If you've been following JDCMB in the past, you'll know I've been blogging for a long time. 17 years. The climate back in 2004 was very different. All this online stuff was new, thrilling and full of hope. I was still in my thirties and didn't seem to have anything to lose, so I just bounced into the Wild West that was the Internet and found it was fun.
This past pandemic time hasn't been easy for anybody, of course, but it does focus the mind a little. I am doing many more different things now than was the case in 2004. I am also a bit older, and if not wiser, then less energetic. I have to prioritise paid work and when I found I was so busy writing back to people saying 'sorry, I haven't got time to cover your project in my spare time for free', and the reason I didn't have time was because I was writing so many 'sorry I haven't got time' messages, something had to give.
In the end the only reason to do unorganised, unmonetised blogging is if it's fun. And I'm sorry, but it isn't fun any more. Frankly, it's a millstone. It's a monster and it rejects low-calorie food. So I'm stopping. I might pop back from time to time, to fulfil a commitment or whatever, but it's not going to be remotely regular and might indeed migrate elsewhere.
What am I doing? Writing about music. If you've enjoyed reading JDCMB, you might enjoy some of my books, articles and reviews. I currently contribute to the i, the Sunday Times, BBC Music Magazine, the JC and various online outlets like Udiscovermusic and The Arts Desk. Links to the books are in the sidebar. I have two very nice music book projects in the works at the moment: a centenary book for the London Chamber Orchestra, and a biography I've always wanted to write, that of Dame Myra Hess. Opera librettos: watch out for the next operas at Garsington with John Barber this month and with Roxanna Panufnik next summer. And the narrated concerts, or concert dramas, or words&music, whatever you want to call them, are very much up and running: Bach at Deal Festival next weekend, Beethoven at the British Library's theatre in the winter, and more.
So it's not goodbye, but it is definitely 'over and out'.
Thank you for reading JDCMB.
JDx
