own.

annie lennox

i love this picture. it is the cover of her bare album. as an individual and as an artist, she embraces so many of the qualities i admire in a human being: strength, vulnerability, truthfulness, emotion, grace, compassion, authenticity. 

keith urban

i think i have just as much fun watching this sweet thing as i do listening to him. he seems to get sexier by the second. he just came out with a new album, defying gravity, and it is, in my opinion, his best yet. if you click on his photo, you can go straight to his website and hear his sweet new singles, kiss a girl and sweet thing.

tina turner

at 69 years of age, she is still dancing (in heels) as if it is the only thing she has to do. this woman can move like no other. her energy is boundless and her power as a person is beyond measure. she has been pure inspiration for me throughout the years. 

about 2 miles away from my house and 25 minutes into my walk, the light drizzle turned into an intense stream of water. my first reaction was to squint my eyes and try to shelter myself from the pouring rain beating down on my baseball cap. when i came to the realization that the resistance wasn’t protecting me from getting wet, i decided to open my eyes and walk tall through the rainstorm. after all, it’s what i had been wanting. i had been looking forward to the rain since i heard about it coming a couple of days ago. finally, it was here and i was going to enjoy it, let it fall on me any way it wished. 

by the time i got home i was soaked. i sat in my house listening to it beat upon my roof, watching it drip fiercely on my wooden deck as it fell from the sky. i was smiling from ear to ear as though i was seeing it for the first time. it reminded me of children playfully running through mud puddles and then looking through the window eager to go back outside after being sent into the house.

i’m from texas. we have huge downpours throughout the year. i grew up with thunderstorms. BIG (as everything in texas is) thunderstorms that would last for hours as bolts of lightning flash across the sky. you can smell the rain before it finds its way into the atmosphere. i miss them dearly. out here in southern california, a mist is considered rain. i call it a tease. i always want more. the clouds become dark and i instantly feel the storm moving in. i imagine going home and lying under my quilts with some hot tea while the massive shower does its dance. then all of a sudden, in the middle of my daydream, the clouds disappear and the sun is shining brightly again without even so much as a tiny trickle. what the hell? what just happened?

today, i got my rain. i feel renewed.