Hello again, I hope you are doing well.
I have to once again apologize for falling short on my podcast release schedule.
In this case this episode of What’s Your Excuse?
Was delayed by my trip to Washington DC to attend the national conference and Blind Leader Development Training Program of the American Foundation of the Blind.
Not having been anywhere in person since the beginning of Covid, it took me much longer to get prepared to leave.
Then the day before I ws scheduled to leave I fell in my yard and twisted my left knee.
And if that wasn’t enough I pulled a muscle in my back on the plane.
So, after five days in a hotel and day-long sessions, I got home really tired.
It took me so much longer to recover from this trip.
I think during covid I got old or soft or both. Haha
I know that y’all will understand. Including my guest this time Heather Hutchison
But I feel bad about disappointing you.
This is especially because my delay meant that this episode did not come out to coincide with the release of Heather’s latest Album If I could.
Which you can find at www.heatherhutchison.bandcamp.com
What We Talked About
This was an amazing conversation.
I do wish that I had the skills to edit it though.
This is because we spent the first half talking about writing, recording, and performing music both before and during Covid.
This was great stuff. I found out about how she deals with stage fright, and how she was discovered as an artist.
We talked about how music has always been there for her in good times and especially bad.
But we didn’t get to her struggles with depression and mental illness until the second half of the show.
If you go to the 29 minute mark, you can hear her sing If I could from her new album.
And our conversation about her emotionally struggles starts from there.
We talked about how before school she lived life in a bubble. And how attending school caused her to feel like she didn’t fit in because of her blindness.
She shared about how Covid brought on a major breakdown because she lost both the physical contact with her doctors and the tangible events to look forward to.
She shares about how being hospitalized was good for her in spite of some of the horror stories people have heard.
For her final thought she urged people to think of one small moment of joy in their lives. And then to think about what it would be like to have missed that because you are no longer here.
It was a difficult interview for me. Probably why I started with and spent so much time on her music.
And we both want you to think about asking for help if you are struggling with your mental health.
Two things You Should Know
One, I sing on the intro to my podcast. In this case I am singing the final verse of I song I wrote myself called If You Don’t Ask.
Two, I do not edit the recordings. The show is recorded live just like classic television or your local morning shows.
Now On To The Show
Support Our Sponsors
Thankful to Blubrry.com
For providing the podcast hosting for my show as well as The WYE Podcast Network.
We couldn’t do this without their continued financial and technical support. Reach out to them if you are wanting to start a new podcast.
I also appreciate Chip Edwards the owner of createmyvoice.com
He created the Alexa & google invocations for the podcast. And he makes sure people can find my show just by saying “Play What’s Your Excuse.”
About Heather
Could sharing our own darkness be the light that guides someone else through theirs?
This is the question that award-winning, Vancouver Island-based singer/songwriter Heather Hutchison seeks to answer on her latest release, If I Could, (January 28, 2022).
Hutchison’s songs have always been rooted in the universal feelings of the human experience, but If I Could is undoubtedly her most personal work yet.