Campfire Chronicles episodes:

• February 19, 2014Campfire 29: What A Wonderful World

  As I began to write about The Brothers Four’s connection to Japan

  and the Japanese people it all became more amazing. I realize that I have

  gone to Japan to perform for 45 years and the group has been going for more

  than 52 years. It is a connection that defies explanation and continues to

  fill me with gratitude. We will be returning again in May and June doing

  20 shows and releasing a new album.

  ...more

  

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• January 06, 2014Campfire 28: Heart of the Heartland

  One of Those Times in a Life is a continuing journey of Gratitude and Grace

  as well as Memory and Discovery. It had been years since I thought about

  and remembered a solo concert I did in the fall of 1987. It was only in remembering

  it all those years later that it became clear how important it was to everything

  that followed.

  ...more

  

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• November 04, 2013Campfire 27: Some Brothers and a Mother

  Not long ago I was talking with a friend and told her that One of Those Times

  in a Life was sort of a Thank you and I’m sorry Tour. That is a

  humorous way of saying that it is a Journey of Gratitude and Grace. It has

  been a chance to get in touch with people some of whom I haven’t

  talked with in years and to thank them for being in or having been in my

  life. Where it was appropriate the reconnecting also gave or gives me a chance

  to apologize for something I did or that happened.Yes, I am grateful for

  a chance to express both regret and gratitude to those who have joined me

  in this journey. 

  ...more

  

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• October 08, 2013Campfire 26: Not Through Loving Yet

  There have been a few times in a lifetime where I have suffered a crisis of

  faith. The summer of 1983 was one such time. In the year that followed I

  found out that it was still worth loving even when it meant losing…an

  important lesson. I continue to be grateful to those who were there when

  I needed them most.

  ...more

  

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• September 12, 2013Campfire 25b: Dear Partner Part 2

  When I was in grade school I remember someone coming up and asking, “Did

  you hear about the guy who swam across the ocean got half way across and

  realized he couldn’t make it so he turned around and went back.”

  Well, it’s too late to turn around now. With this Chronicle the

  rest of One of Those Times in a Life becomes a journey home. Quite an adventure.

   

  ...more

  

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• August 19, 2013Campfire 25: Dear Partner Part One

  Of all the Chronicles this may have been the most challenging. That is part

  of why it took so long to finish. I have also spent time in these last few

  months doing Campfire Concerts. It’s been great to do more live

  performances. The Mission Statement for all aspects of One of Those Times

  in a Life remains unchanged: To inspire others to share their stories around

  the campfires of their own lives.One of the goals of these Campfires is to

  discover what is universal in my personal experiences.This Campfire is the

  halfway point in the journey. The Chronicle will be published in two parts.

  Part One is the end of a journey outward. Part Two is the beginning of the

  journey home.

  ...more

  

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• May 31, 2013Campfire24: Joanne and the Sandman

  One of the bigger challenges of sharing a life and the stories that make up

  that life is finding ways to tell my story and stories while trying not to

  tell the stories or intrude on the privacy of people I love. For a hundred

  years my family had a “secret” connection with illnesses

  of the mind. Through the years people I love found many different ways of

  dealing and living with that often unspoken relationship. For me there is

  cleansing and healing that comes in spinning the threads of my relationship

  with mind illnesses into yarns and weaving those yarns into a larger tapestry.

  I do that forever mindful that is not true for everyone.

  ...more

  

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• May 17, 2013Campfire 23: Between Friends

  It is a gift to relive a significant moment that took place long ago and to

  see it and feel it again with the perspective of time and space. It is challenging

  to build a bridge of words across the years and try to connect who I was

  then with who I am now.It would certainly have been “easier”

  if my dad’s visit had not been the day I was going into the studio.

  And yet…and yet…each experience is important and even

  precious (defining that word differently in each case.) That together they

  became part of some larger experience continues to resonate and shimmer and

  shine brighter through the years. 

  ...more

  

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• April 25, 2013Campfire 22: Mad Man on a High Wire

  Mike McCoy and I have been friends and have sung together for nearly 50 years

  now. Nine years ago he joined me in The Brothers Four. Between the fall of

  1979 and 1987 my musical career (except for The Brothers Four) was tied to

  McCoy. It is what I am calling the Fourth Stage in this amazing seven-stage

  journey.One of the things that makes our relationship so vital is our best

  shared experience might be the one we are about to have and the best performance

  the next one. Our personal relationship is a special one…our professional

  partnership the same. Together they are a most amazing adventure.

  ...more

  

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• March 22, 2013Campfire 21: Starting Over

  One of Those Times in a Life has been a chance for me to learn or become aware

  of so many things. As I built the last campfire I learned (on a deeper more

  profound level) that so much of my journey is finding my way home. Building

  this campfire I realized how deep my gratitude is for the people and experiences

  who have shared the journey and helped me along the way.

  ...more

  

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